SurvivorZ

55

TOMMY

Tommy was just starting to calm his nerves and settle in for the night when the clap of gunfire jarred him from his bed.

He didn't immediately register the sound as a gunshot. Not until he heard it a second time. By the third shot, he was on his feet and searching for his pants and sidearm, realizing the noise was coming from downstairs.

He ran into the hall in his bare feet, tugging his arms through the sleeves of an unbuttoned shirt. Several rounds rang out in close succession. A cold weight dropped in the pit of his stomach. A part of him still expected the wail of police sirens to respond from afar. He couldn't decide if their absence was good or bad.

Doors opened elsewhere in the hallway. Mona and Erica hurried out of their rooms, the latter still dressed and alert. His kid sister would often while away the late hours listening to her emo bands. It was a wonder she even heard the commotion over the caterwauling from her headphones.

Eve was the last to appear, taking the time to dress in a clean set of clothes Mona provided for her. The tight blouse fit her snugly, revealing the faint trace of her bra. For Tommy, it was one more distraction in a churning sea of diversions.

"What's happening?" Mona cried.

"Are those gunshots?" Eve asked.

"Everyone, return to your rooms," Tommy ordered, rushing past them for the stairs. "I'll check it out."

Erica and Mona did as he instructed. Living with the specter of gunplay under their roof had conditioned them to react as though the police would soon be pounding on their door. Eve, meanwhile, grabbed a long, brass candlestick from a nearby table and chased after him.

"What are you doing?" he shouted back at her.

"I'm going with you."

"Go back to your room," he insisted. "It's not safe."

"I know," she argued. "That's why I'm going with you."

He stopped a third of the way downstairs and turned to confront her. "Eve..."

She flew past him. "Are you coming, or what?" she yelled over her shoulder.

Tommy sighed and chased after her.

The basement door opened with a crash, revealing his father's sadistic interrogator and another man he didn't recognize. They both barreled for the main exit as if pursued by demons. Judging by the erratic gunfire and terrified screams coming from the basement, it wasn't a stretch to imagine that Hell had surfaced one floor below them.

"What's—?" He tried to stop Victor, but the panicked man darted past him without even acknowledging his presence.

The other man dogged his coattails. This time, Tommy stepped in front of him and grabbed him by the lapel. "Stop," he shouted in his face. "What's happening? Why is everyone shooting?"

"It got out," the terrified man wailed, struggling to free himself from Tommy's grip. "Let me go. I gotta get out of here."

"What got out?" Eve queried.

He gaped at her, pale-faced and trembling, looking like someone had plucked him from a battlefield in the midst of staring Death in the face. "It... It's not human. It's like nothing I've ever seen."

He tore free of Tommy's grasp and ran out the front door, now hanging open in the wake of Victor's hasty departure. Tommy and Eve stared at each other with trepidation.

"Please go back upstairs," he said.

"Not a chance."

Tommy grunted softly. He eyed the metal candlestick clutched in her hand and muttered, "Fine, just promise me that if I say run, you run. Don't wait for me. You do like those two and get the hell out of here and don't look back."