Chapter 21: Stop! (Shannons POV)

We sat there for a few seconds, as if I had not said what I had just said to her not too long ago. I stared at the open door, as I was quite a bit scared as to what we would find in there. I had a feeling that it more than likely would not be my father that we would see.

It did not make sense, that on a day like today, that we would have so carelessly left the unlocked, much less left the door wide open. I gulped, as I was starting to think that all of this might not be all that good of an idea. But did I really have a choice though?

If I wanted to see my father again, and be able to at least tell him about my mother, and his now deceased wife, than I had no other choice but to at least go up to the door and leave a note for him. I had lost my mother, and I knew that I had to use the rest of the time that I had with my father, wisely.

I had to make sure that he knew where it was that we were going to. If he did not go any where else, than I knew that home was the first place that he would head on over to. I looked over at Lilly, as I saw the most blank of any kind of look on her face at the current moment.

I shook my head, as I did not need to be worried about her at the current moment. I knew that she was not going to leave me here, even if we were to walk in, and find nothing there, and I was to ask her. I knew that she was going to go through with what her friends final wish had been.

After just a couple seconds longer, Lilly finally made a bit of a move, as she pulled the key out of the ignition, as the car went silent. I looked at her for a bit of some time, as I waited to see what it was that she was going to do next. I saw her close her eyes, as it did not seem like she had very much of a plan right now.

I did not blame her for it either, though I knew that we had plenty of time for us to think, whilst we had been in the car, I knew, or at least I thought, that she had been much like me, and she had a lot of other stuff going on in her mind through all of that driving.

I had thought about asking her for me to try and drive, more than once, but in the end, I knew, and I had decided that it was not the best time to ask that kind of question. Besides, I was not sure if I was going to ever have the chance to drive, ever again, just based off of the way that things were panning out so far.

I shook my head though, as I then saw that Lilly had finally decided that she was going to open her eyes, and that she was going to make her next move. I stared at her for a bit longer, as I then suddenly heard the noise of the doors unlocking to the car.

I blinked a few times, as for some reason I was a bit surprised with all that was going on at the moment, as if she had not made it clear that she was in a hurry to get to the place that she had told me about, as it was, 'the safe place', as she liked to call it.

I watched as Lilly finally made up her mind, as she opened up her door, and then she got out of it. I turned my head over to my side, and I stared at the passenger side door, for just a couple of seconds. I shook my head though, as I then did not hesitate to open the door of it, just like I had seen Lilly do for her side.

I knew that now was not the time for me to be wasting my time, and it was also not the time for small talk either. I then got out of the door, and I closed it right behind me, but ever so slightly, as for some reason I was worried that someone might hear it.

Well, that some reason was for a good reason I suppose, as I had almost forgot, up to this point, that the doors to my house were wide open. I gulped as I saw it, and I just looked at it for a couple of moments. I was not sure as to what I should do, and frankly, I was also quite a bit scared as well.

What if there was a person in there, with a gun perhaps, that might be robbing the place. We did have a fair amount of good stuff in there, and I knew that there was a lot of people stealing, and looting stuff, at a time like this none the less.

As I continued to stare at it for a little bit longer, I then saw that Lilly had walked in front of me, and she was going right over to it, without any hesitation, or any thoughts that it might some how go bad for her. I blinked a few times, as I was a bit shocked, though I figured that I should not be.

She had shown me a few minutes ago, while we had been in the car together, that she had a gun, and a taser. While my parents might not be too for that kind of stuff, I knew that in this moment, it might be necessary, as it might be the difference in our lives, and the life of the person that might be in there.

I nodded to myself, as I followed right behind her, as she slowly, and quietly began to walk up the steps to our home. I was not too far back, as I did my best to do the same as she was, though it did not seem to do quite as well as she had, as when I walked, I heard a fair amount of foot steps going up.

Lilly then stopped, as it was clear to her that it was making a fair amount of noise. I did not blame her for it either, as I normal day of me walking up the stairs, I would not even recognize that I was making any sort of noise in the first place, but this was no sort of ordinary day right now.

It was dead silent outside, and every step that I took, it seemed to make the loudest noise that I had ever head in my life. Lilly looked at me for a little while longer, as I then saw her put her hand near me, as she then began to put it down low, as it was clear that she was telling me to be more quiet.

I was not sure how I was going to do that though, as I had never really known about all of that country stuff, and how to do stuff when you were out in the wild. I suppose that at the way that things were going so far, I might have to soon figure that kind of stuff out for myself.

