Maybe After Tomorrow (Hatchetfield)

Chapter 21

"Crap," Tom whispered to himself when he woke up at six the next morning.
     "What is it?" Becky asked, having been woken up by Tom's sudden movement.
     "We don't have a Christmas present for Tim."
     "Oh."
     'He lost his mom last year, this Christmas was meant to be good."
     "Well, it still can be. We can watch movies with him, we can play games. We can still have a good time. Plus, we're all pretty lucky to even be alive. I'm sure he'll understand."
     "He'll understand all right, but it still isn't fair. He's just a kid."
     Becky looked at Tom sympathetically, "With any luck, we'll be out of here soon and we can do something. Everything's gonna be fine, okay?"
     Tom nodded.
     "Okay, why don't we go back to sleep? Don't wanna be too tired for Christmas day."
     "Yeah, okay."
     And it's a good thing they did go back to sleep, or they'd have heard what happened just a few minutes later.

"Right, okay, why don't you three come upstairs, there are still a few bedrooms left."
     "How do you have room for so many people here?" Tony asked.
     "I've been preparing for a long time. What's the point in surviving an apocalypse if I'm the only one?"
     "Fair enough."
     "When can I see Alice?" Deb asked.
     "Soon, I promise."
     Henry got them all into rooms before going back downstairs to Ted.
     "I can't believe we did it," he said, sitting down on the sofa.
     "Me neither. I'm just glad we all get to spend Christmas together."
     "Me too. Sucks that we have to hide that we're together, though."
     "Why don't we have some fun now, then?" Ted asked with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.
     Henry's eyes widened. "My study?"
     Ted didn't even answer before he was running toward the living room door.

Around ten to nine, Henry got Tony, Deb and Paul downstairs before going round everybody else's rooms to tell them to come down at nine. When asked why by Paul, who didn't want to wait to see their girlfriend after all the months they had spent apart, unsure if they would ever see one another again, Ted's response was "Because he's a dramatic little fucker and thinks it'll be entertaining this way."
     They all just laughed and Henry said, "It's only ten minutes anyway, you don't have to wait too-"
     But he was cut off by Deb's eyes being pulled away and drawn toward the door.
     "Deb? How the hell are you-"
     "Alice..."
     Terror and disbelief in both of their eyes, they ran across the room and fell into one anther's arms.
     "Deb, where were you? I missed you so much!"
     "I missed you too! I don't really know where we were. But I thought you were... I never thought I was gonna see you again."
     "I..." Alice finally pulled back, studying Deb's face, "I can't believe you're really here."
     "Me neither. I thought I was never leaving that place."
     "What on earth is going on here?"
     They both turned to see a confused Bill standing in the doorway.
     "Dad..."
     "Oh my god, Deb!"
     Much to Deb's surprise, he hugged her.
     "Merry Christmas," he said, standing back after a few seconds.
     "Merry Christmas," Deb said, smiling, before sitting down with Alice.
     "Bill?"
     He then turned to see Paul standing up and walking toward him.
     "Paul, oh, it's so good to see you!"
     "You too." Paul quickly hugged bill before they sat down.
"How are you?"
"Oh, not too bad I guess, considering... I'm just happy I'm out of that place and back with you guys."
Bill nodded, "You excited to see Emma?"
Fear flashed across Paul's face momentarily, "Yeah."

"I just wish we could have a normal Christmas," Hannah said as she, Lex and Ethan walked down the stairs hand-in-hand.
     "Hey," Ethan said, faking a smile, "We can still have a good time."
     "Yeah," Lex said, "Don't worry. We're still gonna have fun."
     "I hope so," Hannah said as Lex opened the door. She was instantly confused by the people there that she didn't know.
     Then she felt her hand drop. The one that Ethan was holding onto.
     "Dad?"
     Tony turned around, "Oh my god, Ethan?"
     A totally blank expression on his face, Ethan, unsure of what to do, just stood there before Tony walked over to him.
     "Ethan, I was worried to death about you. Are you all right?"
     "I'm fine, dad. I just..." Then he started to cry.
     He instantly felt his dad's arms around him and he fell into them. "I missed you so much."
     "I missed you too."
     "Oh, dad," Ethan stood back, "this is my girlfriend, Lex, and her little sister, Hannah."
     Tony smiled at them, "It's nice to finally meet you both."
     "You too." Lex nodded slightly, nervous since she had never met a partner's parents before (Bill didn't count since she and Alice were broken up), much less met a partner's parent when they thought their kid was dead up until that day. Hannah just smiled, holding onto Lex's hand tightly and grabbing at Ethan's again.
     A minute or so later, Tom, Becky and Tim came into the room, Tim immediately running over to Paul.
     "Uncle Paul!"
     "Hey, Tim." Paul picked Tim up, spinning him around before crouching down in front of him.
     "You excited for Christmas?" Paul asked.
     Tim nodded enthusiastically.
     "Good. Because I found something yesterday at the mall that I think you're gonna like," Paul said, smiling before picking up a DVD from the table.
     "Santa Claus Is Coming To High School!"
     "Yep. Since it's not on Netflix or anything yet."
     Tim hugged Paul again, making them grin uncontrollably as they nodded at Becky and Tom.
     But then, just as Tim went to sit down with Tom and Becky, Paul's eyes were drawn to the doorway.
     "Emma?"

~

(A/N: I have written   s o   much today istg. I think I got a bit overly excited about this part so I've hardly stopped. This story's probably gonna be finished pretty soon)