I rush up the stairwell silently. The shot came from the top floor. Most likely he is on the roof. I can see Shilo's hurt look and hear her screams in my head. When I left I heard her screaming for me to come back, screaming that she needed me and was tired of death. She thinks I will die up here, but if she knew my killing status she wouldn't worry at all. I worry the silencer has killed one of the brothers by now. I came to the top floor and open the hatch quietly. I climb up without a sound. The silencer turns and I kick the gun off the roof. He pulls out a knife and lunges at me. He pushes the knife towards my throat. I catch his hand in time and struggle to push him away. "Bion what are you doing? You are out of your sector and are protecting those lowlife creatures." My brother is very confused. "I owe you no explanation Stephen!" I yell in his face as I knock him off of me. I jump on him and whack his knife away. I hold my blade over his heart. "I am going to kill you so I will tell you why," I say. Stephen sits quietly ready to accept his fate. He knows me and he knows he has lost the fight. "The commander assigned me to stay at their camp and be the inside man," I tell Stephen. "So you are doing this to keep their trust?" Stephen searches for a truth that doesn't make me a traitor. Poor Stephen, he sees the best in all of us. It is difficult for him to accept that I have fallen in love. My species views love as a trick, just a way for you to get what you want. We believe it clouds judgement. I believed that too until I saw Shilo and Lola, Mia and Amar, and all of the humans at camp. "No Stephen I kill you in the name of love," I say and his eyes fill with a betrayed and mortified look before I plunge the knife into his heart. A tear rolls down my face at the sight of my fallen brother. I am experiencing all of these human emotions lately. They are all very confusing. I kiss my fingers and press them on Stephen's wound the way Shilo did. "Good bye brother, you fought well," I say and shut his eyes. I quickly come down the stairs and back to the store. When I walk into the back door Shilo jumps on me. She squeezes me tight. "I thought I lost you, I told you I needed you and you left," she says while still holding me. "I know but I also knew I could do this," I say. "James died so I avenged him, just as we will do for Mia and your parents." Shilo then pulls away and smacks me. "That isn't justice that is revenge. You are no better than them if you go killing because you suffered a loss," Shilo says firmly. Then she hugs me quickly and kisses me. She hasn't kissed me in a while. "Shilo why have we grown apart? Am I not good to you?" I question. Guilt and longing crosses her face. "Bion you don't really know me. I have killed. And Mia's death reminded me of all the death I have caused. I didn't want to put a killer in your arms," Shilo says. "Shilo, I have killed bunches and bunches. You do not know me. I carry more blood on my hands then you. In fact I killed to protect someone I loved and I liked it. I liked watching he blood spill from their wound," I confess and fear flashes across her eyes. "Both of us have killed but that is the past. Death was then we are now," I say and the fear in her her eyes evaporates. In its place love stands and she kisses me. I savor every bit of it. She pulls away and we go over to help the brothers. "Ugh," Athan groans in pain. Byron sits next to him holding a rag to his wound. He looks in pain but mostly he looks worried for Athan. "Bion look for some tarp in the store I am going to find some poles. We can make him a stretcher," Shilo says and walks away. I go into the store and find a large blanket, that will do. Then I get some duct tape to hold it together. Shilo comes back and we quickly assemble the makeshift stretcher. Shilo has a defeated look on her face. We will do all we can to get him back to camp but he is bleeding out, fast. Byron's wound was more of a graze, he will live. Athan on the other hand I am not sure. Shilo and I lift Athan onto the stretcher. "Agh God," Athan yells through gritted teeth. Fear floods Byron's eyes. I lift one end and Shilo holds the other. Byron tries to take some of our stuff, but he cannot carry much with his shoulder. "Hang in there Athan," I say as we struggle to hurry back to camp. Athan passed out from pain halfway through our trip. At least he is getting rest. We stop only once to change his bandages. Blood coats his pants and the stretcher. "Hey," Shilo yells to the guards on watch. "Athan and Byron are hurt." They rush over and take Athan from us. His chest silently rises and falls in a slow pattern. Byron hurries after them to the infirmary. Shilo and I lug the gear back into camp. Many of the people come and help put away gear. I flop down on my cot, Shilo walks in after me. For the first time in several days she lays with me. I rub small circles on her shoulder. She lays a hand on my chest. We sit there with no words. Mia brought us together and then she tore us apart. I kiss her head. Liam comes in. "Whoa, uh sorry I will come back later," he says with red cheeks. Shilo smiles at his discomfort and to my discomfort she leaves me and goes off to help Liam and everyone else at camp. Everyone but me. I sigh and get up. I should go see if Athan still lives and knowing