Bing!

The elevator had reached the correct floor and settled before it's doors could split apart, revealing both Dora and Jolyn braced on the inside.

"Which door did you say it was again?" Jolyn whispered, attempting to put on his bravest face—but there was no remedy imaginable that could prepare him for this situation.

"It's the second door directly to the right," Dora directed. Jolyn nodded, and peered out of the elevator, carefully looking in both directions like a child would before ignorantly crossing the road. There was not one soul around. But before he could extend both legs out of the elevator, he felt an unsettled, hesitant palm touch his arm, "Wait, wait…are you sure you just don't want to walk? We can walk home instead, you know?" Dora asked, coming up with any excuse that could avoid sending her determined son into such a hellish territory.

Jolyn disagreed. After seeing what happened in the subway, he theorized that the safest form of transportation would be inside of a vehicle. Traveling afoot was the quickest way to turn into one of those things, and any pedestrian that was formerly underground could be infected and mingling amongst the oblivious.

Jolyn fully exited the elevator, shadowing the wall like a magnet, and tiptoed down the hallway. Clearly not being the only people the entire workplace, the elevator was in the midst of being summoned elsewhere. Dora found it damn-near impractical to leave her youngest boy alone, so she stopped the doors from closing and exited the lift. With some afterthought, she understood that it wasn't the wisest choice to wait in such an enclosed space. She wasn't completely sure of their capabilities and if it involved climbing stairs or taking elevators, but either way, if she were attacked for whatever reason, she'd have nowhere to run. From most recent experience, it wasn't best to have your back against a wall.

Since her quick snatch, Dora hadn't let go of the rusty pipe wrench and treated it like it was her lifeline. She limped through the corridor, scurrying behind her son like a baseball player approaching a moving home plate. Jolyn walked into the correct office, easily identifying her plum purse on the counter. Meanwhile, he felt his cell vibrate along with a maxed-out ring—out of all the days he decided not to forget his phone on vibrate. Retrieving it from his pocket, he saw Ada's name listed across her selfie and had no choice but to regrettably ignored it, instantly forwarding it to voicemail. Shortly afterward, he had a voicemail and text message from her.

"Psst!" Dora notified, keeping a lookout from outside the office.

Purposely reminding him to move post-haste, he quickly tossed his phone amongst his mother's personal belongings and threw the purse over his shoulder. They ditched the office and quickly ran (and limped) back to the elevator. Quickly pressing the elevator button, the elevator reappeared on their floor, this time having a young woman inside. Startled by one another, the woman stepped aside in the corner of the elevator, eyeballing Dora's getup—A barefoot woman armed with a bloody pipe wrench—Something that would inevitably raise some questions. Treating her as if she were invisible Dora and Jolyn entered the elevator and stood a good distance, away from her.,

"...Floor?" the woman awkwardly smiled, giving a hard swallow.


Emberly was in a frantic state when she ran away from Dora's home the first time. She wasn't thinking clearly when she took the longest path back to the bus stop, and then realized almost a half an hour later that no buses were running. Although she was sorely opposed to returning back to Dora's home, she had no other choice but to wait outside until someone showed up. She remembered receiving a text from Jolyn, saying that he would be returning home shortly with his mother, but they hadn't returned yet. It would've been ideal to text him back, but she left her cell phone in the forbidden house.

Suddenly, Emberly looked over into the street and heard a familiar voice coming from an unfamiliar, honking car. Once the car easily drove and parked into a wide parking space, Ada was seen immediately exiting from the passenger's side,

"Adaline!" Emberly cried, running into an embracement for the both of them.

It took a minute for Ada to understand that something dreadful was bothering Emberly, and she only hoped that it wasn't anything similar to what she and Carlos had seen. She fearfully looked over her shoulder, watching Carlos exit his properly secured vehicle. He carefully stepped over a small segment of grass made for a flimsy tree that stood by the curb, in front of Dora's house. Remaining at a safe distance to avoid frightening Emberly, he watched closely as Ada did all she could to console her adored cousin,

"Calm down. It's gonna be okay…" Ada reassured.

She stepped aside, keeping one arm rested on Emberly's shoulder for her to feel secure. With Emberly's vision no longer being obscured by Ada's lovable hugs, she saw a slightly lean young man in a peach colored tank top with grey sweatpants and some worn out black sneakers. He was tall and roughly looked around the same age group as Ada. She had never seen him before.

"Who's that?" Emberly asked, looking up at Ada.

"That Carlos. He's my...very good friend."

