"Finally, her head popped up. It took a moment for her to register what she’d seen, then instantly, she froze. We couldn’t warn her, help her, or even tell her what to do. She was a sitting duck in that van, and it was our fault.

Lacey’s face bore a look of sheer terror. Her body sat frozen as her eyes flit from one Intruder to another. My anxiety grew as did her look of panic. Each Intruder was within at least two feet of the van. Through the darkness of the night, I could see tears glistening down the side of Lacey’s face.

Hal’s finger tightened its grip on the trigger of the shotgun. We couldn’t say anything, for fear that one of the Intruders would hear. Over time we had noticed their hearing was exponentially greater than their sight, and that made hiding out even more difficult. I tugged on Blaine’s shirt and gave him a pleading look. He had to think of something that we could do to help her. My chest was getting tighter with every passing second. Blaine’s expression was tormented. I could tell he was analyzing every possible scenario in his mind. Then he looked up, held my face between his palms and kissed my forehead. He reached into the waistband of his jeans, pulled out his revolver, and bolted for the door."