Wow so this update is super late. Sorry for the wait, everyone! And thank you to those who faved and left reviews, you guys are the real MVPs!
Especially you, Wxnderland, your review made me smile from ear-to-ear when I first read it! Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words, your review really made my day! :D
As always, I apologize in advance if there are any errors.
Actually that reminds me, I've been thinking of changing this story's name. I'll put an author's note if it does change, just to give everyone a heads-up.
School starts up for me this week so I can't say when the next update will be (my schedule will be very busy unfortunately) but I will do my best! I absolutely love writing this story and any chance I get, I'll try to continue working on it. Hope everyone is doing well, and hope you enjoy! xoxo
.: 11 :.
That night, Bubbles decided to take the first watch.
Boomer was exhausted after all the anguish and worry he'd felt earlier and although he'd protested that he was fine, Bubbles insisted she take the first shift of the night while he got some much-needed rest. It wouldn't do them any good if he was worried, distracted by said worry, and running on zero sleep.
After going back and forth about it for a few minutes, Boomer relented and they grabbed a few snacks and water bottles before heading up to the attic, where Bubbles was surprised to find a series of windows that spanned the entire dome of the attic. They had a 360-degree view of the neighborhood and, from this vantage point, she could just make out her house in the next street over.
"We're safe up here because the windows are tinted," Boomer had explained, answering her question before she could even ask it. "So we can see them, but they can't see us."
It was perfect for keeping an eye out for any infected that happened to wander around Boomer's street, and it felt nice to finally be able to walk around without constant fear of being spotted by one of those monsters.
Boomer brought up a bunch of pillows and blankets to create a makeshift sleeping area. He tried, one final time, to reason with Bubbles that he could take first watch and that she should rest, but one severe look from his friend and he sighed, giving in once more.
"If you need anything, even if it's just someone to talk to, just let me know," he offered, curling up on his side. "I'm a real light sleeper so it won't take much to wake me up."
With one final yawn, he was out cold in less than a minute. Bubbles smiled softly upon seeing his relaxed, peaceful expression, glad she'd been so insistent on taking first watch. The poor guy deserved some rest considering he would be spending all his waking hours fretting about his siblings.
Before any words were spoken about staying up and keeping watch for infected, they both had taken stock of their supplies. They had more than enough food to get them through two weeks if they rationed their meals wisely, they had lots of first-aid stuff handy just in case any accidents happened, and as long as they stayed at Boomer's house, they would have electricity and hot water for as long as the sunny weather continued.
However, they decided to take turns with the houses. One night they would stay at Bubbles' house, the next, Boomer's. They figured that if the rescue team did show up, they at least had half of a chance to be there to meet them. On the nights they would stay at Boomer's place, she would leave behind notes giving his address and that they were still alive, still waiting to be rescued. It gave her peace of mind and it was practical, for the most part; they'd have electricity to keep her phone up and running—which was crucial if she had any hopes of getting an update from her sisters—and they'd be able to keep an eye out for the rescue team.
Minutes turned into hours, which slowly ticked by. Bubbles was never one to stay up late but she forced herself to stay awake, if not for her own sake then to make sure nothing happened that could put Boomer in danger.
When two o'clock rolled around, Bubbles yawned for the umpteenth time and wearily scanned the neighborhood. A few infected were walking around aimlessly, not quite attacking anything or acting aggressively. Actually, it was perplexing, but a few of them were sitting around on the street with their arms wrapped around their knees, as if something was upsetting them and they were trying to comfort themselves.
One thing that really rattled Bubbles was that some of them were trying to get into the houses, but not forcefully. Some were actually trying to open doors but either the infection had scrambled their brains and they couldn't remember how to turn a doorknob or—and Bubbles was pretty sure this was the actual case—they didn't smell prey inside and decided it wasn't worth the effort.
Nevertheless, the sight of the infected acting so human made Bubbles shiver; had any tried to get into her house? She was suddenly glad she'd decided to stay at Boomer's for the night, and she wondered if maybe it would be a better idea to stay here instead of go back to her empty abode.
She yawned again and readjusted so that she was sitting Indian-style in her chair. Pretty soon she would be waking Boomer to take over watch; she couldn't wait to get some rest herself. Her nerves were so shot from constantly being on-edge and keeping a lookout over both this street and hers (or what she could see of her street, anyway) that
As she stared up at the twinkling stars above, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a warm hand rested on her shoulder. She whipped around, a scream threatening to explode from her mouth if it was one of those monsters, but her scream died in her throat when she realized it was only Boomer.
