“Viv.” He turned to face her. “It might be the Martians, so we’ll just keep the door closed and locked.”

Edward had rebounded from the earlier scare a lot quicker than Vivian had and she didn’t appreciate it one bit. She scowled at him as he walked back into the house, closed the door behind him, and shifted the lock into place.

“I know I saw something.”

He pulled her close to him and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” he sang.

“Yeah, you weren’t so brave when you thought the Martians were coming,” she muttered under her breath as she walked back to their bedroom to put Charlotte in her crib, where she instantly stopped crying. Vivian was secretly glad they’d both been fooled by the broadcast, because that was just the kind of thing he liked to tease her about. But, there you had it. Her husband was just as gullible as she was. As she sat on that thought, she considered it might not be such a good thing.

One hour later Vivian lay in bed, drifting off to sleep but then clutching the covers and jerking awake at every creak, groan, and pop she heard. Edward was sound asleep next to her, snoring away as usual. Gullible or not, he sure didn’t have a problem with worry keeping him awake. She snuggled her back up against his and thought about the Martians. After a few minutes she was snickering into her pillow.

When his alarm clock rang at four a.m., Vivian was already sitting in the rocking chair, holding the bottle steady in Charlotte’s little mouth. Edward rolled over to Vivian’s side of the bed and switched on the lamp, then rolled back, swung his legs out, and rose to his feet. He pulled on his socks and jodhpurs, then buttoned up his shirt and fastened his tie before shuffling into the living room in his slippers to turn on the radio. He’d gone four steps toward the kitchen to make his coffee when the emergency alert crackled from the radio’s speaker.

This time it wasn’t Orson Welles, and there was no mention of Martians. The Institution for Male Defective Delinquents had had a prison break. Three prisoners had unknowingly chosen the night of the Martian invasion to make their escape.

Inmates are at large. Local law enforcement urges residents to lock their homes and remain indoors until further notice.

Vivian heard every word of the alert, and now hissed in the direction of the kitchen over Charlotte’s now-sleeping head.

“Eddie! I told you something was out there!”

Edward frowned and went to the back door of the house, pulling the ruched gingham curtain aside to look out onto the yard. The sky was still dark and all he could see was that everything was still and covered in a light frost. He walked around the corner and into their bedroom.

Vivian jerked her head in the direction of the window overlooking the backyard. Edward looked out at the yard again. Just frost-covered lawn and the little yellow outhouse.