Allison absently scratched at her arms, the dried blood on them flaking off onto the ground. Even with their run to the health office, they had quickly run through the boxes of latex gloves to the point that they were forced to go without again. Allison made sure her entire lifeguard team was being as careful as possible not to cut themselves, lest they accidentally get someone else’s blood in them.

So much for ‘if it’s wet and sticky and not yours, don’t touch it.’ Many of the safety procedures they had been taught as part of the ‘Blood-Borne Pathogens’ section of their first-aid training had gone out the window in the state of emergency they were in. Allison was sure that if she looked in a mirror, she’d find a few more smears of blood on her in places she accidentally touched while trying to save the lives of the campers and staff in her care.

At least she was better off, in some ways, than the group that had gone off to fight them. They had still been covered in the thick black blood of the demon bears, although Jeremy and the others seemed to not have noticed anymore. Hopefully it wasn’t poisonous or anything.

She was broken out of her thoughts as Savannah sat down next to her, her gaze distant as she looked at the makeshift triage area. Allison looked at her, taking in the younger girl’s haggard appearance, her face and arms smeared with blood and sweat. Allison followed her gaze to the corner, where a number of bodies, big and small, lay underneath unmoving white sheets, many with red stains slowly inching through the threads.

Allison’s heart hitched as she tore her gaze away from Penny, still holding onto Chrissy’s hand sticking out from underneath one of the sheets. None of them had been able to pry her away from the dead girl’s body without her fighting back, and they had been forced to give up as the other injured demanded their time and attention.

She reached over to Savannah, an arm around her shoulders and pulling the younger girl into her side, breaking her line of vision to the bodies. Immediately, Savannah heaved, long, shuddering sobs wracking her body as she buried her face into Allison’s shoulder. Even as she cried, Allison felt proud of her as the younger girl stayed silent, doing her best not to break the quiet of the room.

“That’s it. Let it all out, I’m here.” Allison whispered, feeling Savannah’s hands desperately grabbing onto her, a muffled keening wail being forced into her shoulder instead of the air. Allison’s heart went out to her, also feeling the acute, sharp, painful reality of being unable to help so many despite doing their best. It had ripped at her from the inside for the past few hours as the injured passed away around her.

Many of the most severely injured had died in the early morning hours, their meager efforts to save them either coming too late or too ineffectively to help. Allison’s head still spun slightly if she moved too quickly, having donated a lot of blood to several people in desperate need, only for some of them to die anyways. A dark sense of helplessness had settled over her, being relegated to the sidelines after nearly passing out from giving too much of her blood away. Luckily, some other volunteers had tested their blood in the meantime, and a few found their blood type was also O-. The universal donors had taken turns donating where it was needed most, campers and staff alike trying to help their injured companions.

“Allison.” Her head jerked up, hurriedly wiping away unshed tears as Jack approached. “They’re back.”

Allison furrowed her brow. It took her a second to realize what he was saying, and another few to realize what was wrong with that statement. There was no way they could have gotten help so quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Jack shifted uncomfortably.

“Not really sure. Jeremy’s asking for the team leaders to meet upstairs. Are you up to going, or should I go in your place?” He asked. Allison shook her head.

“I’ll go. Savannah?” The younger girl nodded into her shoulder, sniffling as she slowly released her grip.

“Sorry.” Savannah mumbled, and Allison shook her head.

“Don’t be. I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay?” Savannah shook her head back.

“I’ll be good, do what you need to. Don’t let me drag you down.”

“Hey, you’re not dragging anyone down. You did what you could, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team.” Allison grabbed her hand, making sure that she was looking into her eyes. Savannah shuddered for a moment, slumping back into the wall.

“I just wish...I feel like I could have done more.” Savannah whispered.

“So do I. I’ll be back.” Allison replied. Groaning, she pushed herself to her feet. Her head spun, and she reached out-

“Looks like you’re still a bit out of it.” Jack grabbed her hand, pulling her into his side. She flushed, annoyed at herself.

“Sorry. Mind helping me up there? I’d rather not have survived this far just to brain myself on the stairs.” Allison grumbled, and Jack snorted.

“That'd be just your luck too.” Jack said, helping her towards the staircase. Allison felt a bit floaty as they moved, and her head swam with every movement.

