"Damn, every single day you get me!"
"What do you mean I get you?! Weirdo!"
"This will never get old for me." Harold thought out loud.
Everleigh was pretending not to know what Harold meant, but she knew exactly what he meant. Maybe it was because she felt the same way, or maybe it was because now she was a part of him. Either way, Harold was sure she knew. She was just trying to get it out of him. Maybe she loved hearing it, or maybe she liked making him feel embarrassed. Either way, he'll comply with her. He always has and always will.
"Those emerald eyes of yours looking directly into my soul and that cheerful smile brightening my day. I know that I've experienced it maybe millions of times, ever since I met you, but every single time I see it, it doesn't cease to amaze me."
"Go on... I want to hear more."
"You must be truly special, because every time I see you it's almost like I'm imprisoned by your presence. A prisoner inside your gaze. A slave to your smile."
"More..." She said, seductively, as she passionately bit her lower lip while smiling, knowing that her smile was what Harold craved.
"That's enough Everleigh, I promised Luke I would talk to him about something."
"No don't go! I've been thinking about you all day!!!" She said, almost like a 5 year old wanting her mommy back.
"Gosh you're so childish Everleigh. I'm not complaining, obviously, that's what I love about you, but I promise I'll be right back."
"Okay fine." she responded, in a way that made it obvious she was very, very petty.
Harold went on, walking down the hallway from the bedroom which he had just delivered a special meal to, and climbing down the stairs to the kitchen. To his surprise, Little Lucas was actually there, waiting for him.
"No fair, daddy! How come mommy gets pizza but I don't!"
"You don't get any because you've been a bad boy. I'm here to talk to you about you're grades. School is very important, Lucas, and getting bad grades has consequences. That's a lesson I have to teach you."
"Wait what's that sound dad? Dad it's really loud it's hurting my ears!" Lucas screeched, holding each hand on a side of his head as tight as he could. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain.
The noise also woke up Everleigh. she had climbed down the stairs to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes with the back of her wrists, and in pajamas as if he had just woken up in the morning, even though it was currently 7:00 P.M., about half an hour after Harry gets home from work.
She gave out an extended yawn before saying "Hey Harry, what is that noise? It's giving me the creeps. And why did you leave the door to my room open?"
"It's probably just an ambulance Everl-"
He couldn't finish his sentence before a loud female voice started speaking over the even louder sound of the nuclear alarm siren, saying "Attention everyone in Finland, Florida. This is a city-level emergency. We know this is a nuclear alarm, however we had no other way to warn the people of the town. There is a bomb planted in this city, capable of decimating the entire town. We know that there are many underground bunkers here in Finland, and if you know the location of one we advise you to go there immediately. For everyone else who does not know the location of one of these safe places, you're only option is to accept your fate. The bomb will go off in exactly 45 seconds, and you will die. There is no avoiding it."
When the voice of a young female retreated, the speakers emitted the sound of an old house phone hanging up, or being placed back down where it goes, not the "beep" sound one hears when hanging up a modern telephone call.
With every word following the previous one emitted from those speakers, the panic expressed in the happy family's faces grew and grew.
Lucas, no longer covering his ears, shouted "Mommy! Daddy! We have to run!"
Run they did. They ran like there was no tomorrow, because if they didn't run then there actually wouldn't be. They ran like their lives were in danger, because they actually were. They ran faster than they ever had in their lives, not paying attention to anything else but themselves and each other, because they all knew how big their house was, and they all knew that the bunker was on the opposite side of the ginormous house they lived in and loved.
This was the first time Harold cursed his beloved house, and hated it for being so damn big.
"Hurry, Everleigh! Hurry Lucas! Don't stop running! Everything will be okay, I promise!"
They ran through the kitchen, knocking plates over on accident, they ran through the living room, where Lucas accidentally bumped into the big smart TV he got last month for his birthday in June, but wasn't even the least bit phased by it. He completely ignored what he had knocked over and kept running.
