Hell broke loose in an instant. A loud crack forced my eyes open. It wasn’t morning yet. I was disoriented. Screaming followed the loud noise and my head began to spin. Running, gasping, and echos filled the hallway just outside of our door. Once I realized I wasn’t having a nightmare I shot up and flipped on the bedside light. Alex was already running for the door. He pulled the door open and seemed to freeze up in the doorway. I hurried to join him, still dazed from all the screaming and not understanding what was happening.

Once I reached the doorway and followed Alex’s gaze I too froze from shock. On the ground laid June, a pool of dark red liquid that I was all too familiar with was growing around her. Jake reached the landing at the top of the stairs and made eye contact with someone just past our door. His eyes widened with fear.

“Close the door!” Jake screamed.

Alex did as he was told and slammed the door shut. He swiftly pulled me down to the bathroom floor, forcing me to lie flat with him. I strained my ears to listen to the commotion.

“Medics!” I heard Jake scream through the door.

“What the fuck were you thinking Cam? Why?” he yelled.

I guess that was who stood on the other side of our door. She must’ve been the reason for June’s current state, and the reason he’d ordered us to close the door. What was happening? Why was June hurt? What was Cam trying to do now? I focused on the sound of more people flooding into the hall. I heard Jake order the medics to take June downstairs, and I heard the unmistakable sound of Lucas screaming her name as he barreled down the hallway towards us.

“Cam? What the fuck is this? Why?” Lucas’s voice cracked as he uttered the last question.

“She wasn’t supposed to get hurt! No one was supposed to be in the hall this late. I just needed to get to Alex. We need a better leader! I can fix this!” Cam’s voice said from the other side of the wall we were listening through. She couldn’t have been more than a foot from us.

“I heard June ask you what you were doing out here. You didn’t have to do this. Wait-” Jake started before another loud noise interrupted him.

I heard something fall right on the other side of the wall, and Alex seemed to have had enough at this point. He got back up and slammed the door open yet again.

“Lucas what did you-” Alex started.

“She needed to go. Burn in hell, bitch.” Lucas growled in a low voice that was unfamiliar to me.

Peeking into the hallway I saw Lucas and Jake standing near the pool of blood where June had been. They were both staring at the spot Cam’s voice had been coming from, just on the other side of the doorway. Jake wore a look of fear, but Lucas’s face showed only hatred. I slowly ripped my eyes away from them, and took a step forward to see the other side of our doorway. There Cam lied motionless and silent. She’d been pierced with a rod of ice, straight through the heart. A look of horror was frozen on her face. Her eyes were glazed over, and refused to shut. Her hand was still tightly clutching a gun that was undoubtedly the cause of June’s injury.

Slowly more people trickled into the hallway, and tried to wrap their heads around the scene in front of them. The four of us stood silently in place. I didn’t know what to do, I was still trying to process the scene for myself. As people began to gather around and ask questions Alex finally moved into action, ordering everyone away from the hall. He knelt down in front of Cam and put two fingers to her neck. He hovered there for a moment, and then shook his head. She was gone. He ordered a member of the house crew to move her to the morgue.

Lucas finally unfroze. He whispered just one word, “June.”

He took off running downstairs towards the infirmary. I quickly followed, leaving Jake and Alex to deal with the commotion upstairs. The girl with a healing Oddity was holding her hand over June’s bullet wound, and a faint green light shone between them. The two med students frantically ran around shouting technical terms I didn’t understand. They had her hooked up to bags, and monitors, and they were preparing a blood transfusion. The monitor she was attached to began to make an awful noise, causing the two of them to stop what they were doing and rush to her side.

Lucas was stuck at the doorway with me. He looked like he was torn between going to her side, and staying out of their way. They started to do compressions, and then eventually substituted a machine in place of their bloodied palms, desperately trying to bring her back. After several minutes of fruitless attempts they stopped, and turned towards Lucas and I.

“I’m sorry,” One of the girls said to Lucas. Tears filled her eyes.

They cleared a path for him, and Lucas rushed to her side. He grabbed her lifeless hand and held it to his face. One of the students placed a chair behind him, and he sat at her side. He held her hand to his face tightly, and whispered apologies to her. He was crying hard, and his words were difficult to make out, but I understood the sentiment. I turned around, suddenly feeling nauseous. I couldn’t watch the scene unfold any longer.

My eyes went wide. Behind me was Isabelle. Standing there she no longer looked like the composed and indifferent genius I’d come to know. For the first time since I’d met her she looked like a kid. A fragile kid looking her worst nightmare in the face. Her knees buckled, and she opened her mouth to talk but nothing came out. I quickly reached out to catch her before she fell, and slowly lowered her to the ground. I sat with her, and put my arms around her. I wrapped her in a tight hug, trying desperately to steal some of her pain away. I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling.

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“Lucas,” I called out gently to alert him to Isabelle’s presence.

“Isa shit,” his voice cracked.

He rushed over and sat on the floor with us. I released Isabelle from the hug so Lucas could grab her. His hands were still coated with June’s blood as he wrapped them around Isabelle. They held onto each other, sobbing. My heart ached for them. I stood up to give them some space, and saw Jake and Alex gathered around with somber expressions. Alex opened his arms, and I stepped into them, burying my head in his chest.

