Clare ignored her anxiety to herd the twins and Gretchen into the far-too-tiny safe room in the closet of the master bedroom. She and Izzie were looking for a spot of their own when Brian stumbled into them, "Where's Gretch and the boys?"
"Safe room, in there. Too small for everyone," Izzie said while Clare kept an eye on the stairs.
Brian pulled Clare's wrist to get her attention and she twisted his arm reflexively before turning to him, "Sorry," she mouthed. "There's a crawlspace above the closet in the boys' room. We'll go there."
Shadows on the stairs distracted Clare as Brian pulled his daughter away.
It was Garcia, putting a finger to her mouth at the sight of Clare, patrolling the ground floor.
Clare darted after Brian and Izzie, finding Brian hoisting Izzie up into the ceiling. He offered his hands as a foothold to her.
She shook her head, folding her hands, "Easier if you pull me up than me pull you."
He nodded briefly after a moment of indecision. Clare held as he pulled himself up and reached a hand down for her as they heard shots fired.
The second gunman entered through the sliding glass door in the kitchen, surprising Rachel into firing two shots. "Clear!"
The first had opted through the garage window, managing to sneak up on Garcia with a, "thud," to the back of her head with a rock from outside.
Rachel was checking the body in front of her, calling it in, as the second gunman was catching Garcia's body before she could fall. He laid her out before springing up the stairs ahead of Rachel.
Clare motioned for Brian to close the crawlspace, after the shots were fired. He hesitated and Clare waved again, before ducking down as she heard the stairs creaking and doors being opened.
He moved through the other rooms, kicking doors, ripping down the shower curtain from the sound of it, before he ducked into the boys room as Clare heard the stairs creak.
She peeked under the closet door to watch him tip the chest of drawers in front of the bedroom door. Well, shit.
He moved towards her closet.
Rachel raced up the stairs as soon as she found Garcia's unconscious body, left on the laundry room floor. She made it up in time to see the door to the boys' room close and she started kicking at it, shouting, "Federal Marshal! Open up!"
The gunman didn't even glance back on his way to Clare's closet. She stood and squeezed herself as small as she could to one side of the door.
It opened, gun in first. She pulled it past her, pushing his arm against the doorjamb with enough force for him to drop it as the heel of her other hand went to his nose.
He stumbled back, and she spared a curse for her poor angle of attack. She went for the gun and he lunged for her. She scratched his eyes trying to push him off enough to get a leg up to kick or knee him. His hand went around hers on the gun slamming her fingers against the flooring over and over again, while the other took a solid swing at her left cheekbone.
Clare ignored the spots dancing in front of her eyes to head-butt his already bleeding nose and pushed him back enough to kick him, sending him two or three feet to her right, hand still on hers and the gun.
Rachel started shooting at the door. Hearing Tim and Raylan come up the stairs, she called, "Gunman's in here, I sent the family to the safe room."
Tim looked through a couple of Rachel's holes, "Yeah, there's a dresser in front of it. Fuck. Safe room?"
Rachel said, "Haven't checked it but Gretchen was sleeping on that bed." She gestured to the master bedroom across the hall, seemingly empty.
Nelson and Art made it up the stairs at this point, "Safe room?"
Nelson went to the master bedroom to check it out.
"Dresser in front."
Tim and Art looked at each other.
Nelson came out a moment later with Gretchen and the twins. "Where?" was all Gretchen mouthed.
"Get them outta here," Art instructed before shots were heard.