"Sorry," he whispered before a yawn interrupted him. "Didn't mean to scare you. I'll take over now; you should get some rest."
Bubbles nodded. After all the spikes and dips of adrenaline from seeing infected wandering around (sometimes too close to Boomer's house for her liking), she was more than ready to pass out for a good few hours.
She stood up and stretched, her joints popping noisily.
"I swear, you'd think I was seventy instead of nineteen," she grumbled softly, though Boomer heard her and chuckled.
Once her arms fell back to her sides, the exhaustion really set in and she curled up where Boomer had been sleeping, the pillows still warm from his body heat. The makeshift bed also smelled faintly of him and, although she knew it was probably weird, it felt comforting to have that minty scent wrapped around her. Once she was comfortable, it only took half a second to conk out.
Boomer stretched his arms above his head before sneaking a glance at Bubbles' sleeping form. Once again, he found the sight adorable; her lips were slightly parted as she slept, her chest rising and falling with each gentle breath. Her hair, although tied back in her signature pigtails, was somewhat messy yet also irresistibly cute.
He forced himself to look away knowing his cheeks were warm with blush. Dang it, he needed to stop doing that; Bubbles was a pretty girl and yes, she was a wonderful person, but she didn't look at him that way. Not that he looked at her in that way either, but still...
He shook those thoughts away. How many times did he have to go through this with himself? Besides, Bubbles was much more interested in getting out of their situation alive than she was in looking at Boomer as a potential date. Not that she was wrong for being in total survival mode, he couldn't exactly blame her, but... Damn it, he needed to stop with this.
Boomer forced himself to look outside to the dark streets below. His vision wasn't perfect due to Butch's multiple dares to stare at the sun when they were kids, but he could just make out the figures of infected wandering around. He found it odd that some of them were sitting with their arms wrapped around their knees, almost in the fetal position. What the heck was going on out there? Were those things injured and, if so, did that mean they could still register pain? Why were they even sitting like that in the first place?
The action of sitting like that made them look almost human. If it weren't for the glowing red eyes, horrific ability to kill off an entire population without cause, or the animalistic roars, he'd think they actually were human.
Bubbles mumbled something in her sleep and his attention temporarily refocused on her. When he turned back to looking at the streets below, he noticed one particular infected wandering a little too close to his house for comfort.
The male sniffed his way up the front lawn and paused at the front door. He paced around the stoop a few times before letting out a loud growl, alerting the others. Cold adrenaline rushed through the blonde's veins and he stood as quietly as possible, ready to grab Bubbles and haul ass out of there if that thing decided to break down the front door.
A few more infected gathered around the front lawn and Boomer was surprised to find that they weren't trying to bust through the windows or door like he'd watched them do when the outbreak first hit. His neighbors, bless their kindly souls, had been easily overtaken; no one in Townsville was mean or aggressive, which had seemed odd when they first moved there, and this lack of meanness meant that if someone tried to hurt them, they would not fight back. It didn't help that no one in Townsville locked their doors. The infected had waltzed into many homes without any form of resistance and stole civilian lives effortlessly.
In Citysville, a lot of people remarked that Townsville was full of sissies among other unkind words. It was a city too good to be true and everyone in Citysville reasoned that all that kindness, all those awards for being the greatest city to live in, the most beautiful place to visit, the friendliest place on earth... It had to be fake. No one was actually that sickly-sweet and kind. Not for free, anyway.
However, moving to Townsville had changed the Jojo family's perspective on what 'nice' meant. Their first day in the neighborhood, a bunch of people brought over pies and cakes and other little housewarming gifts, welcoming them to the city with open arms and genuine smiles. It had been weird at first and, if Boomer was being honest, he had wondered if Citysville wasn't far off the mark about all this kindness being a front. But living in this new city for one full week was enough to convince him that these people weren't sissies at all; they were just good souls that wanted a life of peace, a life away from the crime and smog and cruelty of the rest of the world. Townsville was a beacon of light in an ocean of darkness and good people flocked to the city like bees to honey. It all seemed unrealistic and it was strange that no bad people had snuck into the 'friendliest place on earth,' but then again, why would they? All this sickly-sweet, ooey-gooey kindness would be enough to drive evil people crazy... or at least give them a cavity.
