Chapter Text
Other than the soft glow of the nightlight, Ezra Bridger’s bedroom was dark. It was just how he liked it, nothing besides the stars from his night light. It was warm too, not too hot, but warm enough to where he felt comfy and cozy.
A perfect start to his eighth birthday.
He didn’t know it yet, but the clock had struck 12:01 a.m. seconds ago. It was officially his birthday. His dreams were filled with presents and cake and hugs from his mother and father. Just how he wanted his day to go.
Just how Mira and Ephraim planned for it to go.
Like always, Mira opened the door quietly before her and her husband went to bed. It was a tradition that they would stay up until it was officially their only son’s special day, where they would tuck him in one extra time and wish him a happy birthday as he smiled in his sleep.
Tonight however, when she opened the door, Ezra’s eyes opened slowly. He yawned, before smiling up at his mother and father.
“What are you doing awake, little one?” Mira smiled softly, sitting on the edge of his bed. Ephraim moved to stand behind her, placing both hands on her shoulders and watching over them lovingly.
Ezra rubbed his eyes, sleepily pointing at the hallway light, “Too bright…”
“Sorry, Ezra,” Ephraim chuckled, reaching his hand over and ruffling his son’s hair, “just came to wish you a happy birthday.”
Ezra’s eyes lit up at his words, as he looked over to the clock and back to his parents, “I’m eight now!”
They both laughed, pulling him into a hug,
“Happy Birthday, Ezra.”
---
“I don’t think there’s anywhere safer we could be.” Ephraim muttered, leaning against the counter. Mira stood nearby, holding the phone in front of her.
“What about your boy?” the voice over the phone asked, “you think he’s safe there? You have to think about him.”
“We are thinking about him.” Mira raised her voice above a whisper, “always.”
“Then you understand that staying in your house now is not safe.”
“Hang up on him, Mira,” the man shook his head, “we can figure this out again in the morning.”
Mira looked up to her husband, sighing and looking back to the phone, “Tseebo. Ephraim’s right- it’s late, it’s been a long couple of hours. I’m sure all of this will blow over soon.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Ephraim and Mira shared a glance, not sure how to respond to their friend. Ephraim sighed, standing up and walking over to where she sat,
“We’ll figure it out from there, Tseebo."
“I hope you do.” He responded over the phone, “wish Ezra a happy birthday for me…”
“We will,” Mira responded, as Ephraim wrapped his hand over hers, “thank you for your concern.”
“Stay safe, Mira.”
Placing her phone down, she looked up to her husband. Neither of them knew what to say to each other. Ephraim simply shook his head, before opening his mouth to speak. Before he got any words out, a soft voice called out to them from the stairway,
“Momma? Daddy?”
Both of them turned to face Ezra, who was peeking out from the bottom of the stairway, clutching his teddy bear.
“Come here, Ezra.” Ephraim said softly, sitting down on one of the dining chairs.
The boy nodded, climbing onto his father’s lap.
“What’s goin’ on..?”
“Nothing, kiddo,” he brushed some of Ezra’s hair out of his face, “we were just on the phone with Tseebo, that’s all.”
“What about?”
Mira chuckled at her son’s curiosity, “He wanted to wish you a happy birthday, that’s all.”
“But it’s night time.”
“I know,” his father responded, “we had other things to talk about too.”
“Like what?”
Mira and Ephraim looked at each other, to which Mira shook her head. Ephraim nodded, running his hands through Ezra’s hair.
“Nothing you need to worry about, Ezra.”
The boy nodded, leaning against his father’s chest. He frowned, thinking about the sadness in his father’s voice. Something was going on. He thought, listening to his father’s heartbeat.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Before Ezra could think anything else, his eyes closed and he was sound asleep.
---
Bang, bang!
Ezra gasped, jumping up from the couch. He looked around for his parents, but they were nowhere in sight.
“Momma?” he called out, “daddy?”
From outside, someone screamed. Ezra grabbed his teddy bear from the couch, holding it close. He whimpered as he hopped off the couch, unsure where to go from there.
“Momma!” he called again, his eyes filling with tears, “daddy…”
Ezra tip-toed to the kitchen, looking around. Mira’s phone rested on the dining room table, the bright light flashing as it rang. Ezra looked around for her once more, before grabbing it from the table and answering.
“Hello..?”
“Ezra,” his uncle Tseebo spoke quickly, “go get your mother and father, now. Tell them to pack a bag and be ready to leave when I get there.”
“What..?” Ezra clutched his teddy bear tighter, “Uncle Tseebo, what’s goin’ on?”
“Ezra, I need you to-”
The phone cut off before he could finish. Ezra let a few tears fall from his face, before moving it away from his ear.
“Uncle Tseebo…”
There was a loud noise from the living room, making Ezra jump. The phone fell from his hands and onto the floor, but Ezra was frozen in his spot.
It wasn’t until he heard his father’s voice that he decided it was safe to move.
“Get back!” Ephraim yelled from the living room. Ezra sniffled, walking over to the doorway to see his parents. He nearly shrieked when he saw a stranger jump off the floor and onto his father.
