Jane and Carl both yelled, charging in, weapons in hand, as they pushed Jake aside and lunged at the poor soul standing in the doorway.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait, wait, lemme say something!" the guy blurted out, throwing up his hands in defense.
Jane and Carl froze mid-air, Jane with her iron bar, Carl with his umbrella.
Jake facepalmed hard. Carly joined him, sighing like they were the only sane ones in the group.
The guy standing at the door, visibly shaking in his oversized red cap and hoodie, spoke through panicked breaths. "D-d-d-delivery…"
Jane and Carl blinked. Then blinked again.
It was the pizza delivery guy.
"Oh my god," Jane mumbled.
They lowered their weapons slowly.
"Excuse me," Carly muttered, squeezing through the awkward stand-off. She gently took the pizza box from the poor guy.
"S-s-sign here," he stammered, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he handed Carly the receipt booklet.
She signed it with a soft smile, handed it back, and gave a cheery "Thank you." Then she gently closed the door.
Silence.
Jane turned to her with an embarrassed look. "Why on earth didn't you tell us you ordered pizza?"
Carly tapped her chin dramatically, pretending to search far into her memory. "Hmm… let me think… Oh! I remember now…" She looked Jane dead in the eye. "'Shut up,'" she said, perfectly mimicking Jane's earlier tone.
Then she walked off toward the kitchen. Jake chuckled.
"Hehe. Freaks," he said, walking past the still-stunned Jane and Carl.
Carl exhaled and looked over at Jane. "Sooo… it's jus—"
She walked off without even letting him finish, leaving him with his mouth hanging open.
Carl stood there in silence. "Yeah. I seriously need to rethink my life."
A few moments later, all four sat around the dining table, each with a slice of pizza and a plastic cup filled with orange juice—except for Carl and Carly, who had two and were still at war over the last slice.
"I saw it first," Carly argued.
"You'll eat the most!" Carl snapped back.
"I brought the pizza in!"
Jane let out a loud sigh, stood up, stormed into the kitchen, and came back with scissors. She dropped the slice on the table and chopped it clean in half. "Happy now?"
Carly flinched. "Ew—"
Then she saw Carl pick up his piece and eat it without hesitation.
"—O. Ewo."
Jake chuckled as he looked up from his phone. "What the hell?"
"It's Nigerian. Like… a surprised wow. Yes," Carly said, forcing a smile, trying to sound smarter than she felt.
Jake smirked, shaking his head.
"More like 'yikes' to me." Carl, with his mouth full, nodded. "Has… like, a lot of meanings depending on how it's used."
"Exactly!" Carly pointed a finger at him, relieved.
Jane rolled her eyes and finally took a bite of her pizza slice, then pulled out her phone.
That's when the lights flickered.
Once.
Jake looked up slowly from his phone and locked eyes with Jane. Jane looked over at Carl and Carly, who had stopped mid-bite.
Jake stood up. "Congratulations on eating your last dinner at home. We're heading out."
"We're what?" Jane asked, half standing.
Jake didn't look at her. "You're not deaf, are you?"
Jane blinked, "Excuse me?"
"Where are we going? What's happening?" Carly said, still chewing.
Jake exhaled dramatically. "One flicker means something just interfered with the power grid. Could be a bug, a surge… something small. Two flickers?"
He paused just as the lights flickered again.
"Means we're entering blackout territory," he finished.
Everyone froze.
"And if the third flicker is longer than the first and second…" he began again.
The lights flickered again—longer.
Jake didn't even flinch. "Then we're officially in a horror movie. And if there's a fourth flicker before the blackout…"
The lights flickered a fourth time, held, then went completely out.
"…We're under attack," Jake said, like it was nothing.
A small, dull pop came from the kitchen.
Carly shot to her feet, whispering. "What do we do?!"
"Hide, genius," Jane hissed, standing up fast. "And find a way to escape. What else?"
"Where's Jake?" Carl whispered, suddenly noticing the spot beside the table was empty.
They all turned to see nothing but Jake's empty chair.
Jane's jaw dropped. "Traitor."
"Upstairs. Now." she ordered.
