All she could see was blackness. The tiny, claustrophobic room felt like a barrier. That was the problem and why it did little to make her feel any safer from the danger in the other room. With the wail of the siren echoing throughout the complex and the pitter-patter and clashing of objects just outside the door, the blanket of darkness that should've concealed her only intensified her fear; her other senses making up for the absence of the dominant one she'd lost upon slamming the door shut.
She struggled to steady her breathing. Her heart pounded in her breast like staccato gunfire. Relax. Just relax, she thought to herself. He - It'll go away in just a-
Something crashed into the door with a sickening crunch, cutting her thoughts off. Whatever it was, it wasn't going away.
The beam from her flashlight lit up the confined closet she hid in. She couldn't hide. She couldn't wait this one out. She was losing desperate time already, and the reason for her fear, the reason for the sirens blaring off, was ramming the door to get in.
She pulled out a communicator and dialed for help. It rang for what felt like an eternity. This wouldn't be a problem on Callisto, or Ganymede. Even Europa and Mars would've had some alternative to such an archaic form of telecommunication. But she wasn't on one of the Hegemony's central worlds. She wasn't in her solar system, and there was no Afterlife Protocol this far out. This was Hegemony's first interstellar colony, Victor Prime, and the promised date for the arrival of the necessary equipment to have an equivalent to an Afterlife Protocol kept getting pushed back every year. That's why she had to use an external communicator. That's why she couldn't telepathically call for help. That's why she had to wait and waste precious time listening to that awful ring.
"I'm here," the voice on the other end answered urgently.
"Sully! It's in the room with me!" the woman yelled into the communicator.
"Beth, where are you?" Sully's voice was calm and commanding.
"It's our neighbor, Sul. It's in the room with me. I'm…I mean I'm in our closet."
"Sit tight. I'm coming for you." Again, Sully spoke with a practiced confidence. She had heard him use that tone before years ago, before they came out to Victor Prime. Despite the wet thud that continued at her door, Beth felt calmer from Sully's words. She knew her husband. She knew what he was truly capable of. His promise was one Beth knew her husband would keep.
…
That blasted siren won't stop! the 11 year old thought to himself, tucked under his desk. Despite pressing his hands over his ears with all his might, the sound was still overwhelming.
He hummed as loud as he could, trying to block out the noise. Another deep breath, he thought to himself before, "HMMMMMMMMM!"
Meanwhile, the other students in his peripheral were all lined up, single file.
His teacher knelt down beside him, tugging at his arm. "Come on, Isaiah! We have to go right now!" she shouted, trying to get through to her Aspergian student.
Isaiah shook his head. The last year was difficult for him. The other students didn't understand him, and by extension they didn't make much sense to him. As a result, he often got lost in his own little world; it was easier than dealing with the "neurotypicals." For almost a year, making himself small, invisible, had been the answer to every encounter outside his home. He tried to be small and in his own world, desperate to shut out the one that was just too loud. "HMMMMMMMMMMM!"
His teacher wrenched his arm, desperate to pull him out from under his desk. This wasn't the time to give him space. Isaiah kicked back hard, shoving his hands back over his ears. "HMMMMMMMMM!" "HMMMMMMMM!" He was almost screaming.
The teacher checked her digital watch. Her timer was ticking down fast. 9:58:47…9:56:33…9:54:1…Is the life of one difficult child worth the lives of a classroom's worth of obedient kids? She found herself asking. The thought mortified her. But she was scared. She knew what would happen to her, her kids, to Isaiah.
Her hand trembled as she removed the communicator from her pocket and dropped it in Isaiah's lap. "Call your parents!" she told him. "I have to get everyone else to the bunker!"
And with that, she rushed to get her students out the door, praying she didn't just condemn her student who just wanted to be left alone.
…
Sully barreled through a stampede of colonists, as a buzz reverberated from his hand. He lifted the communicator to his ear. "Beth!?"
"Daddy?" the voice on the other line called out.
"Isaiah? Where's your teacher?"
Isaiah sobbed, "She left me!"
