Five days later, guards move on the prisoners. Cilka is advised not to leave the hospital. Prisoners have erected barricades and concerns grow that the guards and camp authorities may be planning retaliation. Cilka is terrified for her friends, hoping they are safe. And she fears for Alexandr, too. The next day, the stalemate is broken. ‘Prepare for casualties,’ Yelena warns the staff. Gunfire reverberates around the camp. Within minutes, Cilka and her colleagues are overrun with prisoners bringing in wounded men, and some women.