Carlos waved, taking that as his cue to introduce himself and step forward.

"Hey, Emily…"

"Emberly," both girls corrected.

"...Emberly," he repeated, cheesing even harder, "How are you?"

Naturally, one would say that they were "doing fine" or that they were "okay", but Emberly couldn't bring herself to say it, because it would've been a response drastically far from the truth. Once Ada picked up on the silence, Ada released Emberly and looked down at her,

"Emberly, what happened?"

"Something's wrong with aunty Joy..." Emberly announced as her voice cracked.

Ada and Carlos looked at one another, having a sharp idea of what those words could have been code for.


Ada and Carlos convinced themselves that things should and would be fine with them around, however, Emberly felt entirely opposed to the whole thing. She made sure to clarify that nothing could make her feel safe enough to stroll back into that house. She just wanted Carlos to give her a ride back home, but with the way things were turning out with this random sickness, the chances were too risky. The more they tried encouraging the preteen to accompany them, the louder her oppositions and fusses became. She boldly made the choice that she wasn't going to step back into that house until aunt Joy was "taken to the hospital". She felt much safer outside than she did indoors for the time being. Eventually, they gave up trying to get her to stick close to them and thought it was best to keep Emberly from seeing whatever wickedness she had described.

The front door of the Chadwell's home was pushed open ever so slightly as Ada was the first to enter with Carlos close behind her.

"Where'd you last see her again?" Ada inquired Emberly, looking down the three sets of red steps.

"The basement. I used the thing on the door to lock her in there," Emberly enlightened.

"The latch?" Ada quizzed.

Emberly nodded, having Ada turn her attention back to the entrance. Like every typical Queens house, their home wasn't exactly big and spacious, especially since Dora was a professional at buying unneeded junk. As soon as you entered the Chadwell home, there was pink, carpeted steps directly across from you that to the upstairs. The house cats, eager to go outdoors, ran past Ada and greeted Emberly while she sat on the porch with her back facing the entrance.

Ada walked a little past the front entrance and made a left into the living room. There, you had the entire floor presented to you in a single glance. By standing in the living room she was already looking through the dining room and into the kitchen. Ada carefully made her way through the living room and into the kitchen, making an immediate u-turn and encountering Joy's white basement door. The door owned a knob that was incapable of twisting or turning, so it was either push or pull. The door was just as Emberly said. It sealed by the latch, but with no padlock. Ada held a handful of the rattling bamboo curtains and moved them aside so she could place her ear against the door. All she could hear was Joy's thunderous television flooding the basement with a sea of soundwaves. If they were physical, Ada would surely feel them around her ankles.

Behind another damn door, she thought to herself, recalling Mrs. Sanchez's bedroom door. It wasn't as easy as it seemed, seeing that Ada had such a difficult time removing the hasp. She was fighting with herself internally, combating the good conscience inside of her that told her to just turn away if she wanted to spare herself of the ordeal. Ultimately, Ada won the battle, and she proceeded to slowly remove the hasp. She closed her eyes as her hand felt its way to the knob and slowly pushed it open, feeling her most vital organ beat immoderately. As she squeezed nothing more but her head past the entry, she felt an environment so ominousness, she could touch it.

Joy wasn't at the bottom of the staircase, so Ada had no choice but grab her attention somehow. Yelling at the top of her lungs, she called "Aunt Joy" over and over until her trembling voice gave signs of strain and stress. Her hands held onto the rickety handrail, shaking even further due to the uneasiness discharged from her palms. Nearly halfway down, Ada's face tensed up at the sight of Joy waddling directly towards the bottom of the staircase, aimlessly following the sound of Ada's voice like a moth to a flame. Ada shrieked and stumbled back a couple of steps, eventually falling on her hindquarters, thinking that Joy was going to climb after her. However, she stopped and stared, noticing the secreting yet hardened skin, like she had walked straight out of a coffin despite being 'gone' for hours. She had marks all over her face, obvious signs of the stray's struggle, and her stomach was filled beyond normal capacity.

She stared at aunt Joy's feet, failing to make their way up at least one step. Ada's glossy eyes looked elsewhere, and meanwhile, it was effortless to not want to witness anymore, it was also extremely painful to be brought to that point. She wiped away a tear and calmly made her way back upstairs, doing exactly what Emberly did her first encounter—just more diligently.

As she backed away into the kitchen, nearly knocking her side on the oven directly behind her, she walked into the unenclosed. She saw Carlos in the living room, sitting right beside Emberly on the sofa. If Ada weren't already stupefied by the sight of her relative and an undying will to hold back tears, she'd express how amazed she was by her boyfriend's influence over Emberly in spite of them meeting for the first time ever.

