It didn't seem like the rain was going to let up soon.
We had waited by the back door till we heard them kick down the front door before we made our way outside. The wind howled around us as we stepped out and I could hear men yelling inside the house before Daniel shut the door.
Ezra was carrying Clareta whose eyes were tightly shut with pain visible on her face as she clutched Ezra's track jacket to her side. Zeke, who had a piece of cloth wrapped around the gunshot wound on his left arm, was piggybacking Alison. Faye was holding a baseball bat while Daniel was holding Clareta's trench hawk since those were the only things close-by that could be grabbed immediately and I really hoped we wouldn't need to use them.
We walked around the house, staying low when we passed windows that had their curtains open till we got to the front gate. I kept glancing over my shoulders to make sure one of the men hadn't stepped outside the wide open front door as we quickly made our way out of the compound.
We all came to a stop when we saw that there were bodies lying on the street.
None of them were moving and the rain water that washed down the street had a slight tint of red in it. My body didn't know how to react and it just shut down as I stared at the bodies. These people had been my neighbours, they had been my friends and they were gone just like that. I couldn't bring myself to cry or scream. I just stood there as still as a statue while the magnitude of the loss swept over me.
I couldn't see any armed attackers standing in the street but I could hear gunshots in the distance and the cries of people echoed into the night.
Another explosion went off as I turned around to see a house engulfed in flames with tendrils of smoke reaching desperately into the sky, as if trying to escape the blazing inferno below. Five of the houses that were close to the gate were burning in a sea of red, yellow and orange, including Caldwell's house.
There were a couple of trucks on the road, some of them driving into different streets and the gate was wide open. Fear gripped me the moment I realized that the soldiers wouldn't be able to get this under control. Not anytime soon, not ever.
We might have to leave the estate.
We began to move again. Daniel, Jack and I were in the lead while Faye and Hae In were at the back. I had to blink repeatedly due to the rain that trickled into my eyes.
"Where are we going?" Daniel asked as we quickly crossed over to the street where we didn't hear gunshots from.
"Sarah's house," Ezra replied.
"Who is Sarah?" I asked Daniel.
"Colonel Bates, the second-in-command. She lives next to the armoury and that's probably where most of the soldiers are."
We had to yell to communicate with each other because of the noise the rain was making. A couple of people were coming out of their houses, probably to see what the commotion was about when the civil defense sirens suddenly went off. I almost jumped in shock at how loud it was as I remembered that Tara had once told me that the sirens were only sounded in life threatening situations.
Upon hearing the siren, some people ran back into their houses while some joined us on the street. Some people still stood on their porches, not sure if to join us or to run back into the house as we walked past buildings.
I guessed the sirens hadn't been used before since they all looked like they didn't know what to do in this situation.
I glanced at Clareta who was in Ezra's arms. Her eyes were open which made me relieved but it was still obvious that she was in pain and I really hoped that she'd be okay. The bullet had hit her in her in her lower right side and it was still lodged in there. Her eyes darted to mine and she gave me a wink which drew a small smile from me.
The piece of cloth that had been wrapped around Zeke's left arm was now red but it didn't look like he was in pain. He mouthed 'I'm okay' at me and I nodded before I faced forward.
We kept walking for a while, trying as much as possible to avoid being out in the open, with the five people that had joined us till we got to the street where Colonel Bates lived. The street lamp in the middle of the street was the only one on but the lamps from the street behind us helped a little with my vision. We realized that the stretch of road ahead was deserted after a few seconds.
"Do you think –"
Zeke was abruptly cut off by the sound of gunfire coming from behind us and three of the people that were at the back dropped to the ground. My heart dropped and sped up in the same time as Daniel grabbed my hand and we all ran off in different directions to avoid the spray of bullets.
We ran into a compound which had its gate open. The door swung open as we ran up to the porch to reveal Laleh.
"Come in!" she yelled and we quickly entered the house before she closed the door and locked it All the lights in the living room were off and the curtains had been pulled close over the windows. "Oh my Gosh. Are you guys okay?"
They're still out there. My family's still out there.
My heart began to pound wildly as I quickly moved to open the door but stopped when the front door handle rattled and an unfamiliar voice yelled, "Open the fucking door!"
Daniel grabbed my arm and yanked me to himself as the handle rattled again. There was a little gap between the curtains of one window and I quickly pulled it back and peeked through it. There were four men in the compound and all of them were armed but those weren't the people I was looking for.
I quickly surveyed the street outside the house, narrowing my eyes at the places that had little light but I didn't see Zeke, Ezra or anyone else. The three people that had been shot and were on the ground were the only people on the street.
Maybe they found somewhere to hide.
My attention was drawn back to the front door when thuds began to emanate from it.
"Should we go through the back door?" I whispered to Daniel.
"My house doesn't have a back door," Laleh said.
Shit.