Down the hall, there is a group of people crowded around a corner, chatting amongst themselves but keeping the sound loud. There's at least fifty of them surrounding the desks when Christian and I get back to the building, and not one corner of that room was deprived of noise.

"No!" I hear someone yell. 

"I won't let this happen." A female screamed. I recognise the voice, it was from the ceremony on my first day. "Not again, I can't."

Her name was Nikita, the freakishly tall and revealed woman. I had seen her pass me through the hallways everyday since I started going to the laundry room to clean with Brooklyn. She always had a different facial expression - anger, sadness and even with that sadness, tears had formed in her eyes. From the first sight of her in the ceremony, I thought she was strong enough to hold those tears back. But can anyone ever be strong enough to do that? No one knows the answer to that question, not even the most hard-to-the-core people in the world. At least once, we all cry. And sometimes, the pressure in your throat gets so hard to swallow and you're there sobbing with all your heart until you become tired and realise you've fucked up your eyes and made the blood vessels underneath the skin burst. I personally think emotionally people are stronger than anyone who doesn't accept fear and sadness. But that's my opinion, and only mine. 

But, the fear now... dragged both of us down. If not all of us in the room. 

Christian and I started to run towards the crowd. People were crying; the sobs were too loud for my body to absorb and I started to shift and itch in my own skin. Everyone had shattered. The vases from the reception had been broken into a million pieces. Bins had been emptied onto the floor. Everyone had their heads in their friend's chest or shoulder; children were being carried in the leaders' arms; the sign of true heartbreak had started to hit like a tornado.

"Who the fuck would do this?"

"How did someone enter the building without any identity and get through security?"

"We should keep a close watch out next time. Start night shifts with the guards."

I heard so many remarks that my ears were filled and I couldn't concentrate on one voice - not even my own. The shouts. The yelling. The forbidden brawling of voices and people. I couldn't even hear Christian talking and I couldn't see Brooklyn dispersing from the group and approaching us. The ringing in my ears pierced my brain, sending shocks through my hands - telling them to grab my hair and scream.

And all the room went quiet.

And everyone stopped.

They just stared. Lips closed. Eyes wide. Eyebrows neutral. 

"What the hell is going on?" I say, as calmly as I can. Mutters grew into a discussion only a bat could hear. You can see by the look on everyone's faces that they know. Every. Single. One of them. Know.

Except for us.

"A man." A girl in loose jeans and a baggy jumper shouted. She was a teenager - perfect skin, straight teeth and you could see adolescence in her eyes. She was weeping on the inside, her eyebrows were furrowed and her hands in her pockets. Devastation started to grow and live on her cheeks as they sunk and became paler as time went on.

"A man? I'm sorry beautiful, but we need more than the basics." Christian interrupted my thoughts. "We're looking for the specifics. What did the man look like?"

And that's when one of them held up a white mask, covered in mud. "He was wearing this. But that's all we got left behind by him apart from all of this on the floor. He gave us something in return of taking one of us. It's just knowing who." Nikita sounded from the middle of the group. They all started to move as she fiddled and nudged her way out of the crowd, all looking down at their feet as if it was their fault.

"The security barrier on the outside of the building was breached and then they must have entered without the guar-"

"Where were the guards?" Christian forcefully jolted.

"Upstairs."

"And why were they upstairs and not down here protecting the building from harm?"

"Because they had already entered from the roof too." Nikita crossed her arms and looked at the arm she started to lightly itch.

I jumped in. "I thought it was a man, singular. Not a whole SWAT team!"

"Let's just say that we don't have enough guards to protect the entirety of the building." How did they ever get to the roof? There are no helicopters in this city because we got rid of them years ago when the war destroyed everything. We have no electricity except for solar power, so at night the only light in the city is the street lamps further north of the building. The other street lamps, however, have all been destroyed, shot, or dislocated from the power circuits underground. I wouldn't know how intruders would get into the city either - no one has dared since 10 years ago.

"We'll start taking night shifts." Brooklyn perks up. "And I'll go first."

"Not without me Brooklyn, no way in hell are you going alone." I say. I'm not losing him, he was the first to be my friend here, so I'm going to be the first to be his protection shield. Even if it does sabotage my feelings for Christian, I don't care. I have to protect my first friend here. He was never rebarbative like Christian was at first. He showed me kindness first, so I'm the one who is going to show him protection first. I turn to him and walk in front of him, holding my arms out and hugging him as my toes touch his. "I'm not losing you, Brook, okay?" I say into his shirt and hear his heart speed up.

"Yeah." I feel the word vibrate his chest as he says it and he relaxes, putting his arms around me in the embrace I gave to him. The pulse of his heart slows, and his warmth surrounds my body. 

I smile. 

"So where first?" Nikita says, sternly. "I would strongly recommend using you and Naya for the main area, bottom floor and the next two floors up, we'll make sure you can get access to facilities like the library and the lockers. Martin, my love?" 

A man emerges from the crowd. He wears a black, unbuttoned shirt, a white vest top underneath and denim jeans which don't compliment his stomach. I would personally describe him as a pudge. Grey hair sprouting from the sides of his head and none on the top. The pits of his small and enclosed, pearl blue eyes are very noticeable and observe my every move. Chills collect in a line of my spine as I edge away from Brooklyn's chest. And it's not only Martin's eyes following me, there's also Christian staring at the both of us attentively. "Yes Nikki?"

"Immediately get the registration lists printed off. Whoever goes out this building-" she looks around, eyeing everyone and crossing her slender arms "-will indeed return. Whoever does not come back, we shall commence with a search party if they do not return within 24 hours."

The man swings out a notebook from his back pocket with a pen and starts to write this down, possibly in short hand. "And how will we approach this problem?" 

Nikita, "With whatever is necessary."

Brooklyn and I exchange glances of worry, and Christian walks away from the crowd, giving me one last look and walking out of the room.