Maybe Hannah hasn’t noticed. No. It’s her house. She knows that things are weird. I just have to keep her distracted.
They played chess. Kaitlyn was impressed at how good Hannah was, though she was beginning to understand that the small girl was much more intelligent and intuitive than she would have otherwise guessed. When she had met her, Kaitlyn guessed she was five or six, though she knew that she was actually nine. She did say she was small because of—
“What can we do?” her mother asked downstairs.
There was a long pause. Kaitlyn could picture the intense stare—at least from her mom, looking for an answer. Mr. Moore, still staring out the window with his bat in hand, ready to smash anything that came toward the house. She waited, listening to the silence that seemed to last forever, wondering which adult would say something first.
“It’s your turn.” The silence was broken by Hannah, who had rolled over on the floor and looked up at her.
“Sorry,” Kaitlyn said. “I was thinking of something else.” She examined the board and moved, smiling as she moved her bishop to take one of Hannah’s pawns. “Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?”
“Actually,” Hannah said, sitting back up, “I did.” She promptly moved her own bishop to take Kaitlyn’s. It also put her directly in line with Kaitlyn’s king. “Check.”
“How did you—?” Kaitlyn stammered, slightly stunned. She saw that she could easily take the bishop with her queen, so all was not lost. As she touched her queen she looked at Hannah.
She was smiling.
“What are you planning?” Kaitlyn asked.
Hannah hid her smile immediately. “Nothing. It’s your turn.”
Kaitlyn pulled her hand back. She had won the first two games, but lost every game since. She got the impression that the small girl had just been getting a sense of how she worked. Kaitlyn had no chance from then on.
She saw Hannah’s next move. If I just move— No, there was another place. Hannah had her. And another. She was trapped. Not in checkmate, but one move away from it.
“Ranna Drive,” she heard her mother say from downstairs.
Ranna Drive? Why is mom talking about our street?
“That’s too far,” Dave said.
“I’m not saying that’s the first place we go,” her mother replied. “We make our way there, looking in houses or stores or whatever. If we find stuff, great, we bring it back here. If we don’t, I know there’s everything we need at home.”
Dave sighed. “We’re safer here.”
Are they planning on leaving? The idea of going outside, especially to go all the way to her own house—a good forty minute walk at the best of times—made her shiver.
Evidently Mr. Moore had the same opinion.
“We can’t go, Joanne. It’s not safe.”
“It’s not safe here either,” her mother replied. “Not once we run out of food.”
“We’re already out of food!” Dave exclaimed.
“They can hear you up there, you know!”
“They already know it, Joanne! It’s not hard to notice!”
Kaitlyn tried to stop listening. She had to get back to the game; to keep Hannah distracted. But Hannah was already in the hall at the top of the stairs listening intently. Somehow Kaitlyn hadn’t noticed.
The jig was up.
Hannah looked up when she joined her in the hall. With a slight smile, she took her hand and led her down the stairs. Though they didn’t try to be quiet, it was clear that neither of their parents heard them as they approached the living room.
“It’s not that bad,” Dave said. “Once things calm down outside, then we can—”
“When will that be?” Joanne interrupted. “This could go on for days, or even weeks!”
“It won’t,” Dave said, though his voice gave away that he wasn’t sure. He glanced out the window. Nothing at that moment. “Things will quiet down soon, and when they do ...” he turned away from the window, and saw the two girls standing in the doorway, behind Joanne.
Kaitlyn looked down at Hannah. She looked so small.
So weak.
So hungry.
Dave must have thought the same thing. Staring at the two girls, he swallowed. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Joanne said, still not aware of the girls behind her.
“Tomorrow morning,” he continued, “I’ll head out tomorrow morning. Find some food, medicine, whatever. I’ll find it, and I’ll bring it back here.”
“We’ll all help—” Joanne started.
“No,” he said. “Just me. You stay here, with them.” He nodded toward the girls.
Slowly Joanne turned to face them.
Tears streamed down Hannah’s face.
“You can’t go, Daddy,” she said, sobbing. “You ... you can’t!” She ran to him, and wept in his arms. He held his trembling daughter, the bat still clenched in one fist.
“I have to, Boo,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I have to.”
ALEX
The old community centre hadn’t changed much. Alex had gone to company Christmas parties there when his mom had worked at Sobeys, but he hadn’t been there since he was twelve. It wore a new coat of paint, and one window in the main door was boarded up, but other than that it was nearly identical. At least from the side they were approaching.
As they got closer, Nicole and David walked toward the large, fenced-in backyard. Alex, noticed something unusual in the front of the building.
No, it wasn’t a fortress, but Alex understood what David had meant when he said, “not yet.”
The street in front of the building had been torn up in September; they were laying a new sewer line. After a little over a month, the project was unfinished. It looked
