Us Against the Apocalypse

18 - Arlo and Asher

It was five minutes past their bedtime and the two brothers were hiding in the closet from the scary old woman downstairs. She'd patrol the corridors at night with eagle eyes, waiting to catch any children which were supposed to be asleep.

Asher was the most mischievous of the pair and loved playing tricks on the old woman, while Arlo preferred staying in bed where she wanted them. Her prying misty eyes terrified Arlo - they were blue like the sea in the middle of a storm and angry like the waves lashing against the shoreline.

Asher would always call Arlo out for being ridiculous whenever he said there was something off about the old woman. Recently, she'd taken to stomping around outside and propping heavy objects against the doors, and none of the children knew why.

A few had gone outside to check, but they'd been yelled at and had come back inside screaming. Not even Asher had the guts to leave the orphanage, even though he was notorious for his behavioural issues and had got into trouble more times than anybody could count.

'When are we going to bed?' Arlo questioned, pressing himself up against the back of the closet. The wood straightened his back and soothed his bones, but he hated being stuck against it for too long since he'd ache for days.

Asher was writing out a card for one of the girls he fancied in the orphanage - if the old woman found the card she'd take it for herself. He enjoyed writing them in secret and then hiding them under the girl's pillow, he rarely got a reply because the girl never figured out who it was.

Arlo wished he could write letters to girls without chickening out, but he was far too shy to say a word to anybody and confessing his undying love for them was out of the question. He did like watching his brother do it though, there was something satisfying about seeing his pen slip across the paper.

Doing it in the closet was essential because otherwise the girls would see and the fun would be ruined. That was what Asher had said the one time Arlo had asked. Asher didn't like showing affection for his brother in public so would always save any type of friendliness for the closet.

Tonight, he'd gone as far as to say Arlo was special to him, which was more than he'd said in a few weeks at least. He was resting the card against his lap as he wrote in it and Arlo kept trying to look over his shoulder.

'Stop it, you're smudging the ink!' Asher didn't ever take well to Arlo watching, and there was a new excuse every time.

'Sorry.' Arlo curled up against the filthy wood and let his thoughts wander as he waited for his brother to finish.

The clip-clopping of the old woman's high-heeled boots up the stairs was the first sound that indicated Arlo and Asher would be caught. Arlo began nudging his brother desperately and burrowing himself further back against the closet for protection. 'She's gonna find us!'

As usual, the consequences didn't seem to bother Asher as he continued drafting out the perfect card. 'I bet she won't come in this room,' he hummed, not even bothering to lower his voice.

'I bet she will!' Arlo whined, covering his ears as the sound of heels only increased in volume. Just as Asher had promised, no doors swung open, and she wandered across the corridor before turning around and making her way down the stairs again.

'Told you!'

Arlo was still shivering, but the threat had vanished and they'd managed to evade capture. 'Why didn't she come in?' he asked. 'She always comes in.'

'I think she's started doing it one room at a time.' Asher hushed his brother by holding a finger to his lips. 'Listen, can you hear her going outside?'