YSF: Hooray for real life inspiration. Only, this didn't truly happen but the background situation did…kinda.
Two sets of feet pounded down the hall, their owners looking for anywhere that they could possibly duck into. Unfortunately the corridor in this part of the university was empty and most if not all of the doors were locked.
"Over here," one of them called to the other, having stumbled upon a door that he happened to have a key card to. Swiping the card and opening the door, the two spilled into the room and shut the door behind them, engulfing the two in darkness save for the light streaming through the window in small cracks where the blinds didn't fully meet. Panting, the two doubled over to catch their breath, one with ebony hair batting his hair out of his face as his ponytail slid into his eyes.
After a length, the other straightened and made his way to the light switch. As he reached it, the voice of his companion stopped him. "Tristan, don't," he said, lifting his head.
"Why not, Duke?" Tristan asked, looking over at his companion. Duke straightened and gave Tristan a piercing glare.
"That maniac is somewhere nearby. If he comes by here and sees light under the door, we'll be his next targets," Duke hissed.
Tristan gave a small 'oh' and lowered his hand from where it was still stretched out. "Good point, I didn't think about that." Re-crossing the room, Tristan settled on a couch that was in the club room. "At least he can't get in here unless he has a card key."
Duke nodded and settled next to Tristan. "Yeah. It was ingenious coming in here. It's too bad we won't be able to just sneak out. The gunman just had to enter the building we are in," Duke grumbled then glanced out the window. Outside he could see a multitude of flashing lights from the cop cars that were securing the perimeter. Beyond those were the evacuated students. At least, Duke mused, those that got out. He knew that there were other students trapped in the building.
Now it was just a big cat and mouse game. The gunman was the cat, and the students hiding were the mice. Best hidden mice got to live. Duke's thoughts were interrupted suddenly by screams a floor below them that were quickly silenced by shots from a gun larger than a pistol, if one were to guess by the muffled sounds.
Tristan swore under his breath. "It looks like we're stuck here until the police can find us," he murmured.
Duke nodded. "Yeah, and we must remain quiet, too," he added. Getting up, two crept to the window and settled with their backs against the wall under the window. That way, they would be less likely to be heard from the hall since they were farther from the door. Duke couldn't help but think that there were worse people that he could be stuck with…like Anzu for instance
Some time passed. Tristan had found a deck of cards so the two were quietly playing war and rummy. Duke put his cards down to stretch and tensed as he heard footsteps walking slowly down the hall, checking doors. The footsteps stopped outside the door to the room that Duke and Tristan were in and tried the handle. Tristan instinctively moved and bumped into a chair.
There was a pause and then they heard the distinct sound of a round being slid into the chamber of a gun. Both boys rose to their feet quietly. They'd have a better chance at fight or flight if standing. "He can't get in, right?" Duke whispered to Tristan as the handle was tested once more.
"Only those with a keycard to this room can open the door from the outside," Tristan replied in a whisper. They listened as the gunman fumbled for something. There was a whisking sound of something being slid through the card swipe followed by the click of the door unlocking.
The door opened and the gunman entered, holding a rifle. Bringing up the rifle, the shooter aimed almost lazily at Duke. "Bang, you're dead" he murmured with a sadistic grin and fired twice. One struck Duke in the shoulder and the other went into the right hand side of his chest. 'It doesn't hurt,' he thought as he lay on the floor, blackness overtaking him, the last thing he heard was Tristan giving a scream of denial followed by more shots.
…
A soft beeping filled Duke's ears as he slowly returned to consciousness. His whole right side of his torso and his right arm felt like they were on fire. Fluttering his eyes open, Duke took in the sight of a pale ceiling over him, the semi-soft bed around him, and the smell of flowers. Turning his head to look around, Duke spotted a familiar figure standing by the window, looking out. "A…"
"Save your strength, Duke," Atemu said softly, turning to look at him. "Everyone's been worried about you. You've been in a coma for 2 days. The doctors gave you not very good odds of waking up. Your right lung was almost completely destroyed by that bullet." Seeing Duke try to sit up, Atemu sighed and moved to assist him, getting him some water.
"W-what happened?" Duke murmured after drinking some water. Now that he was sitting, Duke could feel the pain in his shoulder and chest more clearly. The pain helped clear some of the fog in his brain.
The former pharaoh sighed. He wasn't good at consoling. Why did Duke have to wake on his watch? "As you may know, the gunman found you and Tristan. He shot you first. He was going to shoot you a third time to make sure you died, but Tristan rushed him. The shooter shot Tristan just as the SWAT team came around the corner. They killed the shooter, and got you two out of there to a waiting ambulance. Kaiba gave us a ride to the hospital and we first learned that you were in serious condition and we were told that you might not wake up, depending if your body rejected the surgery to fix your lung.
Duke noticed Atemu's voice falter at the last few sentences. "Atemu…what happened to Tristan?" he asked slowly.
Atemu drew a weary breath and hesitantly met Duke's eyes. "Tristan…Tristan was shot twice in the stomach…he…the doctors said he went septic and he died during surgery before they could save them."
Duke froze, color draining from his face. Tristan…dead…Duke felt a new pain. It wasn't physical, but Duke knew he had just lost something very dear to him. Atemu, being a true friend, supported Duke as he started to sob uncontrollably.
…
Graveyards always creeped Duke out. He figured that the feeling would never go away. Still he pressed on, heading toward a quiet, sunny part of the graveyard. In this area was a fenced area with fifty graves. A plaque at the gate listed commemorated those buried in this area. All fifty were from the shooting that claimed Tristan's life five years ago to the day.
In front of the fenced in graves were rows and rows of chairs. As Duke passed already occupied chairs, he ignored the resulting whispers. It wasn't his fault that he was the only victim that survived and he long learned to deal with the unwelcome whisperings and attention. Besides, he would be speaking at this memorial service because of that fact.
Duke silently listened to the speakers before him with dulled caring. He never liked memorial services. Finally it was his turn. Getting to the podium, Duke let his gaze sweep the crowd. He spotted his friends and felt courage flood through him.
"Five years ago today," he started, "all of our lives changed forever. Just after noon on this day five years ago, a student entered the social center of the school and opened fire. In the resulting pandemonium, students fled and tried to hide if they couldn't get out of the building safely, myself and my best friend included. It proved our undoing because the shooter decided to hunt those of us hiding down. From our spot, we could hear him drawing closer, using a master key-card to open any door and shooting those inside, the screams and gunshots slowly coming closer. When the gunner found me and Tristan, he seemed calm, knowing we were going to die. He took his time aiming and fired twice. I would be buried here among the victims if it weren't for the sacrifice of my friend. He attacked the gunner knowing that he would have little to no chance at survival just so I could live."
Duke choked slightly on tears and let them flow. He noticed that most others in the audience were crying. "I lost the one I loved that day…and wish and pray with all my might that a tragedy such as this will never happen again," he finished. Stepping down from the podium, Duke turned and headed into the fenced in area, disappearing into a small stand of trees. In the center of these trees lay Tristan's grave. When he learned of where the victims would be buried, Duke while wheelchair-bound had Joey take him to the spot and together, the two picked this spot for Tristan's final resting place.
Kneeling down, Duke brushed some stray grass from the headstone and leaned forward, placing a kiss on the cold marble. Drawing back, Duke gazed up at the sky. He didn't tell Joey or the others this, but when he died, he had been arranged to be buried next to Tristan. Then he could finally be with him forever.