Doing homework is a little stressful when you've got a house full of armed men. Alex sits in his quiet bedroom with the burned picture of him and his father lying next to him on the bed. He shoved it into the pocket of his jacket after the fire. His mother Blake has just gotten home from work, exhausted, she tosses her jacket on the back of the cream colored couch in the living room and immediately heads to her room to take a nice hot bath.

"Alex, I hope you're doing homework!" shouting as she walks down the hallway.

"ALGEBRA!" he yells back.

Occasionally procrastinating from his school work, Alex browses social media and sends a text to Macie and Sketch. Macie always sends emojis with her's and seems a little flirtatious.

"I'd tap that," he says with a laugh.

Alex needs someone to go to, someone to talk to about everything going on in his life, but he barely knows Sketch. Macie has opened up a little about her past, about her drug addicted father, which Alex can definitely relate to. He opens his favorite music playlist on his phone, sets it down on the bed next to him and continues on his fractional exponents.

Blake, finishing up with her bath, grabs a towel from the rack and wraps it around her slim body. The frigid change in air temperature gives her goosebumps as she steps out of the tub, humming her favorite song. She swings her arms around, holding the hairbrush as a microphone and knocks her shaving cream onto the floor.

"Everything alright in there Miss. Blake?" asks one of the guards, knocking on the door.

"Fine! Just dropped my shaving cream."

A few guards are scattered throughout the yard and just two inside the house. One guard is posted at the front gate, Gladiator as his co-workers call him, keeping an eye on a suspicious vehicle that's been slowly driving past the driveway for a few days now.

"Home Cage, this is Gladiator, that uh, that white car just rolled by again." holding the radio close to his ear, he waits for an answer.

"You sure it's the same one?" responds Carter from inside the house.

"License plate, Golf Hotel Foxtrot One Four Lima, white four door sedan. I'm pretty sure." Gladiator watching the car as it quickly drives off down the road.

"Mark it in the book, if it rolls through again, we'll follow it." says Carter.

Alex finishes up with his homework and makes his way down the hall and into the kitchen with a ravenous appetite. The right side of the sink is filled with dirty dishes, coffee cups and silverware. Alex rolls his eyes as he searches for a clean plate to use.

"Doing the dishes isn't that hard you guys, I mean, you're here all day anyway, it's not like someone is going to try and kidnap me when I'm not even here. Gives you plenty of time to do the damn dishes." grabbing a food encrusted plate from the leaning tower in the sink, he rolls his eyes again.

---

"And you're sure that's the place?"

"Yessir, we've been scoping the place for days. I'm positive that's it," one of the men sitting at the large round conference table says.

The man in slacks places both hands on the table, "Excellent. Let's keep an eye on the property for a few more days, see how many guards we're dealing with here."

"How would you like us to proceed Mr. Tomley?" the armed man asks standing out of his chair.

"Our man on the inside will give us everything we need to know," Mr. Tomley says, taking a sip of his green tea, grinning from ear to ear.

---

The setting sun makes it a little harder to see your breath. The occasional frothy cloud visible from the exhale in front of the porchlight as Clemmons and Gladiator puff on their cigarettes and share stories from their times overseas. Blake is inside, covered in a green and white blanket on the couch and cupping a hot chocolate in her hands, watching TV. She's drifting off to sleep. The latest episode of "Cradle Me This" is nothing more than background noise as her cup of hot cocoa teters in the palm of her hand.

Carter sneaks into the living room, trying not to wake her. He tiptoes over to the couch, grabs the remote and turns off the TV. Rustling with the blanket wrapped around Blake's knees, it doesn't budge as he tries to pull it closer to keep her warm. He kicks the coffee table.

"Shit..." he whispers

"Carter? Are you trying to make a move on me sir?" Rolling over onto her side, Blake chuckles and shuts her eyes again.

"No ma'am, just trying to keep you warm."

"Carter to the rescue..." as she drifts off back to sleep.

He stands up and pats Blake on her knee.

"That's right, Carter to the rescue ma'am." Walking around the couch, he makes his way into the kitchen and opens the fridge slowly to grab a beer. A look of betrayal seeps across his cold, red face.

"What? You're not gonna share?" Alex asks hopping around the corner from the hallway.

"Jesus boy! You scared the dickens out of me!" Carter jumps and stumbles backwards, grabbing the edge of the counter for stability. "You're not even old enough to drink, your mother would kill me."

"Relax, it was just a joke." He says, grabbing an empty glass from the cabinet and pouring himself some coffee. "Now how about you help me with the dishes before you go running off to finish that beer with your buddies?"

