Marie tucked some hair behind her ears as she followed the bodyguard down the hall. It was a huge, grand hall, which meant she started to hear their footsteps echoing off the walls. The farther they walked, the more quiet it got as they walked deeper into the building.

“Wait, I thought Mr. Reagan was outside,” Marie said.

She turned to see the guard and her entire body froze. At first she only noticed the white-blonde hair and beard, but at a second glance, she could not forget those cold, dark eyes. A million emotions ran through her body as she stood rooted at the spot. “Josef?”

Josef didn’t even smile. There was no acknowledgement of any emotion in his eyes, no evil villain laugh or monologue. He simply pushed her away and pulled out a gun. Marie tried to scream, but she was so frozen in place that she could only stare at the end of the gun. In that shockingly brief moment between the time Josef raised the gun to her forehead and to him actually pulling the trigger, Marie remembered one thing. Josef swore to kill her the next time he saw her, and this was the moment.

The gun went off right as someone pushed her out of the way. Marie skidded across the floor. She heard nothing but her own breathing. The sound had been loud. Marie checked her ears, and saw blood on her hands. There was a lot. She assumed her eardrums had burst from the sound, but there was too much blood for the eardrums. She felt her shirt, worried the bullet hit, but even though there was blood on her shirt, there was no hole.

Marie looked over to see Abe lying on the ground. Blood pooled around him, and he was holding his stomach. Marie’s eyes widened.

There was movement and she turned to see Josef, raising her gun to point right at Marie. Barely any sound entered her ears. The only sound was her own heartbeat, hammering in fear and adrenaline as she scooted as far away as she could. Marie was struck with the sickening thought that Josef didn’t care. In fact, he looked annoyed that Marie wasn’t dead yet. The gun made a faint noise as he cocked it.

Something caught Josef’s attention right behind Marie, and he aimed toward whoever was behind her. Another shot exploded and Josef’s head jerked back in an unnatural fashion, spraying blood everywhere before he collapsed on the ground, his eyes open and sightless with a bullet wound right between his eyes. It was then that Marie let out the scream that had frozen with the rest of her. She turned around to see Mr. Wayne, holding a smoking gun as he stared at Josef, clicking the safety back into place. Mr. Wayne glanced at Marie, then at Abe on the floor. Mr. Wayne immediately holstered his gun and ran before he dropped to his knees in front of Abe.

“Medic!” Mr. Wayne’s face reflected the reality that he probably screamed this, but Marie heard it faintly. She crawled over to Abe. Abe looked as though he was gasping, but she couldn’t hear very well. Everything she heard was muted except her breathing.

Had Abe worn a red shirt today? The entire thing couldn’t be soaked. Mr. Wayne worked quickly, stripping Abe’s shirt off and pressing it against the wound in his stomach. Abe was making a gasping noise. Or… or maybe somewhere else in his body was making a gasping noise? Was that possible? His face wasn’t just pale. It was gray.

“Abe?” Marie asked. She could barely hear herself talk. There was so much blood everywhere. Certainly most of it was from Josef. Josef was dead. Abe was fine. He would have to be fine.

Abe gasped like he was drowning, blood spilling from his mouth. Marie stared, her body turning numb.

“MEDIC!” Mr. Wayne screamed. Marie refused to look at the wound. She was always a little squeamish, and she was certain Abe would be fine. They had gone the peaceful way to bring down the government. The whole point of peace was so no one would die. Abe wasn’t going to die.

Marie grabbed Abe’s hand, hardly feeling his cold limp fingers. Abe looked her straight in the eye, mouthing something. She couldn’t hear him. She could hardly hear anyone. When Abe was better, then he’d tell her. They’d joke about it later. The two gunshots had done a number on her ears.

Charles and Alice were there. Marie didn’t hear them come. Alice took charge, barking orders to Mr. Wayne, who was on his phone saying whatever Alice was saying. Would she ever get her hearing back? She had to. Abe had something to say to her, and when he got better, he would tell her.

“They’re here,” Marie whispered as she squeezed Abe’s hand. “Alice and Charles are here. They’ll take care of you.” Her voice sounded robotic. “They’ll help you feel better.”

Charles pulled out a heavy cloth from a bag, stuffing it on top of Abe’s completely soaked shirt. Charles and Alice shared a hopeless look. Marie had to turn away. No one was supposed to die. They were all supposed to be okay. It would all work out.

Abe was staring at her, and she could see how weak he was becoming. They’d get him to the hospital in time, though. Abe would be okay. He needed to be okay.

The screams and the sobs were so loud Marie could hear them as Abe’s step mother ran down the hall with his father following close behind. A knot formed in Marie’s throat as she got up and backed away from Abe. His parents should be there to comfort him. They should be the ones to help him recover, not her. She was just a friend.

Marie turned away from the scene and took a few steps. She slipped and fell to her knees. She didn’t dare look to see what she slipped on. There was so much blood. So much. And other matter too. Most of it had to be Josef’s. Josef was dead. It was good he was dead. The threat was over. They could rebuild Musical Land now. Now that Josef was gone. Give it a few weeks and Abe would be okay.

