“Hey, buddy, be good today and play with Aunt Caroline, okay? I will be home before dinner.” before Kane left, he knelt down on the floor and told Alex: “I know it’s Saturday, but we will go to the movies tomorrow evening, okay?”

“Fist bump promise?” Alex extended his right fist forward.

“Fist bump promise.” Kane gently bumped Alex’s right fist, then stood up and ruffled Alex’s hair and said to Caroline: “Thank you again, Caroline. I owe you big this time.”

“Yeah, yeah, just be home before eight thirty. I promised a friend I will help him out with some pretty crappy stuff.” Caroline looked back at her full and heavy backpack resting besides the shoe shelf.

“I will be back much earlier. Promise.” Kane smiled then looked at Alex: “And look at that sword! Be sure to protect the house with it.”

“Thanks Dad, this is a gift from Auntie’s boss.” Alex waved the meticulous mini wooden sword with flame and lightning patterns on it.

“Yeah, my Boss is handy like that.” Caroline shrugged and said.

“Auntie, can we watch a horror movie?” after Kane left and both Caroline and Alex enjoyed a few rounds of video games, Alex asked Caroline.

“Huh, why? Aren’t you scared?”

“It’s close to Halloween, so I want to share with my friends what I have watched.” Alex sat down on the couch, “Can we?”

“Okay, you choose and I’ll tell you if it is Okay.”

“What about this? ‘The Massacre of The Lone Hill’?”

“No! We are both too young to see that.”

“Then what about this? ‘The House Made of Bones’.”

“No! No psycho killers.”

“How about this classic? Rosemary’s Baby?”

“No creepy cultists.”

“‘The Knockers at Night’?”

“No home invasions. Let me close the doors and windows in the other rooms.”

Finally, they settled on a zombie movie. And Caroline’s reason was that zombies are gross but not fear-inducing - watching a zombie movie would not make anyone lose sleep at night; maybe the killings and gore could be slightly traumatizing, but Alex was a strong minded kid so he could definitely handle it.

“Why do they always split up? And why do they always open the gate to save the dog?” almost halfway through the movie, Alex asked, “If I were in a zombie apocalypse, I am not saving an old lady with a dog.”

“Geez, Alex, how many of these movies have you watched behind your father’s back?”

“Just a few. I really try to compete with Pete and David. They watch all kinds of creepy movies.” Alex put some popcorn in his mouth: “Dad leaves at night a lot these days. So I just watch movies on my pad when he’s gone.”

“Hmmm… I’m sorry. Next time this happens, you can give me a call, see if I can cheer you up.”

“Thanks, but it’s okay. I’m used to it.” Alex’s mature demeanor made Caroline slightly sad: “When Dad’s away, I just watch movies to keep things off my mind. You won’t believe how much pick-up lines I learned from rom-coms.”

“Buh-buh-buh. Rom-coms?”

“Yeah, I would’ve watched some more exciting stuff if Dad didn’t have child protection enabled.” Alex chuckled and took a look at Caroline: “So it’s only with you that can I get a chance to watch some non-PG stuff.”

“Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna get nightmares?”

“I have nightmares even when I’m not watching horror movies.” Alex shrugged.

“Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me? Did you tell your dad?” Caroline swiftly paused the movie and asked Alex with concern: “What do you dream about? How often are these nightmares?”

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I’m completely okay.” Alex became the one comforting Caroline: “It’s okay, I’m used to it. It actually kinda inspired me to write my own mini stories.”

“I insist, Alex. Tell me about these nightmares.” Caroline looked Alex in the eye: “And I would like you to know, you shouldn’t have to get used to it. You should tell your dad and me about things that trouble you, okay? You should feel comfortable doing that.”

“But dad’s always very busy, and he’s worried about me enough. I don’t want him to worry more about me. And now he’s out there following some bad guy because he wants me to go to a good school.”

“You knew? For how long?”

“Dad talks loudly on the phone. It’s not that hard to know what’s going on.”

“Look, Alex.” Caroline gently held onto Alex’s shoulder: “It’s very sweet, but you should be able to tell your dad and me about your feelings, and especially the things that bother you. Communication is very important for family. Your dad will worry for you for a bit, but it will solve your problems sooner and won’t lead to a big mess. Just like here, if they talked about the danger of the virus more openly the zombies won’t be walking around.”

“Or if they helped the old lady keep her dog in check, they wouldn’t be dead.” Alex rubbed his eyes and said: “I understand now, thank you Auntie.”

A tingling sense of chillines and a bad smell seeped through the open window next to them, Caroline turned to the window and looked outside with a frown on her face: the day seemed to be getting dark much earlier than usual, and very quickly, she noticed that the darkness gradually clouding the sunlight was not because of actual clouds or the sun setting earlier than before, it was because of a sneaky, thin but gradually thickening black smoke.

“Alex. Go upstairs.” Caroline lifted Alex up from the couch: “Now! Do you have a safe place to hide?”

“Okay, what happened, Auntie?” Alex sounded scared from Caroline’s sudden change of demeanor: “Something wrong?”

“I’m not sure. But bring me to a place you can hide. Trust me.” Caroline looked at the mini wooden sword still in Alex’s hand.

“Okay. It’s in my bedroom. ” Alex nodded and ran upstairs as Caroline locked the windows and front door, and then ran checking other entry points of the house.

“Fuck!” even though Alex’s is still in the house, Caroline couldn’t help but swear loudly, when she tried to call both Jianmen and Jason but ended up not getting any signal. Even the smart TV was displaying an error message saying that there was no internet connection.