“Really should get something to eat. We’re all running on fumes.” Allison said.

“Agreed. I’d rather not have a hoard of hungry campers demanding breakfast in the next hour or so.” Jack replied.

They crested the top of the stairs, and Allison’s gut twisted as she looked at the group near the middle of the room. She already regretted agreeing to come up upon seeing Peter’s scowling face eyeing her. Luckily, he was bracketed by Arnold and Kat, with Jeremy and Yasmina closer to her. The dark silhouettes of the other boys around the room, framed against the windows with rifles at the ready, Doug and Brian at the front door gave the whole space an intimidating air.

“You doing okay?” Jeremy asked, concern written on his face as they came closer.

“I’m okay. Still dizzy, gave too much blood earlier.” Allison replied as Jack set her down in one of the nearby chairs.

“Sorry, I wouldn’t have asked you to come up if this wasn’t important. I’d rather not have the campers overhearing this, though they’re going to find out soon.” Jeremey sighed. A dark, desperate twist in her stomach bloomed as he looked at the floor.

“Well, spit it out already. Where’s the help you went for?” Peter growled.

“Simply put, there’s no help coming. Camp Starfall is… Well, it’s hard to explain.” Jeremy grabbed something sitting on a chair next to him. “This is as good a starting point as any.” He turned the device around to the group, and Allison frowned as she looked at what looked like a game controller with a large, tablet-sized screen perched on top.

“What’s that?” Jack asked from beside her, and she suddenly felt a rush of gratitude, realizing he hadn’t just left her there.

“This is the controller for the marketing department’s drone. We had to take it to get a better look at what we’re dealing with.” Yasmina explained.

“Stop beating around the bush and get to the point.” Peter barked. Jeremy touched the screen, and Allison watched in silence as the video played. The blacktop of the pavement quickly fell away, and as the drone crested above the trees, Allison’s brow furrowed.

“What is that? Fog?” Arnold asked.

“I’ve never seen a fogbank like that.” Kat replied, squinting as he looked closer.

“What’s the issue here? You’re wasting time showing us a fogbank? Just drive through it! The town’s not that far, you imbeciles!” Peter roared.

“Look closer, Peter. That’s not fog.” Jeremy replied as the drone’s recording slowly began to spin, revealing the extent of the white wall all around them.

“Wait, that’s all around us?” Arnold asked.

“Like the eye of a hurricane. Camp Starfall is dead center.” Brian piped up from the front door.

“So, what? I don’t understand the problem.” Allison asked, her head swimming. “Like Peter said, what’s the problem with driving through it?”

“A few things. First, that cloudbank is thick, thicker than any fog I’ve seen. We drove right up to it, and where it started, the road disappeared, even with the truck’s high-beams on. If we tried to drive through it, there’s no way to see anything, and we’d crash.” Jeremy started. Peter’s mouth opened, but Yasmina cut him off.

“Second, as you can see, it’s all around us, and we have no idea how far out it goes. The drone couldn’t get above it, so it could be only a few feet thick, or it could be miles thick, we just don’t know. There’s only three ways off campus, both north and south on the roads, or on the lake. Either we crash on the road, or possibly sink a boat.”

“Third, no one from the dining hall has arrived for their morning shift. So either the staff coming in ran into issues on the way, or they didn’t want to try driving through that from the other side. It’s possible they’re trying to figure something out on the other side, but at the moment, without any contact from outside, we don’t know if they’ve also deemed it unsafe to try to get through.” Jermey continued.

“Fourth, and more worrisome, is what we found at the places the cloud wall met the roads. First off, we figured out why we’re on generator power. The power lines at both ends of the road are cut, right where the cloud wall is.” Yasmina added.

“Cut? What do you mean, cut?” Peter asked.

“As in they look like someone took a big pair of scissors to the power lines, right where they met the clouds. Not torn, or ripped, there were no jagged ends or frayed wires. Those beasts couldn’t have done that. We also didn’t see any sign of digging, and Brian remembers Xavier stating that the phone lines are buried, so somehow those have been cut too.” Yasmina replied.

“Don’t forget the rocks!” Brian called from the door.

“I was getting to that, thanks Brian. Finally, we tried throwing some rocks into the cloud wall, but as soon as they went in, we couldn’t hear them hitting the pavement.” Jeremy finished.

