Paranoia

02

My heart kept beating. Liam's crying had calmed, but he was still being louder that normal. Madison tries everything to get him to quiet down.

I hold the pistol at my side. Who fired the gunshot? Were there more survivors?

My mind races as much as my heart. Then, out of the blue, another gunshot rings into the air. We all jump.

"Quickly, you all get into the bathroom and hide." I whisper softly.

"I don't wanna leave you alone." Madison says to me.

"You don't have a choice. It's my job to keep you safe." I shove them into the bathroom. "Someone lock the door. And don't come out unless I knock four times, do you understand?" I whisper to them.

I hear the door lock.

I slowly creep up the stairs, and lock the door to the basement. I hold the pistol out in front of me as I scope out the house. I check the windows. No one was outside.

I lock every door and window, making it impossible for anyone to come in. I crawl up the stairs, and kneel at the top, aiming right for the front door. If someone were to barge in, they would immediately be shot.

I listened. The house was quiet.

It feels like a couple of minutes, but I hear four knocks on the front door, signaling safety. The knocks scare me, and I drop the pistol. I pick it up, trying to shake off my nerves.

Still holding the gun, I make my way to the front door, opening it slowly. My father stood there.

He smiles at me. "I see you did exactly as you were trained to do. Where are the kids?"

"Locked in the basement."

"That's my girl." He ruffles my hair. "I'm so proud of you."

"So, what exactly happened? What were those gunshots?" I ask, letting my father come in.

"We were trying to scare away a group of five survivors who were messing with our generators. They were from the outside. They kept asking, and then they got violent, so we fired warning shots. They shouldn't be coming back." Dad explains. "And we've got Randy and Justin working on the generators, and should have those back up and running by sometime tomorrow."

"That's good to hear." I nod. "I'll go get the kids."

I walked down into the basement and knock on the door four times. The children rush into my arms. I smile and give them all a hug. "It's safe. You guys are safe."

"What happened?" Mason asks.

"We will talk about it at dinner. But let's go make some sandwiches, okay? We need to stay inside, just in case." They nod.

I take them upstairs, making them different sandwiches, some PB&J, others chicken with homemade mustard.

I sit at the table with the children, munching on my cold cut chicken sandwich. "They just have to fix the generator, that's all. It should be back up by the time you guys wake up in the morning."

"Can we have a sleepover?" Olivia asks as mustard drips onto her chin.

"Yeah, can we pleaseeeee?" Mason asks.

"That's up to your parents."

Even though the world was mostly dead, we tried to have fun in every way that we could. Sleepovers being one of them. It was the kids and I usually. We held them in Justin and Jenny's house, though sometimes the girls, Olivia and Madison came over to my house to sleep.

"You guys can have one here, if you like." Jenny walks into the kitchen, sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Really Mommy?" Madison asks.

"Of course." Jenny smiles. She reminds me of Madison, very mature, and very beautiful.

"Yay!" The twins say at the same time.

Jenny winks at me as she washes off her hands. "I see you guys lit a few candles."

Liam nods and sniffs. "Too dark in here."

"Smart boy, Liam. Can you believe he's already three?" Jenny smiles.

"I'm dis many." Liam holds up what looks like three fingers.

I smile, "Very good, Liam."

After finishing up our sandwiches, it felt to be roughly nine o'clock. We went up to Madison and Mason's room. Olivia and Madison climbed into bed together, while Liam and Mason climbed into the other twin bed.

"Sissy, where you sleep?" Liam asks me. No, I'm not his sister. But I guess Tessa was too hard to say, so he called me Sissy. Sometimes Sissa. Whichever he felt like saying.

"I'm going to the guest room. I'll just be right across the hall, okay?"

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep with us?" Olivia asks.

"There's not enough room for her." Mason answers.

"Mason's right. But if you guys need me, I'll be right across the hall, okay?" I smile. "You guys are safe."

"Promise?" Liam asks, even though his "r" was replaced with a "w" sound, I knew what he was trying to ask.

"Promise." I say softly. I give them each a peck of kisses on the cheek. "Goodnight Liv, Goodnight Madison. Goodnight, Mason, Goodnight Liam."

"Goodnight, Tessa."

"Goodnight Sissy."

I slowly close their bedroom door, but I stay there for a moment, listening. I heard Liam mumble, "I don't like the dark."

Then, Mason says so softly, I don't even believe it's him, "Here, you can hold my hand."

I smile. I walk over to the guest room that's painted a light shade of lavender. I take off my jeans and pull on some soft pants. I climb into bed, my head hitting the soft pillow.

I reach into the side desk drawer and pull out a flashlight, and "To Kill A Mockingbird."

I was on chapter fifteen, but my eyes started to flutter close. I turn off the flashlight, and close the book. And I lay down and go to sleep.

I sleep, letting nothing district me.

Until, I am rudely awakened by a loud scream.

Not coming from the children's room. But coming from outside.