Chapter 5

After a while, everything finally calmed down and everyone attempted to distract themselves as best as possible, waiting for Travis and his family to arrive. Suddenly, a noise echoed from the other side of the street, breaking the tense silence.

"What was that sound?" Alicia asked, her eyes widening with concern.

"I'm not sure," Madison responded, her voice steady yet tinged with unease. "It's gone now."

"What did Mr. Dawson do to the Cruzes?" Alicia wondered, her curiosity piqued.

"He attacked them," Claire replied matter-of-factly. "It's obvious."

"He's gone now," Madison added, shooting a disapproving look at Claire, who avoided her gaze.

"But what the hell did he do?" Alicia persisted, her brow furrowing with worry.

"I don't know, and we're safe inside, okay?" Madison said firmly, trying to reassure her daughters.

"Oh, come on, Nick. Please, just swallow them," Madison coaxed, encouraging him to take his medication.

"It takes too long to absorb. I'm not there yet," he protested, his voice laced with irritation.

"Right, not there yet, you're never there yet, Nick," Paul teased lightly. "That's the story of our lives."

"Come on, bro," Nick retorted, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Don't say that to your brother, Paul," Madison chided, disapprovingly.

"The idea is to wean you off the pills, not…" Madison began, but Nick cut her off.

"Who's the expert?" Nick challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Suuuuure, let the expert do his stuff," Claire mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Mom, I need more," Nick requested, already calculating his next dose.

"No shit. Later," Madison replied tersely.

"Well, how much do we have?" Nick asked, a note of desperation creeping into his voice.

"We have enough to get you east. Don't worry," Madison assured him, her expression softening.

"And then?" Nick inquired, pushing for more information.

"And then you howl at the moon," Madison joked, effectively ending the conversation.

"Ooooooooooooooooowhoo!" Claire howled, making Paul chuckle at the absurdity of it all.

"Look, Travis will be here. We'll go," Madison said, her tone resolute.

"You sure?" Nick asked, searching her face for any signs of uncertainty.

"Nick," Alicia said, her voice filled with a quiet determination as she saw her mother commit to their departure.

"He's coming," Madison affirmed, nodding her head confidently.

"Okay," Nick relented, accepting her decision.

"Travis, Travis, where are you, Travis?" Claire sang out in a mocking tone, clearly frustrated with the waiting game.

"He's coming. We'll go," Madison repeated, her voice calm and reassuring.

"Right. Sure. Whatever," Claire said dismissively, her skepticism evident.

"Really?" Alicia asked, looking surprised as Madison emerged from a cabinet with the Monopoly game, clearly intending to pass the time.

"Yep," Madison said, a faint smile playing on her lips as she set the game down on the table.

"I'm the top hat," Madison declared, picking up the top hat token.

"Car," Alicia said, choosing the car token.

"Shoe." Nick grabbed the shoe token.

"Wheelbarrow." Claire took the wheelbarrow token.

"I'm the dog," Paul said, claiming the dog token.

"You always are a horny dog, Paul," Alicia teased, a playful grin on her face.

"Dad was always the shoe," Alicia reminisced wistfully.

"Daddy wouldn't mind," Madison said softly, her voice tinged with affection.

"It's a stinky shoe," Claire quipped, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Claire," Madison admonished gently.

"Do you want to be the thimble?" Nick offered, a touch of mischief in his own voice.

"No." Madison declined, shaking her head.

"I'm the car," Alicia confirmed, holding up her token.

"The car. All right." Nick acknowledged.

"Thanks." Alicia smiled at him.

"Who wants to go first?" Madison asked, shuffling the dice in her hand.

"Youngest to oldest. I'm going to wipe the floor with you guys. I can feel it," Nick boasted, a competitive gleam in his eyes.

"This game's evil, dude, kindergarten capitalism," Alicia complained with a dramatic sigh.

"It's a good game, introducing the youngsters early to the world," Madison defended, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah," Nick agreed, nodding his head.

"Shut up and roll," Paul mocked him, a smirk on his face.

Time passed, and the game continued, with Nick reveling in his winning streak. After losing a few rounds, Paul grew tired of the game and turned to an old radio in the kitchen, hoping to pick up any news. The TV channels had long since stopped broadcasting.

