I do my best to give him a confident smile.

“I’ll be quick,” I tell them. “Once I make sure it’s safe, we’ll make a trip to the potty.” I begin to unbarricade the door, heaving the shelves back out of the way. As I do, I hear Ren reassuring the kids again.

“I’m scared,” Cassidy whimpers, “I don’t want the monsters to come back.”

“I know they were scary,” Ren says, “but you guys were so brave. I’m proud of you for being such good listeners.”

Hefting a box of supplies out of the way, I squint as a strange light begins to fill the room. Turning quickly, I grab the wrench just in case but freeze in surprise.

Ren is alight with a golden glow, looking angelic as he comforted the children. As he spoke, the light sparkled like thousands of glittering leaves, and began to land on the shoulders of the children. The beautiful light gives off a feeling of safety and relief and reflexively I reach out to let a piece of light land on my palm. Fascinated, I watch as it slowly absorbs into me, lighting me up briefly before fading back to normal.

“Woah,” the kids say, equally curious about the beautiful display.

“Mr. Ren, is this you?” Ravi says, wide eyed as light landed on his arm.

“It tickles,” giggled Cassidy, her fear from before dissipating.

“I don’t think…” Ren begins, but he stops as we all receive a pop up. Instead of the window being on our phones, this time it appears right in front of our eyes before slowly fading.

You have received a buff: Soothing Words.

Your resistance to fear has increased for twenty minutes.

Your sense of hopelessness is relieved for twenty minutes.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

You take 10% less damage from Death Magic for twenty minutes.

“What does that say?” asks Kena, poking at her text box.

“It’s too many words,” complains Theo, sticking his tongue out.

“Huh,” I say, dumbfounded. “Ren, this is amazing.”

“It says,” he stutters a bit, working through his own shock, “that my Skill is known as Words of Power. I can give buffs, based on what I say and how inspiring I can be.”

“Woah, really?” I ask. It must be working, because my apprehension is gone. Instead, I feel curious about the new world we’ve found ourselves in, as well as what Skill I might get. I was still a bit nervous, but it was muted and manageable.

“You should go now,” Ren looks up to me. “While you have the buff.” After the words leave his mouth, he laughs a little at the craziness of it all. Yet with the buff active, it was much easier to accept everything as real and instead focus on moving forwards.

“Okay,” I say. “Keep them safe, Ren.”

“With my life,” he nods, his expression serious. Turning back, I take a steadying breath and open the door.

The door closes behind me with a small click.

The building is eerily quiet, only the hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the clock heard. I bite my lip, looking down the hallway. It looks nearly normal, except for the blood smears on the walls and a few splotches of black on the floor. The door to every room is open and I feel a sense of foreboding crawling up my spine.

I want to close my eyes, turn around, and go back into the room, pretending I hadn’t even left. But that wasn’t an option. Without giving myself another second to hesitate, I make my feet move forward, carrying me into the Daisy room, where the three year olds were.

The inside is so destroyed it takes me a long time to realize there’s no one here. Shelves, cots, and toys are thrown everywhere, with the two tables tipped on their sides, as if blocking the door. The window was shattered, glass shards littering the floor, and the smell of blood hung in the air. The coppery scent made me want to gag, but I forced down the reaction, carefully stepping over things as I entered.

Even after moving things and looking around, I didn’t see anyone. And, if I was being honest, I was glad. But I was also extremely confused. There was so much blood here…there was no way they survived. So where did everyone go? I suddenly remember the way the monsters had disappeared, vanishing like a mist. There was no way…but in this upside down world, anything was plausible now. Heading back out to the hall, I closed the door behind me, hiding the mess inside.

Trying not to remember the faces of the three year olds I had seen only hours ago, I moved on to the next room, finding a similar scene of carnage and destruction. Pools of red blood, still drying, splintered wood and chairs all over, but no bodies.

Stopping at the room of the last door, I froze despite myself. What if there were bodies in here? This was the infant room. I didn’t know if I could handle seeing a dead baby, torn to shreds by a zombie.

But if anyone had survived, I needed to check. I needed to know.

The scene that greeted me was like the ones before, with no bodies in sight. I let out a sigh of relief, even as my heart ached. Were all the others really dead? Had no one else made it?

After checking the cribs one more time, forcing back tears at the sight of the blood stains on the blankets, I trudge out of the room, closing the door with a final thud. Turning to head back, I belatedly realize I still need to check the front area. I walk out to the kitchen and entrance area and I freeze as I hear a sound.