They moved in silence. Carly, halfway up the stairs, turned back, ran to the table, and drank up the last of her juice before bolting after the others.
Outside, in the shadow-draped backyard. The lock had been fried. A miniature explosive blew it open. Seconds later, six intruders in tactical black gear stormed the house, moving with silent urgency. Their faces were masked, their boots quiet, and they carried electric stun guns—not lethal, but definitely not friendly.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Carl, Carly, and Jane had slipped into the middle room. They were heading for the hidden compartment behind the table when they noticed something.
On the middle of the table, was a single sheet of paper. Bold, rushed handwriting saying: "Window."
It was Jake's handwriting.
All three turned to the window simultaneously.
Outside, hanging from the window frame, was a thick black rope. Tied and dangling.
Carly tilted her head, smiling. "Why do I feel like we're in a spy movie?"
"We don't have time for sarcasm," Jane snapped. "Let's go."
Elsewhere in the house, the intruders had split into three pairs. One team stormed the girls' bedroom. Another headed to the boys' room. The final pair stayed downstairs, patrolling the living room, kitchen, and hallways for signs of movement.
In the boys' room, two of the intruders burst through the door and froze.
Jake was there. Squatting casually on the wide window sill, rope in one hand.
"HEY!" one shouted, aiming his stun gun at him.
Hearing the commotion, the team from the girls' room rushed out and joined them.
"Get down from there, kid!" one barked.
Jake rolled his eyes and gave a deadpan smile. "You guys really gotta stop calling me that. I'm—"
"You're eighteen. Still a damn kid. Now get your ass down before you break your neck," the supposed leader snapped.
Jake tilted his head slightly, "Nah. What I meant to say was…"
He smirked, looked behind him at the ground far below, then back at the masked men.
"I'm Batman."
And he let himself fall backward.
"THE HELL?!"
The intruders rushed to the window in shock, but Jake had already landed, and taken off into the night.
"Son of a—! Check the last room! He's not alone!" the leader shouted.
They sprinted to the middle room and flung the door open—just in time to see the rope hanging loose and the window swinging wide.
"Shit, shit, shit! MOVE! They're all escaping!" the leader yelled.
Down the road and around the corner, Jake was jogging casually—like this was just a night stroll. He spotted Jane, Carl, and Carly running toward him, panting.
"Where the hell were you?" Jane hissed.
Jake shrugged. "One more minute and we'd be toast. Let's go."
No further questions.
The group ran in sync, weaving through back alleys, neighborhoods, fences, and shadows. They ducked just in time to avoid the intruders' black SUV rolling by. Its lights swept past where they had just been, searching.
The team of four huddled behind a building, ducking beneath some scaffolding.
The SUV stopped a few meters down. Two of the black-clad intruders hopped out to search the area.
"What do we do now?" Carl whispered.
Jane didn't answer. She just picked up a rock and hurled it at a nearby trash can with perfect aim.
CLANG!
The sound echoed loudly.
The two intruders immediately turned. "Over there!" one shouted.
As they rushed toward the sound, Jane gave the hand signal to move.
The team scattered. Carly was the last to follow.
But not fast enough.
One of the intruders turned just in time to catch a glimpse of Carly disappearing around the corner.
"Got 'em!" he said, signaling his partner. "Go around, zap whoever you find. Tired of these damn kids."
He ran to where he saw her vanish. He paused at the corner. No one there.
"Come out, kids! We're not here to hurt you!" he shouted.
From behind the wall, he heard fast footsteps. He smirked.
As soon as the figure turned the corner, he fired. ZAP!
The body dropped.
He jogged up, stun gun still humming.
Then paused.
"...Yo, bro?"
It was his teammate.
"Oh no. Oh damn…uh, hey…uh, my bad."
His teammate groaned, twitching on the ground. "I hate you."
The first guy bent to help him up, muttering curses.
They both limped off. "Whatever. They're not here."
A few moments later, after the coast was clear, a lid creaked open on a green dumpster.
Carly peeked out, gagging. "Yuck. I think I just threw up in reverse."
She climbed out, covered in soggy newspaper and pizza grease. Her face was pale.
"I feel like not living."