* * * Hope’s POV * * *
I am startled awake by a loud bang. For a brief moment, I think that someone is trying to break into our safe room and my stomach churns in fear. I wonder if it’s friend or foe at the other side of the thick metal walls that I know line this room. But no force is used. Instead, the heavy door that has sealed us in unlocks with a heavy clunk and then swings gently forward without making a sound, and then comes to a natural stop.
The parents that gathered around me when the noise first started inhale an audible breath as we sit and watch, waiting for someone to leap out from behind the door. Seconds pass.
Nothing happens.
More seconds pass and the phone blares, making us all jump. I don’t have to place my hand on my chest to feel my heart racing.
While parent An
