The House

Chapter 4

"We're in a fucking bunker." Hayden said exasperatedly. "Isn't that just dandy?"

The others had joined them in the entryway, and had all reacted with disbelief.

"Son of a bitch." Jeremy put his head in his hands. "This just keeps getting better."

Hayden nodded in agreement. "I've never been so happy that my sister is the claustrophobic one and I'm the acrophobic one."

"Which one is that again?"

"Heights."

"That's the one."

Wayne took a deep breath. "What now?"

"Well, we're definitely not shooting a window now." Emily said.

"Awww." Alejandra whined. "Why not?"

Jeremy chuckled. "Did you find anything that would work as a bullet shield?"

"No." She let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fair enough."

"Bloody hell." Wayne mumbled, leaning against the wall.

Hayden looked at him, concerned. "You okay?"

"I don't feel so good. I think I need to lie down for a bit." He inhaled deeply, shaking his head as he let it out. His posture changed, and he stood more upright.

"Wayne?" Hayden asked.

"It's Aisha."

Hayden nodded and smiled. "Hey."

Aisha smiled back.

At the back of the group, Ava felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to see Evan.

"Hey, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions earlier." He said quietly. "A miscarriage never even crossed my mind."

She blinked. "Um, thanks, I guess."

"It's a shame that our bodies don't always cooperate with what we want."

She rolled her eyes. "You can't help it, can you?"

"What?" He asked, visibly confused.

"You apologize for jumping to conclusions, then immediately do it again."

His expression stayed the same.

"I was never keeping it." Ava explained. "The miscarriage just got it done sooner than expected." She paused. "That's a little more blunt than I intended, but you get the point."

He opened his mouth to respond, but she held up a hand.

"I'm not having this debate with you." She said firmly. "You're clearly too closed-minded to even consider seeing things from my point of view, and I've seen things from your point of view too many times for it to be healthy."

"Hey." Emily hissed. "Now? Really?"

Ava sighed. "Sorry."

Alejandra crossed her arms. "Evan, are you being an intolerant fuckwad again?'

"Guys, seriously." Emily moved between them. "Not the time for this."

They made their way to the living room, where Aisha and Alejandra claimed the recliners. Emily joined Hayden and Ava on one couch, leaving Jeremy and Evan on the other.

"We need to look at this differently." Hayden said. "Why are we here? What reason would someone have to put us here?"

"Hang on, I'll be right back." Emily went down the hall to the den, grabbed a notepad and a couple pencils she had found the day before, and returned to the couch. "Okay, I'm good."