Julian spoke truth. The day was filled with the roar of drop-ships and the outbreaks of fighting among the new inmates, and sometimes the old inmates as well. Kaylin hadn't made it to all of the drops, but after having warned everyone about what Julian had said, it seemed the gangs were less interested in killing off competition, and more about just getting everyone together.

By the end of the day, several hours into the night, Kaylin had several people in and out of her hut; Jone himself had to come in for stitches having gotten into a real fight with one of his new man over leadership in the Mels gang. The very last person in her hut for treatment was a young Asian man picked up by the Red Dragons, who didn't speak any English. He was accompanied by a woman she knew as Feng, who translated for Kaylin as she cemented up one of the man's fingers. But Feng had said something that was still plaguing Kaylin as she finally was checking over her own injuries.

Why were there so many drops?

Kaylin felt a chill, realizing that for a second time, the heads of the gangs might convene to figure things out. The idea scared her, and she hissed as she pressed some healing ointment too hard on a cut. She sighed and looked at it. They were all no deeper than paper cuts, but there were several of them, and in the heat of the jungle several of them had gotten infected without immediate treatment. Her stomach felt better.

She sighed and set down the swab, looking at the puckering cut on her arm and wringing her hands together. She clasped her fingers and bowed her head. She knew that the multitude of new inmates meant that there was going to be more fighting. Small groups could be placated by their leaders easily, fights over leadership were common, Cee himself had only been leader for a year, having defeated the former leader in a fist-fight and proving that he was stronger after he had been dropped off.

But a large group like this brought hot blood to the body of the gangs. She knew that the leaders would be under a sudden high amount of pressure to formulate an attack against rival gangs.

But why? That was the question. Why, had so many been dropped off at once? And so early in the year?

She felt small scratches on her arm and looked down at Algernon who squeaked and sniffed her hand, wanting food. She frowned, then smiled and lifted the mouse up and took her to the cabinets, finding the several crusts of dry bread and breaking off a piece and handing it to the mouse.

She heard a knock and turned, looking at the door as it opened and a torch came into the house, blinding her in the darkness until her eyes adjusted. Cee was holding it. She blinked to focus her eyes, and saw the very serious expression on his face.

"Kaylin, there's something you need to see," he said.

She was outside the house soon after, noticing instantly that Cee was alone. She looked around, then back at him, who seemed to understand her silent question and merely shook his head. They then headed south behind her house, heading into the deep jungle. Kaylin knew that there were animals in the forest, especially at night. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous, even though she had Cee with her. She kept close by, looking frightfully at ever noise that wasn't made by the two of them.

Cee had to help her over several bushes and trees, careful to keep the torch away from the plants, even though they were too green to really catch on fire. By the tenth time that Cee extended his hand towards her to help her out, Kaylin realized that she had gone farther south away from her home than she had ever been. What was all the way out here that she needed to see? Kaylin had a bad feeling.

Finally, after a moment, Cee stopped. Kaylin froze behind him and looked around, listening carefully to hear if it had been a noise that gave the man pause.

"There," he said. Kaylin looked over to where he was pointing and saw in the trees a large dark mass. She crept slowly forward, noticing the fallen branches and leaves on the ground, and looking up to see the hole that had been torn in the canopy. As she neared, she saw that there was a small blinking red light on the dark mass. She reached forward to touch it, and felt cold metal beneath her fingers, not yet warmed up by the jungle.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

"They dropped them here just a few hours ago, we managed to get one open," Cee stepped forward, and as he did so, the light from his torch fell on the Weyland-Yutani logo and Kaylin drew back from the box like a snake.

She felt her heart pound in her chest. Flashes of slick black serpentine monsters flooded her mind. These boxes would be just big enough to house one xenomorph each. Cee implied that there were others. How many others? Did he let one out? Did he realize how much danger just one of those creatures posed if it went through its metamorphosis?

Her voice shook as she finally whispered, "what was inside?"

"Weapons," Cee said, both relieving Kaylin and filling her with a new sense of dread, "Colonial marines' standard military issue. Each box has a different code to open it. I figure the intent is to arm all of us, not just first come first serve."

Cee trailed off when he saw the look in Kaylin's face, saw the shining of her tears as her lower lip trembled.

"How many know?"

Cee hesitated with a sigh then answered, "I told the Skulls—," Kaylin held her breath, "so far I don't think anyone else heard the drop, we haven't run into anyone else out here."