"All right, all right." Nick rolled the dice again. "One, two, three, four, five, and that's Boardwalk."

"Oh, my God," Alicia gasped, her eyes widening in surprise.

"And I will buy that, please." Nick said triumphantly, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"All right, all right," Alicia agreed, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"Four hundred dollars…" Nick counted out the money meticulously.

"All right. Boardwalk sold." Madison said, transferring the deed to Nick.

"Here you go. Hey, hey." Madison gave Nick the money, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Yeah, hey, hey, how are you always the lucky one?" Claire grumbled, a touch of envy in her voice.

"Calm down. Play fair," Alicia told her, her tone firm yet gentle.

"Don't treat the banker like that," Madison admonished Claire gently.

"Thank you very much. And that's the pair." Nick celebrated, rolling a double with a flourish.

"You always get all the good ones," Alicia complained good-naturedly.

"Oh, look at that. I'm crushing you guys. You're pathetic," Madison mocked them, adopting Nick's boastful tone. The sound of distant gunshots echoed through the air, causing the girls and Nick to tense up. Paul made sure his gun was within reach and ready for any eventuality.

"Mom," Nick said, his voice tinged with concern.

"How long are we going to wait?" Alicia asked, her eyes scanning Madison's face for answers.

"Mom, it's been so long, and there's no news of Travis," Claire complained, her frustration mounting.

"We can go to sleep soon," Madison said softly, trying to reassure her children.

"Sleep? Who can sleep like this, Mom?" Claire objected, her voice filled with exasperation.

"Yeah, I can't sleep if I'm waiting for someone to come home," Alicia agreed, her expression echoing Claire's sentiment.

"Having a major case of déjà vu right now," Alicia said, her voice heavy with the echo of past experiences. They continued to wait for Travis, the tension mounting as they listened to the radio, hoping for any sign of news or the sound of his arrival.

After a few stations, they found one still on the air. The news was grim.

"Governors in 11 states have declared a state of emergency and requested the assistance of the National Guard to quell riots and protests…"

"If you need assistance, continue to insist on the emergency line for those desperately in need of help…"

"Despite the fact that the citywide curfew is now in effect, we are still getting reports…"

"Turn off that thing, Paul. It's doing nothing but keeping me on edge," Madison ordered.

"It's getting to me a little too, and the suspense of waiting for Travis," Claire admitted.

"After so long, there are no big organized government responses yet," Paul remarked.

"So, what do we do if he doesn't come back? It's been like six hours. How bad can traffic be?" Nick asked.

"Well, he—" Madison began, but her explanation was interrupted by a blackout that left the house and the city in darkness.

"Alicia, will you put the game away?" Madison asked.

"That's cheating, Mom," Claire protested.

"Mom, I don't really want to… You know the rules. The loser puts the game away," Alicia said, sitting at the table, munching on an apple in the dark. Madison shone the flashlight in her face like a predator catching its prey.

"All right, I'm going," Alicia said, startled by the light.

"You know what's out there, Mom," Nick began. "We can't stay here. I'm not trying to be an asshole."

"Good," Madison said, her voice steady.

"Nick is right, Mom," Claire added.

"He went to get his ex-wife," Nick continued.

"He went to get his son," Madison countered.

"Yes, his family," Nick said. "I'm just saying…"

"We're his family. He'll come home," Madison insisted.

"Maybe he went home," Nick said, not so sure about what he thought.

"You know that thing you were saying about not being an asshole?" Madison getting a little exasperated tries to cut him off.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I just don't…" Nick says feeling a little guilty.

"Hey, don't be that hard on big brother. He's just thinking about the safety of us. Mom," Claire does not like how she guilt-tripped Nick.

Suddenly, there were weird noises outside the house, making all of them alert to whatever was happening. "It's happening again," Madison said, her voice a little disturbed while she was trying to look from the window into the streets.

"Is it Mr. Dawson?" Alicia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't see anything," Madison replied.

"Don't make loud sounds. Speak quietly. Also, walk quietly," Paul said, his voice firm and not joking.

"Okay, we need to get away from the windows," Nick said, quickly moving everyone back. "Alicia, Claire, come on down here."