Allison’s head swam, trying to focus. The pieces of the puzzle were all there as they explained, but she couldn’t figure out how they fit together. It felt like there was static in her head as she tried to understand what they were saying.

“So...what? What is going on?” She asked, looking up at Jeremy. He met her gaze, uncertainty wavering through it.

“It means, right now, we don’t know if it’s safe to try to go through the cloud wall. And until we make sure it’s safe, and that we won’t be wrecking ourselves in trying, we can’t go get help.”

The floor fell out from under her as Allison struggled to absorb the weight of his statement. Harsh arguments spilled out of Peter’s mouth, but Allison’s mind couldn’t process them as her thoughts crashed into a wall, got back up, and crashed again.

“So we’re trapped?” She finally forced out, and the argument died as everyone looked at each other.

“Yeah, it looks like it.” Jeremy replied, and panic swelled through her.

“We’re going back to try some more things, see if we can figure it out. But we need to come up with some plans in the short term. You were right about one thing earlier, Peter, we should have communicated with each other better, and for that, I’m sorry.” Jeremy said, and Peter’s mouth twisted as he refused to answer.

“We need to find Owen and Madison. My team is doing their best, but without professionals, there’s going to be more deaths amongst the injured in the next few hours.” Allison pushed herself to her feet, and Jack steadied her. Jeremy nodded.

“Agreed. We’ll send some staffers to go look for them-”

“I’m going too.” Allison interrupted, and Jeremy frowned.

“You can barely stand by yourself, let alone go searching across campus.” Yasmina coaxed. Allison shook her head.

“Madison’s my best friend, and you can’t stop me from going to find her. In any case, we need more supplies from the Health Center. We’ll grab the emergency golf cart on the way. We’ll be able to search faster that way.” Allison replied.

“Allison, much as I’d like to say I agree, I really should stay here. Travis and Savannah are spent, and Helena and Russell can’t take care of all those people by themselves.” Jack grimaced, and Arnold stepped forwards.

“I’ll go with her. We’ll take a few others, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t exert herself too much.” He said. Jeremy looked at him for a second.

“Okay. Arnold and Allison will go for supplies and search for Owen and Madison. You’ll need some guards just in case, so which ones of you want to volunteer?” Jeremy asked. Kevin and Steve raised their hands first, standing up from the windows on either side of the room.

“We really need to get everyone some food. Someone should go to the dining hall and bring something back.” Jack said.

“What’s the issue with having breakfast at the dining hall? It’d be easier than bringing food back here.” Peter grumbled.

“I imagine that a good number of campers will be hesitant to come outside after what they’ve just been through. How sure are you that the camp is cleared of those beasts?” Katsuki asked.

“As sure as we’re going to be without searching every square foot of land. Considering we drove around the camp several times with the horn blaring and no more came for us, I’d say we’re pretty safe.” Brian called again, and a few short cheers from the other boys positioned at the windows made Jeremy crack a grin for a second. Allison didn’t see much reason for levity at the moment.

“In that case, I’ll lead a group to go get food for everyone. We’ll need a lot of volunteers to bring everything back, so I’ll probably need to ask some of the campers.” Katsuki replied.

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll need someone to stay here while we go back to test a few things-”

“Oh no you don’t. I know where you’re going with that. I’m coming with you, I’ll take a look at that wall of clouds myself, thank you very much.” Peter interrupted, and Jeremy nodded.

“Suit yourself. We still need someone to be in charge here while we all go about our business though.” Jeremy replied.

“Sorry, like I said, me and the lifeguards are going to have our hands full.” Jack said.

“And don’t you dare think about leaving me behind, mister.” Yasmina bumped her hip against Jeremy, and he turned to smile at her.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Who’s the next most senior member on staff?” Jeremy asked.

“That’d be Ruth. I’m sure I could convince her to take charge if it’s only for a little while.” Katsuki replied. Jeremy nodded.

“All right, works for me. Steve, you’ll go with Allison’s group, Kevin with Kat. Will, Fred, and Oliver, you stay here.” Jeremy asked, looking around the group. Steve moved to stand by her as Kevin moved over by Katsuki, and Allison’s arm itched as she looked towards the door.

