Day: After
It was and it was not over. For the survivors like Leonard and Matthew, it was just the beginning. Long days of filling out paperwork, court dates, police interviews and the stress of having the whole world's attention focused directly upon them – that was their future. For the dead, for those like Ariel Zellwitt, for whom help came too late, it really was over.
In the days and weeks that followed what the media promptly dubbed the "Band Camp Massacre", certain aspects regarding Mr. Lordfyre's personality came to light. These discoveries shed light on how easily he was able to manipulate and control ten teenagers into committing murder. Psychiatrists were the only ones able to understand the findings due to the technical jargon found in Lordfyre's case file. And what difference did it make, really? He had been a master manipulator. That was all there was too it.
The media attention grew daily. Television, radio and the Internet were flooded with "special reports" regarding the subject. The press latched on to it so tightly partly because with 72 deaths, it was the worst school shooting in the history of the United States and also because of the uniqueness of the killings. Instead of the typical teased-till-they-just-couldn't-take-it-anymore attitude, the killers did what they did for the school's marching band, of all things.
The media loved it.
The press were split, though, about how they should view Leonard Delta. Some labeled him a murderer for setting and detonating the bomb that killed the section leaders, while others proclaimed him a hero. But he knew the truth. He wasn't the hero. Omar Huges was. And whenever he was interviewed, he was sure to include that. The 34 survivors had Omar Huges to thank.
But not all of them thought so. Jedidiah Crews, for instance. He watched the news reports while recuperating from his bullet wound (it hadn't been serious, thanks heavens), he watched them and whenever he saw Leonard Delta's face on the TV screen, he sat up in his hospital bed and smiled.
It wasn't over. He knew it. It wasn't over. Not by a long shot.