Fragile Hearts [DANGEROUS FELLOWS]

⚠️SIXTY-SIX: SUNSHINE AFTER THE STORM⚠️

"What the heck?"

You couldn't even stop yourself from exclaiming as you looked around the basement. Big, powerful looking guns hanging up on the walls. Ammo and smaller weapons neatly arranged on benches. It looked like some sort of military base.

"What kind of job must your parents have had to acquire all of this?" Lawrence asked, sounding almost impressed.

"Mom," Zion answered with a shrug. "Wasn't allowed to tell anyone what it was, not even my  dad. All she ever said about it was that it paid like crazy."

"Is this even legal?" you cried, feeling intimidated, almost like those grenades might blow up any minute.

"If you get don't caught," he joked. "But seriously, I dunno. Again, she wasn't allowed to talk about it."

He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around like it was the first time he'd really thought about it.

"I'm sure these will come in handy," Lawrence said, going over to examine a table of knives.

Before, seeing all of these weapons would've made you feel anxious. But now they made you feel safer, knowing you had ways to protect yourself.

"We can grab a couple pistols for zombies," Zion said thoughtfully. "I wouldn't mess with any of this other stuff. As much as I like the sound of firing a bazooka, it'd be dumb to try and use stuff we don't know how to."

"Nice thinking," Lawrence complimented with a smile. "But I think it'd be smart to take something big. In case we ever run into that thing again."

You hadn't thought about that thing in a while. The fact that something like that even existed, and it could be anywhere at any moment, made you shudder.

And you didn't even want to begin to imagine that spider.

"Looks like there's a lot of food down here too," Ethan reported, and you realized he had gone off to examine one of the many metal shelves.

It almost seemed too good to be true. With all of this stuff, you guys could survive here for days... maybe even weeks.

A little white box on the wall caught your attention. For some reason, just looking at it made you feel uneasy. The same feeling you got from looking at the weapons.

"Do you know what that is?" you asked Zion, pointing at it.

"That thing? It's just the control panel for the alarm system," Zion said, shrugging. "What about it?"

"Nothing," you replied, tearing away your gaze. It was fine if it was just an alarm system.

It couldn't hurt you.

"Okay. We'll take three pistols," Lawrence announced, drawing everyone's attention. "Zion and Ethan, each of you get one. And I'll take the third."

"What about the others?" you questioned as Lawrences handed them out.

"Hailey's too skittish to handle something like this. I don't want to push Eugene until I know he's better, and Harry is a bit too emotional to shoot anything," Lawrence explained.

"What about me?" you pressed, holding your hand out expectantly.

Lawrence shook his head with a smile. "You won't need one as long as you stay close to me."

Zion made a gagging noise, and Lawrence's smile disappeared. He turned to give him a disapproving glare.

"Here (Y/n)," Zion said, ignoring Lawrence and his stare. He tossed his pistol to you, and your heart skipped a beat as you fumbled with it before finally getting a solid grip. "I think you're pretty capable of handling a gun without accidentally killing one of us."

"No promises," you joked, feeling relieved. In a sorted of messed up way, holding this gun made you feel better.

Lawrence just shook his head, walking past you towards the stairwell. "It's about time we ate some breakfast," he said without looking back, and disappeared up the steps.

Zion scoffed, rolling his eyes as he followed him.

"Ethan," you called. "We're leaving."

Ethan had been so focused on his pistol he hadn't even noticed. He looked up, and you noticed a faint look of worry in his eyes.

"Do you think it's really okay?" he asked uncertainly. "To... use these?"

"They'll help protect us," you assured him.

Before you knew it his doubt was gone and he nodded, slipping the gun into his pocket. "Then let's go," he said, going up the stairs after the others.

Giving the basement a last look, you ascended back up the the foyer.

"Good morning," Hailey greeted when she spotted you from the living room, offering a nervous smile.

"Good morning," you returned, going over to her. You didn't see anyone in the breakfast room, so you guessed they were in the kitchen. "Have you eaten?"

"No, but I was going to," she responded quickly, almost as if she felt she was being reprimanded. "I'm just reading a little."

"What book?" you asked curiously, peering at the cover.

"Um, nothing special. It's a murder mystery with a plot-twist killer," she explained. "I like reading exciting books. Because my life was really boring before."

In the current situation, you'd had enough excitement to last a lifetime.

"Well, you should come on. I'm sure you're hungry," you said, gently waving for her to follow you.

Hailey clutched her book as the two of you entered the kitchen, where you found Lawrence, Zion and Ethan sorting through the food.

"Are Harry and Eugene still asleep?" you asked.

Zion shrugged. "Guess so. Haven't seen them down here."

"I'll go get them," you offered, turning towards the stairs the led to the second floor.

The feeling in your stomach as you climbed the steps was familiar. Familiar and unwelcome. The feeling that something wasn't right, that whatever you were about to see wasn't going to be good.

You went up to Harry's door, putting your hand on the knob. You thought about Judy's room, the mess and the blood in the bathroom, about Sue's room and the knife slashes, and you could feel the cold fear, the dread like a stone in your stomach, the heavy sadness and regret and the feeling that you should've done something and maybe they would still-

The doorknob was pulled from your grip as the door swung open, revealing Harry with a surprised look.

"(Y/n)? Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

The relief was so heavy you felt like you might fall to the ground.

"No, I'm fine," you assured him. "Better than fine. I'm amazing."

Harry broke into one of his sweet, signature smiles. "Then I'm amazing too."

You hadn't felt this feeling in a long time. Like everything was really going to be okay from now on. Here, in this house with your friends, you felt safe.

You didn't know how to describe this feeling.

All you could think was that it really was amazing.