“Reid!”

Reid stumbles closer to the small gap between two barricades before he reaches for his chest and topples over.

This can’t be happening. It can’t be. Oh God. Protect us. I try to fumble my way around a prayer, but my mind refuses to catch up. Let no evil befall us. I left that side of me behind a long time ago.

It can’t be happening.

It is.

It’s too much. Sneaking out and finding out about—what? A plague? A pandemic? They’re shooting at us.

This isn’t real.

Hunter tries to run forward, but Grace clings to him. So do some of the others. He’s strong enough—or desperate enough—to push forward regardless. Trying to get to where Reid has fallen, in spite of the soldiers on high alert.

Reid lies splayed on the ground, one arm spread out, the other underneath him. One leg at a weird angle. It twitches until it stops twitching.

Are the bruises on his knuckles from where he beat me, or is it something else? Why was he at Hope? What was his story? I can’t ask him now.

A pool of blood spreads under him, like tar under the night sky. He doesn’t cough. He doesn’t give any indication that he’s hurt. He doesn’t breathe.

“Reid! Come on, man!” Hunter manages to reach him, and he all but drags Grace with him.

Immediately, two soldiers step forward, guns trained on them. Another shout. The officer, again. They reverse their weapons and use the butts of the guns to slam Hunter and Grace aside and away from the barricades. Grace goes sprawling across the road, and Hunter stumbles. He raises his hand to his head, to feel for blood perhaps, and shakes himself.

“Reid!” His voice cracks.

I want to run forward to see if everyone’s all right and stumble backward all at the same time, but I stand frozen. A year ago, I had everything. I had a family and a place to call home. Now I’m in the middle of nowhere, watching other kids get shot. Is this what my parents wanted for me when they kicked me out? Perhaps this is what purgatory feels like.

God…

One of the soldiers shoves Hunter away again. It’s the spark, and we’re all ready to explode. The rest of the crew surges forward. Leah zooms past me, on her way to Grace or Hunter or Reid, I don’t even know. It happens so fast.

When the other boys move forward, the rest of the soldiers step toward them and form a buffer between us and Reid. All of them use their guns to bludgeon and push and create distance. Leah somehow slips through. Perhaps because she flanks them. Perhaps because she doesn’t register as a threat.

She makes it all the way to Reid’s body.

Next to me, Logan is keening, a soft, penetrating sound. She’s gone entirely pale.

I reach for her hand, but she doesn’t reach back.

Leah shakes Reid by the shoulders and tries to wake him up. He doesn’t stir. He only twitches as she moves him. It’s impossible to tell if it’s him or if it’s Leah.