"Did you see her?" Emberly asked with a depressed presence.

Ada couldn't confirm, but only because she wanted to deny what she had seen. She cleared her throat,

"Hey, why don't you go to the backyard and try calling your dad to see he's alright?"

"I'll...I'll go with her…" Carlos respectfully offered, seeing it as the right thing to do.

Ada desperately sought some alone time with Carlos, but she understood his place in all of this. He must've felt obligated because of the possible thought that he could be intruding, but it was incredibly brave of him to put his current feelings aside to be there for a young family member he knew in less than half an hour. So it was by good example that Ada did the same. She watched Emberly retrieve her cell phone from her backpack and guide Carlos to the back door, which was a dull artichoke color. She led him out of the next security door, surprising him by the greeting of a frolicsome mixed-breed dog with pointed ears and a sickle tail.

Ada turned her back and immediately took out her own cell, going through the contacts and calling Jolyn. However, her call was denied and went straight to voicemail,

"Jolyn…" Ada's voice cracked, giving a high pitched inhale, "Call me as soon as you get this. Please...it's urgent."

Basically texting the same thing, she sat on the living room sofa, directly opposite the path leading to either the house exit or stairs. Tears endlessly streamed down her freckled cheeks in silence.


Around two hours later, Jolyn and Dora finally returned home after the struggle to reclaim Dora's car keys. The setting of the neighborhood was rather different this time. A few neighbors were either returning home from work, carrying items in bulk, or deciding that it was time to abandon their place. People were hauling large suitcases to their car and hoping to catch flights. Even friendly neighbors, who greeted the Chadwell's every single time they saw one another were too focused to offer any kind of attention.

As much as they desired to ask questions, they were too worn out by today's anomalies. Within seconds of entering their yard, Ada opened the front door and ran out to greet her brother and mother. The noises of their aluminum fence opening and closing always alerted whoever was in the house,

"Oh, thank god!" Ada cried out, leaping from the steps and separately into her mother and brother's arms.

Ada's reaction was extremely telling, meaning that Jolyn and Dora weren't the only ones who witnessed the abundant scare tactics today,

"Mom…" Ada covered her mouth, looking at the blood stains on Dora's clothing, "Wha...is that blood? Are you bit?"

"Bit?" Jolyn repeated in curiosity, shocked that his sibling even knew the concept.

Dora looked around, seeing a new set of neighbor's closest to them, exit their home and begin to hammer their windows with plywood. She turned each of her children around by the shoulders and rushed them into the house, indicating that she had something to discuss with them in private. Once they were all locked inside, Dora was surprised to spot a handsome young man sitting on their three-seat living room sofa, with groggy eyes formerly pinned to the television. Jolyn waved. Spread across the two-seater, in slumber, was Emberly, snoring softly.

"Mom, this is Carlos…" Ada introduced.

After all she had been through today, she didn't want the presence of an unknown stranger in her house, especially alone with her daughter and niece. Dora eyed the both Ada and Carlos and proceeded to portray a brittle smile,

"Dora…" she greeted, reaching over to shake his firm hand.

She was the first to pull away and headed upstairs, quietly summoning her children that were looking like lost pups at the bottom of the staircase. They all walked upstairs and sealed themselves off in her room. Being in the comfort of her own home and children, Dora began to change her clothes almost immediately. Her queen-sized bed took up most of the space in her room, making an 'L' shaped path, occupied by small crates for mail and five-pound dumbbells here and there. Her children stood on the far side, away from the drawers that contained her clothing,

"You want to know what happened to me at work today?" coaxed Dora, specifically towards Ada.

Ada gave Jolyn a nervous glance before answering. She crossed her arms before speaking, a very telling gesture,

"What?" she mumbled.

"I was at work today and a coworker of mine was very sick. It was a nasty cold, nasty, nasty, nasty!" she emphasized, "Then, he disappeared for a minute. I went to the bathroom, came back and...and…" Dora was already seated on the edge of her bed with her facing them. She gathered all of her hair over shoulders with one hand and tied it into a ponytail that sat at the base of her head. She took in a deep breath, attempting to continue her story "Oh, Lord…"

"Something happened to him," Jolyn took over, "He attacked mom before she could get away…"

"What do you mean something happened to him?" Ada quizzed.

Jolyn took a deep breath,

"I sort of saw the same thing...and…." he paused, giving a shivering breath like he was holding back tears, "Ada I saw people die. Die and come back to life!"

