5:60 If Tomorrow Never Comes

TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains gun violence. It could trigger anybody who has experienced this same thing or those who are sensitive to it. Please  read at your own discretion.

It was the weekend and the boys were home from school. They were having a hard time keeping the noise levels down and woke their sister a few times. Shelby was starting to get frustrated, so Philip suggested taking the boys to the park for a bit.

Philip watched the boys play with the other kids. He sat nearby just enjoying the weather.

The park was actually pretty busy. There were parents there with toddlers, teenagers just hanging out, and it looked like someone was having a party in the main building. Guess everybody wanted to enjoy the final days of fall before winter hit. He didn’t blame them. He was enjoying it.

“Daddy, can you come play the sea monster for us?”

Philip looked at Devin and smiled. He followed the boys back to the pirate ship. 

He was enjoying playing with the boys until he heard the noise. He recognized that noise from his basic training.

“Campbell, Devin, get down!”

He looked around seeing everybody running. He saw people on the ground. He could see that some were still moving this was good. He could also see that some weren’t. 

He saw a small child standing beside a woman who was laying on the ground. He could see from where he was that there was no way the woman was still alive.

He looked at his boys. “Stay here and stay down. I will be right back.”

“Daddy, where are you going?”

He looked at Campbell. “Just stay down. You two keep each other safe.”

He ran for the toddler to bring it back to safety. He scooped up the child and headed back toward the pirate ship. The last thing he heard as he hit the ground was his son yelling for him.