The dark living room seemed to close in around Tom and his family, amplifying every creak and whisper. They huddled together, ears straining for any sign of danger. In the distance, faint echoes of people's cries pierced the night.

“We're not the only ones getting attacked,” Tom whispered to Kate.

His gaze fell to the strange piece of armor on the floor. It was formed from sections of rigid leather interwoven to form a chest piece.

Turning back to Kate, Tom whispered, “So . . . I’m sitting here thinking that this is Leather armor and Coins . . . dropped from a monster . . . that my family and I killed in our living room. Monsters that then magically disappeared. I-I can’t wrap my head around this, Kate. I’m scared I had a nervous breakdown or a stroke or something.”

“Well . . . that makes two of us,” Kate said.

“Maybe we're all dead,” Loo said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“Bruh!” Amber said.

Loo shrugged. “What? Could be.”

Cold air poured though the broken windows and smashed-open door, biting at Tom’s exposed skin. He shivered. “We're not dead. But I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

“Wait, what the hell?” Kate said, looking around the room in disbelief. “Where is the TV, the fridge, our stuff?!”

Tom looked around. Kate was right; every item of modern technology was gone.

Who could have even taken it?

Tom and his family huddled in silence as he thought about what to do. The freezing air continued to pour into the house, chilling him to the bone. Shadows played tricks on his eyes as he searched the darkness outside for any sign of movement. Fear clung to him like a second skin, heightening his senses, and simultaneously paralyzing him into indecision.

“Maybe we should try to find help,” Kate suggested.

Tom did his best to shake off the icy tendrils of doubt and fear. He had to keep his family safe.

“You’re right. Okay everyone, please listen,” Tom said, holding up his hands and now fully healed thumb. “I have no clue what’s going on, but those things are dead, and we're okay. The front of the house is busted out so it’s not safe or warm. We can’t stay here. I want to check on the Robinsons and make sure they’re okay, and then find help. We need to stay quiet and move fast. I’m pretty sure these things are blind, so if there are more, we can just stay away from them. Kate, that work for you?”

Kate nodded.

Tom glanced at each of the kids, making sure they understood. “We’re going to do three things. First, put on warm clothes, shoes, and socks. Second, drive over to the Robinsons’ house and make sure they’re okay. Third, we'll all get in our car and head . . . somewhere. I don’t know where yet.”

Tom turned toward the stairs. “All right, quietly, let's get moving.” He motioned for the kids to follow him.

What are we going to find when we reach the Robinsons?

Should we even go out into the dark?

Maybe we should sit tight till daybreak?

Night had crept up on them. The upstairs hallway was veiled in darkness. Tom instinctively reached for the light switch, then remembered the power was out.

“Stay close,” Tom whispered.

The children—now shivering—nodded in response.

When he reached the end of the upstairs hallway, he cautiously peeked into each of the kids' rooms, scanning for any signs of monsters. Finding none, he let out a long breath he'd been holding.

“Shoes, coat, super warm clothes. It's freezing out. Be quiet and hurry,” Kate whispered to the children.

The kids nodded and ducked into their rooms.

Tom and Kate entered their room. Kate's resourcefulness immediately kicked in; she started stuffing a backpack with small blankets and extra clothes. Her hands were swift and precise.

“Thank God your head is working better than mine,” Tom said.

Her lips curved into a brief smile. “Here,” she said, handing him a backpack and a couple of empty metal water bottles. “We have these, but the water isn't running to fill them.”

“All right, we'll figure something out,” he whispered, tucking the bottles into the backpack. He turned to the closet, where he hoped to find his gun case, but as he rummaged through the contents, his heart sank. It was gone.

Where the hell is all our stuff?

“Damn it,” Tom said, resisting the urge to slam his fist against the wall. Instead, he turned to Kate, who was still busily gathering essential items. He stopped and grabbed her, giving her a quick kiss. “Gun’s gone but . . . we're gonna be okay.” He pulled her into a hug, finding comfort in her presence.

Kate nodded. “We will,” she whispered back, her hand briefly squeezing his.

As they finished packing, Tom glanced out of the window, scanning the darkness for any signs of danger. All he could see was the heavily falling snow.

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“Let’s get out of here. You grab the girls, and tell them to be quiet. I’m going to check downstairs,” Tom said to Kate as he zipped up his jacket.

“Careful.”

Tom crept down the hallway and back to the stairs just above the living room. He descended carefully, each creaking step making him wince. Despite the icy chill in the air, beads of sweat clung to his forehead, his senses on high alert. The darkness was suffocating, pressing in on him from all sides, making it difficult to discern where the shadows ended and the danger began.