I nodded to her, as she rolled her eyes at me, and then she began to continue to walk up the steps, even slower than before, and I would say for quiet, but I had not even heard her make a noise when she had gone up the steps quicker than she was doing right now.

I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self, which felt like it was a loud sigh, with how quiet it was out in the air right now. Lilly did not look over at me, with any sort of upset look on her face though, as I knew that she had not heard the sigh, or she had chose to ignore it, as it was not loud enough to be a big deal to her.

I felt like the first theory on that behalf was the right one, as it seemed like she found any sort of way to get upset at me. I shook my head though, as I knew that was not where my thoughts should be at, at the current moment in time.

I stared at Lilly, as I did my best to copy what it was that she was doing, as I looked at her feet, trying to copy how it was that she was walking, and how fast she was going. As I did so, it seemed to be working a bit, but I did not have enough time to test that thoroughly, as I got to the last step.

I looked at Lilly, as I saw that she had her hand held up high, as it was clear that she was telling me to stop, so that she could listen, to hear if there was any sort of noise coming from inside of the home. I did not hear a noise in the house though, as I wondered if any one had actually been in there in the first place.

If they had, than they must have already left then, right? It just did not make sense as to why they would leave the door wide open, as if it was clear to them that they wanted people to know that our place had been robbed. I shook my head though, as I then looked over at Lilly, as I saw her hand go over towards her belt.

I looked at it for a few seconds, as I watched as she began to pull her gun, and her taser from out of her belt. I squinted my eyes at her, as I knew that if there was in fact a person in our place, than they would not like what they had coming for them.

I gulped a bit, as I too, like my parents was not a supporter of guns at all, as I did not even want to think of the fact that she might be about to shoot a person in there. I knew that if there was in fact a person in there though, than she would not have much of a choice.

It was shoot first, or get shot at a time like this. I would much more take the first part of that, if I had to choose between the 2 sides. Lilly looked at me, as she then put a finger up to her mouth, as if she was telling me for some reason, that I needed to be quiet, as if I did not know that already.

I nodded to her, to at least make her feel a little bit better, as she nodded back to me. She then began to slowly walk towards the front door of the house, with her taser in her left hand, and her gun on the right. I hoped that she was a lefty, because I did not want her to have to shoot someone inside of hear.

I would much rather her just tase them, even if they were not a good person, I did not want to think on the fact that I might witness someone getting shot and killed. From what I heard as well, the hospitals were all closed down at the moment, so if someone was to get shot, best hope that the bullet went straight through the body.

You would not want someone to get sick from a poison, on a gun shot wound. I shook my head, as I slowly followed, a bit further behind her than I had a few seconds ago, as she then got up to the front door. As soon as she went in, I then lost her, as she did not even bother to try to poke her head in.

I stood there for a few moments, as I was a bit worried, as well as being quite a bit afraid as well. It was as if I had thought that something might have happened to her, and that she had been taken down. I knew it was not the case though, as I knew that I would have heard a fair amount of noise if it was.

I still was a bit scared, as I waited to hear some sort of noise from inside, or something that at least told me that it was safe enough for me to go in with her. I shivered, as I still thought that something had gone wrong from inside of my home. As I waiting for at least a solid 30 seconds.

Just as I thought about it, that was when Lilly suddenly poked her head in to the out side of the door, as she then nodded for me to follow her in. I was still a bit hesitant though, as I was afraid that something might still be in the house, or as if this might be some sort of trap.

It did not make sense for this to be a trap though, as I knew that she would not have taken me all this way, to trap me in here. She would not have known where I lived, or even the fact that I had wanted to at least go back home either. I still let out a bit of a gulp to myself, as I decided to speak to her before she went back in there.

"Have you checked the entire house already?" I asked her, as I knew that it was quite a fair question as well. I was sure that the answer was going to be no as well, as there was 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and 2 living rooms... There was no possible way that she could have checked those within that time frame.

Lilly stared at me for just a little while, as she decided that she was not going to go in further, just like it had seemed like she had first done. She rolled her eyes at me, as I saw her put her finger up for my be quiet once again. I realized that I had been quite a bit loud when I had spoken.

She stared at me for a bit of time, as it was kind of building up a whole lot of anxiety in me again, which was not a way that I wanted to feel at the moment either, especially at a time like this. She then shook her head at me after a bit longer, as she began to speak quieter than me, and I listened as to what it was that she had to say.

"No... But it is safe for you go in to the living room, and at least hide behind that couch of yours, while I check the rest of the place..." She said to me. I looked at her for a few moments, as I still was not too sure with what it was that she had said to me.