"Oh, so now you're my boss huh?" Carter says jokingly, putting Alex in a playful headlock and messing up his freshly washed hair with his other hand.

"When you two girls are done in there, I need you out here for night watch Carter." Clemmons demands with a smile.

"We'll try and make it fast. I've got school tomorrow and I've got a newspaper delivery route afterwards. Can't stay up too late." Alex grabbing the first dirty dish in the sink.

Harold Clemmons steps back outside with Gladiator joking about the time he almost beat him in a game of pool.

The sun now resting behind the horizon, the temperature has dropped below freezing and the first snowfall of the night has begun. Gladiator zips up his jacket and secures his beanie on top of his head. It's quiet. The only sound is the wind whistling between the trees. He sits down in the empty chair behind him, watching as another layer of snow covers the yard.

"It's nights like this, that I love Missouri Harold." Gladiator leaning his head over the railing, resting his chin on his crossed arms for support.

The dim glow of headlights slowly pan across the trees at the end of the driveway, then come to a stop as they illuminate the snow covered gravel and dirt.

"What the hell is that?" Clemmons shouts, jumping out of his chair.

Gladiator and Clemmons make their way from the porch, and down the driveway, shoveling their feet through the thick snow.

"Carter, get your ass out here, we may have a situation." Harold radios while jogging. His voice shaken by the force of his run.

Dropping the hand towel, Carter grabs his gun from beside the door.

"Grab your mom and get to the safe room!"

He throws the front door open and runs down the driveway behind his comrades.

"What is it? What's going on?" Carter frantically waiting for an answer.

"Those headlights at the end of the drive there.... They've just been sitting there for a few minutes now. Gladiator, you stay back, Carter and I will check this out." Harold leads the way, using hand signals instead of words the rest of the walk.

Approaching the front gate, Carter and Harold Clemmons both have their guns drawn and ready. Eyes focused on the silver car parked on the other side, they move forward with caution.

"Who's there?" Carter shouts from a safe distance. His rifle resting on his shoulder and sight pulled to his eye.

No response, Clemmons moves forward, peering around the locked gate searching for someone.

"Anybody there? We're going to have to ask you to keep it moving. Hello?"

"Yes, hello?" a short statured man with a British accent walks around the brick column of the gate. His blue and grey scarf hiding most of his face, he continues. "Can someone help us?"

Carter and Clemmons have their guns directed toward the stranger.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH. We don't mean any harm, we're just looking for a jump. Our car stalled out and we need some help." the man in the scarf is shaken, his hands above his head as he backs up toward his car.

"Who are you? What's your names?" Clemmons demanding answers.

"I'm Jeffrey, and my wife Suzette is in the car. She's pregnant. With twins! Our car stalled out and we need a jump."

"Yeah, you said that already Jeffrey. But we can't help you." Trying to look inside the vehicle, Carter takes a step forward. "You don't have a cellphone? You can't call someone to come help you?"

The stranger still has his hands up. "Can you please put your guns down? I'm shaking enough because of the cold, I don't need a heart attack."

"No can do bucko. Not until we clear the situation here." Clemmons says with a firm tone.

"Come on, my wife is pregnant. We are trying to make it to our hotel, we don't even need a jump start, just let me use your phone and we will be on our way in no time."

"Don't gotta phone," replies Carter. "You're gonna have to step back in that car so I can open this gate and check out your car here."

Jeffrey takes a few steps back, opens the car door and sits inside. Clemmons types in the code and opens the gate as Carter makes his way toward the stalled vehicle.

"So what seems to be going on?" he asks, knocking on the driver side window.

"It just won't turn over. I've tried everything." the shaken British man says nervously.

"Pop the hood, let me take a look"

Carter opens the hood and shines his flashlight across the metal engine and pipes inside. His engineering background in the military really helps out sometimes. He reattaches a loose spark plug and closes the hood.

"Try it now." he says, tapping the hood of the car with his knuckles.

Jeffrey turns the key, and just like that, the car starts. "You sir are a mechanical magician. What did you do?"

"You had a loose spark plug. You're welcome. Now get your family on down the road." Carter walks back toward Clemmons with a sarcastic smile of relief.

"That's strange. Must have come loose after driving on these bumpy roads here. Thank you so much!" Jeffrey closes the door and kisses his wife on the forehead.

Clemmons closes the gate and they both wave as the family drives off down the road.

"False alarm Gladiator. All clear." Carter radios back to the house.