“I don’t think it needs to be said, but don’t bring this up with anyone else. We don’t need to be starting a panic while we figure this out. Keep on as though we’re just going to go get help, and we’ll update you later once we have something. Anyone have anything else to say before we get going?” Jeremy asked, and they all looked at each other for a moment in silence.

“Doesn’t seem like it. Let’s get to it.” Peter growled, heading for the door. Jeremy took a deep breath, looking around at the rest of them, a small, resigned smile on his face.

“Do your best, everyone. See you soon.” Jeremy turned to follow, and Yasmina went with him. They disappeared out the door, followed closely by Brian, and Allison winced as she heard the arguments already beginning to brew as Peter began talking again before Doug closed the door behind them.

“Glad I’m not in that group.” Arnold said, and Allison choked back a laugh.

“Same. Can you go round up two more staff to come with us? Make sure they're ready for some heavy lifting, we may need to dig through some cabin wreckage.” Allison said. Arnold nodded, quickly heading towards the basement door.

“You sure you’re going to be okay out there?” Jack asked, and Allison looked up at him.

“I’ll be fine. I promise I’ll take it easy.” She lied, and knew that Jack saw through it as he snorted.

“You, take it easy? That’ll be the day. Just...take care of yourself, all right? I don’t need to see you on one of those mats too.” He said. Allison nodded.

“I’ll do my best.”

Arnold reappeared from the basement. He was followed quickly by Charlie and Finn. Empty duffel bags were slung over their shoulders, and Allison silently thanked whoever thought of them for their foresight. Arnold quickly put Allison’s free arm over his shoulders as Jack stepped back.

“We’re ready.” He said, and Allison eyed Charlie and Finn as they nodded to her.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Allison promised. They turned, and Doug opened the door for them as they stepped out into the morning daylight.

Allison squinted for a moment, her eyes too used to the dim light of the basement and the unlit interior of the meeting hall. She let Arnold guide her as her eyes adjusted. Charlie and Finn spread out slightly behind her, and Steve took the lead, his eyes sweeping the forest in front of them as they went. Even with Jeremy’s assurances that they weren’t likely to run into any more of the demon bears, she still felt somewhat comforted by Steve’s presence, even if his rifle wouldn’t do too much to one of them. At least he might be able to blind it.

Allison’s head spun as they made their way down the path towards the health center once more. At least now she felt like she was doing something useful. Sitting down in the basement, unable to help as the injured campers and staff slowly died around her… She felt guilty for leaving them to the other lifeguards, but privately relieved that, just for a little while, she could escape and focus on something else.

Allison looked over her shoulder as they passed by Madison’s wrecked cabin, and Arnold stopped them.

“Are we searching first?” He asked. Fighting against her impulses, Allison shook her head.

“More supplies comes first. If they’re under there and still alive, we’ll need the supplies to help them immediately, and since we can’t carry anything, we shouldn’t split up either.” Allison reasoned. Arnold nodded, and they continued to the health center. A thick cloud of dark smoke wafted lazily into the air from the corpse of the demon bear against the wall, and Allison furrowed her brow as she looked at it. Was it just her, or did it look smaller than before? She shook her head as they moved forwards. Plenty of time for investigation later.

Steve opened the door and stepped aside, guarding the door as they stepped inside. Allison directed them towards the storage area, and Allison leaned against the wall As Arnold stepped away from her.

“Grab bandages, disinfectant, gloves and masks. Painkillers. Anything that looks useful, really.” Allison waved generally towards the room. “Really, if it isn’t bolted down, we could probably end up using it.”

The guys got to work quickly, finding a few more duffel bags and filling them as well as they scoured the storage room. They worked quickly, and Allison closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head on the wall. She knew she probably should get something to eat and drink soon, but as long as she didn’t pass out, she couldn’t help but keep pushing.

Lives depended on her, and she wasn’t about to let more of them slip through her fingers without fighting with everything she had.

“I think we’ve got as much as we can. There really isn’t much mode left here anyways.” Arnold said as they finished packing the duffel bags. Allison nodded, opening her eyes as they piled them before her. Six duffel bags, and that was all they had left. Allison’s throat went dry.

Hopefully Owen or Madison would know what to do about the shortage when they found them.

