A Home No More

(Doing something new. The quote thing kinda lost its allure to me so I'll occasionally put a short philosophical piece at the beginning of a chapter. It will be relevant to what is happening in the story and is more of an exercise for me to get better at writing. I hope you guys find some value in it!)

*Snap*

That's all it takes. In that single instant, everything changes. Countless lives impacted, forever unable to return to what was. For better or worse, change crashes down, rippling through the expanse of this world as we know it. Sometimes even within that same world, but not the one we know.

Each step, word, thought, wave of a hand, holding of a door, starting of a car, all of them result in consequences yet to be known. The breadth of effect is inconceivable to our feeble minds. Be mindful of your actions. Even the most insignificant meaningless action can and will impact something or someone out there. No one man can ever know with complete certainty what may result from the day at hand.

-GE-

"AHHHHH!"

I sighed, looking helplessly at Tucker. Of course it had to be a housewife.

As she screamed, she frantically scrambled for her iPhone on the kitchen island. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Tucker raising his rifle. His barrel aimed true, directly at the woman who's name I couldn't remember for the life of me.

I tilted my head, trying to figure it out. "Hmmmm, I know we've met before. What was the name again? Something with an S?"

Tucker yelled with great authority. "LADY! I need you to be quiet. Put down the phone."

Having just picked up the phone, the woman appeared to understand the situation she was in. With the phone in her right hand, she instinctively raised her left into the air. She then slowly placed the phone onto the counter.

I shook my head. "Smith! No… Hmmmm. It's in there somewhere. Sam? No, that's not a last name."

Tucker then held out his hand with his palm facing her and spoke softly. "Now, I promise you, the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. In order for that to happen, I need your help. Can you help me with that?"

She nodded with great exaggeration, revealing the thinnest of threads upon which her mental state was hanging. "I-I-I… U-my."

The gates began to creak open, a few tears escaping her trembling eyes. Her fear was all too apparent.

My eyes then lit up. "I got it! Sands! That's the name. Mrs. Sands, hi!"

Seemingly having not noticed me, her head snapped towards me upon my speaking her name. "K-Kyle?"

I smiled, taking a few slow steps towards her. "Yes, it's me. It has been a long time, hasn't it? I am sorry we had to meet again with all of this happening. Just listen to him and I promise you will be okay."

She nodded and then looked back towards Tucker. Upon seeing a familiar face in me, she seemed a bit less panicked. "W-what should I d-do?"

Tucker nodded and wore a soft smile upon his face. "You need to hide." He swiveled his head and quickly found what he was looking for. "Go in the garage and stay there. Don't come out unless one of us comes to get you. Can you do that?"

Mrs. Sands nodded slowly, glancing at her phone on the counter. She then sighed and then quickly walked towards the garage through the laundry room.

Tucker then turned back to me. "Put him down here behind the island."

I nodded, walking into the kitchen. A wonderful smell encroached upon my nostrils as I drew breath. What in the world was she cooking? Whatever it was, I wanted to have a taste.

"Principal and Icarus are secure in the new location. What's the ETA on that exfil?"

I placed my unconscious father down, propping him up against the cabinets under the island. His head slumped to the side slightly but he remained upright. Ahhh, he's definitely going to complain about his neck when he wakes up.

"Kyle, exfil is five minutes out."

I shook my head, wishing they could get here faster. With my dad in a somewhat safe place, I started to stand up. Upon being able to see over the counter, I saw more than a dozen men emerging from the treeline.

*SCREEEEE*

Before I could even mention it to Tucker, the sound of a vehicle screeching to a halt came from the front of the house. Reinforcements?

Tucker quickly mounted up against a wall that sat between him and the back door. "Go cover the front of the house. There's more cover there."

I nodded. "On it."

Staying low, I quickly walked to the front of the house, admiring the tasteful method of interior decoration that the Sands family used in furnishing their home. Within a few seconds, I had reached the front door.

*Tick*

I stood up, leaning against the wall next to the door with my shoulder. The door would open towards me, giving me cover from whoever had the misfortune of entering first.

*Tick*

I reached towards my back, pulling out the glock that I had stuffed in my waist band before placing my father down. I softly held the grip, taking comfort in the texture that pressed upon my right palm.

*Tick*

Shit, where is that ticking sound coming from? Glancing away from the door, I noticed a huge clock on the wall within what I could only describe as a living room or den. It was elegantly furnished and had a fireplace upon the far wall.

*Tick*

With each passing second, the clock would tick obnoxiously. How did they live with this thing?