Stephen, the answer is clear. He couldn't get a good shot at the head or heart so he went for an artery. Athan, by my calculation, is dead or will be soon. When I walk into the infirmary Byron is slamming a cot across the tent. "Nothing!" He screams. "Nothing you can do? What are you running here a tent of false hopes? Why even say you are remotely in the field of medicine if you can't even fix my brother," Byron screams at Doc. Doc stays calm and doesn't even react in the slightest to Byron's behavior. The look on her face says she has seen this a thousand times. "I am trying my best Byron. There isn't a lot I can do without the proper medicine," Doc says calmly. Byron gives her a deathly look and storms out. I put the cot back into place and fix it up. "I'm guessing by that conversation he is not doing well," I say to Doc. "No, unfortunately the bullet hit the artery and he is bleeding out. He needs surgery and I don't have the proper equipment for that," she says sadly. I haven't really looked at Doc. She is small, like Mia. She looks to be Indian. "Doc what is your real name?" I ask changing the subject. She smiles, "Carmelita." She smiles a flirtatious smile. Am I giving her the wrong idea? "So I am sorry you have to deal with people like Byron," I say. She takes a step closer. "Well it's ok when I have people like you to weigh the good over the bad," Carmelita says. Then she gets too close and she wraps her arms around me and goes in for a kiss. She stands on her tippy toes and I put my hand in front of her face. "What are you doing?" I ask. "You know just embracing the end of the world. No regrets right." Then she tries to kiss me again. I push her away. "No Carmelita, Shilo is my girl." She gives a confused, frustrated face and leaves the tent. I forget about her and walk over to Athan. He breathes silently. "Oh Athan I am so sorry. This is all my fault. I don't think you will make it out of this but if you are willing to fight I am willing to try," I say. He is still passed out. I run off to find Byron. "Hey," I call to Byron. He whips his head around. "What do you want?" He growls at me. "I don't want any trouble man. Look I was training to be a surgeon when They came," I tell the lie. "I was getting close to being done. I don't know much but I might be able to save him, but without drugs he might not live." I can see he understands where I am going with this. "Do it," he says and nods. I go to work on Athan's leg. It is quite easy to work on it, I know from experience. But then again it didn't matter that much that I was losing tons of blood. Athan is gushing out so much blood. The procedure has to be done all at once or he will lose even more blood. I finally finish with the inside and I sew his skin together quickly. I wrap him up. "That is all I can do for him now," I say. "He might not make it. We could try to find some place where there is equipment to pump more blood into him but I doubt there is still some left," I say to Byron. He clasps me on the shoulder. "The fact that you did something is enough. I was not ready to sit around while my brother died." I have gained Byron's trust. I would hate to see what would happen if he knew the truth. I smiled back at him and went off to the woods. I sat watching the sky while fingering my ear piece. This is how I connect to the commander. Time has come for an update. I sigh and turn it on. "Sir," I address the commander. "What is happening?" He wants information. "Today I went on a raid with the humans. We were in Stephen's sector. Two were injured, one was killed. Stephen was taken out I didn't want to stop them because it would blow my cover, sir," I alert the commander. "Stephen was weak and we know the weak do not survive. I am guessing there is a new leader since they had gathered a plan to a raid." Here it comes the moment I might send Shilo to her death. I bite my thumb nail. "Bion," the commander growls. "Yes they have improved the camp. But no there is not a leader. Someone gave a motivational speech and a few others joined in. This speech slapped the reality in their faces, sir," I say. The lie just rolls off my tongue. I couldn't stop it. I am so screwed. He will know my lie and come for me for sure. "Interesting I didn't give those monkeys much credit. I thought they needed someone to bark orders at them. Keep updating I will inform everyone of Stephen," he says. "Yes sir," I say. When I flip the switch off. I crumple down at the base of a tree. I put my head in my hands. "Ugh," I say as I rub my eyes. Shilo is the best thing that ever happened to me and she is destroying my way of life. I am insane. It is like I am falling in love with a slug. I think Shilo is more but my species would look down upon me. A twig cracks and i jump upright. I peel my eyes across the forest. Lola pops out with a grin. "Hey baby, where you been." She wags her tail. I hear a girl scream. Lola perks her ears to the sound. I run towards the sound, the whole time I pray it is not Shilo. Lola races in front of me. Lola stops and I come to a stop as I see it. I would never have been able to get there. Just as we enter the small clearing Kennan stabs her in the gut. Everything blurs, the scream echoes through the night. I don't know if it is mine or hers. All I hear is screaming and the blood pumping through my head.
