Niko opened the gym doors in front of me, pushing them open and turning on the light by the door. When it turned on, all of the families, including Mom and Skylar, were sitting on the bleachers, and there were a few guns pointed at the door in case something bad happened.
Blood dripped down my sleeve, and even off of Niko's chest as he wiped it off of his shirt.
"Leon! Niko! Are you two okay?!" Mom shouted out. Skylar ran right behind her to analyze my body for wounds, then Niko's body for the wounds around his chest.
"What happened to you, honey?! Were you stabbed?! Who did this?!" Mom shouted out. The ruckus behind her, that being the adults all starting conversations full of speculation and worry, started to get loud as the front door shut again. Dad entered the gym with his hands gripped into fists by his side.
"Korin... he stabbed me..." I told Mom. Ernesto and Grace showed visible worry behind her, and that worry started to warp into anger as they both got up to move outside.
"Korin?! I thought you guys were friends... why did he try to stab you? Explain what happened. Theresa, can you please take a look at this wound?!" Mom nervously called out to Cody's Mom, and she ran over with a small med kit by one of the tables to look at my stab wound. I removed my shirt and she began poking and prodding to see what happened.
"You shouldn't go find Korin right now. You should hear it from me before you go and see him," Niko stopped Ernesto from moving to the outside of the gym, and he showed visible anger.
"Let me see my boy! I need to beat his ass for hurting another kid that's younger than him! What the fuck was he thinking?" Ernesto called out. That was the first time I heard him passionate about the plentiful mistakes Korin always made, but Niko canceled him out by shaking his hands.
"Korin busted down a gate that lead hundreds of zombies over to us. Dad, Uncle Brandon, Papa, and Jason were all polite and stable-minded enough to handle the threat. When we got locked outside, Korin fired shots at us and tried to kill Leon from across the street. It's a good thing your son sucks dick at shooting, otherwise, my brother would've been killed by your terrible kids' gun," Niko said. He couldn't hold in anything anymore, and his personality completely flipped.
"How can you be such shitty fucking parents to the fact that your stupid fucking kid wants to maliciously kill somebody else? I saw you in the beginning when your fucked up family first entered this school and threatened all of us. We accommodated Korin, hoping you two would actually parent the stupid child, but we were left fighting for our lives when we shouldn't be. My Dad worked tirelessly, day in and day out, even during the night, to make this place safe enough for kids of all ages. A place away from murder, away from zombies, and every threat that you can't even perceive," Niko shouted out. He took a few breaths as he got riled up, and then lifted his shirt over his gun on his hip.
"I took care of Korin for you. He ran at my brother with a knife, and I put two bullets in his skull. Don't worry, he died fast and couldn't even see me," Niko said. Parents from all over the room started to gasp in total shock as Niko took more breaths in. His long-winded speech came to a closer and he started to look around the gym, covering the gun on his hip once more as Ernesto and Grace were both disheartened, hearing the story of how Korin got himself killed.
"You... killed... Korin...?" Ernesto muttered, looking up at Niko. I had never seen such blood-lusted eyes, even from Korin while he tried to kill me. Dad interjected himself, putting himself between both Ernesto and Niko.
"That's enough! I can second what he's saying. I planned to severely punish Korin with whatever you guys would permit, but he ran at Leon with his knife, ready to kill him. He already expressed intent to kill, and wouldn't stop, even when I told him that we would work it out. Look, I'm sorry Korin is dead, I really am," Dad told Ernesto. Ernesto's face was warped with anger as he fired back toward Dad.
"You don't get it... I lost both of my kids to this world... this world... Vincent... and you... you killed the only two things I cared about anymore," Ernesto said. He fell to his knees and curled up on the ground. I thought it to be dramatic, but I didn't have kids and didn't understand loss yet.
It was strange, thinking of Korin as a person I tried to get along with. After all was said and done, he wouldn't show up anymore. It was strange, to think of a person who would be absent from my everyday routine.
"You... killed somebody...?" Mom asked Niko. He turned his head up, looking at her with kind eyes.
"Whatever it took to save Leon. If I shot him in the leg and he still got to Leon, he would've killed him. If I shot him in the arm, he still would've gotten to Leon. I didn't shoot back at him from across the street, and he stabbed Leon, what else would he have done if I waited?" Niko asked Mom. He mainly asked into the crowd but also left the question open for Mom.
It was a tough spot to be in. Yes, he killed somebody, but Korin wasn't going to stop. I couldn't care less about Ernesto and Grace's loss of both children, especially since Korin was so awful to be around.
Niko was the first one of the group to kill an actual human. It wasn't because he was the first one there for the opportunity, it was because he had been ruined by the world first. The signs were all there, between him caring more for Skylar and me than himself, he stopped caring about his own mind, more worried about our own. With Niko's worry, I could keep my innocence... I never saw it like that.
"There's plenty of things you can still do. Have another kid, God knows you'll be able to know that I've cleaned this place of a terribly-raised kid," Niko said. He wasn't just defending himself anymore. He was rubbing salt in the wound, and at that point, he went too far.
"Niko, that's enough," Dad said. He stood at the helm of the gym, looking in the cooler to see what Korin stole.
"Look, it's no doubt that tonight was a rough night, but we're going to secure the fence and we'll be okay, just like we were before. Niko, you're coming with me, and then after, you'll be placed in confinement until we figure out a fitting punishment for you," Dad declared. Niko's reasonable personality kicked in, and he instantly agreed to Dad's terms and walked out of the gym to follow him and a few other adults.
"Leon, are you okay?" Cody and Connie both ran up to me, looking at the stab wound on my left arm.
"Yeah... it hurts, but it's over. Korin was really trying to kill me... he chased me through classrooms and tried to choke me and beat me down... that was really scary," I said. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore, and let them loose while Cody's Mom patched me up.
Connie embraced me in a hug, holding me close with erratic breathing.
"I'm sorry... don't let Korin ruin you, please," She whispered in my ear.