Then, suddenly, there were scraping noises again, followed by the back glass door rattling.

"Nick?" Madison said, seeing Nick go to the door.

"Come back here, don't be a stupid dumbass. You'll put us in danger doing that shit," Paul said harshly.

"Shh," Nick made a silent signal, his finger to his lips.

A rattling sound followed

"Don't open it!" Alicia was a little scared.

"Come on, listen to them bro" Claire trying to avoid problems at this time.

"It's the dog. It's just the dog." Nick then swung open the door and the dog rushed in "Hey, hey. Hey, it's okay. It's okay." says while embracing him.

"What is that?" Madison points to a red patch on the dog.

"It's blood" Claire answered after seeing a little closely.

"Is... Is he hurt?" Alicia looked worried about it.

"I don't think that's his blood," Nick observed the dog for a moment and noted that it was dry.

The dog suddenly starts barking loudly and running to the front of the house. The noise drew the attention of Mr. Dawson to the house and anyone else outside.

"Shit, what did I say, Nick?" Paul said angrily. "That dog will get us all killed. It's bringing the attention of that thing outside, and God knows what else is out there."

Paul then quickly chambered a round into the pistol with the suppressor intending to kill the damn beast.

"No, don't kill it, brother," Alicia said, her voice shaky.

"Please, Paul, let him be," Claire added, her eyes wide with pity.

'Fuck!!' Paul cursing inwardly seeing their look, kicks hard the ass of the dog making him cry but stopped barking.

"Stay here and don't fucking move around. I'll go kill it," Paul said seriously to them as he intended to kill Mr. Dawson who was coming to their house.

"No, Paul, don't go. Just stay here," Madison said, her voice laced with anxiety.

"Stay here for the last time. I'm not joking," Paul said, his face stern as he emphasized his point.

"Okay, we'll just stay here," Madison relents seeing his face.

"We'll just stay here," Alicia and Claire said together, a little scared by Paul's outburst.

Then Paul opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, aiming and shooting Mr. Dawson in the head, who was walking on the sidewalk. He dropped like a sack of potatoes into the ground, then he aimed at two more that were coming their way, killing them on the street.

Paul then stepped back intending to go inside, but the stupid dog got out of the house barking loudly again as he ran to God knows where. That stupid dog still tries to get killed with him not doing anything.

The family was a little shocked at how calm Paul was, as if it were normal. None of this was normal.

There was an uncomfortable silence while they waited for Travis.

"Luckily you didn't kill the dog, Paul," Claire said after a while smiling.

"I should have, the dog wasn't stopping making noise, it was the right thing to do, it attracted more than just Dawson, and still got killed running off like that" Paul explained.

"And him? Why did you kill him?" Alicia asked, a little sad at the turn of events.

"It's not a person, Alicia. You've read the notice. He's dead, and that is just a husk of what he was," Paul said, a little exhausted at their naivety.

"Why are you being like that, Paul? Like if all of this were normal? Trying to kill dogs, Mr. Dawson—or that—I didn't raise you like that." Madison said, stressed out.

Paul, a little annoyed with them making him out to be the bad guy, went to the cabinet and poured himself a whiskey. He downed it in one gulp and reached for another, only for Claire to snatch the bottle away from him.

"I need a drink too, brother. I'm a little thirsty," Claire said, smiling at him knowingly.

"Don't tempt me, little wolf," Paul smiled back, knowing what she was doing.

"Paul!!," Madison says to him again seeing what he is doing.

Paul sighed and said, "Mom, listen. We can't just carry on as if everything's normal. Things won't be the same anymore, and we need to accept that. We can't go back to the way things were. I've lost any hope of that after seeing what we just did." He finished his drink in one swift swallow."

"Sorry, bro. It's just this isn't right," Alicia said as she climbed onto his back, her arms around him, and rested her head on his back.

"I know, baby girl. I'm not taking it out on you guys, but I will do what needs to be done to be safe, even if it's something really bad," Paul said to all of them before embracing Alicia. Soon Claire also joined the hug, turning it into a family hug, with Madison and Nick joining too.

*Vroom* Engine sounds outside signaled Travis's arrival.

