“You’re actually doing it...” Sander marvelled, hopping back down to slowly ran his hand along the exterior´s smoothness.

“Technically, it’s a lunar module…” his mother corrected “the only space we’ll be traveling is between us and the moon.”

“Hold on. we? Who’s we? I’m not going anywhere in that thing.”

Arms crossed, Lori’s body-language said it all as she backed up to the wall with a frown.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? I- I don’t even know what to say…”

“Honey, you’ve seen how bad things are getting… what happens the next time someone comes knocking on our door in the middle of the night?” Barney said, walking over to hug her.

“I don’t care, I’m not going.”

He stopped in his tracks, still a few steps away from his daughter. Lori stared back at her parents, lips trembling with the effort of holding back tears.

“I... baby, we can’t have that sword hanging over our head every night… It’s too risky!”

“More than flying off into space?”

“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in… that’s why we wanted it to be finished before showing you guys. Right now it looks a little messy, but trust me: It will work.” Evelyn said, taking Lori’s hand as they tried to calm her down. “We still have a few pieces to print, but once the specs are uploaded it shouldn’t take too long.”

“How did you guys even do all this?”

Crouched by a series of dials, Sander spoke up from behind the three of them, obviously fascinated by what his parents had built.

“Remember that phone you guys found?”

Sander stood back up, eyebrows raised.

“You’re kidding me…”

“Sander come on, stop touching everything!” his mother scolded.

“I’m not!” he shot back, dropping the plug in his hands.

“Yeah, you guys had us worried for a sec...” Barney chuckled.

“Which should never have been an issue, if your father hadn’t dropped it in the water by goofing around…” Evelyn added, giving her husband a look.

“You know, take the good with the bad. I’m also the guy who backed everything up…” Barney answered smugly. “Come on guys, let’s go. It’s… jeez! It’s almost three in the morning,” he added, checking his watch with a groan.

Evelyn went over and took Lori’s hand.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you guys sooner, but it was easier this way. We didn’t want you to have to lie all the time…”

Despite her anger, Lori saw the honesty in her mother’s eyes... and begrudgingly gave her a hug.

“And look, nothing is set in stone…” she continued. “Just think of this like a lifeboat, OK? Maybe we never even will have to use it... That’s plan A. But I’d rather have one and not need it, than need one and not have it. Right?”

“Come here buddy…” Taking his wife’s lead, Barney hugged his son as soon as he was within reach. “You’re my whole life. All three of you… I promise: no more secrets, OK?”

He looked both his children in the eye and gave them a nod. Lori and Sander returned the gesture, and the Schwab family came together for a final embrace.

And a sniff.

“Have you guys been smoking?”

“I think that’s the gasoline… ”

The twins pulled away from their parents and, exchanging a sheepish glance, put their masks back on. Killing the lights, Barney turned off the generators and followed his family outside, as Evelyn lifted the tarp for him.

“Come on guys, this way.”

Once they’d all cleared the tunnel, Barney took the lead while his wife rearranged the vegetation behind them and camouflaged the entrance.

They started hiking back up the hill, along a little zigzagged path that the twins had never used and, as their eyes adjusted to the moonlight, Sander caught his mother watching him suspiciously…

“So wait, how did you guys dig all that? And get the stuff in there?” he asked, hoping to distract her from further smell-related interrogation.

“What... the tunnel? Your father found that.”

“Once we decided to follow the Telema plans, I started scouting for a construction site... One of the reasons we moved out here was for of all the old mine shafts in the area. I told you guys... there’s treasure in them hills!” Barney answered playfully, as he brought up the rear. “But yeah, we lucked out ‘cuz there used to be a quarry not far upstream. You know the swimming hole? Yeah... there’s nobody around at night…” Barney slowed down to catch his breath “... so I’d just put all the stuff we couldn’t carry into these like, airtight barrels... and send them down stream to your mom! The shipping containers were a little trickier… but splurging on a forklift sure helped. We even managed to skin some graphite mesh off the broken wind turbine near I-45…”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Huffing and puffing with the effort of talking while catching up to them, Barney was the last to see the blood-chilling sight: As they reached the top of the hill and looked out across their backyard, a string of black trucks had once again congregated in the cul-de-sac.

Hunched, dark figures darted back and forth in the dark, shouting orders to each other as a floodlight suddenly split the night.

“Shit…”

As soon as the word left their father’s mouth, he squatted down and his family instinctively followed suit. Squinting through the bushes to his right, Barney realized with a jolt of hope that the men hadn’t reached their house yet.

“OK...OK, here’s what we do” he whispered, as they all huddled close. “Run low and fast… get inside, and strip to your underwear. We all just woke up.”

The seconds passed, and Barney’s whispers rang in their ears…

“Go!”

One by one, the Schwabs left the tree line. Almost on all fours, Barney’s back burned from the effort of his crouched sprint… Turning around to see where his family was after only a few terrifying seconds, Lori almost knocked the wind out of him and crashed into his chest, with Evelyn and Sander right behind.

“Jesus, Lori!” he winced painfully.

But there was no time for an apology... for as soon as they’d all gotten inside, the doorbell rang out. For a split second the Schwabs froze, paralyzed by the chilling ramifications of the sound.

