Sakir

Athena waits until the barrier has lifted almost two feet and then slides out on her back. As soon as she straightens back up, she scrambles across the room to Mya. I watch from beside the keyboard, weighed down from the reality of the situation crashing around me.

Athena slips in the sea of blood on the white tile. It's a mixture of Mya's, Jay's, and Isaac's. It coats all three of us now, a constant reminder of the price paid. Three lives. No, four lives. It seems unfair not to count Finn.

I watch as Athena presses bloody fingers to Mya's throat and then leans down to place an ear against her chest.

"Sakir, help me," she says, lifting up the girl's shirt to reveal the bullet wound beneath. "Maybe I can remove the bullet. Maybe I can- I could- help me, please."

I shake my head and let my chin fall to my chest.

There's nothing she can do, and we both know it.

"Please, Sakir. She can't die."

I walk over and lower myself onto the floor beside Athena. Placing one hand on each of her shoulders, I turn her to face me.

"She's already dead, Athena," I whisper, gripping her.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "I can do something. That's my job!"

"You can't bring someone back from the dead."

"She's not dead!"

"Yes, she is!" I scream, shaking her. "She's dead, and there's nothing you can do about it! Let her go like she asked!"

Athena stares at me for a long minute, statuesque. Her bottom lip trembles, and I lessen my grip on her. Tears well up in her eyes, and with a groan, she leans forward into me and wraps her arms around my neck.

I can't bring myself to hug her back, though, even as she begins to sob. My arms fall limp at my side, and I stare down at Mya's lifeless body.

This can't be happening.

I'm a fool. An absolute, useless fool.

Suddenly, a phone rings nearby. I push Athena away from me and look towards the computer screen attached to the wall. White letters flash across the black screen, replacing the red circles.

Incoming video call...

The screen doesn't tell me who is calling.

I glance back at Isaac who has put Jay back down and turns towards us on his knees.

"Should we answer it?" I ask, but my voice resembles a whisper in the middle of a tornado. My throat burns from all the crying; my eyes swell. Isaac looks much worse than I do with his long hair half out of his bun and his beard caked in blood from multiple sources. Blood stains the front of his shirt.

I realize then that I'm still shirtless. Small handprints marr the skin of my chest, dark red against the caramel colored surface. Mya's.

"What else do we have to lose?" Isaac answers in a dry voice. There's no enthusiasm or life left, just loss and emptiness. I know how he feels, because there's a growing hole in my chest.

"I'll answer it," Athena says, pushing up off the floor and walking towards the screen. "I'm not hurt or covered in blood."

She is covered in blood, but only from the waist down. I hold back that little fact as she types with expert fingers.

Seconds later, the screens erupts in a flash of green and white, and two faces appear in the center.

"President Austin?" Athena asks, cocking her head to one side in confusion.

I don't recognize the boy on the screen, but he has curly black hair and dark blue eyes. If Athena's calling him 'president', that must mean he's the famous Quinn Austin.

"Athena? Are you okay? What's going on?"

Athena looks at me, and her mouth opens and closes several times before she sighs.

"It's a long story," she says. "Where are you?"

Quinn looks down at something, and the redhead beside him disappears off camera.

"About ten minutes from Compound 1. You're answering from Ashford's personal lab."

Athena nods.

"We have the president contained."

Quinn hums in approval.

"You can tell me how later. Can you manage to bring him out to us, or are we going to have to storm the castle?"

Athena looks at me again, and I shake my head.

There's no way on Earth I'm leaving Jay or Mya behind.

"We aren't leaving this room," I snap as I stand up and walk into the camera's sight. Quinn sucks in a breath.

"You're covered in blood," he states, like it's not the most obvious thing. "Athena, what's going on? Where's Jay? Put her on the call."

Neither one of us speak. We stare at Quinn with blank expressions. Realization falls across his face slowly and then all at once, like a storm.

"Whose blood is that?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"Oh, this blood?" I say in a voice dripping with venom. "My friend Mya gave it to me when President Ashford shot her!" My voice continues to rise as I take a step towards the screen. Quinn's eyes go wide. "And I'm sorry. Jay can't come to the phone right now, because she's dead, too."

Quinn takes a quick breath of surprise and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry. We tried-"

"That's the problem! You tried! While you were 'trying' to get here, two people were killed. If you had left earlier or had taken the threat seriously, kid president, maybe no one would be dead!"

Quinn bites his lip, shaking his head.

"Sakir, this isn't my-"

"Yes, it is," I interrupt. "It's all your fault! Every single bit of it."

My hands ball into fists at my side, and my knees buckle. Athena wraps an arm around me as I sway. I want to shrug her away, but she's the only thing keeping me from falling onto my face.

Quinn turns away from the camera and calls out to someone on the other side of where ever he is. That's when I realize he's calling from a mobile tablet. He sits in the passenger seat of a truck beside the redhead and the shadow of another man.

"Papa?" I ask, and the driver turns to look at me. My father grimaces at the sight of me, but traces of rage show themselves in the deep set frown of his lips.

"I'm coming, Sakir," he growls, glaring at the road.

I swallow hard. Good. He can take over. I'm all out of ideas.

"What do you want me to do with Ashford?" I ask, glancing back at the president. He's sitting in the middle of the cage with his arms over his chest.

"Is killing him an option?" Papa asks. I smirk, but Quinn answers with lightning speed.

"No! We need him alive, or else the compound will dissolve into chaos. Even with the vaccine, they won't listen to us. He's going to have to tell them to take it."

"Can I kill him after that?" I ask, shaking.

"Absolutely not," Papa says. I wait while he forms his next statement. "I want to do the honors."

Isaac appears behind me, and the camera pans back to Quinn and his friend.

"Are you okay, Isaac?" the girl asks.

I glance over my shoulder at the man. He bites his lip and considers how to answer that question. No, he's not okay, but how do you explain that you're dying inside to people who will never understand?

"Yes, Lexi. I'll be fine. I do have a bullet in my shoulder, though," he finally says.

"I can remove that," Athena blurts. I have a feeling she is just anxious to help, to redeem herself somehow for Mya's death. Like it was her fault.

I'm the only one that carries the blame for that.

I should have made her stay at home. I should have ran away alone.

"If you say so," Lexi says, and she glances at a watch on her wrist. "Give us five minutes to get to Compound 1 and five minutes to tear through the wall."

"You plan to breach the compound in ten minutes?" I ask, and my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"No," she says, grinning. "I plan to breach it in five. I was including travel time. Trust me, Mocha, we have a lot of guns with us. Compound 1 doesn't stand a chance."

I laugh, and the sound resembles an oasis in the middle of the desert.

"They're waiting for you. You know that, right?"

"Good," she said. "Then it'll be a fair fight. I can't wait to tear them-"

"We'll see you soon," Quinn says as he pops back into the screen. The redhead flicks him in the ear but scoots over. "Get that bullet out of Isaac. We might need his shooting skills."

Athena nods and jerks Isaac away from the camera and towards the door to the room Mya came from. I watch them go and then turn back to the screen.

"Hurry," I snap. "You've waited long enough."

Quinn nods.

"We're almost there."

With that, the screen goes black with a small pop.

A/N: And enter our second generation of characters. How will Quinn handle this? Think he's gotten over his timid and scared stage?

Also, if someone can point out the subtle pop culture reference, they get a cookie and a virtual hug.