She took a few steps away from him, walking to the furthest end of the 'L'. She glanced at the both of them,

"Dead people don't come back to life," she argued.

"W-we know that!" Jolyn said, making irate gestures with his hands as he spoke, "I saw it with my own eyes, Ada! It was so scary. I'm still shaking."

Jolyn continued to tell the story for his mother, seeing that she was having such a difficult time. However, it became enormously difficult for him once he had to include himself in the experience because he had to tell it from his own point of view. He didn't know what it was like, being face to face with a walking corpse and he didn't want to know. He didn't want to know what it felt like having to break a skull. But he knew what it was like to see people getting their flesh torn apart and getting their bodies severed. He moved on to his story, overcome by intense nausea. He excused himself and quickly exited Dora's room and headed straight across for the bathroom. Not even a second after hearing the door slammed, he could be heard retching into the toilet bowl.

"He'll be okay…" Dora sighed.

"Did you hear from Leo and Sarah?" Ada asked.

Dora nodded, remembering the moment she saw Texas on the devastating news reports this morning. She ran into her office and must have called and texted contact in her phone.

"Everyone's okay so far. Your brother is locked in his dormitory with his roommates and your sister is traveling with the army right now, but they have her family in protective custody so I'm sure they'll be fine. Your aunts, cousins, and uncles back home seem fine…infection hasn't had the chance to hit there, thank god, and…" Dora's voice died off a bit, whereas there seemed to be an obvious ellipses in her speech.

"What is it?"

"Close the door…" Dora suggested. Ada did as she was told and slightly pushed the bedroom door shut. It was obvious that Dora wanted to hide something from her son, but what could've been so personal that she trusted Ada with it more than Jolyn? Dora grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her directly in front of her, "I tried calling your dad in Virginia…" she sighed, "I couldn't get an answer."

"Oh," Ada tucked a lock of hair behind her ears, proceeded to cross her arms and nod; a collection of anxious movements, "It doesn't matter...he was never really around anyway…"

"Don't tell Jolyn."

"Why?" Ada scoffed.

Dora shrugged,

"Look, as much as he doesn't want to admit it, he's just like his father, and he…" She was cut off by Ada.

"Mom…"

"...and he sees that!"

"Mom! Jolyn and dad are nothing alike, okay?!" She said, cutting Dora off, "Dad was an abusive asshole towards you, okay? He isn't a good man!"

"And he's still your father! You know Jolyn saw something in his father and it was the only reason he spoke to him before he moved to Virginia."

Ada shook her head, feeling like she knew more of the truth than her mother did. Sometimes siblings just preferred sharing secrets with one another that they dared not tell their parents. She knew about the misery and multiple fights Jolyn had to go through because he made the responsible choice of being a mental crutch for his father, and because of that, Jolyn in return would suffer from the negativity and toxicity.

"What about you, mom? Are you okay?" Ada asked with concern.

'I'll be fine. I'll just try to have a good prayer tonight. I'm just glad Emberly is here in one piece…" she paused for while before looking at the photographs of her beloved relatives taped to her dresser mirrors, and popped one final question, "Where's Joy?"

The best way Dora could describe Ada'a reaction was like she had been personally insulted by Dora's question. With that being said, Ada's eyes continued to well up. Dora, in some sense, already knew what words were striving to transpire from her daughter's lips.


It was a rough evening once the news got to every one of aunt Joy's current state—except Emberly. Although Emberly was the first to encounter and see what became of Joy, she was still an eleven year old completely unaware of what was going on. She believed that her mentally unstable aunt had finally cracked.

Dora would treat Emberly as if she were her own daughter, which included being hard on her and being completely honest, no matter how ugly and harsh the truth was. Therefore, the plan, for now, was to keep Emberly in the dark until they, themselves, were no longer in the dark as well. As exhausted as everyone seemed, it was difficult to fall asleep in something that felt like an eternal nightmare. Everyone, including Carlos, remained close together, sitting on the couches of the living room and watching the news that promised no good reports. She walked off from time to time to grieve, thinking that whenever she returned, there was no more cry left in her, but it always turned out to be the opposite. Getting up for about the seventh time, Dora grabbed a box of tissues as she walked through the house and into the backyard once she realized that she would need more time alone. She swiped through the security door, having it freely slam behind her. The backyard was a small one and included an average sized garage used for storing junk and serving as the dog's residence. Marigold was her name, and she was always so happy whenever she saw her owner exiting the yard. Dora, clearly treatless, apologized to her furry blonde friend.

