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It was a quiet night on the campus. Felix and Huck were still awake, since it wasn’t that late, and they were watching a movie in the living room of their apartment. It was only 9:30, and the four kids had gone to bed about an hour before.
It was definitely something to get used to, taking care of little kids. The night everything ended, only a few months ago, Felix went to the Bennett household, to save the four kids. Dr. Bennett was one of the professors at the university and he helped Felix immensely when his parents kicked him out for being gay. Even though Felix was already over eighteen, he was close to the Bennett's, he considered them family, and wanted them to get to the campus where they could be safe.
Unfortunately, Dr. Bennett and his wife didn’t make it to the university, but Felix was able to get the four kids to the campus safely.
Hope and Iris, who are six, were the Bennett’s adopted daughters. Along with adopting, the house was also a foster home, with seven year old Silas and five year old Elton in the family’s care as well. The technicalities didn’t matter to Felix. He saw the kids as the younger siblings he never had, and he vowed to take care of them, now that their parents were no longer around to do it. His boyfriend Will, was by his side to help him every step of the way, as well as his friend Jennifer, who went by Huck. Will often had to travel between the city and the campus colony for his security job though, so most of the time, it was just Huck and Felix.
And that’s how it was tonight. The two were sitting in the living room with a movie on, and it was still in the apartment. During a quiet part in the movie, both adults took their attention away from the screen when they heard the sound of the girls’ bedroom door opening, and the sound of little feet making their way down the hall. When it was clear that whoever was up was making their way to the living room, and not just stopping to use the restroom, Felix paused the movie so they could be ready.
After a moment, Iris walked into the room, looking upset. She was near tears and they could see that she was shaken by something.
“Iris, what’s wrong?” Felix asked. It wasn’t ordinary for Iris to get up during the night. All of the kids normally slept through the night, but recently, due to all the changes in their lives, Hope or Elton were usually the ones that got up, but not Iris. She often slept like a rock once she was out.
“I had a bad dream.” Was all the little girl said, and Huck nodded in understanding. Nightmares were a common thing in the household, especially since the kids saw horrible things on their journey with Felix to the university.
“What was it about?” Huck asked gently, patting the couch cushion that was in between her and Felix.
Iris sighed and made her way over, sitting down in between the two adults. “I was in a room. It was made out of concrete, and there was an empty. It kept coming closer and I got trapped in a corner. Then it bit me and almost instantly, I died and I turned into an empty. Then I woke up. I hate empties. They scare me with how they look and sound.”
“Yeah, empties are really scary.” Felix agreed, partly to make Iris feel better, but mostly because she was right. Having the dead reanimate in the way that they were, was dangerous and terrifying. This entire scenario was almost like the stuff that comes out of horror movies, but for them, it was real life.
“I can’t wait until I’m a grown up like you guys. Then I won’t be scared anymore.”
Huck snorted when she heard that and Iris looked at her, confused.
“Iris, grown-ups can be scared of empties too.” She explained. “Felix and I are just as scared of empties as you, Hope, Elton, and Silas are. Empties are dangerous, and it’s a good thing to be scared of them, because they can cause some real damage.”
“But, do you guys have bad dreams too?”
“Of course we do. Adults can have bad dreams just like kids.” Felix said, and Iris looked at him with bewilderment.
“But you two are so strong. It doesn’t seem like you’d have bad dreams.”
“We’re strong because we have to be, Iris. We have to take care of you and your siblings. We wouldn’t be doing that good of a job if we were scared all the time, or bothered by our dreams. As you get older, you’ll realize that it gets easier to deal with bad dreams by yourself. Of course, it’s always good to talk to someone about dreams, but they won’t be as scary when you’re older.” Huck explained.
“If bad dreams aren’t scary when you’re an adult, what makes them bad?”
