The campers and the crew of the Iron Dragon gathered in one of the hotel's conference rooms, the anticipation thick in the air. Duncan stood before them, his eyes blazing with an inhuman intensity. He stared around the room, drawing in a calming breath before speaking.
"This is the day that changes everything." he began, his eyes coming to rest on Gwen. "We all know why we are here, so I won't waste time explaining. Ahead of us lays the most difficult challenge we have yet faced, the murder of one of our own. It is not a decision to take lightly, for, despite all the wrongs she has done in recent months, Heather was part of this family and killing her will not be easy. I say this because I know that the taking of human life is something none of us ever wants to do, but we are left with no choice. If any of you, for any reason, have a problem with what we are about to do, then now is your one chance to leave. If you stay, you are with us to the end, there will be no turning back."
"We've all got your back on this Duncan." said Harold. "None of us are going to leave."
"And you understand the conditions with which you must comply?" Duncan asked.
"Yes." Harold replied, meeting Duncan's gaze. The others nodded.
"Alright than, let's get to work." said Duncan. "I have a plan for how I think we should do this, but I would appreciate input from the rest of you."
"Let's hear your plan first, than we can give our input." said Chef.
Duncan nodded. "Okay, here it is." he said. "We know Heather is holed up somewhere in the warehouse district and that she has Justin and Silas with her. I figure, our best bet is to separate the three of them so they can't give each other aid. We split into three teams, with each team assigned to one of the three and then we take them out."
"Okay, that sounds like a pretty good plan." said Trent. "But what about others? Surely Heather, Justin, and Silas will have guards of some kind."
"That's why we go in teams." said Duncan. "It will be the job of each team leader to take down the primary target, while the rest of the team deals with other potential threats."
"What about Lindsey?" Beth asked. "Who's going to retrieve her and Allison?"
"Which ever team is assigned to take out Justin will have that job." Duncan replied. "I figure Justin will be the one guarding Lindsey, as I don't think Heather would trust Silas with the job and she's far too important to do it herself. So, the team tasked with taking out Justin will also have the task of retrieving Lindsey and Allison."
"Are we really planning on killing Justin?" Chris asked, glancing at Duncan.
"He betrayed us didn't he?" Duncan responded, the look in his eyes cold and uncaring.
"There is no proof he went with Heather willingly though." Chris argued. "How can we kill him if he's innocent?"
"Cody saw him leave with her, that's enough of a reason for me." Duncan growled, not looking at the others as he spoke.
"Actually, he did appear to put up a resistance." said Cody. "And didn't look particularly happy with himself even when he chose to go with her."
Duncan glared at Cody a moment before speaking, "Alright, if you all want to keep the bastard alive, we will. But if he is indeed on her side, I will fucking kill him, no questions asked, understood?"
"Okay, anything else?" Noah asked, looking at Duncan.
"No, that's about it." said Duncan. "Any of you have any additions you'd like to make?"
"No, it sounds like a pretty fucking watertight plan to me." said Trent. "I say we get down there and lay waste to the bitch."
"Hold on, I have a question." said John. Duncan looked at him and nodded. "I don't mean to be an asshat, but if you have this thing so well planned, why did you have Izzy call me and my crew? Because we don't need to get involved in something that has no need of us."
Duncan stared at him a moment before answering. "Izzy called you because we need help." he said, looking John in the eye. Like Trent said earlier, there will probably be more than just three people waiting for us, and we could use some help in nullifying that particular problem."
"There's also the fact that you know the warehouse district pretty well." said Izzy, looking from Duncan to John.
"So do you." said John. "If the stories you told us after we pulled you out of the lake are true, you all have quite a bit of experience fighting in the warehouses."
"Look, if you don't want to help, you're welcome to leave." said Duncan. "But make up your mind quickly, we don't have all fucking day."
John looked at his crew and read the answer to his question in their eyes. "We'll stay." he said, glancing at Izzy. "But you have to stop treating us with such disdain."
"Agreed." said Duncan, shaking John's hand.
"Alright, now that that's settled, when do we move out?" D.J. asked.
"Tomorrow morning, at dawn." said Duncan. "Tonight, we prepare and we party, for this may be the last time we get a chance to do this."
The others nodded and they moved to exit the room. Just then a hotel bus boy ran up to them, pressing a note into Duncan's hands before collapsing. Duncan caught him before he hit the floor, noticing the knife in his back as he did.
"Oh, shit!" said Trent. "That bitch is killing innocent civilians now."
"He's not dead." said Duncan. "Quick run to the front desk and tell them to call 911." Trent nodded and took off, while Duncan turned his attention to the note. His eyes scanned the paper quickly, growing darker with every word. Finally, he looked up, his eyes meeting Tyler's.
"What does it say?" Tyler asked, his voice anxious.
"It-we have to move out now." Duncan replied, changing course mid-sentence. With that, he dropped the note and took off towards the elevators, heading upstairs to collect weapons. Gwen picked up the note and read it over twice, her eyes widening in horror, before handing it over to the others. They read it too, finding the words they did not want to read.
You have one last chance to save her, in twenty four hours she will be dead. H.
A/N: So there it is, Duncan's final plan. Will it work, well I guess that depends on how quickly the gang carries it out and weather or not Heather is already wise to the plan. Either way, someone is gonna die and we will finally have the conclusion to the story (only three chapters to go!).