Chapter Text
"Shhh." I hushed, my heart was pounding furiously in my ears, but I could only focus on the tear-stained faces of my little sisters, well, of the two that were awake, "Quiet." I whispered nervously, "I-I think they're coming back."
That only set off a high-pitched whine from Camila that made me want to smack her quiet. Instead, I pushed her dirty face into my collarbone and rubbed her back with a shaky hand.
"Shhh. No llores."
Thankfully, the echoing gunshots didn't wake up Olivia and Eva because then we'd truly be screwed. Their crying would draw in whatever monsters had come back to the nursing home like moths to a flame. And this time, Abuelita and Tía Esther wouldn't be here to help us.
Isabella squirmed, trying not to shift from where she was sitting in the corner with Olivia snoring on her lap, "What do we d-do? Is it them?"
Doors were being opened and closed, people were going through the different rooms... searching for something. It wasn't Mamí or Papí. It couldn't even be Alexander. There were too many footsteps for that and they hadn't come straight to our designated hiding spot first.
"I don't know." I whispered back, she opened her mouth again but I hissed, "Quiet!"
The footsteps that echoed throughout the hall were as terrifying as the growls of los muertos... so much so that I kind of hoped that it was the dead coming into the nursing home instead of people. However, quiet, hushed voices -definitely not dead then- were moving closer and closer to the auditorium where we'd been hiding under the stage for the last couple of hours.
I pushed Camila closer to Isabella and motioned for her to wrap Camila into a hug. Poor Camila was covering her mouth with trembling hands, and her eyes were shut forcefully, so only Isabella saw me press a shaking finger to my lips before I started to crawl toward the white vent. Isabella shook her head in fear but stopped when I gave her a hard look and pressed my finger to my lips again. We- I needed to know.
I needed to know if it was them.
I crawled carefully on my hands and knees, avoiding the bags and emergency supplies that'd been stored under here for safekeeping until I made it to the vent. I didn't push my face right up against it like an idiot, but peered through it from the side instead so that whoever was out there couldn't see me.
"-best bet. Cleared a few rooms, we could barricade those if we have to. We'll be alright." a male voice reassured the others. His voice sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I'd heard it before. I heard a woman make a snide comment, but it was hard to make out their whole conversation since they were all whispering.
I almost couldn't see anything, not over the still figures of Abuelita and Tía from where they'd tried to cover the big vent with their bodies. I ignored the smell coming from- and the flies. All I saw were legs at first, but behind the leg of a table, I saw something that I hadn't seen the first time these assholes burst through the nursing home with their guns... I saw a kid. A boy and then a girl... they both looked around my age and definitely not like killers. Before I could get a better look, Olivia's distinctive cry pierced the air for a moment before it was quickly smothered.
I couldn't hold back the full-body flinch if I'd tried.
"Shh." another deep voice commanded the group, "Did'ya hear that?"
Another whine came from Olivia, and Isabella's terrified, "Shhhh!" reached my ears as the whine was smothered once more.
Dios.
A pair of jean-clad legs started moving towards the stage -theyheardusohgod- and I bolted backward. Crawling as fast as I could back to my sisters.
Tears were freely streaming down Isabella's cheeks as both of her hands futilely tried to cover Olivia's mouth while the two-year-old squirmed, kicking her legs angrily in protest. Camila was rocking back and forth with her hands clamped over her ears -though her wide terrified eyes never strayed from Olivia- by the basket where our baby sister was still fast asleep. Once Olivia saw me, she stopped struggling so much in Isabella's hold, but the damage was already done. I could hear the others. They were moving the bodies and prying open the vent. A light shined through. Hopefully, they wouldn't be able to see us with all the bags and boxes in the way. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Not when Eva woke up.
Not when the youngest of my sisters let out a pitiful cry of her own.
Not when picking up the infant and trying to futilely stop her tears failed.
Not when I could hear one of the men exclaim, "Oh, shit! There's some kids in there!" over Eva's cries.
Not when I could feel Camila trembling violently next to me before throwing her tiny arms around my neck to press her face into my shirt.
Not when a small sob escaped from Isabella's white-pressed lips as she let go of Olivia to move closer to me for a comfort that I wasn't sure I could give her.
Not when a hiccuping and sticky Olivia smacked her chubby fingers on my chin and whined for Mamí.
Not when Eva's wails tapered off only to start back up again when one of the men tried to crawl under the stage, only to loudly bang their head and start cursing angrily.
Not when we've already lost.
It took me another round of bouncing and shushing to get Eva to stop again.
"Hey..." another man called out softly, "Hey, kids. Come on out here."
We don't move. We're not fools. We saw what those men did-
"We're not going to hurt you. W-We just want to help."
"Li-Liar!" Isabella sobbed out angrily as her brows scrunched up together.
I shot her a glare, "Shhh!"
"Hey, do you remember me?" another man asks, "My name's Glenn. I-I was here the other day. Do you remember? I tried to help Mr. Arthur with his asthma attack."
The Asian guy.
Señor Guillermo and the vatos had brought him in from the streets, and later on, his group came back to get him. They'd been nice. They'd brought Miguel home and left some guns behind to help protect the nursing home... The guns hadn't really helped in the end.
