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/I can stop the pain

If I will it all away

If I will it all away...

Don't turn away

Don't give in to the pain

Don't try to hide

Though they're screaming your name

Don't close your eyes

God knows what lies behind them

Don't turn out the light

Never sleep never die.../

(Evanescence: Whisper)


Al rose his head at the gunshots.

Why?

He could still see Willie dying, falling over the piano, his blood drops staining the music sheets.

The music. Willie's masterpiece.

Al sat up and picked up the music sheet from the floor, where it had fallen, along with the bulletproof vest.

"What should I do with you…?" he asked softly, as if expecting an answer from the ink notes.

Willie will never play his mighty compositions in front of thousands of people in the world's greatest music halls. His name will never be shining in neon letters…

But Al felt himself too weak to do anything… then again, how many of them were still alive? Who could he trust? Too bad he had no map or class roster any more, as he couldn't pick them up in the mere seconds of his frantic escape from George and his cursed machine gun… the sound of which he was sure he heard a few minutes before, which surely meant someone had died…

Who are the people I could trust and I should look for?

Nick is dead, and out of the question. Gabriel… yes! I hope he's still out there. Then Danny is a nice guy too. I'm not sure about the girls… Maddie is a cool one, I think she'll understand. Uhm… Rory and Martha… no, they're too off, only by themselves…

Thinking in the order the names came alphabetically, he didn't even notice he completely skipped letter C. Carter? Who's that? The class outcast didn't seem to matter, virtually non-existant as she was to everyone.

In the end, Al decided he'll first need a weapon better than the paper-cutting knife he found on one of the desks in the library, and that he should try and find Gabriel, Danny or maybe Maddie, given that they were still alive, of course.

Only one can remain.

Al didn't wonder about this – he needed a friend, and also needed to protect himself. Then again, since he couldn't wear the bulletproof vest properly, the "friend", whoever that might be, surely could. No way he would let George win this thing.

A bare minute before noon, he found his way to the library's small kitchen, and pulled out the drawer to find a few knives and a honing steel.

Still better than nothing.

Thus, he began to sharpen a medium-length knife he could handle fairly well.


Lily...?

George tilted his head questioningly, as if he didn't fully understand who he was looking at. True, instead of the sexy, confident Lily Bell, with her hair carefully tied up and her make-up always flawless, there stood a scratched, in spots bloodied person, her disentangled hair sticky and messy.

Lily just stared, then her face lit up. A deranged smile played on her lips as she now knew she had found who she had been dreaming of all along, oh, her beloved, the one who would take her to safety in no time.

"Giorgio!" she slammed the Kalashnikov to the ground, threw down her backpack, and ran to her beloved, her only one with open arms.

"Oh, Giorgio, Giorgio!" she cried happily, tears of joy running down her cheeks, her arms hugging her boyfriend tightly.

Lily didn't even notice George wasn't returning her embrace – he just stood there, cold and firm as a statue.


Lindsay tasted blood; her own blood. Her tears were pouring down her face, but she couldn't sob loudly, couldn't scream… her survival instincts kicked in when she wanted to cry Danny at the top of her lungs. All of a sudden, hardly knowing what she was doing, she bit down hard on her own left forearm, gnawing at her own flesh with each sob fighting its way up her throat.


"Lily…" whispered George.

"Giorgio!" Lily gently cupped the boy's face in her hands, and kissed him passionately "Giorgio!"

She couldn't do anything else, just repeating her beloved's name crying hot tears of joy. She had no energy left any more, but she knew the dear, dear Giorgio would understand her, for he loves her, oh, thank God for them finally meeting up! Nothing, no one, no greater force would ever tear them apart, never ever again…

Burying her face in the boy's chest, memories of their romance flooded her brain, and it all seemed so lovely, floating in a wonderful pink cloud. The day when the popular girl and the trendy boy accidentally ran into each other after school, and ten minutes later were already snogging in a forgotten doorway. Or the following week, when George spent the night at Lily's, once home from a wild party at the disco. What a great first sex together it was! Not the first for neither of them, of course, but who cared? Lily's parents nodded smiling, telling her how nice her latest boyfriend was.

"Oh, Giorgio…" Lily still couldn't stop crying.

She was far too happy, her heart soaring. She couldn't care less about that stupid Daniel's body lying a few feet from them: he was a fool anyway, how dare he have better grades than her, the great Lily Bell? And, of course he was always ready to intercede on that retard Lindsay's behalf – silly loser!

