Chapter One: The Book

"Danny, down!" Jack yelled. Fourteen-year-old Danny heard his father's call and ducked low, the blast from the gun taking out the ghost that was behind him. "Now come to me! Quickly!" Danny nodded and ran to him, carrying a shopping bag full of non-perishables.

"Dad, I got some water bottles." He said as he reached him and ducked down behind the overturned car. "And also the wine, for when we run out of water again."

"Good boy." Jack nodded, rubbing his head. "Let's hurry and get these home, the other families should be done by now as well."

Danny nodded, following close behind his father. Jack Fenton was a leading expert on ghost-hunting, and so was armed with all kinds of weaponry. Unfortunately, that amount of weaponry had dwindled over the five years since the city had been reduced to ruins and now he only had a few guns left that couldn't hope to do any damage against anything big – like that guy right in front of them.

"Skulker." Jack whispered, motioning for Danny to move into the shadows with him. Skulker, the Ghost Zone's master hunter, had been employed by Plasmius in exchange for brand-new weaponry. He was relentless, and always got his catch by the end of the chase. Luckily, he hadn't noticed them yet, and Jack and Danny managed to successfully avoid him as they went down a side-street towards the place they called home.

The place used to be a homeless shelter, or so Danny assumed. Or maybe a rehab center? Either way, there were a lot of rooms and so many places to hide and escape from if their home was ever discovered.

"Mr. Fenton!" Mrs. Manson looked up as they entered. "Thank goodness, we worried you were—well, you know."

"Mom, I think everyone here knows about death and the dangers of capture by now." Her young daughter, Samantha Manson, said quietly as she curled up on herself. Apparently she used to have a grandmother, but she couldn't outrun the ghosts and was taken, leaving it just her and her parents.

"We got food." Danny said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Uhm…any luck with communications to the outside?"

"No." Mr. Manson shook his head. "The Foleys almost got to the tower, but had to turn back."

"Well, we—" They heard a screeching sound and his eyes widened as he grabbed Danny's hand and pulled him away, the Mansons doing the same. They had to separate, fast!

They found a room that was relatively intact and he shut the door, barricading it. Useless against ghosts, but it gave them a bit of comfort.

The screeches and laughter continued for days, and Jack and Danny silently ate and drank as little as they could, keeping silent and holding their breaths when they heard a ghost approaching. It was something all three families knew to do, and Jack hoped that the others knew to do it.

They slept in shifts, Danny's shift being much shorter than Jack's because of his age. The poor boy couldn't be up for as long as Jack could, even if fear kept him up shaking and whimpering until Jack soothed him with gentle words.

The room had only one bed, which they shared whenever Jack had to comfort Danny to sleep. He hoped that Danny slept soundly, because five years of no intimacy had him doing things someone should never do in front of their son, things he used to do in the bathroom when they weren't cut off from it.

Finally, the screeches died down in their area. He could still hear them in the building, though, and left the room with Danny as little as he possibly could. They encountered the Foleys during one of their trips out into the rest of the building, much to Danny's relief. While Jack and the adults talked, Danny and Tucker slipped into a side-room.

"Look what I found under the bed." Tucker whispered, pulling out a book. "It's a dirty book. Wanna look at it?"

"Does it have pictures?" Danny asked, the two crowding together to open it. It was dirty, alright, but not what they expected. The people in the book were two men and not two women, and what they saw made the boys look at each other and blush, putting the book back with red faces.

"Uhm…that was…wow." Danny breathed.

"Yeah. Not what I expected at all." Tucker nodded. "We'll just keep this our secret, 'kay?"

Danny looked at him and nodded. "Yeah. Uhm…wow."

"We should…go back." Tucker quickly thought of something unpleasant and then slipped away from the room. Danny pursed his lips and thought of Skulker and that did the trick, allowing him to get up and leave the room without things becoming awkward.

"There you two are!" Jack whispered when they got back. "Don't ever run off on your own like that again, young man!"

"Sorry." Danny looked down. Jack sighed and rubbed his head, cheering him up a little. A screech approaching them made the two families split back to their respective hiding places, huddled up together to avoid the ghosts.

Danny clung to his father as the two sat on the bed. Jack held him close, staring silently at the door with a hardened expression. As Danny listened to his father's heartbeat, he looked down lower and couldn't help but think of the book and what he had seen his father do a couple times since they were trapped in this room together.

"I think it's passed." Jack whispered, his tense expression softening. "Should be alright to rest now." He looked at Danny. "I'll take first watch. Sleep."

Danny nodded, letting his father lay him down and smiling when he kissed his forehead. After he seemed to be asleep, Jack slowly moved away from the bed and approached the door.

"Dad?" Danny whispered.

Jack stopped and turned to him. "Danny? I thought you were asleep."

"…You're going to the bathroom?" Danny slowly got up, stepping down off the bed.

"…Go back to sleep, Danny." Jack said, not wanting to admit what he was really going to do. Sure he was going to the bathroom, but not to do what Danny thought he was going to.

"We can do it together." Danny said, a pink tinge on his cheeks.

"What?" Jack blinked.

"We can…" Danny blushed. "Together."

Danny, you don't know what you're saying. Danny, stahp! ~ Zone