Uprising

There's a little brain-filter that some people have which I seem to have not only disabled, but tossed out the window of an overpass on the PCH going about 180mph. Gunnar started acting weird so of course, the first... well, second thing I do is blurt out that I love him in a van full of mostly strangers during a three hour drive.
Foot and mouth, this is awkward and silence. I have a feeling you'll see a lot of each other. Yeah. I don't wanna talk about that now.
The encounter at the compound was... a mixed bag. I made sure to up Brendan's defenses this time, no repeats of that encounter at the hotel. I squeezed him on the shoulder, and after some other small talk I just said, "Because of last time." He didn't really look at me though, which was a little peculiar, I guess.
I did the same trick for Gunnar, thinking of the tendency seemingly innocuous objects have of exploding around him. I put my hand more on his neck and said, "Because I know you." And I wanted to say more, to tell him how I feel about him, but I decided this wasn't the right time. I am obviously a master of such judgment calls.
At first, my role involved a lot of waiting. I just hung back with Jack, Brendan and Nevermore. Gunnar and Nate went in first. "The plan" changed a few times, but I'm pretty sure every iteration involved superhero-Gunnar shooting people in the face. I'm not sure exactly how things went down while we waited, but we eventually got a text asking for a distraction. Jack suggested being a drunk wanderer and I thought about losing some clothing but ultimately decided fully armed and guns blazing was the best bet for an entry. Jack drove one van up to the gate of the compound and smacked a guy with the door. I was at the wheel of the other, and as soon as I saw him open his door I shut off the engine and was drawing Sibyl. Brendan was ready in the passenger's seat. I think we decided the signal was a bullet from Gunnar's sniper rifle. That's when I started shooting, anyways. I dropped the guy on my side, Nevermore went and helped Brendan out and then we phalanxed up with Jack. He stood behind what used to be the gate to the compound. It worked, for like a minute. I guess they figured someone was behind that gate, and shot it all to Hell. I don't really remember how everything went from there. Adrenaline probably messed with my memory; I was pretty much acting on reflexes. Guys came out of the buildings, we shot them. I remember Brendan taking a hit, which would have been so much worse if I hadn't taken the time to talk to him, and then he hopped up on the roof, I guess with Gunnar. Nate, Jack and I met up inside the building, in the cafeteria. One of the kids, who has this really cute (and big) dog was helping us, apparently. I'll just go with it. We were starting to talk about how to get the kids out when more armed jackasses started pouring in. Jack started knocking shit over, and that seemed like a good idea. It took a minute or two, especially since the assholes poured in from two different directions, but we dropped them all.
Then there was an explosion.
Dammit, Gunnar. I took off running, and I shouldn't have because Jack actually got hit with a couple of bullets, but it turns out Nate is a decent surgeon. Gunnar was walking away from (what used to be) the adjacent building, nonchalantly picking shrapnel out of his face, Brendan following behind and looking a bit... upset.
We rejoined the guys (and girl?) and the kids, eventually found some birthrights and weapons and other items of import. One item was a pair of glasses, which little Brenden Gair said I should wear to talk to a lady who'd been trying to get my attention for a while. And next to me stood Bridgitte Delacroix herself, apparently frustrated because none of us are Bruce Willis. She told me I could hang on to the glasses until we got her body back to New Orleans (well, she asked if we'd do that part). Then it was up to her dad whether the loan would continue.
Nate and Gunnar went to go get the vans, and we started escorting the kids down the road. We take like, two steps when one of the kids, a boy, tripped another kid, a girl. So, apparently like you do when you're a pre-teen, she fucking wheels around and stabs him with a goddamn trident. WTF.
I text Gunnar, "Kids fighting, get back here." The kids had no idea what was up, and they acted like amnesiacs. We adult types figured supernatural influence, but Gunnar said he'd searched the whole compound and there was no one left. Logic said they'd be somewhere off the compound, so I volunteered Nevermore for some recon. He's been surprisingly un-mouthy lately. He found a guy, then Nate, Gunnar and the new girl (Camila?) went to check on it. I heard a gunshot, then a bit after Nate and Camila came back. Gunnar trudged behind them, which was weird.
Then he said, "Yeah I just shot a guy. He told me to drop my gun and I didn't want to. I wanted to shoot him, so I did." Then... then he said he was thinking of wrapping things up here and going back to Chicago.
I think everyone could hear the look I gave him.

Before we were even able to get all the way off the dirt road, I saw a little girl, just standing there. Nobody else saw her, but I asked Gunnar to stop, and I got out to talk to her. I asked what she was doing there, and she told me she was taken from her room and didn't want to go back. I immediately thought of the one missing kid Nate had mentioned, and the lump started in my throat. I asked her name, which was Azeeza. "I... I don't wanna go back to the compound," she said to me. Eyes as big as the moon. She talked about how her parents were hurt, and she thought the guards did it. I wanted to pull her to me, hug her and tell her it would be okay, but I had the feeling my hands would just pass through her. I was afraid to test my theory and be right, so I just said, "Oh, sweetie. I don't think you have to worry about that."
I wish I could be more direct, and just say "because you're dead and we just killed all the guards we could find and when we find the next echelon we'll take care of them, too." But I couldn't. I didn't want to scare her, and I figured being dead was enough for one day. Instead, when she asked me what happened and I couldn't tell her, I displayed my uncanny ability to say the first thing on my mind without bothering to think about it. "I'm going to make you a promise, Azeeza. I am going to find out what happened to you. Then I will do everything in my power to make it right." She didn't really look comforted, but she looked a little less sad. "Azeeza? I don't break my promises." She nodded. Then she asked to come with me.
Gods damn it, why do they have to fuck with kids?