John

Lizzy. Lizzy. I keep trying to say the words, but they won't leave my mouth. I can't move. My entire body feels numb. I try to reach out to her. My arm moves up, but I can't reach her. For once, I can't protect her. I've lost at the game of being a father.

Steven, that asshole. He helped us with everything, and now he's turning his back on us? Mark is low, so damn low. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him, then I'm going to kill Steven, and then I'm going to have Lizzy back.

I lay on the floor for what seems like an eternity. The pain in my stomach starts to lessen and lessen with the time that passes. I sit up, and notice Christy is laying on the ground. Instantly, I kick into panic mode. I rush over to her side and shake her awake.

"Christy." My voice comes out as a whisper. It doesn't phase me how much my stomach hurts until I speak.

Her eyes flutter open, and then she sits up quickly, completely aware. I grab her shoulder and hold her down. "Don't stand up fast, you're going to hurt yourself." I stand up slowly, then reach for her hand and pull her up. She stands up, and looks around the house. I watch her eyes take in the scene around us. "Oh my god." She hangs her head down, and starts sobbing.

I pull her into my chest. She grips the back of my shirt so tightly. I missed her hug, even if this is under the worst circumstances. For a minute, everything dissolves around me. This house, this world. And I realize how much I truly did miss Christy. Her voice brings me back. "Where's... where's Lizzy?" she sobs.

I push her slowly away from my chest, and she looks up at me. "She.. I'm sorry, Christy. If I could have helped her, you know I would have; but I couldn't move. Steven kicked me in the stomach and..."

"WHAT?" she practically screams. I almost look around to make sure no one can hear, but then I remember, once again, that we are in a completely empty house. "We need to go, John. Right now." The words come out of her mouth as a growl, and I'm almost scared at her voice. I've heard her angry. Hell, I've heard her furious. But I've never heard this.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask her. She stares at the wall behind me for a moment, then looks back into my eyes. "I'm not sure yet," she responds. "I wish you could have done more but... I don't know. We didn't know this was coming. We just need to go. We need to find our daughter." She walks over to the other side of the kitchen and begins grabbing supplies.

What should I do? "What should I do?" I ask out loud. She turns around and laughs. "Seriously? I don't know, just look for things that might be useful. Grab a flashlight from upstairs?" she asks me. "Okay," I respond, and head down the hallway.

☠

It's very elegant up here. Her room is actually quite breathtaking. I only came here once, and that was so I could give her the papers. Which she still hasn't signed. Standing at that front door, I couldn't see far into the house. Just the living room and hallway, and I wanted to invite myself in and see more, but I knew it was wrong.

I grab the flashlight off her nightstand, then realize something. Mark has been on a lot of business trips in the past month. I have no idea where he works, but now I'm starting to make bad assumptions. I exit Christy's room, and head down the hallway to the other rooms. To my left is a bathroom. It's very small. I see a door at the end of the hallway and open it. Holding my breath, I let it out after the door opens and I see it's just a linen closet.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Christy already has two bags packed. One backpack, and one duffel bag. "What's in the bags?" I ask her. She wipes her forehead. Jesus, it is hot in here. "Well, I threw some food, some water and assorted things in the backpack. And I threw some clothes in the duffel bag. After all, who knows how long this is going to take?"

"Mark's clothes?" I ask her. She stops still, and turns around to me. "We are not discussing this right now, John." She slings the backpack onto her shoulder and heads towards the garage. "Well... then when?" I yell. Not getting a response, I grab the duffel bag and head for the garage as well.

☠

"Where would they have taken her?"

Christy has been panicking in the passenger seat for the past 10 minutes. Calming her down isn't easy, but I'm trying my hardest. "Do you know this town well?" I ask her. She shakes her head no. "Does Mark?" She shakes her head yes. Great, this will be difficult.

Driving through this city, it isn't huge. They haven't been gone for long, I'd say they left around 20 minutes ago. I try to recall any information at all that might lead us to her. I was laying there, on the ground. Memories come back to me of when Mark was walking out the door, leaving Steven with Lizzy. But what did he say? He said something…

"Dollar store." I blurt out before realizing the words are coming out of my mouth. "Huh?" Christy says in confusion. "The dollar store," I explain. "Mark said something about going there and getting some more supplies, since he already knew it hadn't been raided or something like that."

I can see the imaginary wheels in Christy's head turning. "Take a left here," she tells me, and I do it. Concern strikes me.