4: Under the mysterious Tic Tac

After staying in this position for a few seconds, Sasha looked up at me. Now, her look gave me a lot of peace, because it seems that she was also calm with what was happening to us. I had always been very lucky, and on more than one occasion I have told my mother, she was lucky to have given me a little sister that I could love, care for and receive that same love and care from her, in addition to, my mother knew how to educate us both so that, when we were alone in the world as now, we could live in a healthy coexistence.

"You are the best brother in the world. Even if mom isn't with us, if you and I are together, it's enough for me," my sister whispered in my ear, and in response, I couldn't help but not return a tender smile, give her a kiss on the forehead, and hug her even closer to my chest so she could feel our warm embrace.

After being calm on the couch, I proposed that it was time to go check the rooms, since night was already beginning to appear in the sky, my sister kept yawning, announcing to me that it was time for her to go to bed rest. And I had to do it too, because from now on, it seems that the days for us were going to be very heavy without knowing with certainty what we were facing.

The voice was still present in my head, its count was still present, and now, the countdown has reached 80%, and that number was still a foreign number to my sanity. I don't really know what will happen when the countdown reaches 100%, I guess I'll find out when the countdown reaches its end.

When we explored the little house, we realized that there were only two rooms, one with a double bed, and an internal bathroom, and another, with a small bed, and the bathroom located in the hallway. But the rooms were right next to each other.

“Where do you want to sleep?” I asked my sister while we were in the middle of the hallway, looking towards both rooms.

Sasha looked towards both rooms indecisively.

“Mm, would you mind if I slept with you? I don't want to sleep alone, not while we know that we can rest normally at night, just as we would at home,” she said, looking into my eyes with a sad puppy face to try to convince me.

"Alright. That's a good idea, then, we'll sleep together in the main room. The bed is bigger, and it will be more comfortable for us, is that okay with you?” I replied.

"Yes that's fine. "Let's go to sleep, I'm already very tired," she said, her hands sprouted her eyes that, little by little, were fading.

"Yeah. But, don't you want us to look for something to eat first? We haven't eaten anything after lunch with mom at the mall,” I suggested.

"Well. Okay, let's eat something, but what can we find here? This little house seems to have been abandoned at least a couple of days ago, I don't think its owners left food stored in case someone came to use their little house as a shelter, just like we are doing now,” she responded.

I nodded and responded:

 "Yeah. You're right, anyway, we can check. We lose nothing by trying”

So, Sasha accepted my suggestion, and we both approached the kitchen, luckily, we found a hive of eggs that seems to have been collected since the day the people who lived here had left. There were enough eggs to last a week. I smiled, feeling satisfied because I agreed with my sister that my idea had been good. She has growled to complain about my triumph, however, I know that she is only doing it to play.

Sasha approached the refrigerator, and opened the door, inside it, there was a lot of food. We found everything from fresh meat to chicken, vegetables, and other things with which we could give ourselves a delicious, and above all, free feast. If we were good economizers, and we were lucky, this food would last us up to eight days without us having to go out and search.

“Are you seeing this? It seems like you were right about wanting to look for food here. There's everything, what do you want us to prepare for dinner? We can even make sandwiches if we want,” my sister offered, feeling excited about the idea of ​​cooking together, and that we wouldn't go to sleep on an empty stomach.

But just as we were about to decide what we wanted to make for dinner, the voice in my head quickly announced that the countdown had reached 90%. My body paralyzed, thinking about what would happen when the countdown reached 100%, I just prayed to God that this was not going to be bad for me.

"Yeah. Let's cook those sandwiches. Get everything we need out of there to prepare them” I responded with determination.

Sasha smiled, and obediently, she began to take out all the ingredients that she thought were necessary for us to use; mayonnaise, ham, cheese, she even found bacon, and sauces.

While Sasha prepared the ingredients for the sandwiches in the kitchen, my mind felt lost between the idea of ​​cooking, and the imminent task of the countdown reaching 100%. Despite the apparent normality that filled the atmosphere in the little house, uncertainty became more and more present in me. I try to concentrate on my task, because my sister asked me to grab the sandwich breads and spread the mayonnaise on them while she took care of the rest of the ingredients, such as cooking the bacon in the oven that she knew how to use very well.

We both got to work. The aroma of bacon cooking in the oven dominated the kitchen. And I couldn't help but feel as if Sasha and I were home at this very moment.

With some good teamwork, Sasha and I managed to prepare a delicious dinner. We finished assembling the sandwiches, Sasha served them on plates and took them to the dining room while I prepared a delicious lemonade to accompany dinner. I finished preparing the lemonade, and served it in our glasses with a little ice that I found in the freezer, and then, I went to the dining room to sit in my place because my sister was there waiting for me to have dinner together.

After dinner, Sasha and I washed the dishes, while we remained silent, and in the middle of that deep silence, the mysterious tic tac of the countdown kept ringing in my mind, now, it has reached 90%, announcing to me that there was very little left to reach 100%.

Sasha and I finished our homework in the kitchen, and went to our room, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling while we slowly let sleep take over us.

“Do you think everything will be okay?” she asked with a soft and concerned voice, speaking to me with some uncertainty about the situation.

I sigh, and try to think about finding the best words to say what I thought to my sister about these events. I didn't know what could happen tomorrow, either. Everything was very strange, and mysterious. This has happened out of nowhere, no human in this world had been expecting this to happen.

“Mm, do you want the truth? I don't know, Sasha. All of this has happened so quickly that we don't know exactly what may happen tomorrow when we wake up, or what may happen in the middle of the night when we are sleeping. But I promise you that, no matter what happens, we will always be together. I'll take care of you and we'll find mom. OK?" I answered unsurely. But my answer was enough for Sasha because she didn't say anything else afterward.

 I closed my eyes to sleep. Trying to put aside the anxiety that dominated my body at that moment. Even so, the countdown seems to continue its march even though the night has arrived and it is time to rest. I kept having a bad feeling that something bad and powerful was coming towards us.