As they were all asleep in the master bedroom, Chloe woke up to the sound of sobbing. She saw her mother at the foot of her bed, her face buried in her arms. Chloe crawled over to comfort her, but her mother only looked at her, wrapped her arms around her, and sobbed even harder. This deeply upset Chloe, who didn’t know how she should feel. Her mother never cried. She must have fallen asleep in her mother’s lap when the door to the bedroom swung open with a bang. All three of them jolted awake.

It was the leader. He had a stern, heavy set look on his face. “You guys might want to get to cover. Things are about to get ugly real soon.” They headed down to the basement where the shop’s inventory was kept. The sun wasn’t even out yet. Chloe noticed with worry how each of them clutched their rifles, either loading them with bullets or already pointing them out the window. As they crawled down into the dimly lit basement, the leader turned to them and said “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. I learned that the Coalition has joined your government, so the enemy will have to behave themselves. So as long as you keep your head down and don’t get in the way nothing’s going to happen.” And with a smirk he slammed the door shut.

Chloe’s heart pounded. She knew as she huddled with her parents that it was not going to be alright. Now she really was afraid that something was going to happen to them, but she didn’t know what. Her father looked at her and smiled. “Don’t be scared.” he said squeezing her hand. “I know you’ll be brave. Whatever you do, don’t give up hope.” No false reassurances this time. Chloe began to choke up. Darius pulled her close to him. “Just think,” he said, trying to comfort her, “how great it will be when you grow up.” This didn’t make her feel any better. Darius took a moment to think of something to say. He seemed distracted as he kept glancing up at the roof of the basement.

Finally he began to hum a song, one that Chloe often heard him sing while working. This calmed her down a bit, and she softly hummed along. They were all calm now. This went on for an hour and a half. Darius continued to talk about things such as what Chloe wanted to be. As she wanted to be a veterinarian, naturally the conversation turned to her favorite animals. It stopped when the lone light bulb started flickering. Soon after, a faint booming could be heard in the distance.

The family huddled closer. Chloe buried her head into her father’s shirt. As the booming grew closer the already dim light flickered on and off. It continued to grow for a while until it stopped entirely.

SMaCK!!!

The last one felt particularly close and Darius’ head smacked against a nearby table. The lights went out entirely. The room was dark with only the smell of sawdust and mold to keep them company. The family sat in utter silence. A sudden explosion of shouts and the ratt-a-tat-tat of gunfire pierced the silence. Chloe grew increasingly terrified as her parents faces grew petrified. It seemed to carry on like this forever with them alone and vulnerable in the dark.

The gunfire, unlike the booming, grew distant and eventually died down. Chloe couldn’t hear much but she could make out what sounded like whoops and cheers and laughter. Then nothing. Nothing for what felt like an eternity. Time stood still. Her father, still petrified, whispered to Vida and stood up to cautiously open the door. Chloe really didn’t want him to leave. But he peeked out, froze, then crept out.

Chloe laid her head against her mother’s lap. Vida continued to hum the same song and stroke her daughter’s hair. Chloe felt better. Maybe it was all over. Nothing had to happen after all.

But her father didn’t come back.

They both waited for him to tell them it would be okay, but it didn’t happen. Instead, there was shouting. Angry shouting that seemed to get worse until she heard the sound of someone hitting the door with a smash of glass. Vida stopped humming, then looked at her daughter, her mouth shaking, her eyes watering. She grabbed Chloe, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly to her chest. Her breathing seemed so heavy.

She then held her daughter back and clasped her face in her hands. “Chloe,” she said, “listen to me. I want you to go out the back door…” “Mamma?” Chloe became worried. “Please just listen!” Her mother shook her. “Go out the back door and get help. Go find a soldier or the police. Don’t talk to anyone else.” Once more Chloe’s heart sank. “Is dad okay?” Her mother took a moment to catch her breath and swallow. “Go!” she said, pushing her away. “Please lead them back here so they know where we are!”

Chloe felt scared as she fumbled her way to the door. Without looking back, she ran down the hallway to the rear exit. Shoving the door aside, she leapt down the stairs and ran down the back alley as fast as she could. The town seemed different somehow. Even as she ran the walls and buildings seemed… dirtier. But she didn’t see the partisan sitting in the corner. The man dropped his gun and chased after her. She didn’t become aware of him until the figure behind her almost grabbed her shoulder.

Her heart stopped as she let out a yelp. She spun around and nearly fell. Regaining herself she dashed around him the other way. She spotted a drainage gap in the wall just behind the dumpster and sped towards it. It was much narrower than she thought. It hurt to crawl through as she felt the stone scrape against her skin. A hand grabbed her foot and started pulling her back. “Git back here you little worm! You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Chloe kicked and struggled, trying to force her way through the hole. After getting her left leg through, she pushed with all her might and felt the grip loosen. She squirmed through the hole and scratched herself. She was sure somewhere she was bleeding, but she didn’t care. She got up and stopped.

The on the other side was a soldier. She could tell by the olive-tan helmet and uniform. But he was lying face down on the pavement in an unnatural position that surely couldn’t have been comfortable. And all around him was a small stream of blood. Chloe couldn’t even scream. The man was dead.

At the sound of the partisan shouting at her she ran through the alley faster than ever and pulled onto a wide street, turning the corner. She continued running for three blocks, or was it four?.. she couldn’t tell. As she rounded another corner she slowed down, losing her breath. It was at this point she realized she had no idea where to find anyone who could help her. She looked around to see another partisan just ahead, cutting her off. With a sudden burst of adrenaline she ran to the opposite end of the street.

All the while she saw more dead bodies, both soldier and partisan. She tried hard to put that horrible image out of her mind. The familiar two-storey stucco structures also seemed different to her. Somehow they were more run down than they had ever been. As she dashed past she noticed broken windows and slightly darkened walls. Her breathing also revealed a heavy scent that hung in the air.

There was an old farm truck parked on the side of the street. Chloe ran straight toward it and hid behind the rear bumper. Her pulse stood still as she looked around her. On the roof of a building she saw a slouching figure. Another dead soldier. She couldn’t look. What happened? It was as if the world she knew had gone mad.

The partisan suddenly dashed in front of her, blocking her path. It was the leader. “There you are!” he said wiping his brow. Chloe got up, but he motioned for her to stop. “You can’t be out here. It’s too dangerous. Now let’s get you home.” Chloe tried to dart away, but he grabbed her arm. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” He paused, looking genuinely puzzled. “You’re not trying to tell on us, are you?”

Chloe didn’t answer. She just spun around and without thinking bit the man’s hand. She wasn’t sure how long she held on but it was enough to make him yowl and yank his hand away. He muttered something about the “little vampire” while Chloe took the opportunity to start running again. She looked back, though, to see the man just standing there clutching his hand.

He looked up at her, not angry as much as shocked. But rather than try to run after her he simply turned around as if looking at something. As she started to run again her ears caught something. It wasn’t much, just a high pitched whistle. She looked around but couldn’t see anything. The man looked at her, eyes wide like he had seen a ghost. A split second later he bolted toward her shouting something like “Get down!” He grabbed her like a ball and rushed toward the truck. The whistle grew to a roar as he leapt with Chloe in his arms toward the underside of the truck.

Mid-leap there was a blinding flash, almost like a camera, Chloe thought. They hadn’t even reached the pavement when there was a sound like a giant handclap (this was exactly what it sounded like) and some unseen forced smacked them both against the ground.