"You can't let this happen," Kaylin said suddenly with a burst of breath. Cee cocked an eyebrow and Kaylin wrung her hands together, "you can't let this turn into a war. That's what they want. Don't tell anyone else. Don't give the guns to anyone, even yourself."

"Kay—."

"Please. If you let this happen, the only thing that will come of it is death, and I won't be able to save everyone, and it will never end. It won't stop until everyone is dead. Please Cee. Please."

Cee sighed heavily. There was something hard in his eyes, something dangerous in the bend of his brow. Kaylin swallowed her breath, holding perfectly still as Cee looked down at her.

"Kay, this is going to happen, there's no stopping it. Even if we don't tell anyone, other people are gonna find them eventually, it's not like we can hide them. And when they do, I would rather me and my people have something to shoot back at them when they come running in guns blazing. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't let my people have at least some of them. Tell you what. If I can get these open, I'll take them all, and I'll hide them. Only the Skulls will have the guns, that way there is no war."

Kaylin's lips thinned. This wasn't compromise, this was a promise of tyranny, or genocide. It was a promise of holocaust, and she knew it. She knew that Cee knew it too, but was trying to paint it in a way that seemed more acceptable. Control the guns, control the lands, control the people; there was no real way to sugar coat it. There was either going to be war, or extermination.

Kaylin swallowed and looked at the box, then looked back at Cee, "why show me?"

Cee's face softened slightly, "because, when it happens, I'm gonna need you to take care of the kids."

Kalin's mouth closed and she stared straight at Cee. The two of them didn't say anything for a long time, but Kaylin eventually nodded, said, "okay," and turned, heading back towards her home with or without Cee. The leader of the Skulls did accompany her back to her cabin, providing her light and safety through the jungle. He waited outside until she shut the door behind her, and she stood with her back to the door, watching the orange light from outside fade away.

Numbly, Kaylin walked to her bed and sank down beside it. She began to weep into the blanket. She knew she was helpless to stop what was going on, but the realization that several of the children would be orphaned once it was over broke her heart the most.

Kaylin wasn't sure for how long she was crying, eventually though the sobs subsided and her face began to dry. She sat back and looked at her hut, and with reluctant resolve, began to plan on how to childproof it. No doubt she'd be watching over more than just the Skull children, she would need the space, so she began to move her large blood-stained table out of the middle of the room. As she worked, her thoughts wandered to how soon this war was going to start, and though she tried to distract herself, she began to think of which gangs would fall first. The smaller gangs, like the Cazadores and the Red Dragons, they would probably be the first to be wiped out, having weaker numbers than many of the other gangs.

Casualties would be heavier in gangs that couldn't get their hands on the weapons soon enough, so the ones who were furthest away from the drop, the FSA, the NoI, and the Volki would be in danger of being the next ones to die. Perhaps the smaller and more distant ones could escape, get farther away on the planet, spread out and hide, but that was not their style. These people were warriors, and they lived to see the flowing blood of their enemies.

Kaylin caught a sob in her throat, moving her makeshift knives and her newly acquired needles into the higher cabinets, closing them and looking around for cloth and string to tie the other cabinets closed. She began to plan for taking care of the children. There were many, she wasn't sure her hut could fit all of them. Maybe she could make a quick add on to give everyone a place to sleep. She would need mats and blankets for everyone. She would also need more food and water, and restock all her medicine, just in case.

Making plans helped clear her mind a bit. She ignored her exhaustion, rubbing her eyes constantly, yawning, but ultimately she kept working and planning. She wasn't sure what time it was when she heard a knock on her door. She paused and looked back at it, wondering if Cee had come back, or if it was someone else with the same news. She hesitated, hearing the person on the other side of the door shift and then knock again.

Kaylin set her jaw, swallowed, then left her work to head to the door. She hesitated a moment with her hand against the wood, but finally opened the door. It wasn't who she expected. The thin face of Julian was looking down at her, his nose brace still intact and his glasses fighting for space on his nose. Kaylin blinked once then forced herself to calm down. He seemed uncomfortable, and he had with him a rough-looking blanket.

"I'm sorry to bother you this late at night," he whispered hoarsely, "it's… probably very inappropriate to ask but, could I stay here for tonight? Maybe a couple nights?" his voice had lowered to an even fainter whisper, as if they were sharing a secret that would be dangerous for anyone else to know.

He closed his lips and swallowed, looked down at the ground and shifted uncomfortably before looking up and saying, "I don't belong with them."

Kaylin stared at him for a moment, before stepping back and letting him inside. In her mind, despite herself, she thought: that makes two of us.