Ambrosia

Allison was against the wall by now. They had waited several dozens of minutes before Jamie had completely given up on trying to debate on if the person on the other side was a Tantalus or not.

"Guys, I think it might be necessary to go down into the underground trails, so open the door just in case," Jamie muttered to them, the sound of the person banging against the door becoming more fierce.

Allison and Claire nodded as they both slammed their hands against the knobs, prying the door open. There was a loud scrape against the metal floor and rust was casing around the edges. A key was hanging on the other side of the door.

"That's the key to lock it so that Tantalus cannot follow," Claire pointed to it.

Jamie took a few step backs, "Guys... just hold on a moment. We shouldn't have to go down there for only one Tantalus. I only had you open the door in case it some how manages to get inside."

"How do we know it's even a Tantalus?" Claire asked.

"I don't! I said that already!" Jamie sounded slightly annoyed. Suddenly, the banging against the door had stopped.

"Stop right there!" a voice yelled from outside the shelter. Allison, Jamie, and Claire automatically pressed their ears against the wall. The sound of an intense, earsplitting scream was heard.

"It really is a Tantalus," Jamie whispered.

The footsteps were running now, heading away, towards the voice.

BANG!

The sound of more screaming came from the Tantalus as it seemed to scramble all over the place. Allison clenched her fists with apprehension. As the screaming got quieter, it had ended with a loud thump.

"...Did it... die?" Claire asked, confused.

"I'm not sure..." Jamie blinked.

"You kids in there! You okay?" The voice on the other end spoke.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Jamie replied.

"Alright. Stay in there for the rest of the night! We'll have more swat members patrol the entire building all night," the voice stopped as footsteps seemed to move away.

Allison turned around, sliding against the wall as she sighed in relief, "Oh, thank goodness," she breathed in.

Claire moved over to close the trap door as she sat above it, "Man that was close."

Jamie continued to look slightly nervous as he took a deep breath. He moved over and sat against the table as he closed his eyes, cupping his mouth with his hands.

Allison looked over to the blankets as she got herself up, pulling them over. She threw one at both Jamie and Claire. She then sat in a corner herself, wrapping the blanket around herself. She sighed, "I hope Ethan and Erin are okay..."

"Ethan and Erin?" Claire asked.

"My older brother and sister. They're twins."

"Ah, I see," Claire closed her eyes.

Allison nodded as she pursed her lips. Jamie looked over at her to see how distraught she was. He frowned, holding the blanket over his shoulder as he walked over. He sat beside her and put his arm around her, hugging her gently.

"Allison, just calm down for a bit. Obviously you're not used to attacks like these. So please, just listen to me for a minute and take a deep breath," he spoke softly, "You're going to have to get used to frequent attacks. Piscataway isn't a very big city, so there are more attacks."

Allison nodded, breathing slowly. She let herself calm down as she wrapped her arms within the blanket, against the wall. She rested against his arm. Soon Claire had come over too, sitting on the other side of her.

So these are what friends are for... to get through the worst, Allison faintly smiled. Soon, they had all stayed silent, flicking the lights off and they had all fallen asleep.