Madison and her kids had been holding each other tightly when they heard the car pull into the driveway. "It's him," Madison murmured, though she didn't let go of the children just yet. The engine cut off, and the door opened. Travis stepped into the house, the interior dark because of the energy cut off with the blackout.

"Madison. Maddy?" he called, his voice echoing slightly in the dim room. "I asked you to wait in the car," he said to his ex-wife and son, who followed him in.

"We're staying with you," she insisted.

"Looks like there's no one here," his son noted.

"The car's still in the driveway, gotta be here," Travis said, looking around.

"We're here in the kitchen, Travis," Madison called from where she and the children were huddled.

They soon heard footsteps, and Travis, his ex-wife, and his son entered the kitchen. "Hey," Travis said, giving them a small wave.

"Travis," Claire acknowledged, and Madison noticed the ex-wife's stiff demeanor.

"Uh, this is Elizabeth—Chris's mother, who you already know," Travis introduced them, gesturing to his ex-wife.

"Hello, Elizabeth. How are you doing, Chris?" Paul asked politely.

"Hi," Chris responded softly.

"Not so well, Paul," Elizabeth said with a slight smile.

"Liza," Travis continued, "this is Madison's family, from oldest to youngest: Nick, Claire, Paul, and Alicia."

Paul, who was holding a rifle, advanced toward the front door, the sound of footsteps drawing his attention. He moved sideways, keeping an eye on the entrance while covering his back. "There are more people with you, Travis?" he asked, the rifle ready.

"Yes, there's a family of three we brought with us," Travis replied.

"You brought three people here? Are they unarmed?" Paul inquired, his gaze fixed on the front door.

Travis nodded. "Yes, they're fine. They need help."

As he spoke, three people entered the house. An elderly man, an elderly woman, and a grown woman who was assisting the older lady, who appeared to be injured.

"Stop, don't move!" Paul shouted, keeping his focus on the elderly man. His eyes darted between the three newcomers, his grip on the rifle tight. "No, put the gun down! They aren't a danger," Travis said, moving to stop Paul.

Paul, however, kicked Travis away forcefully. "Don't try that again, Travis! Now, who are you people?!" he yelled.

"No! Dad!" Chris cried out, rushing to check on Travis.

"We helped him," the elderly man said. "He owes us help." His tone was steady, but Madison could see the tension in his eyes. He knew they were being watched closely, and he seemed to recognize the man holding the gun as the one who left those bodies in front.

"Alright, but he's the one who owes you, not us," Paul said. "Are you armed, old man? The ladies?"

"Stop right now, Paul!" Madison yelled, moving to his side trying to force him down to no avail being too strong for her.

"Answer, old man, and don't make any moves," Paul warned. "Sudden moves make me jumpy and homicidal."

"Stop doing that, Mom. I'm trying to get us safe. This isn't a joke," Paul said through gritted teeth, trying to shrug off his mother's attempts to disarm him. 

Meanwhile, the older man was debating their next move, his eyes never leaving the gun pointed at him.

"Papa," the grown woman cries out, stressed about the situation.

ES "What is this man saying with that gun, hija?" an old woman asks the woman.

"We are not a threat, I don't have any weapons on me," the old man answers, now a little tense and not so relaxed.

ES "Are you being honest with me, old man? I can see your eyes and those are not the eyes of an ordinary person. Your walk and posture, observing everything since you entered the room, unlike that stupid, naive pacifist on the ground," Paul speaks to him in Spanish, recognizing the language spoken by what seems to be his daughter and the old woman, the wife of the man.

ES "What are you saying? Why are you saying that about my father? We don't have any weapons. My mother needs urgent medical assistance," the grown woman replies.

ES "Niño, we are not here to cause any harm. Please," the old woman pleads.

"Brother, stop, please," Alicia says, already feeling bad about what is happening.

"Calm down, Paul. They are not a threat. Look at them," Claire says.

"Paul," Nick interjects.

ES "I need you to be frisked for any weapons or dangerous objects that could represent a threat to any member of this household," Paul says. "Give me your word, on your honor, or by your God, that you are not a threat to any of us."

"Paul, please, do this for me. They are not a danger to us. They helped us when we needed it the most, letting us stay in their place. Please stop," Travis begs Paul while coughing a little from the kick.

