The sun had barely risen when the screams began. I sighed. The screams of the innocent men and women being dragged off to face their death was a common occurrence here. They no longer gave me nightmares. In the early days of the Reestabishment, those same screams would keep me up for days. They were a lot less frequent then.

Sarah had woken up too, but the kids were still sound asleep. This was all they knew. They knew nothing of life before the Reestablishment. Sometimes I envied their ignorance. SometimesI didn't. Depends on my mood. Today, I was practically green with envy. I watched Sarah groggily look out of our 'home'. Our container happened to be on the bottom, near the door. We got lucky, I suppose. Sarah had always seemed to think it was better to know who we were losing, she always went to see who it was. I was of a different opinion. Especially because that could be us one day soon. Unless my brother was right, unless things were changing. I hadn't told Sarah yet, about what J had done. Honestly, I don't know if I ever will. Maybe death is better as a surprise.

I wasn't paying Sarah any attention as she stood at the door, until I heard her muffled sob. She had her hand over her mouth so that her sobs wouldn't wake everyone else still sleeping. I went to the door and froze on the spot when I looked out.

Seamus' wife was fighting the soldiers dragging her away. Didn't she know it was better not to fight? Then I saw the children. Not crying, or looking around in bewilderment. They were flopped over the soldier's shoulders. Unconscious. Or dead. I had to look away. How could I have forgotten that hope was not my friend? That it was nothing but a backstabbing idiot that lived to destroy me? My only hope for my own family was being dragged away with Seamus'.

Sarah turned her tear streaked face towards me, and I had to hide my tears and pretend to be her ever-stoic husband she was so used to. Valerie, Seamus' wife, is a good friend of hers. Or was, now. I felt a soft tug on my pant leg. It was Mel. She must have woken up just now.

"Papi?" she asked, her question clear. I tried to maneuver around it.

"Jonathan and Jacob are gone." I explained. She nodded. She was used to this. In her world, if someone was here one day and gone the next, well, that's just how life went.

"Guess I'll have to find a new partner today." she said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, complete with a shrug of her shoulders. This provoked more tears from Sarah. Mel had started walking away, but she turned back at the sound of her mother's tears. She wrapped her arms around Sarah's upper leg, the best hug she could give at her age.

"Don't worry, Mommy. None of us are gone." In her sweet, sing-song voice, it was almost comforting. Sarah nodded and bent down to return her hug. I wish she hadn't, because then she might have missed what Mel said next. "And even if we were, we'd all be gone together."


So, I sort of forgot about this story... Sorry about that! But it's back and improved (a little) and I promise I'll have a new chapter up by the end of the week.

Until next time!