*Tick* *THUD*

"Toropit'sya. My dolzhny poymat' ikh bystro."

*Tick*

*Dmp* *Dddmpp*

Several sets of footsteps approached the door. Despite feeling like a fish in water due to the officer training course, my nerves persisted in running high.

*Tick*

*Squeak* *Creeeeak*

With the footsteps having reached the front door, the handle slowly turned with a squeak. The mechanism probably hadn't been maintained in years.

*Tick*

Accompanying it, the door creaked open. It slowly approached me, closing in the space between it and the wall behind me.

*Tick*

Then, I saw it. Emerging from the other side of the door was the barrel of an assault rifle. This just got much more serious.

*Tick*

I waited just a little bit more. As soon as the body of the rifle was revealed, I made my move.

*CLACK* *Thud*

With my left fist balled, I raised it and swung down towards the top of the rifle. It easily escaped the grip of whoever was holding it, falling to the carpet before the front door with a dull thud.

The man wielding the weapon quickly followed, tripping inside due to the force of my punch. His bald head and mustard yellow tracksuit were the only two things I noticed before the next act commenced.

*PUCH*

With just one hand on my glock, I squeezed the trigger. With a flash, bloody chunks sprayed through the air and stained the rug below.

*Tick*

"Der'mo! Ubey yego!"

*TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTU*

The distinct sound of AK-47s firing on full auto roared through the front door. I quickly backed up, distancing myself from the door before sprinting towards the staircase to my right.

*TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTU*

After almost two seconds of continuous firing, the onslaught ceased.

*TUK* *TUK* *TUKUTU* *TUK*

"SVOLOCH'!"

It seemed Tucker was doing quite well for himself. I reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner in an instant, pressing my back against the wall on the right. If I had gone left, there would have been no wall for several feet.

*Tick*

*Dmp* *Dmp* *Ddddmp*

Several men entered the house, their movement betrayed by the sound of their brazen footsteps. I waited just a moment more.

*Tick*

*Thmp*

Just as I expected, one of them stepped onto the staircase. Wanting to thin the herd even further, I quickly rounded the corner.

*PUCH* *PUCH* *PUCH* *PUCH* *PUCH* *PUCH* *PUCH*

*Thudd* *Thud*

Upon emptying the remaining 7 rounds from my magazine, I retreated behind the corner once more. I was already two steps down the hall when I heard three bodies hit the ground.

*TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTU*

"Vverkh po lestnitse!"

With just a few more steps, I found an open bedroom on my right. Unhesitantly, I rushed inside and leaned against the wall to the right of the door.

My heart raced, bringing a subtle unsteadiness to my left hand as it reached for another magazine.

*Tutuk*

Upon flipping a lever, the empty magazine dropped to the floor, bouncing once on the carpet before coming to a rest.

*TUK* *TUK* *TUK* *TUTUTUTUTUTUTU*

"AGHHHHH!"

*Click* *Chichik*

With a smack, I jammed the new magazine into my glock. I then grabbed the slide, pulling it back before letting it swing back forward. It was now set with a bullet in the chamber.

*Huuh*

Upon hearing a sniffling noise, my head and arms snapped towards the source. When I found out what the source of the noise was, I froze.

Sitting in the corner of the room, a kid no older than 10 was cowering. His face was covered in tears and snot as he suffered from his state of shock.

His long brown hair and hazel eyes shuddered with fear. His scrawny adolescent figure shook with each sniffle.

I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "Shit."

Quickly thumbing through my memory, I recalled the kid's name. "Hey, Caleb."

I whispered but he heard me clearly. His eyes widened a bit as he took his first proper breath since I entered the room.

*TUTUTUTUTU* *TUK* *TUKUTUKUTU*

"GREBNYY AMERIKANTS!"

I held my finger up to my mouth. "Shhhhh. It's me, Kyle. I live next door. You've gotten so big!"

Caleb wiped his nose with his right hand, sucking in a deep breath as he did so. He nodded as tears streamed down his face.

There was a lump in my throat. The guilt of subjecting a child to this. He was only going into sixth grade!

*Thmp* *Thmp*

I reeled myself back in, the sound of more men coming up the stairs forcing me to focus on protecting both him and myself. "Caleb, listen. There's some really bad men in your house. I'm here to protect you. Okay?"

He nodded so I continued. "Now go and hide behind your bed over there. Be really really quiet. Can you do that?"

Caleb nodded, quickly crawling from the corner towards his bed. With him now behind the bed, I could feel slightly better and stay focused on the task at hand.