I then began to think it through my head, as I thought of any sort of possible out come where this could be going bad for us. Rather than thinking of a bad outcome, thankfully as well, I then began to realize, that I was going to be okay, and that it was safe for me to go in with her.

The living room was where all of our expensive stuff was at, and if someone was going to try to rob us, than that was where it was going to be. There was not much stuff in the other rooms, and if some one was here to try to steal some stuff, than they would have already gone through the front door at this point.

I still knew that we had not left the door to the house open either though, which meant that someone had managed to get in, and odds are, they had already robbed the place before we had got back here. I just knew that it was safe for me to go in, as I nodded to Lilly, and then I began to head in to my home with her.

As I walked past the front door, I looked inside for a couple of seconds, as a lot of sad thoughts then began to pop up through my head. I felt like this was more than likely going to be the last time that I was ever going to be at this place. It saddened me as well, as I almost wanted to cry.

I knew that now was not the time for me to do so, and I could do plenty of that once we got to the 'safe place' in a bit of time from now. Plus I did not want to cry in front of Lilly either, as she seemed to be the type of lady so far, that would judge a lot, if I was to do so.

I shook my head though, as I watched as Lilly disappeared into the kitchen, as if the person was going to perhaps steal the fridge, or be in there at the moment. I suppose it would make sense as to why they were taking so long, if that were to be the case, but there was no way they would be able to steal that big fridge, when there was plenty other stuff in here to steal.

I began to walk over to the couch, a bit scared to even go near it, as if some man was going to mysteriously poke their head out of the cushions, and then shoot me. As I then began to draw closer to it, I began to feel just a little bit more safe, which felt quite a bit strange to think that I would be, at a time like this.

Once I was at the couch, I then began to do as Lilly said, as I walked behind the couch, and then I began to hide behind it. I thought about closing my eyes, and trying to pretend that none of this was real, but I knew that it was all true, and I did not even want to think of what might happen if I did so.

I just stared ahead of me, as I saw Lilly then poke her head out of the kitchen, as she saw me behind the couch, she smiled at me for some strange reason, and then she began to walk over to the other room, which was the hallway, in to the bedrooms, which each had their own bathrooms inside.

I stared at the door way to the hall way, for a bit of some time, as if I thought that some one might pop out, and then start to attack Lilly, but that was not the case at all however. I then heard the door to my room open, as that was the way that I had seen her head over to.

I stared at the hallway for a bit more of some time, as I waited for Lilly to pop out, and tell me that it was all safe, and that we were going to be okay. At that point, I would then get me a pen, and then I would begin to write a not for my father, to leave at the door.

I had to make sure that I did not freak out, and tell myself that things were going to be okay. It felt like, when I did get worried, that was when thing started to get bad. I did my best to act calm and normal, as I then suddenly began to hear to ring of a phone from the other room.

I blinked a few times, as I knew that the ring was familiar, as I began to realize it was the ring of my father. I wondered if he had perhaps left his phone with him at home, which was quite a bit rare for him as well. It would not be the first time that he had done that however, as I remembered him getting upset, as he used that phone for a lot of business stuff.

It was not just that, that stood out to me, but it was also the fact that, the ring, was the ring of the phone ringing to a call on the other end, rather than some one else trying to call him. My heart stopped, as it all seemed to slow down for me, as I began to freak out.

At first I thought, that some one was in the other room, and they had done some thing to my father, and they were using his phone, but as I began to delve deeper in to it, I knew that it could not be the case. The person that was in the other room... It was my father...

He was here with me right now... I did not know how to handle all of that, nor did I know what it was that I should do. I just stood there for a bit more time, as everything around me seemed to stop. I blinked a few times, as I heard movement from my bedroom, that Lilly was in right now.

I knew that she too had heard the noise of the phone, and I knew that she was going to be heading right over to it. I also knew that she had a gun on her, as that was just about all that I could think about. I knew what I had to do, as I did not want to lose another parent today.

I then got up from where it was that I had been, which was right behind the couch. I had fallen asleep so many times behind that couch, some nights. I shook my head, as I knew that was not where my mind should be at right now, as I then began to run straight to the hall way.

Just as I got there, I then saw the door open to my own room, and right behind that door, there was a woman with a gun in her hand. It was pointed right at me as well, but I did not freak out one bit, seeing a gun pointed directly at my face.

I was too worried about my father, as I heard a cough from the other room, which I knew to be my father. I turned my head over to it, and I began to walk straight over to the door. Right as I put my hand on the door handle, I heard Lilly begin to speak, but much louder than before.

"Shannon! Stop!"