ES "I give you my word of honor and by my God that I am not a threat to you or any member of this household. We need a place to stay, and my wife needs medical attention. There is no need to search me; I only have a few knives and barber tools in a case in my pocket. If you give me the chance, I will put them on the ground as a sign of my honesty," the old man says, even more tense after seeing him speak in Spanish.

ES "I will take your word, señor, but the search is not negotiable. Even if what you say is true, that knife or those tools are weapons too, and you know it perfectly. Better to prevent than to regret later. You know how things are from Central America to the south of the continent. Words come out of the mouth, but in the mind is something else. Death is lurking at any moment. Let yourself be searched and I will be at ease. There is no need to search your wife and your daughter," Paul says.

"Listen to him, Paul, please," Madison says.

"I would have done it, Mom, but the old man gives me the creeps. He is someone who will do anything," Paul replies.

"Nick!! Check him out for anything on his body and take it," Paul yells to Nick, who goes to him.

ES "No movement until he finishes and is far away from you. My hand will not tremble at the slightest wrong muscle movement." Paul says.

"Done, he only has this bag on him," Nick says while moving away from the old man.

ES "Señor, I am placing a lot of trust in you in this moment. I suppose you understand my position, because it is the same as yours when you gave asylum to Travis and his family. This is not personal." Paul says.

ES "I know," the old man replies.

Paul puts down the rifle but doesn't relax much; he gives it to Nick while keeping his pistol at hand on his leg.

"Son, I am disappointed in you," Madison says, then gives him a hard slap on his face, making it red.

"Please, come into the living room," Paul says to the guests while hurt by that slap, but not physically.

Saying that, Paul goes to a side where he has vision of all the room. Liza goes to help the old woman with her daughter on the couch to check the injury. The old man also goes to a side of the room near his wife and daughter. The girls go to Paul to check his face, and Madison goes to check Travis. Meanwhile, Nick sits on a chair, all relaxed about anything.

"Why, Paul? Why do you keep doing this?" Alice asks him with tears in her eyes as she looks into his eyes.

"Stop acting like that. Wait a moment, I will go for some cream and ice. It will get inflamed," Claire says while looking at his face.

"I just don't want anything to happen to our family. I would do anything to protect all of you, and if I need to be the bad guy of the movie, then so be it. These times demand it," Paul says convinced that he wasn't wrong.

"I know, but... but it hurts seeing you like this, brother," Alicia goes to his chest, taking hold with both hands of his clothes and wetting them.

"Alright, I will try to be a better person. Just stop crying; it hurts me more than that slap or even Mom telling me that I am a disappointment to her," Paul sighs and embraces her.

"We will try the Travis way to see what happens. I hope we don't die in the process," Paul says a little pessimist but knowing that doing that he will not get bad fame, but he will need to be more alert.

Travis manages to stand up again, but his chest still hurts where he was kicked. He goes to Liza, who is treating the woman.

"How's she doing?" Travis asks.

"Have you got anything I can give her for the pain?" Liza asks.

"Nothing stronger than aspirin, maybe," Travis replies.

Paul sighing a little, goes to his room.

"Where are you going?" Alicia wonders looking at him.

"To try the Travis way of doing things."

After a moment, he comes back with two bottles and two syringes and goes to the old man, stretching his arm with the things.

ES "Here, for your wife. This is my peace offering so that we can put what happened behind us and you won't hold any grudges about what happened," Paul says, looking him in the eyes.

The man hesitates for a moment about taking these things.

ES "Take it, you won't be indebted to me, it's a gift," Paul says.

Finally, he relents and takes them.

ES "Gracias," the old man thanks him, accepting his words.

"My name is Daniel Salazar. She is my wife, Griselda, and my daughter, Ofelia," Daniel presents himself and his family to all of us, while giving the medicine to Liza, knowing well that they are precious resources now.

"Morphine and penicillin, this will help greatly with her pain and wound," Liza says, a little surprised that Paul has those things here.

"You did well, Paul. It relieves me that you did this," Travis says to Paul.

