The minuscule sparrow turns its head left and right as it clamps its claws onto a branch of a lazy willow tree. Baby sparrows bounce their dime-size heads as they add to the melodies of nature. The tree's long, swaying branches adds to the cacophony of noise as rays of light shine upon a nest in a nearby oak, highlighting a basket full of four hatchlings hungry for food.
When I open my eyes, the beautiful image is replaced by a pale white ceiling, the song by a gentle knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," I say as the little boy sticks his head inside. Big eyes glance up at me and then down again.
He searches the carpet for something as he steps inside and stands with his back against a white dresser, his head tilted downward as if in shame.
"Is your mom awake?"
He shakes his head, his black hair releasing dust particles into the dim rays of sunlight.
"Good. She needs to rest. Do you need something? Are you hungry?"
"I was just..." He clears his throat. "I was just checking."
"Checking? For what?"
"If you were still here."
"Oh."
My muscles ache when I close the window, cutting off the icy breeze from outside. The ditch I dug up last night in the backyard did no service to my back and shoulders. Before I turn around, footsteps scatter. The little boy is gone.
Down the hallway, Blackie sits at the door of the room where the woman and the little boy slept. The door is cracked open, the morning sun peeking through. Blackie sits up to attention and cocks his head at me.
"What's up boy. Where is everyone?"
He whines and licks his nose, and then pushes the door open, and I take it as a cue to follow. Inside the room, the woman sleeps on a green upholstered chair with her feet up on the ottoman while the boy sits in a twin bed with Brownie snuggled next to him. Brownie sits up next to the boy. Goldie rises to her feet near the window. Blackie takes a position at the foot of the bed. All three pups stare at me with ears pointed up.
Blackie whines again. When I take a step to the window next to the chair, Goldie releases a soft growl.
"I'm just going to open the window and let some air in."
Goldie growls again.
I back away with my hands up. "Alright. I won't open the window."
"They slept with us all night," the boy says, his eyes concentrating on his hands.
"Yeah... they're a pretty loyal bunch."
"What are their names?"
"I don't know," I whisper as I pull over a chair to sit down. "I found them. Or, maybe they found me. I call that one Blackie. That one Goldie. And that one Brownie.
The little boy's eyes shoot up at me for a millisecond. "Those aren't good names for dogs."
"It made sense at the time."
"I would have chosen better dog names."
"Oh really? Like what?"
"I would have called that one The Golden Avenger. That one would be The Dark Ninja. And that one would be Captain Chocolate."
Precocious little kid. I wonder what names Luke would have invented. He always said that if we got a dog he would call it Otis. Just Otis and nothing more.
"Eli?" The woman rises from her chair and sits next to her son on the bed. "I told you not to speak to anyone."
I stand and walk to the door, trying as hard as possible not to look threatening. Goldie's nose finds its way to the woman's lap. She pets Goldie's head and sighs.
"Thank you for lending me your dogs. I don't think we would have been able to sleep without them."
"My pleasure. I mean, they're at your service, whenever you need them."
She caresses Eli's head, her eyes shut tight.
"How do you feel?" I ask, and then swallow hard.
She runs her fingers through Eli's hair once more. "We should get going. Thank you, for everything you've done for me, for us."
The pain in her eyes tells me that last night was not the worst that has happened to her. "Are there more people around here? I haven't seen any people for days, and then last night you, and Eli, and those two assholes..." My throat dries up as I recall the crime I interrupted.
"There haven't been many people around seen since the explosions."
"Explosions?"
I kneel down in front of her, and she stares down at me with her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
"I woke up in lower Manhattan on a pile of building rubble. The only forms of life I've seen since I woke up are those three dogs, and I don't know where my family is or how to get in touch with them. Please. Tell me what's going on. What happened?"
She glances out the window and up to the sky. Her eyes search the room and linger on the television. "There's no electricity. No radio. No news. Cell phones are dead."
Silently, I wait for her to collect her thoughts.
"Eli was sick from school that day, so I took off work. We were both home when it happened. Jospeh was out west, on a business trip. We were having oatmeal when the explosions started. There were explosions everywhere. Bombs, fires, people screaming. It was chaos."
