Blue started violently at a harsh sound of a child's pain-filled wail that resounded throughout the room. It cut off quickly after a hollow bang, but the echos remained, bouncing off the concrete walls of the sub-four hideout. Seconds later, a sharp thump followed. The gang fell completely silent in horror- something was very wrong. If it had been the sweep, the sentry wouldn't have taken such drastic measures.
In an urgent whisper, Blue hissed the familiar words. "Lockdown, full. All children, get the h*** back. Use the storage crates to hide yourselves. You, you, and you will stay out with me." The two adults and one teenager look on as the rest of their friends rushed silently to the previously determined locations. After all is eerily still, they get to work themselves. Hiding the laptops ((excepting one, the oldest.)), locking the door. Every move was practiced.
Blue laid a steel case on the table containing several bags of snacks that would no doubt remain uneaten. Next to that, he laid the old laptop with the beaten edges, and pulled up a video game. The three people chosen crowded around, sitting in office chairs, and took out sheets of algebraic equations, half finished. Blue knew the other teens and the children didn't envy their comforts- for if anything went wrong, the outside four would die first, but he still could see them curled up tightly in and behind the stacks of overturned cardboard, hearts pounding wildly.
((I'm sad to hear that. It's looking like Darkie and I can go, based on our pm-chat.))