He reached the bottom of the stairs. He paused, listening intently for any signs of danger.

Just . . . man up and go.

“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath, cursing the lack of light. The darkness seemed to amplify every sound. He forced himself away from the steps, and slowly did a circuit around the living room.

Kate arrived at the top of the steps. The kids were behind her in their hastily donned coats and backpacks, their breath forming small clouds in the frigid air. Kate gestured for them to follow her.

Tom looked out of the front windows for any movement outside.

Still clear.

Kate and the girls appeared beside him.

“Everyone has extra clothes, right?” said Kate, her voice barely audible. “Good. We're gonna stuff food in everyone's packs. Stay close, and stay quiet.” She silently led the girls into the kitchen.

Tom crossed the living room, fixated on the peculiar items strewn across the floor. He reached for the padded Leather Tunic and tried to pick it up, but the armor refused to budge, as though it was welded to the ground.

“Strange,” Tom muttered under his breath.

He poked and kicked at it until Kate and the girls came back into the room. They needed to get moving, but curiosity urged him to examine the loot further.

“Hey, Kate,” he whispered, not taking his eyes off the odd collection, “come take a look at this.”

Kate walked over to him, pulling the children behind her.

Chloe and Loo clung to each other, their wide eyes glued to the window, and to the dark beyond.

“What is it?” Kate whispered.

“I can't pick up this armor. It’s like it’s attached to the floor,” Tom said. “There are Coins here too. Watch this.” He reached down, attempting to pick up or move the Coins.

The first few Coins wouldn’t budge.

Then he poked at one that did respond to his touch; it slid a few inches across the floor, and he picked it up.

“Only this one moves for me,” he explained, holding up the Coin for Kate to see. “The others won't budge, just like the armor. I can pick up that small metal ingot too.” He retrieved the ingot from the floor, its surface glinting in the scarce light.

[Automatic Assimilation Protocol Activated during Levels 1 and 2. Iron identified as valuable material. No immediate function. Storing in internal reserves. Resource Repository 2 of 3 spaces occupied.]

[Automatic Assimilation Protocol Activated during Levels 1 and 2. Commencing Iron Absorption.]

Tom dropped the ingot as words once again flooded his vision. He blinked rapidly until they disappeared.

“Are you all right?” Kate asked.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry, still dizzy.”

Tom retrieved the ingot from the floor and inspected it. Nothing happened, so he slipped it into his pocket, and motioned for the kids to come closer. “I want you to try to pick this armor up.”

“I know this is crazy,” said Chloe, “but . . . maybe it's like video game loot rules.”

Amber gave her a flat look.

“Stop looking at me like that! I know it's weird, but c'mon, I mean, monsters did disappear and drop stuff out of thin air.”

Loo nudged the armor with her toe. When it didn’t move, she bent down and tried to move it with both hands. A second later, she was on all fours with her head on the floor, trying to see how the armor was attached. She tapped at it for another few moments before Kate made her move.

The armor did not budge for Loo, or for anyone else who touched it.

“All right,” Tom sighed. He looked at Amber. “You’re the last one. Just try it, please.”

“Low-key not gonna work,” Amber said with shrug. She reached down and picked up the armor.

It seemed to squirm and wriggle in her grasp, conforming to her size and shape as if designed specifically for her. She stared at it, her earlier skepticism replaced with wonder.

“See?” Tom said. “It's meant for you. Put it on. We don't know what we're dealing with, and it might help protect you.”

Amber hesitated, then put on the strange armor.

“Maybe we should take them with us,” Chloe said and pointed at the Coins. “Those might be important.”

“I agree. Everyone, reach down, pick up the Coins you can, and bring them,” Tom said, pocketing his Coin.

The others followed suit, scooping up the remaining Coins that responded to their touch. Loo was the only one who did not receive a Coin.

Tom picked up the bats; one for Kate, and one for himself.

He also noticed Amber swipe the fireplace poker and stuff it under her jacket. It worried him but, not having a good argument against her arming herself, he chose not to say anything.

With a final cinching of jackets, and after stuffing last-minute food items into everyone’s backpacks, they stood ready at the front door; prepared to face whatever lay ahead.

“Okay, here we go. Stay together, and stay quiet. First, to the car. Next, stop at the Robinsons’, and then we get the hell out of here. We’re going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen to us. Love you guys,” Tom said, unsure whether he was trying to reassure his family or himself.

He led the way out of the front door, with Kate right after him, and the kids following closely behind.

He gripped the bat tightly as they stepped out into the frigid darkness, the weight of it a small comfort in his hands. The cold air stung his face, and he could see Kate pulling her coat tighter around her, already shivering. The kids didn’t look much better.