All those sweet little old ladies, the soccer moms, the dads that enjoyed a good barbecue on the grill, the goofy little kids that always ran around the neighborhood getting into all sorts of good-natured shenanigans... They'd all been turned almost as fast as the infection had infiltrated Townsville. And once they were turned, their violence and aggression exceeded anything Boomer had ever seen in his life, and that said a lot considering people were killed left and right in Citysville if they so much as looked at someone the wrong way. The infected were frighteningly strong, kicking doors down and breaking through windows as if the hard material was a piece of tissue paper. They never hesitated, acting solely on instinct without any thought to repercussions or potential hazards to their bodies.
So why weren't these infected trying to do the same to his house?
The infected man in front of the door cocked his head to the side curiously, studying it as if trying to figure it out. Boomer would have snorted at the action if the situation wasn't so dire; in fact, if his brothers were here, he'd probably be making bets with them about Brick's traps sending this heathen packing.
And that's when it hit him: he hadn't reset the traps that Butch and Brick set up around the house. Cold sweat prickled at his spine and he prayed that thing didn't try anything to get inside. He and Bubbles might not make it out alive if those things busted through the door. Those traps were the only means of buying the blondes enough time to get out of dodge if shit hit the fan.
He sat perched on the edge of his seat, watching the infected intently. The man continued to pace around the front door, occasionally growling or letting out an annoyed grunt, but to Boomer's relief, he and the other infected soon lost interest and wandered away from the house.
When dawn arrived, all the infected slowly disappeared from sight, some taking refuge in nearby houses while others appeared to slink off towards the city. Boomer wasn't sure what to make of that but he made a mental note to tell Bubbles what he'd seen.
Speaking of which, the blonde was still out cold, completely clueless as to how close they had been to having their front door busted down. Boomer was suddenly glad she'd been asleep during that part of this stakeout; he hated it when she cried. Not that he blamed her for being upset, and he certainly wasn't annoyed with her when she cried, but it tugged at his heartstrings to see her look so broken. Bubbles was sweet and funny and she had to be one of the smartest girls he'd ever met, and to see someone as strong as her break down and completely lose it made him want to break down and completely lose it, too.
He went downstairs and set to work on resetting all of Brick's traps so that they wouldn't run into this problem again, plus it gave him peace of mind to think that if any of those asshats came too close to the house or tried getting in, at least Boomer and Bubbles would get a heads-up instead of dealing with a potential ambush.
By the time it was mid-morning, all of the traps were in working order and Bubbles stumbled downstairs, rubbing her eyes adorably. Her hair was messy and there were dark circles under her eyes but she still looked as pretty as ever. And with that thought, Boomer mentally slapped himself.
Stop thinking like that.
"Morning!" he greeted. Bubbles yawned and offered a half-wave.
"Good morning. How was watch?"
"Oh, uh... About that..." He quickly filled her in on the one infected person that had been trying to figure out how to operate the doorknob and the news instantly woke her up, alarm replacing exhaustion.
"Do you think maybe we should stay at my place tonight?" she asked. "If they can smell us in here, maybe they'll come back and try to get in, but if they find that there's no one in here, there's a chance they'll give up on finding us."
It wasn't much of a plan but it was probably better than what Boomer could think of.
"I'm in. Plus if they smell us in this house and yours but can't find us, maybe they'll get confused and go back to the city."
Bubbles smiled weakly. "Here's hoping."
They made their way into the kitchen where they poured themselves cereal and had to use water instead of milk. It wasn't pleasant but it was better than nothing, so they ate their breakfast without complaint.
When Boomer had finished his last bit of cheerios, he remarked, "You know, if we stay at your place tonight, we should probably make sure it's reinforced against those things."
Bubbles nodded. "I was thinking the same thing, but I don't really know how to do that. And I don't know what to use, honestly... Should we board up the windows?"
"Nah." He waved her off. "That would just mean lots of noise, what with hammering nails and stuff, and if those things can walk around in sunlight like you said they can, then we need to stay quiet. We don't want to do anything that might alert them to our presence."
She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. Boomer was right, of course, but how could they reinforce her house without using tools? She wished she could contact her sisters; maybe they'd be able to think of something.
Instead, she asked, "When do you think we should head over there?"
