We didn't have time to say goodbye this time.

We didn't have time to hold each other and to make promises.

I ran after Tobirama to their changing room and flung the door open, not caring about the looks I got from the other soldiers. I grabbed his arms, and he turned round in surprise as he was buttoning up his trousers. Before he even has time to register it was me, I kissed him. People around me became dead silent and I realised how unusual it must be for them, same-sex relationships never having been a thing.

"Please, be careful", I whispered.

Then I turned and left, hurrying to see if my family had gotten to safety.

"Izuna!!" It was Lana, and she was running to me, her braids loose. She grabbed my shoulders. "Izuna, you have to take shelter!"

"I can manage on my own!" I said childishly, but I was sick of hiding while Tobirama risked his life.

"Izuna, this is no goddamn time to play a hero! Don't you understand? Don't you understand why they're here?!"

"To gain back the laptop Tobirama stole?"

"That's only one part. The same reason they took Henry! They used him as an experiment, and they didn't like what they found out, so they destroyed him. They're here to destroy all other evidence of what would be! Helen's research, all her data... You."

I was taken aback. Shit. Hadn't thought of that.

"So get safe!" Lana screamed. "If you're taken, Tobirama's life will be lost as well! I'm fetching the laptop to take it to a safe space-"

She couldn't finish, because a huge bang went off, and we were thrown back. Gravel and dust landed upon me, and I looked up to see what damage the bomb had caused.

It had formed a wall between me and Lana.

"Izuna? Izuna!!"

"I'm fine!" I screamed back.

"Oh, thank God! Damn it, the computer... I can't get it!"

"On it!" I said and started running back to the meeting room.

"Izuna, no!!"

But I didn't listen. I ran to the meeting room where the computer had been left unguarded, stupidly enough. Fucking amateurs! The alphas were after two things, me and this computer, and one of them carrying the other was not ideal. We needed to separate us. But for now, I was the only means to get this computer safe. My family. I need to get my family safe. There was a safety room and I knew they were completely capable of going down there themselves. And sure enough, I found them in the corridor, three stories down. almost there.

"Mum! Dad! Madara!"

They turned back.

"Izuna!" Madara hugged me. "Are you going to the safety room, too?"

"No. I need to get the computer away. I can't have it where everyone's hiding; it's too dangerous.

"But-"

At that moment, three alpha soldiers stepped behind the corner, machine guns lifted. They fired their guns.

And shot mum, dad, and Madara straigh though their hearts.

The ringing in my ears was deafening. The silence in my heart was deafening. Everything slowed down. I was on the ground but I had no idea how I'd gotten there. I looked up, and saw the three dead bodies of my family in front of me. Their blood was pooling around them, connecting them physically as they floated together into one great puddle. The smell caused me to throw up.

"No..." I whispered. I crawled to Madara, took his head in my lap, looked down at his porcelain face. He looked so peaceful. I don't think he had had any time to react before he was killed. "No... NOOOOOOO!!"

"Give us that computer, freak!"

I had forgotten about the soldiers. They were looking over me. One of the soldiers lifted their gun, and I gave in, but another soldier stopped him.

"We need him alive", he said.

Get up, a voice in my head said. It was Tobirama's and Henry's voices, intermingled into one. GET UP!!

Madara, mum, dad, I am so sorry.

I slumped down, pretending to have given up already, making the soldiers relax.

Then, with a great leap, I grabbed the bag with the computer, got up and ran.

I knew I was fast. Like, really, really fast. I always won our sprints for the last hundred metres when me and Henry ran together. And I had never run as I ran now. I ran away from the alpha soldiers. I ran away from my family's death. Probably my own as well. I ran down some stairs, then along long corridors, then down more stairs. All I knew that they were not, under any circumstances, to get hold of me or the computer. I heard their heavy boots behind me, not getting closer but not falling behind either. I need a safe room. I need a safe room NOW!

Suddenly, three other alpha soldiers stepped up in front of me. I stopped dead, looking back where the other soldiers were coming. And I had no way out. There was only a frosted glass window to my left and doors to the right. I tried the doors. They were locked. The soldiers lifted their guns and shot...

The glass next to me shattered into a thousand pieces, and something heavy landed on me, throwing me to the ground. I curled up in a ball and tried to protect myself as the machine guns went off from all around me, but the person on top of me acted as a shield. They lifted their arm and let their gun go off, shooting the alpha soldiers in the legs so they fell, one after the other. Then, they shout them in the head, one by one.

I lay trembling. The soldier on top of me was trembling, too.

"Izuna... You're safe."

Oh God.

Oh no no no no no no NO!

"TOBES!!" I screamed. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"

I was screaming and turned him over. He'd been shot so many times. He lay on his back, exhausted, blood gushing from his mouth. He was smirking.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" I repeated.

"You know..." he was panting now. "You know why I shot them in the legs? You never go for the head in war. You need to get them down first. Then you shook them in the head. They've been poorly trained." He started unbuttoning his jacket. "They should've gone for my legs and head, too. Because we wear bulletproof vests."

How many times would he scare the life out of me? How many times would this man cheat death? How many times would he save my life?

"Izuna, I love you. I would've done what I did without the vest, too."

I threw myself over him. "You fucking simp", I whispered. "Tobirama, thank you."

He kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome. Izuna, it's over."

I looked at him in horror. "What do you mean?"

"We're outnumbered. Vastly. We're going to lose. I need to get you somewhere where they can't get you."

"We can't give up!"

"It won't matter whether we give up or not. In the same way Gods existence is unaffected by whether we believe in him or not, the outcome will be unaffected by wether we give up or not. I want to save as many lives as possible. So does Caroline and Lana."

Suddenly, we heard footsteps. Footsteps of the heavy boots of soldiers.

"Fuck!" Tobirama screamed and lifted his machine gun towards the sound.

Around the corner came an entire army of soldiers. They radiated the poise of alphas. We were done for. I just gave up. But then, I felt rather than saw Tobirama lower his gun.

"They're..."

I looked up. Intermingled with the alphas were also the mellow presence of omegas, and also some betas. The alpha in the front, a strong man with red hair, spoke.

"We heard Dr Senju's speech. We've come to fight."