Two bodies lie on the floor. Chris and Aspen. Eight more, conscious and breathing sit near the cabinets. All eyes look up at us, wide-eyed and terrified, all eyes except from one pair. Michael's are fixed to Aspen face. Tears splashed down his cheeks as he prays desperately for his friend's life to be spared.
"No, Aspen, I can't do this by myself. Please, stay with me." No one, however, is crying over Chris. "Stay with me, Aspen. Stay... Please... Stay with me..." Michael trails off. I kneel next to him and slowly place my arms around his shoulders, not questioning what happened. He turns and cries into my shoulder. Warren stands frozen in the doorway, Jack and Oz approach smiling broadly and laughing. The smiles fall off their faces as they see what happened.
"How did this happen? We were gone for ten minutes!" Oz shouts. Michael weeps harder and I feel my shoulder getting soggier and soggier.
"Oscar, take it easy. Guess what they've just been through. Think how quickly they must have come to get close enough to two of them. Just think. Think before you speak." I say, not even looking at him but remaining focused on my task of consoling Michael. He eases off and wipes the tears off his face. His eyes are a violent red from crying and his cheeks are still damp. I wipe the tears that were left off his cheeks with my thumb and I'm left kneeling in front of him.
"Are you ok now?" I ask and he shakes his head. He starts crying again and I give him another hug. Behind his back I make shooing gestures to the rest of the group, they shuffle out of the kitchen silently. "Michael, I know what you're going through. But you need to stay strong for the rest of us. I had no one to stay strong for and I sank low. Lower than anyone has ever been. Stay strong, Michael. We'll be here for you if you need anything, anything at all." He nods and leans away from me again. His hands are clenched into fists and I see one of them swing round. It lands squarely on my jaw and my head snaps round from the impact of the punch.
"Why? Michael, why?" I say, my words slurred by the numbness of my mouth.
"They said - they said they would keep coming back until you were left alive in the garden. I-I can't risk the rest of my family getting hurt." Fighting off tears, he gets up the courage to swing his fist round again. He punches me in the eye and the world goes black.