They crept silently through the dark front yard.

The world around them was different, somehow. No lights were on; the neighborhood was veiled in an unfamiliar darkness. There were no cars in the driveways.

Did everyone take off?

However, there were no tire marks cutting through the layer of snow on the road. When he squinted through the falling snow, he could make out the occasional trail of footprints further down the street. A few of them were much larger and deeper than they should be.

Beside him, Kate's eyes darted frantically from one vacant spot to another, before landing on their own empty driveway

“Tom,” her voice wavered. “Where are all the cars? Oh God, what are we doing to do? What the hell is going on!”

“Shhh,” was all he could say. He swallowed hard, creeping tendrils of panic wrapping around his chest. His heart pounded like a drum against his ribcage, and he clenched his fists to keep them from shaking.

He drew in a few deep breaths. He could not afford to panic right now. That was what got people killed.

“We'll stick to the plan,” he said, forcing a calm into his voice that he did not feel. He turned to face Kate and the kids, meeting them with what he hoped was a calm face. “We just . . . we walk to the Robinsons’ house. We’ve done it hundreds of times. Stay quiet. We'll figure things out once we're there.”

“It's so cold,” Chloe muttered, rubbing her arms for warmth.

“I know. It’s a short walk. Let’s keep moving.”

They crept forward again. With every few steps, Tom glanced back and made sure everyone was still with him. The girls were right behind him, with Kate bringing up the rear, her grip on her bat just as tight as his own.

Their boots crunched loudly in the snow. Small snowflakes peppered their shoulders and faces, stinging their skin, but at least the snow seemed to be easing up.

The distant shouts and screams were not easing up.

“This isn't creepy at all,” Chloe whispered to Loo.

Loo didn't respond; she clung tightly to her sister’s arm, her eyes wide. She froze.

“Why’d you st—”

Loo pointed down a side street.

Tom followed her finger.

Several blocks away, a monstrous silhouette loomed in the center of the street, its large form casting long shadows in the snowy moonlight. It was facing away from them, but Tom could tell it wasn’t the same type of monster that had attacked the house. This thing had a head. It leaned back and emitted a loud cackling roar, waving a giant club in the air.

“Let's go, before it turns around,” Kate hissed. “Hurry, girls! Tom, go!” She pointed them in the direction of the Robinsons’ with her bat.

“Stay close to me,” Tom whispered.

They inched down the side of the road.

Kate moved up beside Tom.

“Why are we going so slow?”

“I’m worried something is going to see us out here in the open,” he whispered. “That big one had a head; what if it has eyes?”

“What else can we do? Cars are gone, and we are not going into the woods in the dark. Just keep moving.”

Tom began creeping forward again, with Kate giving him the occasional push from behind. They clung to the treeline beside the road, and moved as silently as the snow would allow.

Half an hour had passed. The snow had stopped, and the Moon was trying to break through the thick cloud cover. They had walked back and forth to the Robinsons’ house many times, and it was maybe a fifteen-minute walk, tops. However, from what Tom could tell, they were only about halfway.

Tom froze. There were faint screams in the distance, back toward the direction of their home. For a moment, he imagined that giant monster they had just seen, its hulking form snatching one of his poor neighbors.

“C’mon Tom, get moving,” Kate whispered, pushing him onward. “We have to get inside.”

As they continued forward, the road ended abruptly, giving way to a dirt path that seemed to lead into a forest. A forest that didn’t used to be there.

Tom squinted into the gloom, trying to make out where the path led. Moonlight filtered through the trees, casting ghostly shadows across the dirt path. The snow hadn’t broken through the canopy here. He thought he could just see the familiar road restarting maybe fifty yards ahead.

It’s like someone dumped a huge chunk of woods right through the road.

“Stay close,” Tom repeated for the hundredth time that night. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that they were being watched; that unseen eyes were following their every move.

“Is this the right way? Where the hell did these trees come from?” Kate held Loo close to her side.

Tom didn't answer immediately.

He scanned the area one last time before making a decision.

“Yeah, I think it’s the right way,” he said, motioning for everyone to follow. “Let's go.”

The sound of their footsteps crunching on the frozen ground seemed unnaturally loud as they moved through the woods. Every footfall, every leaf-rustle, and every snap of a twig set Tom’s nerves on edge.

His tension eased slightly when he emerged from the trees, the road reappearing ahead of him.

“Thank God,” Kate breathed.

The Robinsons’ house was a short distance away, its quiet silhouette looming ominously against the star-speckled sky. They approached the house.

Tom peered through the windows.

His heart dropping at the sight of broken furniture strewn all over the place.