“Oh man...”

Sander’s exclamation seemed snap them out of their spell, and they ripped their clothes off in a silent frenzy.

“Get upstairs... Hey! Quiet!” Evelyn hissed, as she fought to pull her pants off her ankles and toss them in the wash… but her children could barely hear her: as they tiptoed towards the staircase, a fist began pounding against the front door.

“Everybody out! Front lawn, now!

Halfway to their rooms, the gruff voice echoed through the darkened house… and Lori and Sander stopped in their tracks, to shoot their parents a worried look.

Thinking fast, Barney grabbed a folded sheet, tossed it around his wife, and waved the kids closer. He then did the same for Lori and started towards the entrance, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

“Remember... Squint and yawn… You just woke up.”

And with that final piece of advice, Barney slumped his shoulders and unlocked the front door.

“What’s going on?” he yawned to the camouflage-clad man, as a gun was stuck in his face. “Woah…”

“Front lawn! Is that everybody?”

The man yanked Sander roughly outside and looked down the hall, before turning back to the family and shining a flashlight in their faces as he consulted a list of pictures.

“Yeah… what-”

But Evelyn didn’t have time to finish her question, as a second man walked up to them and began a loud monologue, while a pair of armed strangers entered their home.

“Our chapter has been authorized to conduct a search and collect operation in this county! You are required to name and number each of your family members, for immunization and rationing” he barked, jamming a piece of paper against Barney’s chest. “Under penalty of forfeiture, you must assist us in any way deemed necessary!”

Facing this barrage of information, Barney forgot to act tired and focused on the paper, his eyes flitting back and forth as he scanned it rapidly... But despite his best efforts at remaining calm, the more he read, the colder the pit in his stomach grew. And even in the darkness, he noticed that their uniforms didn’t have name tags.

“Forfeit... what’s the mission?”

Barney immediately got his answer: Down the street, another group of “soldiers” had burst out of Mr. Jarwin’s house, dragging the man over his perfectly manicured lawn.

“Got us a hoarder!”

The words echoed out across the cul-de-sac like a judgement had been passed. But more than the accusation itself, it was Mr. Jarwin’s screams that caught everyone off guard.

Getting back to the Schwabs, the officer raised his voice and continued “We’ve been mandated by…” before trailing off, “... hang on.”

Indeed, Mr. Jarwin’s shrieks had become deafening... and the louder the old man yelled, the more attention he drew. Both militia and neighbors alike stopped what they were doing to watch the scene, until even the men inside the Schwab house reappeared.

“What’s going on?” the first one asked, rifle in hand.

“Another hoarder…” the officer grunted back. “You guys find anything?”

His men, however, didn’t seem to be listening… and traversed the street to join the ruckus.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” the officer called after them, furious at the insubordination. “Did you search the household?”

But the duo had already melted into the growing mob.

“God da- Wait here!” the officer barked over his shoulder, leaving the Schwabs to shiver on their front lawn as he ran off to reign in the situation.

Casting glances at his neighbors, Barney could tell they were feeling it too: a strange electricity in the air, like something was about to happen. Yet still the chaos grew... and with a crash, they began to tear down Mr. Jarwin’s garage door.

Barney could only watch as they brazenly looted the poor man in front of the whole neighborhood, and loaded his stash of supplies into truck after truck, as a procession of armored vehicles began an intricate ballet on his driveway.

Boxes, barrels, tools… some kind of motor… a feeding frenzy erupted over cases of alcohol… And the more the men stole, the more Mr. Jarwin screamed… Until he struggled a little too much.

Somehow shaking free from his captor’s grip, the old man waddled towards the final truck. But before even reaching the vehicle, an anonymous fist caught him in the gut... and Mr. Jarwin crumpled on the ground.

As if the first blow had chummed the waters for their violence, every soldier in reach began pummeling the man in an orgy of violence. The parents hugged Sander and Lori close, shaking in terrified silence, while the soldiers kept beating Mr. Jarwin until he stopped moving.

Feeling his mother flinch, and Sander caught sight of the pistol handle beneath her sheet… but Barney did too, and pushed her hand back down before anything crazier could happen.

Finally, the beating stopped.

Stillness descended upon the cul-de-sac and the militia stared at what it had just done… Then, in a flurry of stomping boots and revving engines, the trucks and sped off. No explanation, no warnings, just blood and tire tracks as souvenirs of their visit. The last taillights vanished between the trees, and those brave enough to stay outside rushed to Mr. Jarwin’s side.

“Get inside. Go,” Barney mumbled, pointing home.

Then he too walked over to help... but there wasn’t much to do. As the sun dawned, Barney watched Mr. Jarwin die. He then walked home, pausing only to throw up in his driveway, and wiped the spittle from his lip as he closed the front door.

Hitting the lights, Barney saw that Evelyn and Lori hadn’t moved from their tearful embrace on the staircase. Sander, for his part, had tried his best to wash away the horror with a boiling shower upstairs… but the water had run cold and he was still just as traumatized.

Wrapped in a towel, he appeared next to his mom and sister.... and in that instant, they all shared a look that needed no explanation: it was time to leave.