“Right. Let’s take the golf cart. We’ll swing it around to Madison’s cabin to start searching there.” Allison said. Arnold reached for her, but she shook her head. “Help with the bags, I can get myself to the cart at least.” She pushed herself off the wall, doing her best to keep her gait steady as she walked down the hallway towards the back exit.

The little four-seater didn’t look like much, and Allison wondered if all of them plus their supplies would fit. Arnold moved forwards, opening the small glovebox and fishing the key out.

“Ready?” He asked as Allison sat in the passenger seat. He passed his bags to her as he sat next to her, Charlie and Finn in the rear-facing back seats.

“Let’s go.” The golf cart sputtered to life, and Arnold turned it around, driving it down the service road and around admin. The corpse of the other demon bear out front of admin also had dark smoke rising into the sky in a thick column. She suddenly noticed that neither of them had any smell, which perplexed her for a moment until her thoughts were interrupted as they slowed to a stop by the ruined cabin. Steve jogged over from the health office doorway to join them as they got out of the golf cart.

“How are we even supposed to sort through all….that?” Charlie asked. Allison looked at the shattered cabin, a twisted pile of wood, metal and broken glass.

“Just....Do what you can. If something’s too heavy to move, don’t bother trying. Just find what you can move and do your best. Call out for her too, if she’s under there, she might be able to hear, if she’s...awake.” Allison’s voice shook as she tried to calm her heartbeat. Arnold, Charlie and Finn looked at each other for a moment before they turned and climbed up onto the wreckage. And once again, Allison felt a dismal sense of uselessness settle over her as she sat in the golf cart, unable to help.

Her mind wandered as the sounds of the search faded away from her attention, turning back to the precarious situation they were all stuck in. Hopefully, Jeremy and the others would find that the wall of white that encircled them wasn’t as impassable as they previously thought, and would be able to go get help soon. Other than keeping the injured stable, there wasn’t much that could be done for them here. Cuts and bruises were one thing, and thankfully a majority of the injuries weren’t serious or life-threatening. But broken bones, deep-tissue lacerations, the likelihood of internal bleeding, a few concussions...Professional medical help wasn’t just necessary, it was the only way that more deaths could be avoided.

“Allison!” her heart leapt as Finn called from the wreckage, and she pushed herself out of the gold cart, hope blooming in her chest. It was swiftly squashed as he frowned back at her.

“It’s not Madison. But…” He trailed off, and Arnold helped her onto the ruins as she climbed. As she came alongside him, a face emerged from underneath the wreckage, and Allison’s heart dropped.

“Curtis?” Allison kneeled beside Finn, reaching down to feel for a pulse she knew she wouldn’t find. His eyes stared wide back up at her, frozen in terror.

“Didn’t Jeremy say was sent to find Madison? Where’s Stuart and Blake, they should have been with him.” Arnold asked.

“Well, here’s your answer.” Charlie called from a few feet away. “I’ve got Blake over here. No pulse.”

“They must have run into one of them on their way here. Any sign of Stuart?” Allison asked.

“Not yet, but the fact we’ve only found them so far is...Well, it’s not good, but it is promising. I’d be more concerned if we found someone who was assigned to this cabin, which would mean that they didn’t get told to evacuate and that Madison would probably be here too.” Charlie replied.

“Keep looking, I don’t want to...I don’t want to run on assumptions.” Allison fought to get through the lump in her throat, and they nodded. Allison looked back down at Curtis, gently closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do more for you.” She whispered.

Allison waited by his side as the digging resumed. Memories of Curtis drifted by, the older man cajoling her during meals, trying to get her to come to the shotgun range. ‘Everyone should know how to shoot a gun, you never know what skills may be useful when you need them.’ His words had never seemed so prescient now, her eyes trailing over to Steve standing guard nearby. She had ignored Curtis’ words several times, and only now saw the wisdom in them.

“Found Stuart. No sign of anyone else in here.” Charlie called from underneath a lifted section of the metal roofing, and hope reignited in her chest.

“Are you sure?” She asked, and Charlie nodded as he set the metal sheet back down.

“Pretty sure we would have seen at least one other person by now. This cabin must have evacuated before they got here.”

“Any idea who else was staying in here? Can we confirm it?” Finn asked.

