New Blood

The Gun

Sunlight made the upturned dust of out arrival visible in the decrepit hallway. The small rooms awaited shielded behind a door that was a dark and narrow entrance behind stacks of boxes piled on an abandoned stretcher that looked various colors of aged yellows that were presumably once white.

I never really understood why we never cleaned this part of the building and why it was left by itself to rot. I caught sight of movement in the corner of my eye and tensed ready to bolt. It was just a rat.

Now I was convinced it was to remind us how lucky we were and why we had to clean so frequently. Either way, the majority of us had now pushed up out high neck collar an attempted to fit our nose behind the fabric to filter out the smell.

In the tangle of maneuvering around the tossed around furniture and equipment, Violet managed to grab my arm and hold me back while the other girls dodged around me as they continued. When we were the last ones entering the hallway she faced me.

"We should not go in those rooms ." Her blue eyes were wide, and the luminescent magic circle around them was no longer visible in the light of the room like it had been in the hallway. Her daylight eyes were softer and more vulnerable.

"What are you talking about." I never knew Violet to be claustrophobic before or a germaphobe.

"I don't know what that crash was but do you really want to be locked up in a tiny room while we potently get cornered by a monster? Who's going to let us out if it kills everyone? No one. We will starve, and die of thirst, in a slow and painful way. "

"If the monster does kill everyone who isn't in one of those rooms, that would include us if we are not in one of those rooms! We need to rely on the power of the priests and the soldiers to keep us safe. This is for our own safety." I lectured as I removed her hand from my arm.

We heard a sharp crack in the distance. Gunfire?

I looked at violets wide eyes and wasn't so sure anymore.

"Girls hurry!" The elderly woman motioned to us after closing all of the other rooms and we followed slowly as she showed us to the last of the six rooms open where a couple of the others were huddled together nervously.

Time felt like it was moving slowly suddenly as I watched Violet move.

Like I was no longer part of my own life and reality, I saw Violet curl her fist and slam it into Matron Mary's side.

I am only vaguely aware that I screamed at this point as the elderly woman collapsed and Mary grabbed for a dark item that had fallen from the matron's robe pocket with an incredibly heavy clanking sound.

I didn't recognize the item immediately it was far too out of place for such a thing.

"Tell me then Lavender?! Why does she have a gun?"

A gun?

Yes, that item was clearly a gun but...

The reasonable explanation drowned out my uncertainty right away and as I kelt to help Matron Mary up from the floor as she lay gasping I replied surer than ever that Violet had finally snapped.

"For protection Violet! We have some sort of monster or intruders! She must have grabbed the gun for protection."

"Oh, sure she had time to grab a gun without any of us noticing while she was also leading us outside? Why do you keep doing this Lavender? You're deluding yourself!" Then waving the hand holding the gun dangerously she motioned the other girls.

"Your all deluding yourselves!"

"Violet put the gun down," I said trying to bite back my fear as I kept my eye on the trigger finger. Could she accidentally shoot someone? Was there a safety in place?