Born 01 - Born

camp." I see Muriel and I nod. "I'm right behind you. I gotta get the young ones and the babies."
    She nods and starts shouting at the crying women.
    I head across the forest. I hear a crack and turn to see Leo standing beside me."You came back, huh? Ready to kill some shit?" He pants. I know he's freaking out.
    Through the woods, I can see the building is on fire. The ledge where the snipers are is the only part still standing. Everything else looks blown out and in ruins. It warms my heart a little.
    I run to where the screams are coming from. When I get to the women who made it to the forest, I point to where I just came from. "Follow the tree line, until you come to a bunch of broken branches and follow them. Safety is that way."
    They run holding babies and small children.
    I run through the herd and come out at the opening. A man is grabbing a woman. I shoot him and hit his ear. He grabs it and I fire again. I hit him in the throat. The lady grabs her baby and runs from the dying man. I shoot at the last few men on the ledge. I hit one and two duck. I keep shooting as the women make their way across the grass and into the woods.
    One man pokes his head up and I fire, skimming his head.
    I feel something grab my arm. I turn, looking for Leo but he has a man on the ground and is tearing out his throat. There is a hand on my arm. I point my gun but I stop myself. Will's blue eyes are on fire. He drags me into the forest. I see tufts of grass blow up into the air behind me as shots are still being fired at me. I fire a shot at the men on the roof.
    "Let me go. I need to save the girls. There is another side of young children. They need help." I pull at him.
    He doesn’t speak. I kick and claw at him but he doesn’t budge.
    The fight must look like a bratty two-year-old being dragged from a store. He has no problem dragging me into the forest. I kick and fight. Frustrated tears blind me.
    "LEO! LEO HELP!"
    Leo comes running in with fresh blood on his muzzle. He sees Will and stops running.
    "Leo, bite him."
    Leo licks his lips and falls into stride with Will. He senses no danger.
    I try to keep up, but my feet stumble on a log and I lose my footing. Will drags me for a while. My legs bang on sticks and branches and rocks but still, he drags me. My arm feels like it's coming out of my socket.
    "Just let me go back, please. I promise I won't ever run again. I promise. Let me save them, Will."
    He stops and picks me up. He throws me over his shoulder. I am defeated. The children are dead. He let them die. I let them die.

Chapter Twenty-Three

    The sight is beyond what I can comprehend. Children are everywhere. They're toddling about in every direction or breast-feeding. They cry and make noise.
    I smile at the sight. I have no idea how he did it but I know it was him.
    "Thought you hated kids." Will smiles sarcastically.
    I take the water he offers and drink slowly. I am starved and dehydrated and probably still very sick from the head wound I got the day before.
    "How?"
    He looks angry. No, pissed. He looks pissed. "We followed your trail this morning. When we figured out what you had done, we couldn’t get in so we decided to wait outside and see which exit you came out with guards gunning for you."
    I am amazed.
    "You sat at every exit?"
    "We paired off. It was pretty obvious what you had done when the blast happened and the smoke started filling the sky."
    "So many made it. Did we lose any of us?" I ask.
    "We lost two yesterday in the giant screw up we called an ambush. They were shot trying to save Muriel." His eyes flicker on mine. I feel sick. I add them to the list of people whose deaths I am responsible for.
    He shakes his head like he is reading my mind and sits across from me. "You aren’t responsible. Muriel has talked them down. Everyone knows it's not your fault."
    That changes nothing. I sip the water. I am to blame.
    My arm stings suddenly as if it is a delayed reaction. I look at my blood-soaked shirt. I pull it back and wince. The bullet grazed my arm. There is a thick scrape that burned out a path along my left bicep.
    Leo is beside me licking my hand. I pat his head. "It's nothing. Just a scratch."
    Mona walks over and smiles. "You are one crazy girl. I will give you that. You are balls to the wall nuts."
    Will snorts and walks away. He still looks pissed.
    Mona tears my shirt a little and looks. She pulls my shirt open and looks at the quill marks in my chest and hands.
    "These are infected.