The safe room rose.

     BAM!

​     A missile slammed into it.

​     No one screamed, but both Alison and Cathy wanted to. Then, a second one... 

     BAM!

​     ...and one whole side of the safe room crumbled before their eyes...

     ...revealing blue skies beyond.

     The van had already lifted them fifty feet in the air, way above the trees and homes and warehouses and stores.

​     Abby swallowed hard as she saw the helicopter.

     No, three helicopters.

     They fired at the safe room with everything they had.

     BAM! POW! POW!

​     The van returned fire. It became a real dogfight up there.

​     The van had dozens of weapons at its disposal, and a lot of them were a lot more sophisticated than mere missiles and grenades. The air between the safe room and the helicopters filled with shrapnel and rays to the point where the result became a sun-like brightness. The cacophony was like a thunderclap that never stopped. Debris, bits of twisted metal, chunks of cement, fell onto the neighborhood below.

     As for Abby and her family?

     They were no longer inside of a self-pressurized safe room. The wind now whipped everywhere, sending everything inside that hadn't been weighted down flying, papers, pens, coffee cups. Everyone's hair swirled like they rode in a convertible or on a roller coaster. They held tight to the table because it was so solidly bolted to the floor.

     A bullet pinged around the inside the safe room, not hitting anybody.

​     "Well, I don't know about you all," Abby said, "but I'm up for a good scream. What do you all say?"

     "I'm in," Alison replied. ​

​                                                      CONTINUE