"Zoe. There's something you need to know about Mike." Erica swallowed the rock that seemed to be lodged in her throat. Zoe looked over at her as they drove in silence to what seemed to be a ticking time bomb.

"I always thought my life would be over when Mike died. I was 15, I.. thought it was true love." She hesitated. "Maybe it was."

"Hey, Zoe," Erica said, trying her best to keep her voice from breaking.

"Yeah?" Zoe kept her eyes trained on the road, a tear escaping. She was unsure what Erica was about to tell her, but that nagging feeling that something wasn't right wouldn't leave her alone. She'd had it for years, ever since Ben had held her in an embrace, their faces burned, bruised and tear-streaked as he told her that Mike was gone and blamed himself.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen." Zoe was silent for a moment.

"Do you know what comes after the end?" She replied.

Erica blinked, her mouth drawing down into a frown. "An epilogue?"

Zoe gave a sad little laugh, reminiscent of the days when they would all gather in one of their rooms and just live, but it sounded even more worrying to Erica, her face stubbornly set. "Oh, I think you're done with that. It's a sequel now. Maybe this next one wouldn't be as bad. You've said it yourself. You've already used up all your bad luck. This time, the universe owes you. It has to be kind to you to maintain balance. It's your second book, Erica, and the page won't turn if you aren't willing to live it."

Erica leaned her head to the window, internalising the motions of the car and side-eyeing the blurred trees on the side of the road. Her head spun with possibilities. Zoe reached over to turn on the radio, and static filled the car, stopping the silence that was seeping into her.

"Mike wasn't killed by a bullet." Erica spoke to the window, but she knew that Zoe heard her. Her hands were shaking, the inside of her mouth metallic and hot with blood as she worried her lip.

"It's been three years." Zoe said. "It's fine." But was it really? To lose friends in such gruesome ways at a young age was traumatizing. To have witnessed it? That left a lasting scar on the consciousness. Erica's mother had told her once that she would be shaped by her experiences to become someone she might not even recognize. Yes, it had been three years, but did that have any bearing on how devastating the attack was? She opened her mouth, and she spoke.

Erica raced down the hallway, narrowly avoiding corners as she frantically tried to catch up with Joshua. Where had it all gone wrong? She thought of Ben desperately trying to plug the fatal hole in his friend's neck. She thought of Mike giving his last words. She thought of Zoe discovering that her boyfriend was dead. So, she pushed on, eventually tackling her target.

"Give me the codes." She held the gun to his head, her legs straddling his waist and pinning him down. There was no time for mercy, and she somehow knew that if she needed to kill him, she would. This was only supposed to be a routine recon mission: get in, get the codes and drives needed for their undercover agents to send in information, and get out.

Joshua began to laugh, distracting her for enough time for him to reach up and begin grappling with her for control of the weapon. Erica grunted as they engaged in blows on the floor, idly thinking back to those days in the gym back in school when they would sneak in to practice after curfew. Where had it all gone wrong?

Joshua finally shot the gun, the bullet pushing through Erica's shoulder. She hissed in pain, the adrenaline clouding her mind, but she continued to fight him, breathing heavily until she was in the position to overcome him.

"Last chance." She panted heavily, the weapon pressed firmly against his neck and her legs pinning his arms down. Joshua stared at her with the one eye he had left, and for a moment, that young girl spoke up again, wishing for him to agree and come quietly. Erica knew it was foolish to think of that.

"I die now." He leaned in closer, to whisper into her ear. "And I'll take you all with me."

Erica pressed her lips together, and looked in the face of the boy who she thought would love her back when she was younger and naive. Then, she did one of the hardest things a person could do. She pulled the trigger.

The blood coated her face, leeching into her body. She sputtered, checking for a pulse from the man who had become suddenly still. There was no answering beat under her fingers, and no rise from his mechanical chest. Joshua Hallal was dead, in a moment that would haunt her for years. Erica steeled her nerves as she shakily stood up, pressing on the wall for support and reminding herself that she needed to go back for Ben. Had she been in her right mind, she would have taken a moment to bandage her wounded shoulder and spattered face.

Erica began to run down the halls again of the old warehouse on the shore of Atlanta. They'd received intel that SPYDER had been sneaking in aliens through shipping containers, most of whom were used as mules for their drugs and weapons in exchange for the promise of a safer life. She found Ben on the floor. The grey concrete was stained with brownish red, but she knew that it wasn't from him.

"...Ben?" She spoke, stepping forward carefully and quietly, almost treating him as if he were a wild animal she was afraid to spook. He stared up at her with wide and unseeing eyes, his face that of a child. After all, he was only 15. Had she really only been 15 when she learned of Joshua's betrayal. Ben's chest rose and fell rapidly as he clutched the body of his best friend.

"He's gone." His voice was rough and high. Her heart ached as he stared down at Mike, the words on the tip of her tongue, just waiting to spill out.

"So is Joshua." She swallowed. "I did it."

"So did I." It was then that she noticed Ben's knife- the one that Mike had jokingly given to him for his last birthday "In case we need to fulfill some weird Romeo and Juliet pact." He had laughed. "We have matching knives now! Going out in style."

"What am I going to tell Zoe?" His voice broke again as the tears began to wash away the blood.

"I can handle it, Ben. You need to step away." She couldn't have him seeing. Erica felt her traitorous hand begin to raise Joshua's stolen pistol, her face set. Ben reluctantly stepped away, pressing his back to hers, facing the entrance to the room. Erica later realised that he was nearly as tall as she was. When had that happened?

Inhaling deeply, she pressed the barrel to Mike's slacken face, just as she had to Joshua. Erica wished that she could have pictured someone else at that moment, but her brain refused, forcing her to stare into his eyes. She fired. A spurt of blood, and it was done.