“Well, it’s not the same for everyone, but my dreams are sad. Or they revisit bad times in my life and make me feel negative feelings that way. Everyone’s experiences are different, but my dreams for example, are not all that scary, because what some people might see as scary as kids, may bring about a different emotion when they are older.” Huck said, smiling gently when she saw Iris look even more confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you think empties are scary, right Iris?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I agree with you, they are scary, but for me, I see them more as a threat to watch out for, instead of just as scary.”
“Because they are dangerous?”
“That’s right. I’m not that scared of what they look like, or what sounds they make, like you are. It’s perfectly valid to be scared of them for the reasons you are Iris, but I’m scared of empties because I know that they are dangerous and they can cause serious harm to the people I care about. That’s why I am afraid of them.”
“I just don’t want empties to hurt us. That’s what I’m scared of most.” Iris said quietly.
“That’s what we’re scared of most too. But Iris, I want you to know that Huck, Will, and I will make sure that as long as you four are in our care, we’ll do our best to make sure nothing bad happens to you. I promise.” Felix said gently.
Iris nodded before cuddling in a bit closer to Huck.
The three sat in silence for a few minutes before Huck looked at the clock.
“Iris, do you think you’ll be ready to go back to bed soon?”
“Can you come with me?”
“Of course.” Huck said gently, knowing that while Iris was definitely old enough to put herself back to bed, she probably wanted Huck to tuck her in for extra comfort. When the two walked into the bedroom that Hope and Iris shared, Huck looked over and saw Hope lying in bed, fast asleep.
“Alright Iris. If you have another dream or if you need anything at all, my door is always open. I’ll see you in the morning, ok?”
“Thanks Huck. I love you.”
“I love you too, Kid.” Huck responded, before tucking the covers tightly around the younger girl and giving her a gentle kiss to the forehead. Once Iris was tucked in, Huck walked over to the other side of the room and gave Hope a forehead kiss as well, before leaving the room.
Instead of going down the hall to the living room to join Felix, Huck quietly walked across the hall and opened the door to Silas and Elton’s bedroom, happy to see that both boys were fast asleep, and were sleeping peacefully, just like Hope. After checking in on them, she made her way back to the living room, where Felix was waiting for her.
“Is everything good? Iris settle down ok?”
“Yeah. Hope’s sleeping like a rock and the boys are too.”
“That’s good, hopefully they’ll stay that way until morning.”
“Yeah, I got a busy day with them tomorrow.” Huck responded. The fall semester for school wasn’t going to start for another three weeks so during the days while Felix and Will worked, Huck played the role of stay-at-home mom, so that the kids were taken care of. Now that Elton was five, going to be turning six, he’d be in kindergarten, so once school started, Huck could join the campus security as a guard and work from 9:00 to 3:00, which ensured that she’d be able to drop the four off at their classrooms each morning at 8:30 and be there at 3:30 to pick them up to bring them home.
Because of the abrupt life changes, the campus colony was very lenient about shift hours and jobs, especially since there was a much more diverse grouping in comparison to before the world ended. Before the sky fell, the campus only had college age students and professors on the property. Now, there were whole families, different sorts of dynamics, and a mix of ages, from babies and toddlers to the elderly. The leaders at the colony had to make changes that adapted to this new lifestyle, and they were very flexible about scheduling, especially when it came to the families that had small children.
“Yeah, they can be a handful sometimes.” Felix said, mostly joking. In general, the four were very good kids. They were well behaved and Huck never had an issue when she was alone with them, except for a rare outburst from Hope every once in a while. That didn’t matter though because Huck loved the kids to pieces.
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Huck said quietly, and Felix nodded in agreement before pressing play and allowing the movie to start up again.
All was quiet again in the apartment as the movie played on, allowing the two adults to end their night off on a high note, and escape to a different world, even if only for a few hours. A world where there didn’t have to be enclosed communities, where the dead didn’t come back, where loss wasn’t as frequent.
But hey, if this was the world they were given, Huck and Felix couldn’t have asked for a better family to be a part of.