by S.L. Jordan

She pressed her hand tightly to her mouth in efforts to smother the sound of her own breathing. Everything seemed so loud. The sound of her breath, the rapid beating of her heart. It was almost as if she could hear the blood traveling through her veins.

It was at that moment she felt a tickle in the back of her throat, and tried with all her might to swallow back the cough that threatened to give her away. She had dug this space out from under the floor boards years ago, back before the spores had attacked – back when she could fit comfortably inside.

The raid had come unexpectedly and she didn’t have time to grab her portable oxygen tank before hiding in the crawl space. Clutched to her chest were the plans she had grabbed just before the door came crashing in. Plans that threatened to overturn the grip of the Vestry on the nation. She watched through the sliver in the floor boards as the Vestry Sentinels ransacked her place. She had no idea how they found her location, or who may have betrayed her- the ire she felt in her heart as they smashed her things almost forced her from her hiding spot. There were no more than four of them inside the apartment, and she knew she could take them effortlessly.

She listened carefully for the sound of others. Were there more outside? As she debated her decision, she heard steps coming from outside the apartment – up the wrought iron metal staircase. She almost smirked, Janeth had complained of those stairs and the noise Janeth concerned to be a disadvantaged. But it proved to be useful on countless occasions, this being one.

She waited as the steps came closer, the gait and pressure of them told her there was only one other Sentinel coming up the stairs. Five would be pushing it in this tight space, but she had no doubt she could handle them all. Slowly, she began to move in preparation to strike when the steps came to a stop at the door way.

“Have you found anything useful?”

Paralyzed her hands fell limp by her sides, and she took in the biggest gasp of air -paying no mind to the spores she had just breathed in.

That voice, she thought as her eyes began to well up with tears. Tears she had long stopped crying. Tears that she thought had dried up and never to be felt again.

Her brother. was. alive.

Author’s note: It is Feb 15th 2021 and I am in Houston currently experiencing a snowmageddon -well, their version of it. As a Detroiter, I’m shocked this small amount of snow has one of the biggest cities down like this- and while I was napping this story popped into my head. With any hope, this wont be the last time we hear from her.