"Yeah, well, don't be mistaken, Travis. It brings me no joy the things I do, but I still do them because they are necessary to be done. So I will not say sorry for the kick; you deserved it doing that. Imagine doing that with people that represented a true danger. You are putting us at risk doing it. But I will say sorry for the pain you are feeling now," Paul says.

"Yeah..." Travis replies.

"Paul, I..." Madison tries to talk to her son after feeling regretful about what she said and did to him, not thinking well at that moment.

"I know, Mom, but not right now," Paul says then goes to the side again, where Claire and Alicia treat his face and stay with him.

"The phone is in the kitchen if you need to make that call," Travis says to Daniel.

"Thanks, I will do it," Daniel says before going to the kitchen to make that phone call.

"We'll set up your mom in one of the bedrooms, okay?" Travis says to Ofelia.

"Thank you," Ofelia replies gratefully.

"Aren't we leaving?" Madison asks confused at that.

"Yeah, yeah, we will. In the morning," Travis says evading a clear answer.

"No, Travis, we have to go. We're packed, we're ready. We were waiting for you." Madison instantly looks disgruntled at him.

"Can we talk in the kitchen?" Travis still evading a clear answer.

"No. This thing is getting worse, not better. It's not safe." Madison

"I think Travis is..." Liza tries to intervene.

"No, it's not your..." Madison dismisses her words.

"No!!, Travis, I don't want to stay. I don't... I want to go," Alicia suddenly says cutting them both off.

"Paul, tell him we have to go, please," Alicia begs.

"Now depends on Travis. Just now all of you made it clear that you don't like my ways of doing things. If anything goes wrong, it is Mom's fault this time for depositing all of our trust on him," Paul says, evading the problem.

"Look," Travis says, knowing now that if he fucks it up, it will hurt their trust greatly and even end their relationship, but he believes it is the right thing to do.

"I want to go. I don't want to stay," Alicia still persists on her posture.

"Me too, I don't want to stay here anymore. Those dead could still come again," Claire says a little disturbed at the thought.

"Hold on. It's dark. We don't even know if the freeway is passable," Travis, seeing the relentless girls tries to reason with them.

"You want us to wait here?" Madison asks not believing what he is thinking.

"We'd be blind out there. It's dangerous," Travis says.

"And this isn't?" Madison asks.

"Inside, the doors are locked," Travis says.

"We'll ride it out for the night, okay? We'll take care of each other. Trust me, Maddy," Travis says.

"We'll leave in the morning," Travis says.

"If we're staying, you have to take care of the surroundings of the house," Madison says to him with finality.

"You have a job to do, Travis. Either deal with Mr. Dawson up front, or leave him be, anyway he will not be a threat being a nice rug to the landscape. It's Susan in the back who's the real problem." Paul chuckles, a cold edge to his voice.

Madison looks at her son, worry creasing her forehead. "What's wrong with Su-su?"

Paul points outside, his expression flat. "Since the dog barked, she's been trying to get in through the wall. She's over there now, reaching an arm through a hole."

Madison's eyes widen. "Why are you telling us this now?"

Paul shrugs. "We were supposed to leave, not hunker down for the night. Not my problem."

They step outside, finding Susan on the other side of the wall, her pale arm thrusting between the planks. Travis calls out to her, but she doesn't respond.

"Susan?" Madison's voice is tinged with panic.

"She's sick," Travis says, his expression grim.

"Was she bitten?" Alicia asks, her eyes scanning Susan's arm.

Travis shakes his head. "I can't tell."

"She's not sick," Nick interjects, "Not like that, after reading the notice by now you should know better, Travis."

Claire's voice is steady, her expression resolute. "She's dead."

"Maybe it's false. Maybe there's a cure somewhere," Travis still suggests hopefully.

Paul scoffs. "Don't be naive, Travis. She's dead. That thing isn't even human anymore."

Paul turns to Travis, his eyes hard. "So, are you going to do it?"

Travis sets his jaw. "No. None of us will. She's not a threat. The wall will hold her. She can't do anything to us."

Paul shrugs. "Suit yourself. Mr. Dawson's still out front. Just thought you'd like to know." He turns and heads back inside, reaching for a drink.

Daniel steps closer to Travis, speaking softly. "I called my cousin. He'll pick us up in the morning. Just thought you should know."