Naia's POV

I wasn't sure how long before everyone came back to the firetruck. I might have dozed off a little at some point but the moment I saw them walking towards us, I jumped off of Truck 81 and ran to Matt.

"Are you okay?" He asked as I sprung into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck.

I nodded, "I'm okay."

He carried me back into the firetruck and after some shifting around, everyone managed to get a seat and we were on our way back to Firehouse 51. I leaned my head against the window and looked out to see Squad behind us. The ambos were probably taking victims to a hospital.

Sighing, I turned my eyes away from the buildings that flashed by as Stella drove. I looked at the faces of everyone else in the firetruck and I knew I had only seen a little snippet of what the carnage was.

As soon as the firetruck came to a stop on the apparatus floor, I numbly got up and helped Sophie, Jack, and Bella out.

"I'll call your parents now," Matt told Nate and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They can pick you up here."

Nate nodded and we slowly lead the younger kids into the common room. We plopped them down on the couch and I turned on the T.V. which happened to be on the news channel.

For a moment, I watched as the news reporter showed what had happened at Millennium Park. I wasn't really listening or watching, to be honest, but I couldn't seem to change the channel.

Finally, Nate reached over and gently pried the remote control out of my hand and flicked through the channels before stopping at one that was showing cartoons.

"Excuse me," I whispered as I got up. I wandered around the halls for a while before I found myself suddenly in an empty corridor. Nobody was around and somehow, I found myself crumbling on the ground inside of a storage closet. It was dark since the door was shut and I wasn't sure what was what but I was leaned against a wall with my knees tucked up to my chest.

I ran my hands up and down my arms and stopped to trace around the patch of dried blood on my upper arm. After fingering it for a while, I felt something wet. When I realized it was blood, I immediately jerked my hand away.

"Everything is going to be alright."

How many people died today? It couldn't have just been that one man I saw.

How many sons and daughters were taken away from their families? How many brothers and sisters? Husbands and wives? Mothers and fathers?

The anger at the bottom of my stomach was starting to bubble. I was so disgusted by how someone would do this to others I felt like throwing up. The feeling was deep in my gut and so thick I genuinely thought I was going to be sick. The bile threatened to spill up my throat but I swallowed hard and managed to keep it in.

"Everything is going to be alright."

I watched as Jane took her last breath, her chest rising and falling one last time, her small body going limp in my arms. Her pale face, the blood, the loose strand of hair which I tucked behind her ear.

"Naia?"

"I'm sorry. It should have been me."

It didn't matter. Words meant nothing. Jane couldn't hear me anyway and I knew that.

"Naia?"

The closet door was suddenly swung open and light came tumbling into the room, blinding me momentarily. I blinked a few times, shading my eyes with my hand as they adjusted to the sudden light.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Shay exclaimed, sounding a little mad. "Didn't you hear us calling?"

I shook my head, "No, sorry."

My voice was quiet and shaky. You could practically hear me trembling.

Shay slowly sat down next to me in the cramped closet and put an arm around my shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked quietly and I nodded.

"I'm fine."

Shay wasn't that easily convinced though, "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's really going on?"

"How many people died today?" I whispered, looking up at Shay whose face said it all.

"I don't know," She replied and started stroking my head.

I swallowed hard, "A lot?"

"A lot," Shay repeated and I suddenly felt nauseous again as I thought about how many a lot was.

My face must have shown how I felt because Shay tilted my head up so that our eyes would meet.

"You don't look so good," Shay told me and then her eyes suddenly widened as she noticed the blood on my upper arm.

She reached over and grabbed my arm, pulling it closer for her to examine.

"What happened?" Shay asked and I instinctively pulled my arm back, away from her.

"Nothing," I responded.

Shay raised an eyebrow, "Nothing doesn't mean blood."

I shrugged, "I think a bullet grazed me."

Shay nodded, "That sounds more reasonable. Come on, let's get that cleaned up."

"Is Gabby back yet?" I asked and Shay shook her head in response as she helped me to my feet. She then leads me to the app floor where Ambo 23 was parked and swung open the back doors.

"You're not taking me to the hospital, are you?" I questioned, "Because that's completely unnecessary."

Shay smiled softly, "Relax, I'm just going to wrap it."

Biting my lip, I reluctantly sat down on the floor of the ambulance, my legs swinging over the side.

"Naia?"

I looked up to see Matt running over, a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Shay took a seat next to me, a roll of gauze in her hand, "Bullet graze."

"I thought you said you were okay!" Matt gave me a look.

"I am," I replied innocently.

Matt just sighed and took a seat on the other side of me, taking my hand into his while Shay wrapped the bullet graze.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Matt asked me. It was the same question Shay had asked me just moments ago.

I nodded, "It's just a graze. A little scratch."

Matt accepted that answer and left it at that though we both knew he wasn't talking about the bullet graze.