What I wanted almost more than anything was to avoid the stands. I didn’t want to see the people whom I know had been sitting next to me previously, the people I still should have been right next to, all dismantled in front of me. I couldn’t bring myself to see if Jacob was there or Tristan or any of their friends. I stepped back so a few firefighters could easily carry the injured out of the stadium and into the triage area. I looked behind me, where Emma and I had previously been hunkered beneath the concessions, but she wasn’t there anymore. I didn’t know where any of my friends were, but there was a big crater left in the place they had once been. The concessions building was lit up in flames. People would walk by, bleeding from all sorts of spots. A woman tripped and fell into one of the craters. A football dad and two more men ran over to the edge to fish her out.

  I went back to the football field, running across it to a football player in the far section of the touchdown zone. I figured I would work from the outside in, while the rest of the emergency services worked on the closer victims. The player I spotted was holding his arm and limping slowly towards the opposing end of the field, but I got to him first. I grabbed the arm he wasn’t holding and put it around my shoulders, pulling down on his wrist and wrapping my other arm around his waist to hold him up. I slowed down when I could tell the pain or exhaustion was getting to him. I slowly counted the painted-on yard lines as we moved forward. We finally got close enough to the benches that I could release him, then I eased him to the ground. He fell back, his hand clutching his arm again. His eyes were pinched shut. “I’m going to remove your helmet, okay?” I didn’t wait for him to nod. I reached up and took off his helmet. I set it to the side and looked back at him. It was Hunter. I held in the words I was going to say. I even stifled the gasp. “Hunter, my hearing's gone.” I reached forward and wiped the specks of blood off his skin. It wasn’t his, but it was sprayed all over his uniform. “Can I see your arm?” His other hand was clutching his skin, his bracelet’s pendant dangling over the injured area. He slowly let his hand off of it. Sure enough, he had an open wound on his arm where his bone was sticking out. I did not prepare well enough for that, but I had plenty of supplies around me. I took off my hoodie and laid the supplies on the ground where I could get to them. There was plenty of debris around us that I could use to stabilize his arm. I reached forward and grabbed a couple of metal slabs. I placed it around the wound, pressing it on the parts that weren’t as deformed. I used some of the gauze wrappings to tie onto it, then tied above and below his elbow before swinging his arm slowly across his abdomen. He seemed most comfortable with it there. I took my undershirt and tied it around him like a sling, then took another gauze wrapping and secured his arm to the rest of his body.

  I went down to his ankle to check for further injury, but there wasn’t much there. It seemed to be sprained, and I'm sure the pain in his arm wasn’t helping either. I went back to his face and checked his temperature with the back of my hand, then his pulse as I counted his respirations. He didn’t seem to be suffering from too much blood loss, and he was still fairly conscious. His eyes weren't widely opened, but he wasn’t closing them either. He was tired, and I didn’t blame him. “I don’t know where Jacob and our friends are,” I put my hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know where your family is either, but I heard them yelling during the game. They were at the top of the stands, and that section was untouched. If they're hurt, they were injured after the first attack.” He nodded. “We’re going to get you to the triaging section where they can get you to a real doctor. I’m afraid this sling isn’t going to heal you,” I wasn't sure if he appreciated my joking, but I grabbed his good arm and helped him to his feet. I picked up the supplies I had and helped him back to the entrance, where I handed him off to some other EMS workers.

  I went back into the crowd when someone grabbed my shoulder. It was a middle-aged woman. She was speaking to me. “Ma’am, I've lost my hearing. If you have an injury, could you show it to me?” She turned around and stepped to the side. She had a six-year-old daughter. She was crying, and her head was dripping blood. I kneeled to her daughter's level and grabbed the gauze from my pockets. “Hey there, my name is Amelia. I’m going to take care of you, alright? Is it only your head that hurts?” She shook her head and pointed to her scuffed knees. They were bleeding, too. “Your knees? Is there anywhere else?” She shook her head again. I asked her to sit down on my knee, and she did. I pressed the gauze to her knees and wrapped it around to create a bandage. I then dabbed the gauze onto her head until the initial blood went away, revealing the wound underneath. She would need stitches, but she seemed perfectly conscious. I marked her down on the triage tag and sent her and her mother off into the crowd, where the rest of the patients were. I stood up and looked around again. The football field was clear. I had no choice but to go to the stands. I slowly approached, watching as people were getting taken out of the rubble. I don’t think there was anyone left that wasn’t being worked on. I climbed the stands and peered down into it. Bodies everywhere, all marked with tags. I stepped back, but as I did, I caught sight of someone reaching their hand up from the rubble. My heart lurched, and I slowly climbed down. The metal stands were so slick, but I had to get down there.