"How about noon?" he suggested. "That's when the sun is highest in the sky. We can sneak through the backyards."
"What if the infected are hiding in the houses, though?"
He grimaced. "Right... It's just that, what if they see us running to your house and remember it for later?"
Another solid point. Bubbles hated that every idea they had seemed to meet a roadblock.
"Do you think they're really that smart?"
"I really don't know but the fact that they knew enough to move into the neighborhood once the city was empty says they're smart enough to look for more prey when they've exhausted one area."
"Yeah but if they're operating on base instincts, then they may not notice every little thing that happens; only the stuff that affects their survival."
Boomer mulled this over. "True... I wish we knew more about them. Like, why couldn't we have gotten a manual on how to survive these things? Now would be a great time to churn out zombie-survival books."
Bubbles chuckled. "At least we know a little bit about them. Better than nothing, right?"
A genuine smile lit up his face and she was taken aback for a moment, surprised to see him so radiant. She definitely wasn't complaining but wondered what she had done to deserve such a beautiful smile.
"It's good to see you finally looking on the positive side of things." He reached over and playfully pinched at her cheek. "I've been rubbing off on ya, haven't I?"
Bubbles laughed and swatted his hand away.
"Why do you always pinch my face?"
"Because you're cute."
The words slipped from Boomer's mouth before he could filter them and he turned red with embarrassment.
"Uh, I mean, it's just that—! I don't mean that in a bad way, I just... Sorry. That was awkward, huh?"
Bubbles giggled again. "Not at all. You're pretty cute yourself."
He covered his face with his hands. "I'm sorry. I know I'm a dork."
She drew him into a hug but Boomer kept his face covered, the tips of his ears beginning to match the red that was currently dusting across his cheeks.
"You don't have to apologize to me for everything you say," she assured. "We're friends, remember? You can say anything you want and I won't judge you."
Boomer eventually hugged her back, his ropey arms enclosing around her perfectly. Something about Boomer made her forget all about the apocalyptic situation they were in. With him around, everything felt normal again, like they were just two people hanging out. No infected, no lack of electricity... Just normalcy.
"Can't believe you said I'm cute," he mumbled into her hair, and it was Bubbles' turn to grow scarlet. Nevertheless, she was nothing if not an expert at flirting, even if she didn't realize she was being flirtatious.
"Well, if the shoe fits," she shot back, and her words made him hold her that much closer. It wasn't exactly a friendly squeeze; it was the type of hug between two people that liked each other romantically, like coming home to someone after a long day and basking in their comforting presence. Normally, if this was any other guy, Bubbles might make up some excuse to untangle herself and take an awkward step back, but with Boomer...
Shaking that thought away, she instead focused on how nice it felt to be frozen in time with him. How did that quote go? To stop time, you kiss someone? Something like that... She couldn't quite remember the specifics but she finally understood what it meant. Being with Boomer, in his warm sunshine-y presence, all time slowed to a comfortable halt.
Finally, time marched on and Boomer let go of her, rubbing his neck sheepishly as he always did.
"Sorry," he said, then, at Bubbles' look, he chuckled, "It's not that I'm sorry for hugging you or anything, it's just that I know I'm an awkward potato and I don't always think before I speak, plus I just hugged you and called you cute so you're probably thinking I like you like that, not that I do or don't or anything, but—"
Bubbles held up a hand, amusement clear in her ice-blue eyes. "Boomer, relax. We're cool."
He heaved a relieved sigh. "Okay, good. I just don't ever want to make things weird with you. You're kinda awesome, you know? And like my brothers said, we have to stick together, and that would be really super difficult if you hated me."
"I could never hate you." Quite the opposite, actually.
He laughed humorlessly. "I don't know. I've got some ex-girlfriends that might say otherwise."
Then, after face-palming, "Shit, sorry, I'm doing it again. My mouth is running a helluva lot faster than I can manage. Just ignore me." He cleared his throat. "Uh, so, about getting to your house...?"
Bubbles merely smiled, butterflies doing somersaults in her belly. He was cute when he was flustered.
Part of her warned against this, that it was stupid to start catching feelings for him when they could be ripped away from each other at any given moment. But how could she not? Boomer was funny, witty, handsome, and even though he could be a little awkward at times, his awkwardness was endearing. Boomer was a good person, that much she could tell, and she loved being his friend but a part of her wondered what it would be like to actually date him. If they had met under ordinary circumstances, she'd have freaked over how close he was to being her dream guy (not that awkwardness was one of the qualities her dream date had, but 'awkward' and 'genuine' usually went hand-in-hand; Boomer, although awkward at times, was a genuine person, and genuine was definitely a trait she valued).
