The house’s first glimmer of sunlight in days was accompanied by an explosion of dust which made Alistar recoil and cough. Dusting was certainly the first thing on the to-do list, however, before he could get started, a screeching sound coming from outside caught his attention. He quickly ran to grab his mother’s weapon, a special whip with flattened square shaped steel blades along its body, and positioned himself between the front door and an adjacent window.   

Alistar’s hands were trembling along with sweat running down his brow. Was his house next to be taken away, would he have no place for his brother to return to once he awakes? He peered out the window and saw troopers dismounting from their vehicle transports. He sighed and walked away from his hiding spot to begin dusting, scuffing that all that nervousness was over his apparent babysitters sent by Martha to ensure he stayed home. A complete waste of the troopers’ time in his opinion.

After repackaging his mother’s Sentry and taking it upstairs along with his father’s, he left the pair in his parents’ room for storage and spent the rest of his day doing chores to make the house look presentable again.

The next morning was a beautiful sunny day exemplified by birds chirping overhead. Alistar was in the kitchen preparing breakfast while listening the news. A particular segment caught his attention during the stream that had the reporter speaking about a hospital that opened seven new branches around the city. They were simultaneously hosting blood drives today in honor of their grand openings. Given he was barred from going to work maybe going to one of those blood drives could keep him preoccupied for a while.