Find somewhere to hide, Diana.

"Joel, go get Diana from upstairs. You have a gun—don't be a pussy."

"On it," Joel says.

Fuck!

Of course, they have guns! Why wouldn't they have guns?! They're here to kill us, after all. They saw how quickly we were willing to fight when it was just knives. Of course, they brought something that they could fight us off with.

I run into Briar and Declan's room and throw myself under the bed. I need a plan. This is all happening so fast, and now I'm really kicking myself for ignoring my dad during all those lectures on the importance of self-defense.

Wait! That's it!

I get out from under the bed and slowly walk over to the door of the bedroom. I place my ear to the door and listen for the sound of footsteps. Joel is walking super quietly, but the squeak at the final step of the stairs gives him away. I go to the closet in the room and quietly slide it open. It's a small space with a single rod for hanging clothes. The rod is full of coats and other winter clothes, and a single shelf sits directly behind the clothes.

Please let Joel be an idiot.

I part the clothing and climb onto the shelf. I cross my legs to sit crisscross to avoid my feet poking out from under the clothes. Then I slide the closet door closed and place the clothes in front of me.

A second later, the door to the bedroom opens. I hear his quiet footsteps as he stalks around the room. My heart beats quickly. I hear him chuckle to himself and then a rapid thud sound.

"Not under the bed, huh?" Joel asks me. His voice taunts me.

I press my back as firmly as it can get to the wall. I squint my eyes closed as tight as I can. Maybe if I squint them hard enough, I can teleport to a different place.

Please don't see me. Please don't see me. Please don't see me.

He opens up the closet door and yells, "HA!"

I freeze. I don't move a muscle as he looks confused around the closet.

"I guess you're not in this room, Diana," he whispers to himself.

He turns and walks out of the room. I let out a shaky breath and look up at the sky.

"Gracias, Papa Dios," I whisper.

I wait for what feels like forever before I step down from the shelf and walk to the door.

Joel is in the room next door to the one I'm hiding in. I need to get across the hall to my room if I want to have any chance at surviving this. Even if that chance is minuscule, it's better than the one I'm currently working with.

I take a deep breath and stand in the doorway. I wait until I hear him open the door to the room that Ezra and Kenny were in. A feeling of sadness fills my heart as I remember the face of my best friend flash before my eyes. I take a deep breath and gain control of myself.

Fall apart when you survive, Diana.

I quietly step into the hallway and move closer to the door I was staying in. In the middle of the hallway, I open up the door when I hear a gunshot go off downstairs. My body tenses, my brain malfunctions, and I completely forget how to move.

"What the fuck—Diana!" screams Joel.

Strong hands grab me by the shoulders and flip me around. He slams me into my door, and I wince in pain. His gun is in my face in a moment. His breath hits my face, and to my utter shame, I let tears slip out of my eyes.

"You're a sneaky little snake, aren't you?" he asks me. "Just like you were the night that Maggie fell down the mountain. You started it all!" he says, slamming the gun into my forehead. "You did that! And because of you, her life was nothing that she deserved! She's struggled so much!"

I fumble with the door while he monologues to me. I reach my hand up, not breaking eye contact with Joel, while I search for the doorknob. When my hand finally finds it, I yank it and let my weight against the door swing it open.

Joel and I both fall into the room. I get onto my knees instantly, getting on top of him and trying to manhandle the gun from his possession. He resists and swings his arm with the gun toward my head, but I use my index finger to jab him in his eye. He screams out in pain, wrath filling his expression as he reaches down and grabs his eye instinctively.

I use his reaction to my advantage and slam my knee straight into his face. He screams in agony and fires the gun blindly. The bullet misses me entirely, but it hits the wall behind me. I quickly use my index finger to poke him in the eye again, and then I run to my purse that sits on the chair in the corner of the room.

I rip the pepper spray off, damaging the handle of my purse, and point it at him. Joel is just now getting onto his knees when I spray the container of pepper spray directly at him. He yells in agony, and I try to run past him, but he somehow grabs my hair and yanks me down to the ground.

"You little bitch!" he screams at me. His voice is laced with vitriol.

I unclasp the pepper spray and spray more into his face. The mist of it hits me in my own face, and my eyes begin to sting, but not enough that I can't see. I use the canister of pepper spray to punch up into Joel's nose, and he falls over screaming. Blood falls down his face, and when I get up to run again, Maggie is standing in the door to my room.

"Goodbye, Diana," she whispers.

She aims the gun directly at me and pulls the trigger. Pain erupts in my stomach, and I sink to the ground gasping for breath. It feels as if someone has set my body on fire. I look down at the ground and see a large puddle of blood forming around my body.

"Fuck," I whisper as my vision starts to go dark.

My head tilts to the side, and the last thing I see is Joel standing up and flipping me off. The lights turn back on, and I see my phone on the ground next to me. I quickly pick it up and press the lock button three times in succession. The signal for SOS shows up on my screen, but my hand is too weak to slide the button on the screen to the right and the phone drops from my hand. 

I try and pick it up again, but my vision fades, and a sudden warmth envelops me. Everything fades to black.