“Find everything alright?”

Nick nodded as he took out the list and money from his pocket. He placed the money down on the counter as he opened the folded paper to go over the list once more to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. The cashier scanned and bagged a carton of milk, a pack of dry noodles, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a bundle of parsley and a small tub of yogurt.

“Alright, your grand total will be $12.83.” the cashier said.

Nick picked up the money and unfolded the bills; he had a 5 dollar bill and five 1 dollar bills. Shaking his head, he placed the money back down on the counter and began patting his pockets, looking for spare change he could use to help pay for the cost. All the while, the cashier was watching Nick with interest, a sense of guilt washing over him. He knew the Carter family, and he also knew how they struggled day by day just to get through.

Nick felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, “I’m sorry… do you mind if I run home real quick and grab three more dollars?” he asked in a small voice.

The cashier gave a genuine smile, “Don’t even worry about it kid, I’ve got you covered.” he took the ten dollars Nick had placed on the counter.

A big, bright smile broke through on Nick’s face, “Thank you so much! Is there any way I could repay you?”

The cashier chuckled, “Please, it’s only three dollars.” He grabbed the packaged groceries and handed it over to Nick, “Do you, uh… will you be able to carry this home yourself?”

Nick nodded as he grabbed the groceries, “Thanks again!” he said has he turned to walk out of the store.

“No problem. Do me a favor though, will ya? Tell your father we’re having poker night at Jimmy’s house this Thursday, he’ll know what I’m talking about.”

“Will do, bye!” Nick waved with one hand and used the other arm to balance the groceries as he walked out of the store.

Nick stepped out into the cool autumn breeze, watching the fallen red and orange leaves blow past him. He gave a small shiver as he hugged the bagged groceries close to him; he could feel in the air that winter was near. He began his trek back to the apartments, and his mind wandered back to those suited men he ran into on his way out to the store. The fact that they seemed so out of place made him feel uneasy, but overhearing the receptionist tell them “Apartment 308” had a sense of fear settled deep down into the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure if he had heard her correct, but he was confident those words came out of her mouth.

Nick finally snapped out of his phase as he was nearing home, and looked up to find a group of cop cars, two ambulances and a few coroner vans parked right outside his complex. He couldn’t help than to think that the suited men were the reasons the cops and paramedics were there in the first place, but had refrained from letting his imagination run wild.

Taking a deep breath, Nick resumed walking into his complex as if nothing was happening. The lobby was bustling with police officers while the paramedics were now exiting the complex. He could only hope that no of them would stop him from going to where he needed to go, so he kept his eyes to the ground; his main goal was to get to his family and see if they were okay.

As he approached the elevators, before he could even push the button, the elevator made a “ding” noise, indicating that the cab was already occupied by someone wanting to get off at the ground level. Nick quickly moved to the side as the doors slid open, revealing two males and a gurney.

“This is absolutely devastating.” one of the men said as he stepped off of the elevator and had turned to help his partner maneuver the gurney out of the elevator.

The other male sighed, “Yeah man… the hardest part of the job. Sometimes I wonder why I’m still working this job, even after all this.”

Nick continued to stare at the two, glad that they were both oblivious to the fact that he was standing to the side of them the whole time. He fell into a trance with the body bag on the gurney, having a hard time believing that there was actually a lifeless body within that black bag. Another “ding” noise sounding out from the elevator broke him out of his trance, and he quickly slid into the elevator before the doors could close. Balancing the bag of groceries in one arm, he used the other to push the “3” button.

Once the doors closed, Nick sighed heavily as he allowed himself to fall against the wall of the elevator. He still wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but he was still convinced that the suited men he had a run-in with earlier had something to do with all this, and he could only pray that his family was okay. When the elevator reached the third floor and the doors slid open, Nick gasped.

He was greeted by the sight of even more police officers, talking silently to each other while the others talked with, what he assumed to be, supposed “witnesses”. Nick slowly stepped off of the elevator and began walking down the corridor towards his unit, but faltered a little bit when he saw two police officers talking with his neighbors, the Scavellis.

“I just knew that illegal activity was going down in that apartment!” he heard Mr. Scavelli say, “I mean, he would come home in the wee hours of the morning!”

“Those poor children.” Mrs. Scavelli cried, “They really didn’t deserve this.”

Nick slowly turned and looked over at his apartment to find yellow “CAUTION -- DO NOT ENTER” tape blocking off the open doorway into his apartment. Apartment 308.

“One of them is still alive, I know that for a fact.” Mr. Scavelli told the officer. “He had walked out before all of this happened.”

Nick grew numb at the discovery and couldn’t say or do anything; he allowed the bag of groceries to fall from his arms. That action caught the attention of the officers and the Scavellis.

“Son, this floor is closed off for investigation.” one of the officers said as he began to approach Nick.

“That’s the one I was telling you about!” Mr. Scavelli exclaimed as he pointed Nick out. “The only one left alive.”

Nick finally began walking towards his apartment, disregarding the officers who were now making their way towards him. “What happened?” he choked out.

“Boy, you cannot go in there.” one of the officers tried to stop him.

Nick wasn’t thinking clearly, due to being in shock, so he continued on, determined to get into his apartment and find out that his family was indeed okay. “What’s going on? Where’s my family?”

A more larger man, who seemed to be the captain of the police squad, approached Nick and had stopped him from walking into the blocked off area. He stepped in front of Nick and had bent down to get eye leveled with him. “I’m sorry, but… I cannot allow you to go in there. Why don’t you tell me your name son?”

Nick began to cry in frustration. “I just want to know where my family is… please tell me they’re okay.”

The captain sighed heavily, this has got to be one of the hardest things he has ever experienced. “Why don’t you tell me your name first?”

“Nick.”

“Okay Nick. I’m Captain Marcell. Why don’t you tell me where you came from?”

Nick chewed on his bottom lip, “I was at the grocery store?”

“You were at the grocery store?” Captain Marcell repeated.

Nick nodded.

“Okay Nick, you want to help me out with something? I’m gonna take care of you and give you whatever you need, but I need your help with something first. I need you to give me a list of numbers of any relatives you may know, okay? So… how about I take you downstairs and treat you to some pop while you think of those numbers, huh?”

Nick vigorously shook his head, “I just want to see family… where are they?”

“I know son, but I need your help with something first…”

Nick completely ignored the captain when he saw activity going on inside his apartment. He looked past the captain to see a gurney in the middle of the hallway. His eyes widened when he saw his father lying in the black bag on the gurney, and male preparing the zip the bag close.

“DADDY!” Nick screamed as he ran around the captain and had busted through the tape. The officers had tried to stop him, but he still managed to get inside.

Nick began bawling at the sight of his father in the body bag, his lifeless features being etched into his mind. He tentatively reached out a hand and had gingerly touched his father’s cheek, sobbing at how clammy it felt. Captain Marcell slowly walked up and stood behind Nick, watching as the young boy cried over his dead father.

“Nick…” Captain Marcell started softly.

Nick sniffled, trying to keep his sobs under control. “Where is the rest of my family?”

Captain Marcell fell and remained silent, he really didn’t know how to answer that question. How could he possibly tell a 9-year-old that his whole family was killed? He took a deep breath in and sighed, “I’m sorry.”

Nick bit his bottom lip as he glared at his father’s corpse. The sight of his dead father and the smell of the blood of his family that stained the walls were now getting to him, crawling under his skin and making him sick to his stomach. He had to get out of there. Without warning, Nick turned abruptly and shoved past Captain Marcell, running right out of the apartment.

“Nick!” Captain Marcell called out as he turned around, only to find that Nick was long gone.