Owen and his friends immediately sprang up from where they were seated and ran towards the sound. A young Earth girl who had the misfortune of being closest to the arch was screaming, but her screams were abruptly cut off as she sank to the ground. Several other nearby campers rushed to her aid, including Owen and his friends.
Cam reached her first and gathered her up into his lap, feeling for a pulse. “She’s dead,” he announced to the gathering crowd, though there was a note of disbelief in his voice. Her lifeless body looked especially tiny in his arms. Owen, meanwhile, stopped in his tracks and started looking around for whatever had caused this. He didn’t even hear Cam, and he barely noticed Margot tugging on his sleeve.
“What?” he finally snapped at her.
She was too scared to be