  I stepped over arms and legs, weaving around bodies that I really didn’t want to step on. They wouldn’t feel it, but I didn’t care. I grabbed the moving hand and squeezed to let them know I was there, then I let go. I started to grab dead bodies and move them off the pile to the best of my ability, then began to pry the broken bleachers off until I could see a face. It was Tristan. I started to yell for help, and slowly, a few heads appeared above me. Tristan looked extremely pale, almost paper white in the right lighting. There was no way he was going to make it, and I could see why when I shone my pen light into the pocket he was trapped in. He was almost severed in half by the rubble, or maybe even the initial strike. “It’s okay,” I grabbed his hand and gripped it tight. He had oil stains in the creases of his palms from working on equipment. I squeezed his hand a little tighter, taking in the familiar feeling. We wouldn’t be able to get him out. There was no way. “You’re okay. I’ve got you,” I whispered. He looked up at me, his eyes squinted a bit, then looked at something a little past my shoulder. “Tristan?” I watched a film gloss over his eyes. It was the same look Blane had had on his face. I felt his light grip completely release my hand. I sat there on my knees for a moment, watching him. A tear slid down my face as I stifled a sob, then I let go and stumbled back. I had to get out of here.

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  Instead of climbing all the way back up, I went through the bottom of the bleachers and weaved between the gaps of the seats to get back to the main ground. My heart was pounding in my head, and my face was hot. I could feel myself crying, but I couldn’t hear it. I went to the outside of the triage area and sat on the bumper of a fire truck, a palm on my forehead as I stared at the ground. I watched some of my tears create dark patches in the concrete.

  Most people were transported by now, and the emergency workers were wrapping up. The man who had spoken to me earlier approached me, and I looked up, my hand instinctively grabbing the gun in my waistband. He took out his pen and pad and wrote down an address, then thanked me for my service. I asked him about Ryker, but he said he was getting transported with no further information. I then asked about Cooper, but he didn't know his whereabouts. Everyone else had been treated and taken by their families, were dead, or were going to get further treatment. He told me my hearing would come back in a matter of time, and I believed him. I thanked him again, then unloaded my pockets and slowly walked away from the flashing lights.

  I went to the entrance and walked along the grass, then slowly sank to my knees in front of a telephone pole. My back pressed against the wood, and my heart weighed down my feet. Why would a place as small as this, a town flourishing in such a dull and terrible world, get bombed? Who would bomb such a place? Why would someone want to murder the only innocent and pure forms of life we had left? I put my head in my hands and wiped my tears away. I could feel my body jolt with each hiccup I had upon inhale, but I stifled my sobs and took deep breaths. I looked down at the ground between my legs and tried to focus on what sounds could be around me, but it was no use. I was left staring at the dying grass in front of me, my mind slowly turning off.

  A shadow was cast above me, and my head shot up, my hand immediately grabbing my gun and pulling it out beside me. It wasn’t a stranger, though; it was Colton. I slowly released my firearm. He had a bandage around his head, but he had completely bled through. He was saying something, but I was digging through my pockets for the little bit of wrappings I had kept, and I put my hands on his head to rewrap it. I tied it off again and looked at him. I think he was saying my name. I stared at him and pointed at my ears, shaking my head. I watched his facial expression change as he understood. He motioned for me to come with him, and I did. He led me to the middle of the parking lot, where a few cars remained, and that’s when I found most of our group. They turned their heads to look at me. Breelyn ran up and hugged me, and when she let go, Emma embraced me too. Both of them had tears streaming down their face, but they kept wiping them away. Nobody batted an eye.

  “She can’t hear anything,” Colton stood next to Peter. Peter and Andrew were the only two of Jacob's friends left. I wonder if any of them knew about Tristan and Hunter. No, they didn’t know, at least not about Tristan. I was the first one to find him alive. I couldn’t tell them, though, not now. It wasn’t the right time. “I don’t know what's wrong with her. It had to be one of the explosions,”

  “We need to get out of here,” Andrew reminded everyone. I walked up to Jacob and squeezed him tight. He hated hugs, I knew that, but I thought I would have to leave him behind. I felt sick all of a sudden, all of the fear and adrenaline catching up to me. The only people we were missing from our original group were Tristan and Hunter. I looked around, taking mental note that all of them were safe here. Everyone was breathing and alive. I looked around at each of them as their mouths moved. It was kind of hard to tell who was talking since gazes were everywhere, and I was looking at everyone like I was searching for something important. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I could tell we were waiting for something. We should have left a long time ago.

  “Hunter is at the hospital,” I said. I didn’t think anyone else was talking, but I wasn’t sure. Just in case, I knew I had to repeat myself so I wasn’t interrupted. “Tristan is dead, and Hunter’s getting treated.” I felt terrible for blurting it out as I did, but it was the only way. I looked at Tristan’s friends’ faces, scanning their expressions. Nobody was moving anymore. Jacob shook his head and turned away. I saw him slowly sink to the ground, a hand on his face. Andrew stood behind him and put his hand on Jacob's shoulder. He looked at me, or rather through me. Colton crossed his arms, but he nodded. He looked off to the side at the ground. I felt a knot in my throat, but I pushed it down. I knew Tristan, but not my whole life. Not like these three did. “We need to go, we could get attacked again,” I saw everyone nodding and looking at one another to share words. Maybe they were agreeing or disagreeing, but I couldn’t tell. When they started to move to their cars was when I knew we really were going. I climbed into my car and watched everyone get in, then I started it. I didn’t know if it started until the lights turned on, then I followed Jacob back to the house.