“I think Madison mentioned being in the same cabin as Elizabeth earlier this summer, have you seen her Charlie?” Allison asked, and Charlie’s face brightened.

“Should have asked earlier, yeah she came in not long after we sent out the first round of staff to spread the evacuation order. She did a few evac rounds herself, if I recall.” Charlie replied. Allison frowned.

“But you didn’t see Madison?” She asked, and Charlie frowned.

“No, Liz came in with a few others, but Madison wasn’t with them. We could go ask if she knows where Madison went.” Charlie replied. Allison shook her head.

“Only two places she might have gone from here in an emergency, and we’ve already been to one. If she didn’t go straight to the health center, she probably tried to go get Owen first. I’ll bet she volunteered to bring the evacuation order to his cabin to meet up with him and coordinate.” Allison stood from the wreckage, picking her way down towards the golf cart.

“Which cabin was Owen staying in then?” Arnold asked as they followed her down.

“He should have been in the one across from admin. Proximity to leadership in case of emergency. But I don’t think that cabin got crushed, we just passed it on the way here on the golf cart, we would have seen it.” Allison replied.

“Even so, maybe there’s some clue there about where they may have gone.” Finn said.

“It’s as good a place to start as any.” Arnold agreed. “Steve, can you hang on the side? We’ll go slow.” Steve nodded, stepping up onto the golf cart next to Allison, grabbing tight to the ceiling pole. The golf cart made a slow 180 as Allison stared at the ruined cabin, hoping that they weren’t making a mistake and running on a wild goose chase.

The golf cart turned down the path away from admin before the parking lot, and the cabin ahead of them seemed to loom out of the shade of the trees surrounding it. Allison’s heart dropped as she noticed the door had been left wide open, the shadows of the dark interior seemingly spilling out. Steve jumped off the gold cart as it slowed to a stop, his rifle raised as he walked carefully forwards.

“See anything?” Arnold asked. Steve quickly turned and shushed him before pushing further, peering into the dark interior of the cabin. After a moment, he relaxed, the gun coming down as he waved them over.

“No one’s home.” He said as they stepped off the golf cart, leaving the duffel bags on the seats as they walked forwards.

“Well, at least we know Owen made it out of here, but the question still remains, where did he end up?” Finn asked.

“Anything out of the ordinary here?” Arnold asked. Charlie stepped forwards into the darkness, and flicked on the interior lights.

“Nothing sticks out to me. Just a normal, if messy cabin.” Charlie said.

“Well, eight guys in a room will do that. Seriously, nothing?” Allison asked.

“Hey guys, is that blood?” Allison turned, following Steve’s outstretched arm. Rather than inside, he was pointing at the treeline, and Allison’s eyes landed on a red streak on the tree he was pointing at. They all rushed over, and Alison’s heart froze.

“Looks like a handprint to me.” Finn said.

“Look, it keeps going.” Charlie plunged into the woods, and Allison was right on his heels. Her head spun slightly as more blood trails appeared in front of them, and they burst out of the trrline next to the operations building. Her eyes tracked the trail of blood leading towards the entrance, and she ran ahead, even as Arnold and Steve shouted after her, trying to get her to slow down.

How could she slow down? Madison, or Owen, could be hurt, and she had to find them. Her heart raced as she nearly flew to the front door, her heart dropping as an enormous pool of blood on the front steps greeted her. Long, bloody smears on the door and around the doorknob broke her out of her thoughts, and Allison nearly kicked the door in as she barged into the building.

“Madison! Owen! Anyone here?” Allison shouted, turning the lights on. The wide trails of blood continued down the hall on the wooden floor, and Allison’s heart thudded in her chest as she followed it to the first door, the doorknob again smeared with dried blood. Her shoulder slammed against the door and she bounded off of it, stunning her for a moment.

“Madison? Mads, are you in there? Owen?” Allsion pounded frantically on the door. “Open up!” She reached into her pocket for her keys, fumbling with the keyring as Charlie came up behind her.

“Ops is all on BG.” Charlie said, and Allison found the right key, jamming it into the lock. Allison twisted it and felt the deadbolt give way, pushing at the door again, but it didn’t budge.

“It’s not working, I think it’s barricaded from the inside. Madison! Mads, it’s Allison, if you’re in there, open up!” She shouted. Charlie rammed his shoulder against the door, and a harsh grinding noise vibrated the door as he pushed.

