KAITLYN
When Kaitlyn finished, they all sat in silence.
Hannah had been weeping throughout the story, and now she mumbled, “Daddy. Where’s Daddy?”
Kaitlyn looked around the group, hoping that someone would have a better answer than the nothing she could offer. She caught Nicole’s eye; normally she would have backed away from a girl like Nicole—with her mass of tangled black hair, pale skin, and far too much dark makeup around her eyes, she almost looked like a bad impression of those things outside. However, when Nicole nodded, she felt comforted that someone knew what to say.
“We weren’t all here originally,” Nicole started, sounding hopeful. “And there must be other people out there—people like your daddy—and they will find us soon. All we have to do is be found! It’s not that hard,” she smiled. “After all, we found Alex, and he’s an idiot!”
“Hey!” Alex shot back.
“But, his dog—that’s Shadow, she’s down the hall—she led us to him and we saved him. So, she’s actually a really nice, good dog,” Nicole said to Hannah, using her kind voice again. “She could have left Alex out there. I would have.”
“Hey!” Alex interjected again.
“But no. The dog saved his life,” Nicole continued, ignoring him. “She would probably do the same for me and David and Ryan and you and Kaitlyn.”
The little girl started crying.
“What?” Nicole said, looking to Kaitlyn. “Can we not even talk about the dog?”
“I don’t know,” she said, leaning over to Hannah. “What’s wrong?”
“David,” she said, tears rolling down her face.
“Yeah?” David said, looking at the little girl.
“He makes me cry sometimes too, Hannah,” Nicole said with a smile. “He does that to people. You’ll get used to it.”
Kaitlyn hugged Hannah tightly against her. Hannah turned her face away from the group, pushing it into Kaitlyn’s side. She could feel her warm little tears soaking through. “It’s not him,” she said. “Her dad ... her dad’s name was David too,” she whispered.
The group sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Alex said, “Her dad’s name IS David, right?”
“Right,” Kaitlyn said, looking at him. She didn’t know why there were tears in his eyes too.
“So,” David jumped in. “Anyone seen that cat lately?”
“Why does it matter where the cat came from anyway? It’s here now,” Alex asked, wiping his eyes.
Nicole and David looked at each other; a look of worry. “Because,” Nicole answered, “if the cat is getting in and out, that means other things can get in too.”
ALEX
No one saw the cat for the rest of the day.
They spent the day making space for the new residents. When sleeping spaces were discussed, Alex did not mention his separate rooms idea. He’d realized he felt more comfortable with everyone all together; there was safety in numbers.
He did notice that Nicole gave him a funny look when the topic came up. Maybe she heard after all.
David told Alex he felt confident that all the rooms they used upstairs were secure, but he was not at all certain about the other rooms on that floor, not to mention the entire first floor and the basement. He didn’t want to look around either lower floor, so he and Alex opted to thoroughly search the second.
They got another room open—the room across the hall from “the hard way”—as they searched for the cat. Using a screwdriver and hammer, along with a bit more determination than before, David cracked the door open. A few folding tables stood around the room, each surrounded by five or six cushioned chairs. Evidently this room was being used as some kind of lounge, or very relaxed classroom.
In the far corner was something that made both boys grin widely as they ran for it.
NICOLE
From the bedroom, Nicole stared toward the street at the mudmen, wondering when they would clear away. She lifted her eyes, looking into the sky; at the tops of trees; at the clouds, trying to ignore the creatures, and the whole situation. She imagined this was a window at her house and she was looking out at a normal day as she waited for her parents to come home. Or, maybe they were coming to pick her up at Aunt Carol’s. Aunt Carol. With those eyes. Coming after me. After everyone. Her daydream stopped as she heard a rumbling, crashing noise coming from the hallway. It startled her so much that she smacked the top of her head on the window.
“What the hell—?” She ran to see what the commotion was.
“Okay, let go halfway down this time!” Alex said from his place in a wheeled office chair.
David ran, pushing it along, both boys laughing hysterically. He let go, and watched as its passenger rolled noisily down the next ten feet of hallway before it sharply veered right and hit the wall, spilling the still-laughing Alex to the floor.
Nicole stomped down the hall toward the boys, a slight throbbing in her head. “You are both morons!”
“You both have to let go at the same time.” Nicole instructed the boys as she sat in the office chair. “Or I’ll hit the wall, too. So run, count to three out loud, then let go, okay?’
She saw Kaitlyn and Hannah emerge from the bedroom to see what all the noise was about. They were smiling—a little—and looked more relaxed than she’d seen them since they arrived. “Hey! You two! Move or you’re gonna get run over!”
Both girls laughed, and then ran down the hall to watch the fun from a safe spot.
The five spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the chair and making forts in the new room out of the folding tables. Being kids. Nicole checked on Ryan a few times; she noticed that Alex did the same. No one worried about responsibilities or arguments for a few hours. No one worried about the things outside who, despite all the noise coming from the second floor of the community centre, soon cleared off again.
To keep the impromptu fun-day going, they cracked open the portable stove and cooked hotdogs for lunch,