And the part of her that sometimes gushed over him was the part she tried to ignore. Boomer mentioned he didn't want to make things weird between them and she didn't exactly want to do that either. It would suck to lose the one good friend she'd had since Robin moved in next door.
So... What should she do with these budding feelings then? Shoving them into a box and locking them away didn't seem to do any good, plus she had never been one to have good self-restraint; just ask her bank account. Any clothes she saw and liked, she bought first and thought about finances later. It took a lot of lectures from Blossom plus a semester in college for her to learn her lesson about spending responsibly.
"Bubbles?"
She snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?"
"I asked if you thought we should pack some stuff just in case," he explained. Then, cocking his head to the side adorably, "You okay?"
"Yeah." She managed a weak smile. "Uh... I guess we could take a roundabout route to my house, just to throw them off if the infected keep an eye on where we go."
"Alright." He gave a determined nod. "Let's roll."
After filling their backpacks with as much food and supplies as they could carry, Boomer and Bubbles made sure the Jojo house was secure one last time before heading in the direction Brick and Butch had disappeared in only yesterday. They had grabbed what they could on the off-chance they wouldn't be able to return to Boomer's house, plus they weren't exactly sure if they could continue to pilfer stuff from Malph's. Who knew if the infected were hiding in there now, just waiting for some unsuspecting person to wander inside?
Boomer had grabbed his own baseball bat so they had another makeshift weapon in case any infected tried anything. It was safely secured to his backpack and easy to grab if he needed to use it.
As they walked down the street, the sight of Citysville on the far side of the horizon gave him pause but he kept up with Bubbles, refusing to allow any bad thoughts infiltrate his mind. He always lectured Bubbles about staying positive and he was determined to take his own advice. It also nagged at him that he'd broken down in front of her. Weren't men supposed to be strong? That was what Mojo always taught him, that men weren't supposed to cry (especially not in front of girls). How strong could he appear if he sat blubbering about his brothers? Bubbles wasn't judgemental or mean, but he still wanted to at least have the appearance that he had himself together. Especially since she herself was handling their situation like a warrior.
He knew there was no shame in crying but still, he didn't like to get emotional in front of other people, especially not cute blonde girls who were in the process of stealing his heart. Speaking of which, Bubbles walked slightly ahead of him, her expression of utmost focus. Boomer wondered what she was thinking about and wanted to ask, but there would be time for questions later. Right now, he knew, they had to be quiet, and so he kept to himself.
At the stop sign they usually met at, Bubbles nodded to Boomer and he took off down the opposite street that would have led him into Townsville. He was thankful he'd chosen to wear his ratty old Converse, as they didn't make any noise (unless, of course, he was in a gymnasium, but that was besides the point). He dashed down the neighborhood then made a right, heading down that street before going towards Townsville again, another left, then following that street towards the neighborhood area behind the street where Bubbles' house was.
He paused at one point to listen, straining his ears and doing his best to ignore the thundering pulse in his ears. When he was satisfied that nothing and no one was around, he took off again and ducked behind one of the houses, using parkour to maneuver his way through the line of backyards. He kept as silent as possible as he moved, pride rolling off of him when he managed to land softly on his feet after using a trampoline to get over a particularly high fence. Boomer was suddenly grateful for all those times Brick forced him to learn how to parkour without breaking his neck.
When he made it to Bubbles' backyard, she was already waiting by the kitchen door, her foot tapping anxiously. He hopped the fence and landed on his feet perfectly, much to his surprise and relief; it would have sucked if he spent all that time parkouring like a boss only to fall on his face in front of the one person he wanted to impress.
They entered the house and Bubbles set to work spraying Febreeze and Lysol in each of the rooms, a feeble attempt to throw off their scents but it was the only thing they could think of. Bubbles had no idea where her father kept his cologne and Blossom's fruity body sprays didn't last very long (not to mention they smelled delicious, which really wouldn't help their case), so this stuff would have to do.