Marie stood up again and took a few steps before she slipped again. She caught herself on the wall, leaving a bloody handprint there. It was everywhere on her. She was covered in it. In Josef’s blood. Just Josef’s blood.

There was chaos behind her. The words were coming in sporadically through her ears. Start CPR. Bleeding out too quickly. Couldn’t find a pulse. Of course not. Josef was dead. A bullet burst through Josef’s brain. Of course he wouldn’t live after that. It was so kind of them to try and revive Josef. Maybe they did have a chance at this peace thing after all. They were willing to try and save their enemies.

“Marie?” someone shouted. Again, Marie heard the urgency of it, but it sounded so far away. Hands grabbed her upper arms, and Marie looked up, surprised to see her dad. With how far away he sounded, she thought he was on the other end of the hall. He had sprinted here from somewhere. He was staring at her with panic on his face, his hands trembling as he grabbed her arms and her shoulders, trying to see if she was alright. He took her in, blood soaked as she was.

“It’s Josef’s,” she said quietly, the sound of her own voice reverberating in her mind. “It’s all Josef’s blood. We’re fine. We’re all going to be fine.”

Her dad let out a shaky breath. He looked behind her before meeting her gaze again. Why were his eyes filled with tears? Was he crying? Josef was dead. The threat was gone. They could live in peace. Her dad gently touched her face, staring into her eyes with a growing horror. “Marie.”

“It’s fine. We’re fine. All of us. Fine.”

Her dad started to break down and cry. It made sense. She usually had been the strong one. He had been a mess after her mom’s funeral. She didn’t know why he was so sad about Josef, but she would be there to comfort him.

“I’m so sorry, Marie,” he sobbed as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

Marie didn’t know what he meant. Everything would be fine. She was covered in Josef’s blood, and her dad was holding on so tight. She would need a shower after this. To wash off all of Josef’s blood. There was so much of it.

***

Albert’s walk was slow. His parents suggested getting his wheelchair, but he wasn’t going to be pushed through the streets of Musical Land. He needed practice. He was getting stronger every day.

The phone in his pocket vibrated, and Albert paused. They were almost down the steps of the metro, but he leaned on his dad for a moment to fish the phone out of his pocket. Billy was calling.

“Hey, Billy. Did you see Marie’s press con-”

“Are you okay!” Billy’s scream was so loud Albert held the phone away from his ear.

“Whoa, slow down Billy. Not so loud.”

“Macbeth, Albert! Macbeth! Where are you! Are you okay!”

“I’m almost at the metro with my parents,” Albert said. “Why? What’s going on.”

“Murphy’s law, Albert! Murphy’s stupid law!” In the short time Albert had been Billy’s friend, he had seen a wide array of emotions from his friend, but never like this. He heard Billy picking something up and throwing it across the room. Albert’s heart rate rose. He couldn’t help it. Billy was always the one in control of his emotions. Something must be wrong.

“I can’t get a hold of Abe!” Billy said, his voice cracking. “Poe’s trying Marie. Neither one are answering!”

Albert heard the TV’s below rising in volume. They only ever rose in volume when President Arnold was giving an important announcement. Albert’s stomach dropped.

“...with a shooting mere minutes after Marie Curie’s press conference. It is confirmed at least two are dead, one adult, and one teenager-”

Albert stopped listening. He dropped his phone and grabbed his crutch, turning around and heading up the stairs.

“Albert, wait,” his dad said.

He pushed through the pain. There were a lot of stairs, and his legs were still healing, but he ignored all of it.

“I need to get back there!” There were tears in Albert’s eyes as he lost his grip on his crutch. It clattered down the stairs. Albert grabbed onto the railing and forced himself to keep going. His legs were burning.

“Albert! You can’t push yourself like this!” his mom yelled.

“I’ve got to get back! I’ve got to be there!” Albert shouted back. “I need to make sure they’re okay!”

Albert let out a gasp as his femurs were on fire, but he pushed through and forced himself up. His dad grabbed his arms, keeping him from going any further. “Albert! Stop this! You are going to hurt yourself!”

“They can’t get a hold of Marie or Abe!” Albert screamed, the agony coming from both the physical and the mental as he struggled in his dad’s strong arms. “I need to make sure they’re alright!”

“The shooter is dead,” his mother said, listening to the announcement. “It’s already over. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“Pauline, call the medic,” his father said, his voice quiet but urgent.

Albert’s legs burned in pain, reminding him of his weakness. Of how he couldn’t have helped, even if he was there. He stopped struggling and began to sob.

“I’m sorry, Albert,” her mother whispered as she cried as well, her cell phone to her ear. She was holding his head with her other hand, drying his tears as his dad hugged him tightly. “Maybe they got out. Maybe they’re safe.”

“There were no other teenagers,” Albert said between sobs.