"Is everyone alright?" Kai asks.

He looks around, to see heads finally popping above water. People look around at each other, counting heads. A few of the people are choking on water, coughing up as hard as they can. Twelve of them arrived, and twelve of them are wading in the lake. The gunman has disappeared, running off into the woods.

"What the Hell was that?" Tom asks.

"We need to get back to campus and alert campus police!" Evelyn squeaks.

"No," Poppy argues back. She trudges through the water, a hand over her arm. "There's no use doing that. The Divide has its money in the pockets of campus police. Is everyone fine?"

"Not emotionally," Ez grumbles.

No one else has a word to say. Ez is right; while they may be fine physically, they aren't emotionally.

"Good," Poppy says. She begins to pull herself ashore, revealing blood, dripping down her arm. "It seems I'm the only one then."

Kai rushes over to her. He helps her out of the water and then examines the wound. It is a graze, just having knicked her arm. Tom joins as well, inspecting her. The others begin to crowd as well.

"Really, I'm fine," Poppy insists. "It's just a graze."

A long red streak on her arm, still trickling blood. It doesn't seem that deep, since no muscle nor bone is showing. Poppy seems conscious enough and aware, though she insists upon not alerting campus police.

For the first time since she became an initiate, Ellie wishes she were a doctor like her sister. If she were, she'd be able to assess how bad the injury is going to become.

"We need to walk back to campus now," Tom says. "We need a few people to stay behind with Poppy."

Kai almost laughs, "and explain to them that we are trespassing and that the owner of the house probably came out and shot at us, realized it was a bad idea, and then left?"

"We were lured here," Briar cuts him off, her voice as cold and her teeth chattering. "They intended to kill us."

"If they intended to kill us, they would've brought more people and more guns," Poppy grunts out in pain.

Jetta pulls herself out of the water and puts her arms around Poppy. She doesn't know what to think, but she doesn't want the police to come. They will have to take her statement, with the name on her identification card rather than as Jetta. She cannot bear for people to know yet.

"Are we just going to be sitting ducks?" Luis asks, looking around. His heart is still pounding. No one has ever shot at him before. He wishes he really had stuck it to Mama and refused to attend Hawkwood. Then, he wouldn't be in this mess.

"It's another test," Poppy says.

Briar's fist splashes the water. "A test? A test? Just like the body upstairs, hmm?"

A silence falls over the crowd. Poppy grits her teeth, and not from the pain.

"What body?" Roman asks.

When quiet accompanies their words, Felix glares at Briar. "They asked about the body. Answer, now."

"There was a body upstairs," Ellie jumps in. She looks at Briar, who is shaking her head back and forth. Ellie doesn't know if she is helping, but she doesn't know how to look away from a car crash. "It was from a funeral home. It wasn't killed."

Kai sighs. What a relief. Maybe keeping it a secret will backfire now, but Poppy was right; danger is not awaiting them. "It was a test to see if we could keep it quiet. And we did."

"So, there was a body, a threatening note, and now Poppy's been shot!" Ez shouts.

Felix feels himself crawling into his skin. He does not like shouting, even though he does it frequently enough. Now, more than ever is he afraid of Ez.

There is too much happening for Vieira's liking. She climbs ashore and begins to pull on her clothes.

"Where are you going?" Tom asks. He climbs up as well, joining her.

Vieira looks at the others, then back at Tom. Her words are trapped in her throat. They are choking her, and she starts hyperventilating. Tom grabs her and wraps her in his arms.

"I don't like this," Evelyn says. "I want to leave."

"We can all go home, so long as we promise to keep this a secret," Poppy insists.

Luis rolls his eyes. "Forgive me, but you've been shot! What exactly is your plan here?"

"I will bandage myself and continue going to languages. Is that all?" Poppy asks.

The night is getting darker, and the stars above provide little light. The moon is small, and far away, and so they feel less safe. The tide is low, but the pier seems too tall. It is freezing; it is September. The air is only going to get crisper as the night goes on.

"I don't like this," Kai says to Poppy. He wants to be on her side. She is injured after all, and perhaps not thinking clearly.

Jetta, even, lets go of Poppy. Though she admires her, this is not the moment.

"Campus police and the President of the university are all in The Divide's pocket. You think if they can procure a body, they haven't already thought this through?" Poppy asks.