Those men still came.
They still killed every-
"I'm not going to hurt you... and- and no one else here is going to hurt you either. I promise." Glenn's voice was soft and soothing, slightly echoing from the opening of the vent, "So, do you think you can come out here, please. I- We just want to help."
"Isabella," I whispered soft enough so that the others couldn't hear us, "toma." I handed her Eva, who barely made a sound as Isabella clumsily supported her head, "I'll be right back. Don't come out 'til I say so."
"It's not safe." Isabella hissed back angrily, fear dripping out of her voice, though she didn't move.
"I remember him." I jerked my head over to the vent, "I'm just gonna see if it's really Glenn. Remember, his friend was a cop. Maybe they can help us."
She sniffled wetly before nodding, "Fine. Camila, ven." Isabella commanded Camila to sit by her so that I could move freely. I had to quietly wrestle Olivia next to Isabella, which almost set her off on another crying spree... but I was finally able to start crawling toward the vent.
"I'm coming out." I said in a louder voice, "But you can't come in here!"
"Okay!" Glenn called back, I could hear other voices murmuring as they shuffled back from the opening a bit, "No one's going in."
I saw Glenn first.
He was kneeling close by, his red baseball cap on the floor, as he stared at me in concern. I forced myself to stop trembling -it didn't really work- as I completely crawled out from under the stage, keeping my eyes on the bloodstained linoleum floor. I didn't make any moves to get up, instead, I sat with my arms wrapped around my legs, right in front of the opening so that none of them could get a peek inside. So that they'd have to physically remove me to try and get at my sisters.
Glenn's lips were quirked into an awkward smile, "Hey, you're Pili, right?"
"Pillar." I corrected him, "Only my friends and family can call me Pili."
"Right," he nodded, nervously running his fingers through his hair, "And, um, your sisters-"
"What about them?" I interrupted with a sharp glare.
"Hey, hey." another familiar man, still wearing the iconic sheriff's uniform, kneeled down, "We just want to help you, Pillar. Are you hurt? Are your sisters?" His blue eyes were piercing, locked onto my own. He looked worried, actually worried about some kids he didn't even know or should care about.
A small shudder wracked through my frame, "No."
"Okay," he nodded, "How many sisters do you have, Pillar?"
"A lot." I looked away from him, my eyes drawn to the bloodstained floor once more... where the familiar bodies of my Abuelita and her sister had been dragged out of the way. Dios. They were dead.
Really dead.
Where was Mamí?
She... she had been upstairs helping Mister Donald... and Papí... he should've been back from his run by now.
What about Alexander?
He'd gone up to the bathroom before the first shots had been fired. He'd never come back down.
They couldn't be dead. Right?
A man with a crossbow moved so that I couldn't see the bodies anymore. My gaze dropped back to the floor.
"Olivia, no!" Isabella hissed loudly, not a moment later a little body slammed into my back. I shut my eyes in anger for a moment, taking in a deep breath so that I wouldn't lose my temper, before grabbing Olivia and sitting her forcefully down on my lap. I placed my hand on the back of her head and forced her to tuck her face under my chin so that she couldn't see the bodies.
"At least one." I mumbled petulantly as Olivia squirmed, trying to look at all the new faces.
Someone snorted.
"Then who just told this lil' one 'no'?" the sheriff asked gently.
I huffed, "Fine. Two."
"We ain't got all day for a guessing game, Rick." a mean-looking man grumbled as he hefted a giant rifle onto his shoulder, "Sun's coming down fast. Didn' you say we should barricade the second floor? We don't have time to cater to the whims of a little girl." I tried not to flinch when he glared down at me... but I did, which made Olivia whine before she willingly buried her face into my collarbone.
"Then you can take a group upstairs while we handle this situation." the sheriff, Rick stated strongly. His hard look vanished when he glanced back at me and Olivia, "Pillar, it's not safe. Whatever happened here must've been really scary but-"
"Men came here." I interrupted him, swallowing the lump in my throat before continuing, "A lot of them, with guns. I think- I think they killed everyone. We hid under the stage like Abuelita told us to. That's her over there." I pointed at her fallen body without looking.
I didn't really want to see.
Not her.
Not my Abuelita.
The entire auditorium was quiet for a moment, "Y-You did a good job." Rick praised, "Now, maybe we can help you and your sisters, but we can't do that unless you let us."
I gnawed on my bottom lip nervously, "Will you help me look upstairs?" That seemed to take them all back, so I explained, "Mamí was upstairs."
Rick nodded... even though all of the adults seemed to be avoiding looking at my face directly. Like they'd already written off my mother for dead. "Alright. I promise."
"Okay." I hummed before nudging Olivia off my legs so that I could stand up. I almost collapsed right back onto the floor, not used to actually standing after hours of sitting with my legs crossed, but I managed to hold my ground. I picked Olivia up by her armpits before extending her over to Glenn, the only other real friendly face, "Can you hold her a sec' I need to help Izzie."
Glenn floundered for a moment, but he accepted her, hesitatingly sitting Olivia onto his hip with a nervous look, "No problem." He had the face of a man who'd never held a baby before in his life.
"I'll be back." I whispered before getting back down onto my knees and crawling under the stage.