"She what!?" Sully wanted to lash out, but the sound of his boy sniffling on the other end yanked him back to the present moment. "Listen." He took a breath, trying to formulate the best plan he could. "Follow the crowd. Go straight to the bunker, kiddo!"
"Daddy, come get me please."
"Listen, I know it's loud! Just cover your ears and—"
"I'm stuck."
"No, you're not! Get up and—"
"I can't!"
Sully arrived at the end of the corridor, where it split. To the left were the living quarters, to Beth. To the right he'd find Isaiah. No one was around him. The section of the colony he was in was already evacuated, and the only people left were him, his wife, his son, and the danger that threatened them all.
Sully pleaded, "Isaiah, I…I really need you to be brave right now."
"No!"
"Are you really stuck?"
"No!"
"Please, buddy. You're going to do great. Just trust me, okay? Do this for me and mommy, okay?"
"No!"
"Isaiah, if you don't get up and go now, you're going to die!"
"NO!!" Isaiah wailed, crying on the other line.
Sully checked his timer, which paced down from 7:59:12…7:57:4…
Sully bolted right, wiping the tears out of his eyes and telling his panicking child, "Okay. Just hold on. I'm going to put mommy on, okay?"
Isaiah didn't respond. The line was dead quiet.
"Isaiah? Are you shaking your head yes or no?" asked Sully.
"Yes."
Sully gritted his teeth. He hated himself in this moment. He hated the circumstances his son was putting him through; what his son was having him relive. "Attaboy," he told Isaiah.
…
Beth listened, desperate to hear her husband's voice, to see him save her.
Her communicator buzzed. "Hello?" she said into the microphone.
"I'm here," Sully replied. His voice was sullen.
The tone confused Beth. Her husband gave his word. He was so confident. He was…
"Where are you?"
"Listen. I need you to—"
"Where are you?"
"Cover your mouth with a shirt, and—"
"Where are you!?" she screamed.
A BANG sounded from the closet door. BANG! BANG! It wanted in. It wanted Beth.
"I can't come," said Sully through the speaker.
Her husband's words killed her in that moment. She believed she was dead.
"Isaiah's stuck," Sully explained further.
Suddenly, the monster on the other side broke the latch on the door. Quickly, Beth pressed her feet against the wall, and pushed her back against the door, using all her strength to keep the door fastened shut.
"Beth!?" Sully called through the other line. "Talk to me!"
"Put him on," she pleaded. Whether she succeeded or failed, she needed to hear her son's voice. One last time.
"Beth, promise…promise me I'll…" Sully's voice trailed off.
"I love you, Sullivan Courser. Please, put out son on."
The line rang…and rang.
"Mom?" Isaiah's voice called out through the line.
"I'm here, baby." She forced the words through her constrained sobs.
"Mom? Are you crying?" her impressionable boy asks.
"No, baby. I'm okay," she said, composing herself just enough to deliver the most important thing she wanted to say. "I want you to know that you are a living miracle. You're the most wonderful thing that's ever happened for me. Everything I could've wanted in a little boy."
The other side of the line was as quiet as the grave, but Beth knew her child.
"Dad's going to be there any minute," she continued. She was reassuring herself more-so than her son, who she assumed was nodding on the other line. "Can you promise to be strong for Dad? He's going to need all the help he can from his squad mate?"
"I promise," Isaiah finally said.
"I love you, Squirmy. I will always love you, no matter what!" she told him, over and over. She didn't just want the message to sink in. She wanted it to sink deep into his soul, for her son to feel her words as though they covered him for the rest of his life.
…
Isaiah knew what was happening, and he despised himself. He began to hit his head hard. It's all your fault, he thought to himself. Why couldn't you just be brave.
"Isaiah?" his mother said, her voice carrying him back from his self inflicted punishment.
"I love you too, mom," he finally said.
Just then, a hand wrenched Isaiah out from under the table, causing the phone to drop to the floor.
Sully ran for his life, cradling his son in his arms. He checked his watch again. 3:01:17…2:59:37…
Neither he nor Isaiah heard Beth's screams from the communicator's speaker that still laid under the desk.