“Is she?” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded. She was gone. Two lives were lost in one fell swoop. Over what? A ploy for leadership? Was our guidance so awful that Cam had felt this was her only choice? What was she even planning to do? I thought back to what she’d said in the hallway. No one was supposed to be in the hall. I just needed to get to Alex. Was she planning to kill him? Both of us? Why was June dragged into this if we were the targets? It wasn’t fair. It all felt foolish and senseless.

“What did you hear?” I asked, looking Jake in the eyes.

“I heard someone going upstairs, and was listening to figure out who, when I heard a door open. June’s voice came first, asking Cam what she was doing, then the shot rang out. She didn’t even try to explain herself, she just shot June. I could’ve stopped it if I was faster,” Jake answered, his voice trembling.

“It’s not your fault it’s mine,” Lucas said bitterly from the floor.

“It’s no one’s fault but Cam’s,” I interrupted.

“It’s mine!” Lucas reaffirmed angrily, “She couldn’t sleep and I suggested a walk. Even though I knew that crazed bitch was free. I should’ve told her to stay in the room. I should’ve just killed Cam while we were on the supply run. It’s my fault.” His voice cracked and his tears resumed.

The five of us sat in the infirmary for some time. None of us were willing to leave the others, nor were we ready to return to bed. The rest of the facility slowly returned to quietness, as they returned to sleep. The only people still awake were the house crew, who took care of the scene upstairs. They came downstairs and asked Lucas if he’d like them to prepare a grave, but he declined. June had wished to be cremated, and scattered amidst the trees. They took her to be cremated in the morgue on his behalf, so he could honor her wish, and then they too returned to sleep.

Eventually the adrenaline faded and all of our emotions had numbed just enough that we agreed we should all try to get some sleep. We broke up and went our separate ways back to our rooms. I didn’t ever get back to sleep that night, despite my constant attempts. I heard Alex tossing and turning and I could tell he was having a hard time too. I listened to the birds begin to chirp as the sunrise crept through the sky, and I watched the first cracks of light push through the curtains. Only then did I give up on sleep, and get up to deal with the horrible day that awaited us.

Counting the supply run, five lives were taken yesterday, and only one could be argued to have been necessary. Even then, she was only like that because of the soldiers' treatment. As this war went on I feared that more people would become twisted with a want for revenge. More senseless deaths would occur. It just proved that Alex was right for trying to handle this gently. The less fights we had to partake in the better, for both sides.

The day crawled by slowly. We were all exhausted and numb. Lucas and Isabelle didn’t make much of an appearance, and we let the lab team and everyone involved in training know that they had the day off when we briefed everyone at breakfast. Alex took on the job of telling everyone what occurred. Some of the younger ones cried at the news. June was well loved. She connected with so many people here, and they were heartbroken to hear how she was senselessly taken from us. The cooks took it upon themselves to make a special lunch and bring it to the rooms of Lucas and Isabelle. Though the thought was nice, I doubted if they would be able to eat much of anything.

I went through the motions on auto-pilot for most of the day. I couldn’t help but notice how somber the facility was. It was as if our joy had been completely robbed from us. I knew I’d eventually have to find a way to lift spirits, but I wasn’t sure how to do that just yet. For now I was content just giving everyone a few days to feel the overdue sadness. We needed a chance to release some of the built up emotions. So that’s just what we did.

The next several days everyone spent just comforting each other. Not much got done, and I was okay with that. I spent a lot of time talking to Jake and Alex about everything. I couldn’t imagine what I’d have done if it had been one of them. All I know for sure is that I would’ve made the same choice Lucas did. What Cam did was unforgivable, and no one blamed him. I tried to speak with Lucas and Isabelle on a few occasions, but they were still pretty withdrawn. It was understandable, but I really wished I could do something to help.

I often thought back on that night. I knew Alex was having a hard time dealing with the guilt he felt. We were both so sure after hearing her past that she would behave after the incident with the supply run. We thought she’d gotten it out of her system. That talking about it with Alex had helped her. At the end of the day it was Alex’s decision to let her remain free. He was good natured, and had too much faith in people. He truly believed that she just needed a kind hand to guide her down a better path.

It only made it worse for Alex to know that she’d been planning on killing him that night, possibly me too. She couldn’t move past her hatred for the soldiers or accept Alex’s peaceful plans. She’d lied to us about being okay with it, and probably knew before Alex even left her for the night that she was going to make an attempt on his life. It was sickening. The only reason we were alive and June wasn’t was because she needed a walk. She wanted to clear her head. Much like the soldiers earlier in the day, June was no threat to Cam and she knew it. She’d simply asked what Cam was doing up, and she paid for it with her life.

The lapse in Alex’s judgment was affecting him deeply, and I stepped up to handle all of the work while he took time to work through the pain. I couldn’t even imagine the grief Lucas and Isabelle were going through. They didn’t leave their rooms except to talk with each other. I made several attempts to talk with them about it over the few days, but neither was ready to discuss it. As for the rest of the facility, they were slowly healing from the event. Things were still tense and somber at times, but for the most part people were returning to their normal attitudes. It was a start.