“Daddy!”
Ephraim struggled to push the man off of him, glancing over to Ezra,
“Stay over there, Ezra!”
Ezra nodded a little, staring wide eyed at his father and the stranger. Who was that? What was wrong with him?
Why was he hurting daddy?
“Ephraim!” Someone yelled from outside, before Mira ran in. The glass from the door cracked underneath her feet as she swung a shovel at the stranger. Ezra yelped as he fell to the floor, a red goo splattering on their walls.
Mira grabbed Ephraim’s arm and pulled him to his feet, dropping the shovel. He was out of breath, his hands shaking. She held his hands, muttering something to him that Ezra couldn’t hear.
All that Ezra could focus on was the stranger laying on their living room floor.
Even when Mira ran over and crouched down in front of him, Ezra continued to stare at the man. It wasn’t wasn’t until she placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look at her that he began to sob.
“It’s okay, honey,” she whispered, holding back her own tears as she brushed Ezra’s hair out of his face, “it’s alright.”
Mira picked up her son, holding him close and turning to where he couldn’t watch anymore. Ephraim walked over, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on Ezra’s back. The boy sobbed onto her shoulder, no matter how tightly she held him his little body just kept shaking.
He jumped a little when he heard a car horn outside, grabbing onto his mother tighter.
“Tseebo,” Ephraim walked to the door, looking out the window. He turned back to Mira and Ezra, “it’s Tseebo, come on!”
Ezra opened his eyes as they ran towards the door. He watched the stranger on the ground, watched his arm move a little, before he slowly sat up. The red goo poured down his face as he sat up, but Mira closed the door before Ezra saw anything else.
“Where have you been? I tried to call you!” Tseebo yelled, as they got into the car, “do you have any idea what's going on?”
“Not now,” Ephraim responded, “not in front of Ezra.”
The car door slammed shut, as Ezra cuddled closer to his mother.
“Mommy…” he whispered, not looking up to her. She wrapped her arms around him,
“Shh…” she responded softly, “we’re okay.”
Ezra nodded a little, burying his head in her sweater. Tears continued to stream down his face as his family spoke. He only heard parts of what they said, too distracted by the thought of the stranger on their floor.
“Holy shit…” Ephraim muttered from the front seat, making Ezra sit up. Mira didn’t force him to look away, as she stared in shock at the flames taking over a barn. Ephraim covered his mouth in shock, his voice dry as he spoke, “that’s Sumar’s farm…”
Ezra remembered Mr. and Mrs. Sumar. They watched him sometimes on weekends, if his parents ever went out. They had little sheep with soft fur and they always let Ezra help feed them when he was there.
He couldn’t help but wonder if the little sheep were okay as the flames went out of sight.
Ezra leaned against his mother’s chest for the rest of the drive, not listening to what his family said. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, when they stopped in the middle of the road. Looking around, Ezra recognized the town they were in. There was a restaurant nearby, their friend Jho worked there. Maybe they were going to see Jho.
“Ephraim, you’re bleeding…” Mira uttered, which made Ezra look to his father. He sighed, pushing his jacket sleeve over his arm. Daddy was bleeding? What did that mean?
“Mommy is daddy okay?”
Mira didn’t respond to him, staring at her husband.
“Ephraim, what is that?”
The man shook his head, “It’s from that sick guy. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
Now Tseebo looked over, “What sick guy?”
“There was some guy outside, okay?!” Ephraim practically yelled, “he needed our help.”
Ezra realized that he was talking about the stranger in their living room- the one that his mother hit with a shovel. If he needed help, why did mommy hit him?
“Mommy?” Ezra looked up to her, clutching her sweater, “mommy why did you hit him if he needed help?”
Mira didn’t look down to Ezra,
“Ephraim, did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Mira,” he responded, looking back to Ezra, “it’s okay, buddy. Mommy didn’t hurt him.”
Mira gently placed Ezra on the seat, opening the car door. Ezra watched her open his father’s door, carefully grabbing his arm.
“Let me see it,” she told him, “you might need to go to a hospital- if he was sick-”
People were running around in the street. Ezra hadn’t noticed it until his mother went outside.
“Mira, get back in the car.”
A woman screamed from nearby, as another woman jumped on top of her.
“We can’t get through this traffic, if we start walking now we can go to the hospital-”
The woman that jumped on her sunk her teeth into the other’s neck.
“Dammit, Mira get back in the car!”
There was a loud bang, as Mira fell to the ground. Red goo splattered on the car.
Someone yelled from outside, “They’re infected!”
“Tseebo,” Ephraim yelled, “take Ezra!”
Tseebo didn’t cover Ezra’s eyes as they got out of the car. Or his ears.
Ezra watched his father’s shoulders slump and tears fall down his face. He didn’t look back as the boy called for him. He collapsed to the ground with another loud bang , laying next to Mira.
No matter how much he wanted to close his eyes, Ezra couldn’t help but stare at them. He didn’t see his mother and father. He saw two people laying on the ground, with red goo running down their faces.
Just like the stranger in their living room.