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THE NEXT FEW DAYS blur together; Eleanor continued to sleep on the bed, Taron continued to sleep on the floor, both of them continued to subtly flirt with each other under the watchful eyes of her family, and they even played Monopoly, however the game ended quickly when Eleanor got frustrated and threw herself on the board, resulting in everything getting knocked over and Taron laughing.
Currently, Eleanor and Taron are inspecting her healing hands, betting on when she'll be able to take the green stitches out. Their conversation gets cut off by the metallic words coming from the kitchen and a yelp of enthusiasm.
"Hey! The radio is working!" Gramps exclaims, bursting into the room to rally those who weren't already in the kitchen. Every afternoon he flipped through stations in an attempt to find news but only came across static.
Eleanor and Taron exchange a look before they follow Robbie into the kitchen.
The entire family crowds around the radio as Gramps turns up the volume. They all listen intently.
"Every tripod in America has been defeated," a man's voice says. Everyone cheers, Eleanor and Taron grinning at each other while Mary Ann hugs Tim and Ray high-fives Robbie. "It is not known at this point in time whether other parts of the world are in the clear besides Iceland, Greenland, the majority of Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. US forces are communicating with other large countries and offering assistance. Certain airports in the safe countries are open and offering complimentary flights to those who are not in their home countries and wish to return."
Taron's grin almost immediately falls as he considers the last sentence.
"These airports in the US are located in Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York...."
Taron doesn't hear another word in the list as his breath hitches in his throat and his eyes gaze at nothing in particular.
"Stay tuned for information regarding what to do next," the man finishes. The radio returns to static. Gramps turns the volume down as him and the others continue to express their happiness toward the situation.
Eleanor notices the fact that Taron's mood has gone drastically down and puts her hand on his arm as the others filter out of the room.
"Hey, are you okay?" Eleanor asks him.
"What?" Taron says, snapping out of it and turning toward Eleanor. "Oh, yeah. I'm great." Eleanor narrows her eyes at him. "Seriously. This is all just super surreal," Taron partially lies. Eleanor nods.
"You sure that's all?"
"Definitely," Taron replies with the most convincing smile he can muster. Buying it, Eleanor returns the smile.
