"Your dad's awake!"

The moment those words left her lips I was sprinting pass Arden. I rushed out into the room and was by his side in an instant.

As I knelt next to him I quickly grabbed his hand and looked him over.

"Dad?"

There was a brief moment of silence and then I watched with tears forming in my eyes as he slowly turned his head toward me and his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, Ally." His voice was hoarse and quiet but it was his all the same. A voice I was scared I may never hear again.

The tears that had formed earlier spilt over as I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him.

"You scared the crap out of me." I muttered into his collar as my tears began to soak his shirt.

I felt him give a weak chuckle from beneath me as he wrapped his own arms around me, returning the hug.

"It'll take more than a little car crash to take me out of the game."

I pulled back to look down at him with a frown.

"That little car crash had you out cold for days."

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Details, details."

I shook my head at him. That was my dad. Always trying to play things off so that I wouldn't worry.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as I continued to look him over.

"Like I've been in a car accident."

Smart ass.

I heard Arden give a small laugh behind me before she spoke up.

"You must be hungry. I make some mean soup." She winked at me. "I'll get you some."

It was my turn to laugh I watched Arden hurry into the room where she made her "mean soup." After watching her disappear into the room my eyes traveled to Cory who was standing at the edge of the room we had exited earlier.

I quickly waved him over.

Once he was beside me I turned back to face my dad.

"Dad, this is Cory. He's the one who saved you."

Cory quickly shook his head. "She's being modest. I didn't really do much."

I arched an eyebrow at him but continued to address my dad. "I'm not. The bandages and medicine that helped you get better was all thanks to him."

My dad looked between Cory and I for a few seconds before he finally let his eyes rest on Cory.

"Well, Cory thank you. Not just for helping me but for looking after my daughter when I couldn't."

"I never said anything about me." I quickly interrupted.

My dads eyes shot to me and a wry smile formed on his lips.

"You didn't have to. I can tell that you've been well taken care of since I've been out."

I felt my face heat.

My dad turned back to look at Cory again.

"So, thank you again. I'll never be able to repay you for your kindness."

Cory's eyes flickered to me for just a second before looking back at my dad.

"You don't have to sir. I would've done it regardless."

My dad gave a soft laugh. "You can call me Michael."

There was brief moment of silence before my dad cleared his throat.

"So, Cory do you happen to have a girlfriend?"

***

Arden, the lovely person that she was, saved me from any more embarrassment at the hands of my own flesh and blood as she came out with the bowl of soup.

I quickly accepted it and started shoving spoonfuls into my dad's mouth to keep him from talking anymore that night.

After the fifth spoonful he quickly held up his hand to stop me.

"I can eat on my own you know. You don't have to feed me."

I quickly shook my head and forced another spoonful into his mouth.

"Oh, trust me. I do."

There was a glint in his eyes that I didn't like as he turned with the intention of engaging Cory in conversation again, avoiding the spoon I was now desperately trying to get into his mouth.

"I hope she hasn't been too much trouble for you while I was out."

What was I? Twelve?

Cory gave a small laugh and shook his head.

"No trouble at all."

My dad nodded. "That's good, because you know she used to give me all types of trouble when she was home from school. Especially that time when came home right after she'd just broken up with that pathetic excuse of a boyfriend she used to have. What was his name again?"

"Dad!" I hissed sharply, but he ignored me completely.

"Ah, Derek. That was his name. He was just awful and he couldn't dress to save his life."

Cory's laughter filled the room and only encouraged my dad more.

Seeing as there was no way to get out of this I simply chose to pretend that neither of them was there.

I placed the long forgotten bowl of soup on the ground and stood up to go stand by Arden who was trying to bite back her own smile.

"Your dad's awesome." She said as soon as I was next to her.

"Yeah, he's great until he's trying to bury me underneath ten pounds of embarrassment."

Arden laughed and elbowed me slightly.

"Come on, he's not that bad."

I heard the words pigtails and suspenders being mentioned in their conversation and figured now was definitely the time to put a stop to this budding friendship.

I took a step forward fully prepared to tackle my dad if needed to keep him from doing anymore damage but a loud crashing sound from upstairs did the job for me.

Everyone in the room froze at the noise.

"What was that?" Marie asked in a whisper as she pulled Danny close to her side.

Cory glanced up at the ceiling and shrugged.

"I don't know but I'll go up and take a look. You guys wait here." He turned and slowly started making his way up the steps.

Arden and I glanced at each other then simultaneously headed for the stairs.

I guess neither of us tended to listen him.

"Be careful."

I paused on the stairs and turned to look back down at my dad.

I responded with a quick, "I will." before continuing up the stairs with Arden.

Once up there we were once again bathed in almost complete darkness. I tried my best to follow Arden through the store since she seemed to know where she was going.

We ended up at the front of the store standing in front of what I assumed was a covered window which Cory was now standing in front of.

At least I thought it was Cory, but I couldn't really tell being bathed in darkness and all.

"I thought I told you to stay put."

Yep, that was definitely Cory.

"When do I ever listen to you?" Arden replied back easily as if they had this conversation often, which given their personalities, they probably did.

I heard Cory sigh before he muttered, "Just keep quiet."

There was a brief moment of silence and then the smallest sliver of light cut through the room.

"Oh, shit."

Well, that couldn't be good.

I quickly moved forward and stood next to Cory and peered outside through the small slit that had been created when he pulled the thick blanket back that had used to cover the window.

When I realized what Cory had seen I had to agree. 'Oh shit' was right.

Outside standing directly across the street from the store in the pale light of a street lamp was four of them.

I quickly pulled back and turned to look at Cory. I could just barely make out his face but what I did see made my heart drop.

"What do we do?" I asked.

By now Arden had pushed her way forward so that she could see what we had been staring at and once she saw a small gasp left her mouth.

"We need to get back downstairs. If we're quiet maybe-"

The sound of something heavy crashing against the front door of the store cut Cory off and we all turned to look in the direction of the door with wide eyes.

I quickly glanced out the window again and watched in horror as one of them was taking a few steps back while the other three simply stood there waiting before it charged forward and slammed its body against the door again.

That's what we heard earlier. The sound of them trying to break in.

I pulled back ready to tell Cory and Arden that we needed to get back downstairs now, when something caught my eye and kept me at the window.

Standing underneath the street lamp between the other two, it was easy to see the blood and scars that covered one of their bodies. Both the blood and scars looked fresh.

I squinted my eyes.

I couldn't be one hundred percent sure since they all looked alike but if I wasn't wrong then...

Then that looked like the exact same one I had hit with the truck earlier this morning.

I pulled back fully and turned to face Cory, my heart beating another harsh rhythm in my chest.

"Cory is that-"

"It is, and he brought friends this time."

***