Page 55 of Night of the Living Manny
“After you wash your hands.”
“Oh, right. All that gas.” She scrubbed like a surgeon, all the way up to her elbows. Both of her folks had been/were in science.
“We have lots of candy, Brenden. Lots.” Britt blinked over at him, a little stunned.
“Do we? We’ll have to pace ourselves.” Oh, peanut butter cups.
“These will be good energy and safe stored for a few months.” Susanna shrugged. “We’ll put them in totes, huh?”
“We totally will.” They could freeze some and use them as projectiles too.
“You want me to take the sandwich down to Daddy?” Britt asked.
“No, he said he would come up. Can you go call him?”
“Uh-huh.” She ran to the basement door and stomped down a few of the stairs. “Daddy! Lunch!”
“I’ll be up in a minute.”
“It’ll get cold!”
“I said I’ll be right there.”
Uh-oh. Brenden moved over to call to Britt. “I’ll keep his warm. Come on, hon.”
“He’s not going to come up. He’s working. He’s worried.” Susanna had that look on her face.
“I’ll go get him if I have to.” Brenden wanted that family meeting. The kids needed it. The kids needed their dad.
“I said I was coming.” Liam was putting his feet down hard on the steps. “I was washing up, you know? Washing.”
“Well, then your sandwich isn’t cold!” Brenden knew he was being a little overhyper, but he was focusing on the positive.
“It smells good. What do I need to do?” Liam asked.
“Just have a sit. Right, guys?”
“I helped Brenden know when to turn, and Susanna made carrot sticks!” Britt beamed.
“Excellent, guys.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Susanna gave her dad a small smile.
Liam nodded once, then looked down, eyes on the table.
“Here we go.” Brenden served up the hot grilled cheese, giving Peter and Susanna one and a half, since they both said they liked them so.
“Are… what happens next, Daddy? What do we do?” Susanna was amazing, knowing just what to ask.
“I find the antidote. Once I do, I make sure the CDC gets it.”
“So we stay here?” Peter asked that quietly.
“As long as we can, yeah. There’s no reason for them to come up here.” The “I hope” hung in the air.
“What about my friends? What about school?” Susanna asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t risk taking you down to check.”