After spraying enough Lysol and Febreeze to make their eyes water, Boomer and Bubbles made sure every possible opening—mostly windows and doors—was locked down and covered. Once everything was set in place and Boomer set a makeshift trap to alert them to any attempts to break in, they retired upstairs to Bubbles' room and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Do you think it was enough to throw them off?" Bubbles asked, collapsing onto her bed. Boomer sat on a bed covered in pink pillows and blankets and yawned, exhaustion seeping in after the adrenaline rush had died down.
"I hope so. We sure as hell sprayed enough Lysol." He coughed, still feeling the chemicals sitting in his lungs. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, though."
Bubbles chewed her bottom lip nervously. "What happens if they find us anyway?"
"We fight them off or we die trying," Boomer promised. Then, upon taking in his surroundings, "Oh hey, speak of the devil, there's that bat you almost clobbered me with when we first met."
He motioned towards Buttercup's 'Big Bessie' and Bubbles giggled, an embarrassed blush tinting her cheeks.
"Sorry about that, by the way. I know that wasn't exactly a great way to start off our friendship."
"No need to apologize." Boomer laughed. "It's funny now, honestly."
Neither of them spoke for a few moments, both of them still trying to come down from the adrenaline high they'd experienced earlier. They weren't sure what they had been expecting to happen but at least none of the infected came barreling out of the houses to chase them. That's what Boomer reasoned to himself, anyway.
He closed his eyes and fell back against the bed, relishing the feel of the soft blankets beneath him. One of the pillows was fluffy and he reached out to touch it, not really sure what he was doing but rolling with it anyway. He chalked his weirdness up to the fact that 1) his brothers were still gone, and they were pretty much the ones to keep him grounded when his head shot up into space, and 2) this apocalypse was finally doing a number on his mental health. Bubbles did a good job of keeping him grounded as well, but he knew he wasn't one-hundred percent himself with his brothers currently in a lion's den of infected. Still, after her pep-talk last night, he was feeling a little bit better about the situation. Sure, he didn't have his family, but at least he wasn't completely all by himself. Boomer knew he would really lose his mind if he was the last man standing.
But at least Bubbles was here. She was great company even if they didn't say anything. Just being around her made him feel that much more okay about facing this new, dangerous world. They could very-well die tomorrow no matter what precautionary measures they took but at least they had each other. Dying alone was fucking miserable but dying alongside Bubbles, someone he was starting to think of as his best friend, wasn't the worst way to go.
Boomer forced himself to stop thinking about that. No, they wouldn't die, they would get through this alive and everything would be okay. It was not exactly easy to convince himself of that but if Bubbles could hold out hope, then he could, too.
It didn't take long for him to succumb to his exhaustion, the weight of all that had happened forcing him under a sea of black nothingness.
Both blondes were jolted from their dozing at the sound of unholy screeches arising from the neighborhood.
Bubbles scrambled for her baseball bat and Boomer had his own bat at the ready. They lowered their weapons when they realized the house wasn't under attack, instead opting to tune into their surroundings. It was nighttime now, inky darkness coloring Bubbles' bedroom completely. She couldn't believe they had napped for that long but after last night's long watch over the neighborhood plus the constant adrenaline spikes, she figured they both needed the rest.
At one point, Bubbles crept over to Blossom's old bed and sat next to Boomer, his hand immediately finding hers and giving it a comforting squeeze.
Hideous screams rose up and then, just as suddenly as they began, the neighborhood grew deathly silent again. Bubbles held her breath, wondering where the infected were and what they were plotting. She got her answer when an air horn went off in the next neighborhood over, a sign that something had tried getting into one of the Jojo house's kitchen windows.
The air horn's obnoxious (yet hilarious) blare continued for a good five minutes, battling with furious screeches of the infected, until the sound was suddenly cut off. Bubbles squeezed Boomer's hand this time and they exchanged an uneasy glance.
They waited anxiously, both of them feeling adrenaline threaten to kick in for the umpteenth time. Nothing but silence surrounded them, the night remaining eerily still as if nothing had interrupted it to begin with, until Boomer finally let out a long sigh.
"Good thing we decided to stay here tonight," he murmured. Bubbles hummed in agreement.
He got up to peek around the blanket that covered one of the circular windows, squinting in the direction of his house.
"Think they managed to get in?"
Glass shattered in the distance, along with a chorus of bloodcurdling, victorious-sounding whoops, screeches, and howls.
That was the only answer Boomer and Bubbles needed.