"Tell them about the people flying," Eli whispers.
"People flying?" I ask.
She shakes her head and swallows hard, pressing here eyes shut.
"Tell me about the people in the air." I ask Eli in a whisper.
He glances at his mother. She presses her lips together and nods. Eli turns to me. "People, even dogs and cats, flew up in the air and then they, they... disappeared." Eli pets Brownie's head. "That's when we ran down to the basement. Then there were a lot of noises, like when they do construction on the road. Banging noises and the house shook. And then it was quiet."
"You saw all this?"
Eli nods and his mother holds him tighter. "I pulled him away from the window before he could see..." Her voice cracks and she shakes her head.
I place my hand on her knee. "See what?"
She puts her hands over Eli's ears, and Eli lets her.
"Gil, my cousin," she says in a whimper, barely breathing, "turned to ashes. Something was in the air. Some people were sucked up into the sky and then vanished. Whatever it was, it was invisible. Lights shot down from them, like lasers, burning people instantly, disintegrating them. Gil was running towards the house when..." She releases a shaky breath and swallows again. She wipes a tear from her face and clears her throat. "I took Eli and hid in the shelter room in the basement."
I sit down on the floor on a pile of pillows, and wrap my arms around my knees.
"An invasion?"
She nods. "And then, after a few hours, nothing. No noise. No more screams. No more explosions. Nothing. I went out an hour after all the commotion and I couldn't find a single person outside."
"Do you have any other family?"
She shakes her head.
"My wife is in Jersey, with my son. I have to find them."
"No!" A look of fright crosses Eli's face. "Don't leave us. Mom, don't let him leave. You don't have any more bullets left. What if more men come? What if you have to kill another one? I don't want to dig another hole, Mommy. Please. Mommy. Don't let him leave us. Please."
Eli sobs into his mother's lap, mumbling incoherent words with each deep breath. She runs her hands through his hair and shushes him. "Go," she says, and then looks up at me with a straight, stiff face. "Find your family. I understand. I wouldn't want my husband to stop searching for us."
Eli sobs louder, deeper, each plea breaking my heart. He dug a hole to bury a guy his mother killed, probably to protect him. Out of bullets? How many times had she needed to fire at someone? I can only imagine the atrocities Eli has been through? How much more will he endure if I'm not there to protect them? I have to get to Luke, but I can't just leave Eli behind. I wouldn't want anyone to leave Marissa and Luke alone without real protection.
"You know what?" I say as I stand. "Come with me. You can leave a note to your husband in case he comes home, to let them know that you survived and that you went somewhere safe. I'll leave my address, so they will know where we are headed and track you down." I look to Eli. "How does that sound?"
Eli's mom says, "That's a good idea, right Eli?"
Eli lifts his head and looks up at me with trusting eyes, wiping his cheeks with the backs of his hands.
"You can meet my son, Luke, and you two can play with the dogs and teach them tricks, and you can show your dad the dog tricks when he finds you. He's probably trying to find you and your mom the way I'm trying to find my family. Sound like a plan?"
Eli nods. "It's a good plan."
"Honey," she says to Eli as she wipes his face, "lay down for a bit while I gather some things. The dogs will all be here with you."
When Eli lies down, Goldie and Brownie snuggle into the bed with him. Blackie stays at the foot of the bed in an on-guard position.
She signals for me to follow her to the bathroom, and begins speaking in whispers.
"Thank you, for this. Eli has been through a lot. He's seen more evil in the past few days than most people see in a lifetime. He's only six, and to have to witness..." Her voice cracks and curses under her breath.
"What's your name?" I ask, cutting her off.
"Delia."
"It's over, Delia."
She nods, holds back a cry, and takes a deep breath to regain her composure.
"Now, let's gather up what we can carry and head for the river. We're going to try to make it across before it gets dark."
"I have instant food that we can carry, granola bars, cereals, and I'll get us some backpacks, water bottles from the kitchen, some toothpaste, soap." She wraps her arms and shivers. "The temperature dropped a lot since yesterday, we should bundle up for tonight."
"Good idea."