Her voice was so dry and soft, Garret had to lean next to her warm, rancid mouth to hear the sentence again. She had been repeating the same cadence for minutes now, and it was only now, as the death rattle became more prominent that Garret noticed. He held his breath and asked softly, “What did you say, Grammy?”

“when… they… fall. Gary, when they… fall…” Garret’s eyes scanned the lace on her pillow, his imagination starting to turn. He waited for the rest of the sentence. There had to be more. For a minute he leaned over her slight form until he couldn’t hold his breath anymore. He straightened up, only for the woman to grab the back of his head with a strength Garret didn’t know she had.

“When they fall, there will be silence.” The voice was deep and filled with phlegm, but it was the strongest he had heard in a while.

“Grammy,” he started and her hand released his hair to slide down his shoulder. It fell to the bed with a plop and a sigh.

Outside, an air raid siren began to wail.