Upon checking that Mabel is safe and peacefully sleeping, Joshua stands at the glass wall blocking the entrance to the square area and beats it with his right fist. “Vince! Don’t give up! You need to survive!”

“So I’m his target, huh,” Jeric mumbles. “That kid. He got me there.”

“Yeah!” Vincent shouts, overjoyed. “That’s my buddy!”

“You deserve it!” Shaira says, her words dripping with acid.

“Mark her!” Jeric instructs Cristina as he points at Shaira. “Mark her face!”

Cristina feels Jeric’s frustration. She doesn’t want to add fire to his burning temper, so she quickly draws a long line on Shaira’s face. “I need to mark one more.”

“Just wait,” Jeric says. “It’s my turn. These people are making me a bad person.”

“Really? Are you kidding me?” Shaira scorns. “You want some words I’ve read in my thesaurus?”

“Shut up, okay?” Jeric squeezes Shaira’s cheeks, distorting her lips. “Just SHUT UP!”

Shaira glares at Jeric, almost losing to her urge to spit on him.

“I want to mark you, but…. No. Later. You’re my target. I don’t want to be sent out yet.” Jeric approaches Jennifer and points his marker at her face. “I’ll mark you, instead.”

“No,” Vincent objects. “She’s been marked three times already. Please.”

Jeric stares at Vincent,...