She looks to the side and sees Nic, Michelle, and her grandmother with the same tightness around their eyes. The M-4 in her hand feels heavy and unfamiliar yet reassuring in a way. She makes sure there isn’t a clip in the lower receiver and pulls the charging handle back, like she had been taught, to make sure there isn’t a round in the chamber. Taking a few steps away from the Humvee into the clear, she raises the carbine and looks through the sight. Reaching up, she turns it to the 1x setting and looks around the empty fields surrounding her; putting her red dot on one object after another. She fired this M-4 at the range with the others and found that the kick, although there, was negligible. That was one fear she had – that it would buck hard against her shoulder. The red dot wobbles slightly as she tries to hold it on a clump of dry grass near the edge of the parking lot. Bri notices the gun isn’t as unwieldy as the first time she fired it yet it is still hard to hold steady.
Bri sees her dad and brother step away from the entrance and another group moves quickly up to take that position. “Okay, let’s do this,” she hears her dad say into the radio. “Go!”
The teams by the doors quickly rush in and disappear from sight. She watches as her dad and brother vanish into the building immediately after and sends a prayer in with them. “Please let them be okay,” she whispers. With not knowing where her mom is or what happened to her, seeing her dad and brother disappear into the building like that brings the quick fear and thought that if something were to happen to her dad, her and Nic would be orphaned and alone.
She hears a small gasp from Nic. She looks at the others and notices that they, like her, seem to be holding their breath. “Alpha, Bravo, Go!” She hears her dad call and the rest of the people outside of the building flow inside like a mist; everyone vanishing from sight. She has been inside numerous times before with her dad and follows their progress in her mind from the radio calls. Noticing that she has been rubbing the trigger guard of her M-4 with her finger, she pulls it away, takes in a deep breath, and tries to calm her nerves.
Her thoughts, while following the initial entry and progress inside, folds back to the events of the past. She finds it hard to believe they were in class just over a week ago and her biggest concerns were what she was going to wear and what friend’s house she was going to go to after school. The whirlwind adventure of this past week seem very unreal to her.
Bri thinks back to that terrifying morning. Robert rushing into her room and waking her. Her being pissed at him for waking her up early as she had stayed up late texting with her friends.
“Bri, get up! Something’s wrong and we’ve got to get out of here,” Robert said with an urgent whisper.
“What!? Where are Mom and Nic?” She asked.
“Shhhh. Keep it down dammit,” he said with a tense whisper and finger to his lips. “Nic is in the hallway by the door.”
“Where’s Mom?” She asked more quietly. She remembers Robert just staring at her with an unreadable expression.
“Just get up. Now!” He answered.
She pushed the covers off and felt the cold floor beneath her feet. Her phone was on the sheets next to her where it had fallen when she had fallen asleep in the middle of texting. She grabbed it and followed Robert to the door. Nic was standing outside looking down the hall and stairs. Nic gave her a quick hug before turning back to her focus.
“What now?” Nic asked Robert.
“We need to make it downstairs and outside. We need to keep quiet. I’ll go first with you two right behind,” he answered.
“What’s going on?” Bri asked quietly.
“There’s someone or something downstairs,” Robert answered. They had all read and watched the news of the quickly escalating situation. They had somewhat put the pieces together and knew something wasn’t right. There was the increasing news of the flu pandemic and subsequent vaccine. People were dying in droves and the reports of people attacking each other were startling. The world seemed to be coming apart at the seams.
Robert started off and it was then that Bri noticed the knife in his hand. It was one of the boot knives their dad had given him. Seeing Robert stalking ahead with the knife had made her realize that their situation was dangerous as Robert wasn’t one to be dramatic for drama’s sake alone. They made their way to the stairs and began to creep down. Reaching the corner, she could see where the stairs emptied into the living room. Robert reached the bottom step and peered around, signaling them to follow after a moment.
They all stepped into the living room and crept toward the locked front door. The door was locked fast with multiple deadlocks and a contraption of boards against it. Robert had stepped into the hallway in front of the door and a loud shriek erupted from near the back door along with feet slapping rapidly against the floor.
“Quick, into the basement,” Robert said knowing he would never get the front door open in time. Throwing the basement door open, they all flew inside. Robert shut and locked the door just as something big slammed into it. They fled down the basement steps and hid by boxes of mementos on the floor.
“What was that?” Bri asked.
“I don’t know,” Robert answered.
Robert’s phone vibrated and he answered, talking briefly. It vibrated again shortly thereafter and, again, the conversation was short.
“That was Dad. He says to be quiet, that he loves you, and that he’s on his way,” Robert said closing his phone.
“Night runner on the far balcony, second floor,” Bri hears a female voice call out over the radio, jarring her back into the present.
The radio call brings an increase in tension within her. She thinks of her dad inside as he issues an order for Cressman to take out the night runner. She remembers the times when her days were filled with being with her friends; missing her dad but thinking she had time to connect and see him later. It was always later. An overwhelming feeling of sadness envelopes her thinking of those missed opportunities and how fun it had been when they would all go to the drive-in; how free and open those times were. She sends another prayer outward hoping they will see this through and she will see her dad again.
She follows the events inside with the radio calls. Suddenly, shrieks emit through the entrance door, faintly reaching her ears faintly. The radio calls begin to take on a frantic tone and gunshots, well, more like gunfire is heard both through the radio when calls are made and the open door. Her heart beats faster and she hopes that everyone is okay. After a short time, she hears her dad calling for teams to pull back. The noise being radiated from inside is constant. Looking to the sky with another tear forming, she whispers, “Please, please, anything but let them be okay.”
Nic steps over and puts her arm around her, knocking her earpiece out. She doesn’t bother to put it back in as the feel of her sister’s arm around her is comforting. The sounds being emitted suddenly, and without warning, cease. Her heart jumps up a notch. Several minutes pass and she sees soldiers appear at the door hauling limp forms between them. She gasps loudly and runs toward where they are laying the bodies by the side of the door. She peers anxiously at each of them but they are so ruined that she can’t make out the features well enough to identify. Her stomach turns but she continues to look, hoping to find something that will tell her that none of these are her dad or brother.
She stifles a sob and looks up to see Lynn arranging a sixth body beside her. Their eyes meets; Lynn’s blue eyes red from a lack of sleep and tension, Bri’s from the forming tears and anxiety.
“Is my dad okay?” Bri asks looking at Lynn hopefully.
Lynn stands and wraps her in a hug, “Yes, he’s okay, sweetheart.”
“And Robert?” Bri asks into Lynn’s shoulder.
“Yes, hon, they’re both okay,” Lynn answers.
Bri sobs once in relief and thanks any spirits listening for an answer to her prayers.