Standing at the very top of her backyard porch—possessing the same red color as her front—-she could see over the very top of her closely aligned, seven foot, picket fence built around the perimeter of her backyard. She saw the back of her neighbor's, head. Her name was Janae, and from the look of her messy bun and nightgown, she wasn't running anywhere.

Janae was a woman who recently moved into the block with her two daughters. She was a kind woman who usually kept to herself. The only times she was ever seen outside of the house was when she dropping her youngest daughter off to elementary school or running errands. She threw great family gatherings during any recognized day, whether it was July 4th or Ash Wednesday. Whether she worked or not? Dora didn't know. But there was a day when Dora approached Janae in hopes of recruiting her youngest daughter to attend vacation bible school, a program that the local church held every Summer. They participated in fun games and challenges, all as a ruse to brainwash impressional babies into taking interest in a religion. No matter the movement, it was always best to assimilate them while they were young.

While standing atop the porch, Dora said hi to Janae, lacking her natural enthusiasm when speaking to acquaintances. After a couple of seconds, she figured that maybe her lethargic attitude had something to do with the fact that Janea never responded. However, something felt incredibly bizarre about Janae's movements. Thinking back during her situation at work, Dora pulled a tissue from her tissue box and dried away her tears. Irresolutely, she blew her nose into it a couple of times, simultaneously clearing out the mucus from her snout. Just as calculated, she received the reaction she expected.

Janae teetered around, like a mannequin unable to bend its joints, slowly revealing that she too had contracted the sickness. She was a fair-skinned woman with a complexion in likeness with sand, but her skin was ten times paler than it was naturally. Her irises were a pale blue, sticking out like a sore thumb from her heavily hemorrhaged right eye. When Janae finally locked eyes on Dora, she opened her mouth and hissed silently, revealing unappealing, blackened teeth that Janae had possessed before, for whatever unpleasant reason.

Even if one was clearly more conscious than the other, both of their attentions were drawn by the familiar and sudden noises of what undoubtedly sounded like helicopter rotors. Once the sounds grew louder, it retained the same volume as gusts of wind picked up around Dora. Marigold was a canine easily frightened by booming noises—fireworks, thunder, and now helicopter blades. Dora carefully walked down the steps, since the only thing separating her view from the sky was the awning on her backyard porch. She looked into the skies and brought her hands to her eyes to provide some form of shade from the sun, noticing a beige colored helicopter hovering about three hundred feet above their house. The longer Dora stared at them, the more she wondered what they were doing. After a couple of seconds, Dora was shocked by a deafening gunshot that flew into Jenae's yard. She ducked and ran for cover, assuming that this was all the commencing of a bioterrorist attack and overseas war. It would make sense after all.

Her first priority was her children and niece. She power walked into the house, seeing everyone's shaken faces pinned on the living room floor. Everyone babbled uncontrollably over one another, with Dora soon joining the set. Ultimately, everyone's question was what was going on. Dora wasn't exactly sure, but she crawled to the floor and decided to clump together with the group. From her position on the floor, she could see through the opened blinds and saw the helicopter hovering over their neighborhood at a much higher altitude. Dora cowered away, wanting the helicopter out of sight, because as long as the copter was in her sight—she was in its sight.

"Attention, residents!" A random woman's voice said over a blaring megaphone, obviously from the helicopter, "I repeat, attention residents!" Everyone in the living room listed closely, looking at one another and speaking through facial expressions. The announcement continued, "We are the New York Army National Guard. By demand of the Federal government of the United States, we have set up mobile stations not too far from here and are now imposing martial law on the state of New York. A vast majority of neighborhoods in Queens have been quarantined. That includes this city! We will be setting up checkpoints shortly. Please, do not leave the area at any time for any reason. Certain areas have been restricted. I repeat! Certain areas have been restricted for your safety. Any disobedience of the law can result in quarantine or incarceration. The Army will be here with you shortly."

About an hour later, the power went out. Many people had disobeyed and fled the neighborhood, abandoning their homes. There were a couple of families who thought it was best to stay because they had no idea what was going on on the outside, and that included Dora's family. Although he was told not to, Carlos left in a blink to return home and check on his mother. He hoped that she had gotten "better", and although it was highly unlikely, a fraction of Ada craved for the same result for both Mrs. Sanchez and Aunt Joy.

