Paradise

3. What Is Going on?

The horrifyingly large puddle of blood in the middle of the road nearly made Ethan lose his lunch. "Our house is three blocks from here." The nameless twin said as he stopped to catch his breath. The dry winter air didn't do much justice for your throat.

"Is Mom and Dad home?" Ethan questioned.

"I don't think they had any plans." The other answered.

Even though they all felt as if they were gonna collapse, they kept running toward the twins' house. Just as they were about to turn on the road, they noticed the same military trucks that were blocking off the other road. "Why would they be on our street?" Ethan questioned, ducking behind a fence. It was obvious he didn't really expect an answer, so he let the question die out as quickly as he said it.

"Let's cut through the backyards, there's no way they'll be able to get past them." The other suggested. Casey still didn't know the second twin's name, but right now survival was more important than becoming buddies with a stranger. So, maybe she'll remember to ask him later.

They didn't question the guys idea and began climbing over the fence one by one, helping the other be as quiet as possible. Casey lost count of how many fences she had to climb over before they were finally at their destination.

"Are you sure they'll be home?" Ethan questioned, suddenly doubting his brothers memory. He hesitated for a moment before eventually opening the back slider door.

"Mom!" He called as he stepped inside, letting the others in before shutting and locking the door behind them. "Mom, we're home!"

When they received no response, the twins left Casey and Andy in the dining room as they disappeared further into the house to investigate. They came back around five minutes later, both sporting an unreadable expression. "They're not here but the car is. Where would they go without the car?" Ethan questioned aloud. Casey wasn't sure if he truly wanted an answer this time, but he wasn't getting one even if he did. None of them knew how.

"The television was left on in their bedroom, do you know how weird they are about turning that thing off?" The other twin added in. Even though Casey and Andi couldn't really relate to what the twins were talking about, they still soaked in the information.

"Can you see soldiers out of the front window?" No Name suddenly changed the subject. This got Andi's attention. She followed him down to the living room, while Ethan stayed in the dining room with Casey. He seemed lost in his thoughts and Casey was too, only she didn't know what to think. Her mind was numb from the images she'd seen.

Andi and No Name were talking about something downstairs, but Casey ignored them and set her head in her arms. Her words she told Andi earlier spiraled her mind. She hoped the more she repeated it, the more she started to believe it. Dannie got drunk and followed another group of people out. Dannie got drunk and followed another group of people out. Dannie is fine.

"There's no one out there." No Name was back in the dining room now.

"What do you mean there's no one out there? There's at least three military trucks blocking off our road."

"It doesn't matter - what does matter is that Mom and Dad aren't here and we don't know where they are." No Name said, fishing his phone out of his pocket for the first time since they met at the party. Casey didn't have to wonder who he was calling, it was pretty obvious who given the circumstances.

"Do you think they'd really block off an empty road for fun?" Ethan was quick to fire back. Casey wasn't sure about why Ethan was getting more defensive about the fact that there was no soldiers instead of the fact that his parents were missing (along with everyone else on the entire block).