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It was the " our store

Which explained e hadn’t had et food and water

I looked at the screen in shock, expecting at any moment to see the face of the ed to notice the ca on outside, the last sounds of a scuffle, and then it was quiet Then we heard what I i the woman’s body away

After a few moments of inactivity, the intercom shut off automatically

We were frozen in a moment of horror, I think is the best way to describe it

There had been a woht outside the door And now she was dead

And then Niko roared

He balled his hands into fists and started striking his own head Bam, bam, bam!

"Niko, stop!" I shouted

He turned to the nearest shelving unit and started pu the boxes

I stepped forward to try to help him To restrain him, somehow, so he wouldn’t hurt hi stuff out"

Niko destroyed the aisle, ripping, punching, tearing, throwing, cursing, spitting, shouting Crying

Slowly, he started winding down

"All right, onna be okay"

"It’s not okay," Niko shouted "She’s dead and if I’d just thought faster, I could have saved her!"

He drove his head into a heavy, wooden crate

"You’re pissed!" I shouted "You’re so angry you want to burst!"

My volume and intensity surprised hi

"We could’ve saved her and we failed! You could have saved her and you failed!" I shouted

It seeht of his own anger and despair

"She’d dead! They’re all dead and we can do nothing to save them!"

Niko crumpled to his knees and rested his forehead on the linoleu He could hear me

"It’s not your fault, Niko," I said

"But I could have helped her"

"It’s not your fault," I repeated

"You didn’t cause the tsunami, man," Jake said quietly

"It’s not your fault"

"It’s nobody’s fault," Brayden said

Niko’s body relaxed

Jake, Brayden, and I just watched hiained his usual composure

Niko drew his sleeve across his face

He sat up and looked around

"Shoot," he said "Look at this hed a little when he said that

"Coet a drink"

Jake hauled Niko to his feet and we left the storeroolance at the monitor

It was black and silent

One more lady was dead Add her to the ured pretty sathered in the kitchen Jake had a bottle of ru liberal shots into Dixie cups

Jake held his cup aloft "To Niko, a really good guy, even if he is a Boy Scout"

"Here, here," I said, tapping ht ru besides failure

Brayden knocked his doithout a grimace

"You know," Jake said, after he drained his cup "I love Boy Scouts You knohy?"

"Why?" Niko asked

"They give a real good hand job"

We cracked up

"No, really All that ti to do They always come prepared, too, with little lotion bottles"

"Ha-ha," Niko said But he didn’t seeet a lot of those jokes But back in Buffalo--"

"You’re from Buffalo? New York?" Brayden interrupted him "I have an aunt from there"