It was around thirty minutes past five in the afternoon, and the military returned as they promised. Imagine a swarm of stiff men and women in camouflage patterns uniform; holding heavy artillery, walking door to door and interrogating people on their families. They choked off blocks, understanding that people would leave in such a totalitarian-esque moment. Dora was a woman who took pride in being the Head of Household, especially for a woman who came from where she did. So as soon as she heard the hard knocks on her door, she answered without hesitation. She wore her best smile, happy to see men and women whose duty was to protect the country she knew they shared the same admiration for,

"Hello, ma'am," A handsome Caucasian male said, standing beside an equally gorgeous Afro-American woman who was roughly younger and shorter than her colleague. The sight of her was slightly a doozy because it instantly reminded Dora of her eldest daughter, "I'm private Arne Rogers and this Peyton Torres."

Dora nodded,

"Dora Chadwell. Nice to meet you."

"Whoa," Arne exclaimed, "Where's that accent from?"

Dora smiled, most it being genuine.

"I'm from a small island called Dominica."

"Exotic," Arne commented, obviously trying to familiarize himself with the neighborhood.

Jolyn, who was hidden on the sidelines nearly gagged and exchanged distasteful glances with his sister.

Nonetheless, Arne showed himself to be a friendly man and spoke with Dora for such a long while that it seemed more than a forced conversation. He became relaxed, taking off his cap and revealing red hair and big ears. However, there eventually came a time where he had to leave and carry on with his duties. He handed her a pink piece of paper and walked off. Leaving only the netted security door exposed, Dora walked away and sat on the living room couch beside disorderly Emberly,

"What is that?" Ada asked, extending her arm.

"A list of questions," Dora answered, passing it to her.

The list went on to two pages, asking questions like, "How many residents?" and proceeded to ask for the names and ages of those residents. As necessary as it seemed, it also felt a bit invasive.

"I don't trust it…" Jolyn said, reading over his sister's shoulder.

"Why not?" Dora asked.

"I don't know. You know there's always those movies where the government always spirals out of control with their power and stuff like that. There's always some truth to those kinds of things."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with Jolyn…" Ada said, passing the paper back to her mother.

"Well…" Dora gave a long sigh before replying. She searched for a pen inside of her handbag, grabbed her reading glasses and began to fill out the form, "What can we do?"

Jolyn made his rather ignorant presumptions of the army clear, but after counting how many of his neighbor's fled, he knew he wasn't the only person who shared the same feelings. In fact, he thought was best to harmlessly sit in it. He probably wouldn't admit it aloud, but the National Guard did awake a sensation of feeling protected because, for the first time in hours, he was able to separate himself from his family and walk upstairs. He slowly walked into his bedroom and locked the door behind him before throwing himself on his mattress. Almost as if he had fallen into a trance, he was plagued by the grotesque images of what happened in the subway and what he saw at the hospital. The images flipped through his head like an endless montage with filters colored by thick, running blood. He watched the ceiling, staring into oblivion.

Ada exited the living room next, hinting to everyone to avoid running the water because she was going to shower. She walked upstairs and turned directly into the bathroom. She softly closed the door behind her and securely locked it to avoid anyone from accidentally walking in on her. She gently pushed aside the sliding door for her shower and turned on the hot water alone. Over time, the building heat began to steam up the windows and mirrors. Sitting on the toilet in her undergarments, Ada buried her face in her palms and wept along with the harmonic thrumming of her shower.

Emberly was the last to leave. She got out of her seat and unplugged her cell phone from the charger, realizing that her phone stopped charging a long time ago when the power cut out. Although it was still in the back of her mind, she had also gotten over her fear walking through the kitchen. In her mind, she didn't know what else Joy was capable of, but it took a lot for eavesdropping to realize that she was smarter and faster. Marigold merrily followed Emberly to the backyard, normally sniffing the back of her jeans. Emberly opened the security door, letting Merigold exit before she did. Briefly looking down, she picked her head up and noticed three soldiers collaborating to pick up an unseeable mass on the ground in the neighbor's yard. Emberly ran down the steps and strolled way across the yard and into a skinny path beside the musty garage. On the other end of the path was a gated fence that looked out into the backyard alley of the first couple of row houses. She held the fence, watching the army soldiers carry out what looked like a hidden body on a stretcher. As much as Emberly knew it was right to look away, something inside of her kept telling her otherwise. As a small gust of wind picked up, it prompted the covers to lift, subtly revealing a dangling arm.

Meanwhile, Dora walked into the dining room to retrieve some candles from the fancy cabinet that held all of her most precious platters and glassware. She lit them, placing at least two in each area.