They ran through the library room, where Everleigh knocked over an entire shelf of books and fell over. This time, Lucas and Harold stopped to help her. The shelf had fallen on her leg, and it was bleeding uncontrollably. Without knowing how much time was left, Everleigh screamed at both of them to run to the bunker in their backyard, it wasn't far away because the library was the room with the sliding glass door, the last objective in their way of safety.
"I'll be right behind you! I swear!" She yelled.
Biting his tongue, squinting his eyes, clenching his fists, and gulping in fear, Harold decided to put all of his trust in Everleigh.
"Come on Luke We gotta go!" Yelled Harold
"I know! I'm going with you I trust mom will be okay!"
Harold kept running. He quickly reached in his pocket for the key to open the sliding door. He took it out and... wait... That's not the key!
He quickly threw the house and car keychain on the floor and ran toward where he knew the actual key was for sure. He grabbed a key chain that looked exactly like the one that held his house key and car key from between the pages of a book titled "Don't Close The Door Harry!", and ran toward the sliding glass door again.
He quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about the key to the bunker since it was on the same keychain holding the key to the sliding door. He ran faster than he ever had in his life, and as he finally reached the bunker, the speakers placed all over Finland City made the sound of a phone being picked up and started emitting another signal.
Harold had hoped that this signal was a signal that would relieve them of their panic, and ensure that their lives were okay. He was almost sure that it would be. Maybe something like "This was all just a prank, we're sorry, disregard everything we have said." or "The issue has been dealt with, there is no longer a threat menacing to destroy the city."
His hopes were crushed when he heard the female voice begin a countdown.
"5"
'Oh my god there is only five seconds left-'
"4"
'I have to get this door opened.' Harold thought to himself.
Harold inserted the key, turned it, and opened the door in about one second.
"3"
He went inside really fast, got into position, ready to close the door when his family came in.
But when he turned around, he saw that his wife and son were more than three seconds away from getting to the door. His young son helping his hopeless mother run on a broken leg.
Harold hoped from the bottom of his heart that this was all just some nasty prank and it would all be over in three seconds, but he couldn't take that chance.
"Faster Luke!!"
"2"
There were only two seconds left, and Harold had a life-changing decision to make. Without a doubt, he valued the lives of his child and wife more than he valued his own. He loved them more than he loved himself, and would sacrifice himself for them any day.
However, there was no saving them in this occasion. His ultimatum was between two choices: gracefully die with his family, or save himself, knowing they both are going to die.
It was then, he remembered-
'What did that damn book say!?' He thought
It said "Don't Close The Door Harry!"
No, that isn't right, that's just the title of the book, now he clearly remembered something he barely got the chance to process when he was grabbing the key to open the sliding door. The page that he opened to, where the key was in the book, said...
It said...
"You could have saved them, Harold."
Now his body took over, and without actually realizing what he had been thinking, without actually realizing what he was doing, Harold closed the door.
"1"
"NOOO!!!! I could have saved them!!" Harold screamed, jumping from his bed, scaring Everleigh and Little Lucas. He was sweating and panting, breathing uncontrollably as if he literally just ran for his life.
"Harry? What's wrong?" Instead of getting frustrated because he woke her up, Everleigh lightly touched the side of Harold's face, his cheek.
All of a sudden, Harold was calmed down. Still breathing heavily, but tranquilly. He had his dear wife there to comfort him.
Through his heavy breathing, Harry managed to speak some words.
"N-Nothing. Just a nightmare. What a horrible dream."
"What did you dream, Harry?"
Harry took a few moments to catch his breath.
"Well- Well... Um- I dreamt-" He stuttered, but not because he was breathing heavily, his breathing had calmed down by now.
Then he said, "Wait, what was that dream about?"
"Daddy! I can't sleep! Can you get me a glass of water!"
"Okay son, I'll go to the kitchen with you to get it. Also, I just remembered, I saw something earlier during the day that I need to talk to you about. We'll talk when I get back from work today."
So, Harold grabbed his dear son a glass of water, tucked him into bed, gave him a kiss goodnight on the cheek, and went back to bed and cuddled his loving wife until they both fell back asleep again.