“Any other way in there?” Arnold asked, puffing slightly as he joined them.

“Not unless you want to climb in through a window.” Charlie grunted. The door slowly inched open, more grinding noises from the other side as Allison’s heartbeat raced. “Allison, see if you can squeeze in there in a second and get whatever’s on the other side out of the way.”

Allsion pushed by him, and the moment the opening looked wide enough, she forced herself through, scraping herself between the door and the frame. She turned, her heart dropped as the stench of blood nearly bowled her over, and her eyes widened as she looked into the dark room.

“Oh god.” She breathed as Charlie struggled to shove the door open further behind her.

Owen lay in the middle of the small room, his chest and stomach ripped open in several long, wide lacerations that exposed some of his internal organs. A huge pool of blood covered nearly the whole floor, sticky from being outside his body for too long. His wide eyes stared up at the ceiling, blank and unseeing forever.

Allison gagged from the heavy stench of death in the room, and she forced herself to turn. A heavy office desk blocked the door, and Allison struggled to pull it away from the door. After a moment, Charlie pushed his way inside as well, and his eyes widened as he paled.

“Fucking hell.” Charlie gasped.

“Don’t let the others in here, they don’t need to see this.” Allison whispered.

“See what? Allison, what’s-”

“Owen’s dead, and....Oh god…” Allison interrupted Arnold’s question, forcing herself to stop and breath through her mouth. Even so, the taste of blood in the air saturated her senses, and it was all she could do to keep from vomiting.

“Owen couldn’t have put that desk in the way, not in that state.” Charlie pointed out, his arm held over his face. Allison looked around, turning the lights on. The harsh fluorescent lights only made the grisly scene worse, and Allison forced herself not to look at the body.

“Madison? Mads, are you here?” Allison asked, looking around the small room. There wasn’t much of anywhere to hide in the small office, except-

Her heart stopped as she spotted bloody handprints on the cabinets, and Allison surged to the side of the room. Her hands shook as she wrenched open the doors.

“Madison!” She screamed. Relief surged through her as she looked into the cabinet, her best friend sitting curled up inside, staring at the side wall of the cabinet. She was absolutely drenched in blood, and Allison reached in to her.

“Madison, are you hurt?” She asked. Madison didn’t respond as Allison reached her, the sticky blood on her arm smearing on her palm. Allison frowned, and her heart rate spiked.

“Madison? Mads, can you hear me?” Alliosn shook her, and Madison’s head was limp on her neck as she swayed. Allison threw herself forwards, reaching for Madison’s neck and feeling for her pulse. A comforting, if somewhat slow heartbeat flowed through her fingers, and Allison breathed a quick sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know, she’s not responding. Madison? Mads, what’s wrong. Talk to me, please!” Allison begged, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She pulled weakly at Madison’s arm, which fell limply to the cabinet floor.

“Is she in shock?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know!” Allison snapped. “Mads! It’s Allsion! Say something, please!” Allison shook her again, panic welling deep inside her as Madison continued to be unresponsive, like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Here, let me help. We should get her out of here.” Charlie put a hand on her shoulder, gently drawing her back. Allison trembled as Charlie reached into the cabinet, gathering Madison in his arms and lifting her out, uncaring of the blood smearing onto his arms and shirt.

“Mads, please, talk to me. I need you, we all need you!” Alliosn pleaded, hope slipping away as her eyes stared blankly forwards. Charlie shook his head.

“Come on, let’s get her back to Andromeda. We’ll be able to do more there.” Charlie said, and Allison snapped.

“No, we can't! There’s nothing more we can do, we’re not trained professionals! We can’t- I’m not- She’s the last person on campus who can help all of them! Wake up, Mads, we need you! I need you!” Allison screamed, clawing desperately at Charlie’s legs for her. She was only dimly aware of Charlie calling for Finn and Arnold before the burst in and pried her away from him.

All her hope drained away, as dead as Owen in that little room. There was no help coming, and no one on campus who could help either.

More people were going to die, and Allison couldn’t help them.

Allison cried as Arnold and Finn helped her out of the room, crushed under the weight of the lives she couldn’t save crashing down on her.

She was a failure, and soon, the whole camp would know it too.