Roman wishes they had a quote for this moment, but they don't. Nothing seems to be going as planned. They think of Hobbes and The Leviathan. Hobbes claimed that the state of man is a natural state of war. Roman feels thrust into Hobbes' world. They feel trapped there. It sinks their stomach.

"What if this isn't The Divide?" Ellie asks. "What if this is somebody else?"

"It isn't," Poppy insists. She squeezes her arm, and blood trickles down.

"How do you know?" Felix demands.

"I just do," Poppy says. "My mother was in The Divide before me. She said that there are several tests to get in. Several. She warned me not to rat. I am inclined to believe her."

Tom is uncertain if he agrees, but he doesn't want to risk getting kicked out. If they are in the pockets of the administration, like Poppy suggests, he might lose his scholarship.

Jetta wants to keep herself secret, even if it might cost her a life.

Vieira could not imagine explaining to her parents how she ended up here, and the shame it would bring.

Felix simply wants to dance, and isn't willing to risk an injury to his perfect body.

Kai will defer to Poppy, even though he thinks he should be the leader.

Roman cannot tell left from right, Thoreau from Rousseau, and consequently cannot make an opinion.

Ellie wants to help heal Poppy, especially if she refuses to see a doctor.

Briar refuses to keep this quiet, especially considering how much her father donates to Hawkwood.

Luis will watch the others move since he is too scatterbrained to organize anything.

Ez is angry, but he knows how to play by the rules of the rich.

Evelyn knows that every moment as an initiate has been one of strife, and she doesn't want to make things harder for herself.

"Just trust me," Poppy implores the others.

They look around, waiting for an objection.

Felix sits on his but catches eyes with Briar. They share a silent nod. Despite their dislike for one another, they know their plan.

"Let's just get back to campus," Kai says, trying to appease the group.

The men help lift Poppy, even though it is her arm and not her legs that have been injured. The group begins to grab their clothes. They put on their shoes and begin to trudge back towards campus.

The walk is long, and they are sure they are going to get hypothermia from walking in wet bathing suits for such a great distance. Those who haven't already put on their clothes do so, even if their clothes will be ruined because anything is better than the bitter cold.

Vieira ends up getting a piggyback from Tom when she complains her feet are hurting too much. Evelyn smiles as she watches them. It's almost like they are normal friends, heading somewhere, rather than strangers trapped in a club which they have come to distrust.

Briar walks in step with Evelyn, but silently. She is drained from head to toe, with nothing left in her to say.

Luis joins Ellie's side. They whisper about what to do, but neither of them can come up with an answer. Neither is familiar with The Divide, but they have no reason to distrust Poppy. She has been honest, and so far, she has been right.

Kai and Felix walk together as well. Kai tries to joke with Felix, who brushes him off. Felix is not in the mood for jokes. He's not in the mood for anything except a conversation with campus police and the president of the university about this terrible society that has threatened him.

The other four walk alone. Roman tries to rack their brain for a solution, a quote, anything that will solve the problem facing the initiates. It seems impossible. They aren't used to having answers; philosophy is a profession of asking not solving. Maybe, they are realizing, that the concrete is for them, rather than the theoretical.

Jetta is so wrapped up in herself that she does not notice that she is alone. Normally she would be with someone else. Normally she wouldn't be this fearful. She looks around, with one working eye, and cannot decide what to do or think or believe.

Ez stews. He hates the games of the rich. Especially those of gentiles. It's not for him, any of it, and he wants to be in a pub, angrily chatting about Mark Twain. The stuffy world of academics and societies is not for him. For the first time, however, he doesn't feel alone in that thought.

Once they are back on campus, they part ways. It is late on a Saturday night, so late that it is morning, and the campus is wrapped in a deep slumber. The pub has closed, by the street lanterns remain on, guiding their way down the cobblestone trails through the grass. Eventually, everyone is back at their dorm.

Inside, Poppy bandages herself. She grunts in pain as she runs alcohol over the cut. She intends to see her family's personal doctor, who will not report the injury to the police. For now, this shall do.

It shall not do for the rest of her compatriots, however.

~~~~~

Dun dun dun. See, that wasn't so bad. It'll get bad, but it hasn't yet. I'm excited. Actually, I'm hopeful. It should go well.