"Uhm, Lily…" George didn't really know what to do with the situation.

It didn't even occur to him that Lily could be sincere for once.

What is she trying to do, sob for a while, then stab me in the back?

"Lily!" in the end he pushed her off him, and shook her a little.

"What's wrong, Giorgio?" the girl's grey eyes stuck up as she showed a dazed smile "I'm here with you, embrace me…"

She didn't fell George pulling Peter's Beretta off her belt and throwing it away.

"Come, my darling!" George took her up in his arms, grinning, and brought her away from the corpse.

"Giorgio…" Lily thought this was the happiest moment of her entire life, and she had never ever felt this safe, as she held on to George's chest.


Blood dripping down her chin, Lindsay stared out of the window, her tears drying off. She only saw George and Lily disappear behind some bushes, but their dots still stayed on her palmtop – as well as Daniel's.

"Danny!" she gasped, but suddenly stopped, staring at the bleeding bite marks on her arm.

What…?

She sank on the bed and bit the pillow, bloodstaining the white fabric.

It was barely two minutes to noon when she rose her head, gathering her thoughts.

Danny… Lily… George… DANNY…

Then she heard the heart breaking screams.


George licked his lips as Lily's torn top slid down her shoulder, almost exposing one of her breasts. It's been more than five hours he got aroused when jumping on top of Maddie, but Lily seemed more than willing to give him what he wanted, holding on to him like a life line.

To tell the truth, George really didn't think about Lily while in the Training. Sure, he knew from the news she was alive somewhere, but had other things in mind than go and search for her. He, George Adams, the pride of the nation, was going to survive. But first, some fun with Lily would be very nice…

He let her down and grabbed one of her breasts without hesitation.

"Not now, Giorgio!" she gently pushed his hand away "but once we escape, I promise you we'll…"

"But only one can remain" George interrupted her.

"Oh, come on, Giorgio" the girl's eyes stuck up again for a split second "the two of us… we're together… it's fine this way…"

George, tired of listening to her foolish rants, grabbed her breast again, harder this time.

"Giorgio, no!" Lily's expression became more serious "not now!"

"But I want it – and now!"

"But I said I don't!" Lily made a few steps backwards, slightly scared.

George threw his backpack off.

"Giorgio…?"

The boy pulled out the stun baton with one swift movement, and activated it.

Lily fell on her back, almost senseless.

"You're mine!" she heard George's voice.

She couldn't move or sense, she just dimly noticed her miniskirt being pulled down aggressively, and also heard the fabric ripping.

"No…" her lips formed the word soundlessly.

She saw and heard what was happening, but failed to understand, to feel its weight, to comprehend this betrayal.

Giorgio…

Very, very slowly, her senses began to return – and she immediately felt the horrible pain.

"Nooo! Giorgio! Nooo!" she could cry out again.

George slapped her.

Lily couldn't look at him any more, she just stared off to the side emptily. A minute before she felt as if she was the happiest person on Earth, but by then she had turned into an empty, torn, broken and feelingless rag doll. Her world crumbled around her.

MUrderer! in the midst of that chaos, Kristen's, Peter's and Susan's faces appeared in front of her, shouting at her, accusing her...

As for Lily Bell, the strong, determined, popular girl: she was nowhere to be seen. George kept on thrusting into her, killing her soul with each movement. By the time he let out a victorious roar, and knelt up to pull back his jeans, the Lily Bell everyone knew was already dead.

"Thanks, this was fun!" George snickered, though a little worn out.

Lily didn't move, even though she could have already. Her limbs spread out, her head turned to the side. Sometimes her body shook a little, George thought it was still due to the stun gun; in reality, they were sobs.

"Huh?" George looked at her questioningly for a second.

True, what the heck did he ever see in this broken mess of a person? She even looked ugly. And whiny. And useless – unworthy to keep alive.

"Bye then, Lily – thanks for this great fun!"

George pulled out the knife still stained with Michael's blood, and stabbed Lily in her broken heart with one powerful motion.

As Queen Lily let out her last breath, the midday news broke the silence.

Girl #3 Bell, Lily - Eliminated

3 contestants remaining


Down to the final three

Boy #1 Adams, George

Boy #13 Vine, Alistair

Girl #5 Carter, Lindsay