The campers and their allies made their way down, once again, to the Toronto warehouse district. Like the hospital, the warehouse district was a place they would prefer never to see again, given all the horrible things that had happened to them their, but they didn't have much choice. Heather had chosen to use this place as her base of operations, and if they wanted to rescue Lindsey, they had to return, no matter how badly they didn't want to.
The gang arrived at their destination, but the place seemed to be devoid of all life. "What the fuck?" Duncan growled. "Where the hell is everybody?"
"Maybe Heather knew we were coming and decided to run?" Cody suggested.
"Of course she knew we were coming you fucking idiot." Duncan snapped. "She sent us that message, didn't she? And she's still here, she's got to be."
"Okay, geez." said Cody. "You don't have to be such an asshole."
Duncan opened his mouth to reply, but Gwen nudged him the ribs making him stop. "What?" he asked, looking at her. Gwen pointed towards one of the warehouses, the door of which was hanging part way open.
"You think she's in there?" Duncan asked, with another glance at Gwen.
"I'd say it's a pretty good bet." said Gwen, staring at the door. "It's the only warehouse that appears to have been used in the last few days." She turned to look at the others. "What do you guys think?" she asked. "Should we check and see if Heather's in there?"
"I don't see how it could hurt." said Noah. The others nodded in agreement and the campers slowly made their way forward, ever alert for the possibility of a sneak attack. As they reached the door, Duncan peeked inside pausing as he heard the distinct click of a gun being cocked.
"Shit!" he yelped, as a bullet whizzed past his head. "She's definitely in here."
"Ah, Duncan welcome." Heather's voice called from somewhere inside. "It's so nice to see you again." Her tone was mocking and full of spite. For a moment there was silence and then Heather spoke again. "Silas, Justin would you be kind enough to let our guests in." With that, the doors shuddered all the way open and Silas appeared, beckoning the campers in.
Duncan hesitated before making his way inside, the others following closely behind. He scanned the room, searching for additional threats. After a few seconds he found what he was looking for, soldiers. Trent had been right, there was an army waiting for them. His eyes also found Justin, who was half hidden in shadows, as though he was trying to hide from his family. Duncan could not be sure, but the look on Justin's face seemed to be one of apprehension, maybe even fear. It seemed as though he did not want to be there, at least not in his current role. Behind him, Duncan could feel the growing tension from the others and he knew why as he finally brought his gaze to rest upon the person he had come here to kill.
Heather stood atop a stack of wooden crates, a sinister smile on her face. "So, we come to it at last." she said, her tone still mocking. "I know why you all are here, why you have chosen to cast yourselves into the fire. But I wonder, would you all be so willing to kill me if you knew the truth? If you knew why I did what I did, would you still see me as you do now?" She paused, allowing her words to sink in before continuing. "It seems to me that if you knew, you would be less inclined to so needlessly spill my blood. For you see, I have only done what was necessary. Courtney, Ezekiel, Katie, they were merely sacrifices for the greater good of humanity, and some of you have given me the final sacrifice I need." Her eyes fell on Tyler as she finished speaking.
For a moment, no one spoke, no one moved and then Tyler stepped forward. "Where's my wife and daughter Heather?" he shouted. "What have you done with them?"
Heather smiled. "Don't worry Tyler, Lindsey and Allison are quite well. They have not been harmed and they won't be, I assure you."
"But the message you sent?" Tyler began. "You said she only had twenty four hours."
Heather laughed. "My dear Tyler, you didn't take that note seriously did you? I only sent that to lure you down here. I do not want to kill you, any of you. I simply want you to see the world as I see it, as a place were we can all live in peace."
"Bullshit!" Duncan shouted. "You expect us to believe that shit? You killed Courtney. You killed Zeke. You killed Katie and you expect us to believe that you want us all to live in peace? Fuck you! You're even dumber than I thought."
"Come now Duncan, don't you have even the slightest interest in my vision?" Heather asked, another grin crossing her face.
"Fuck your vision." Duncan replied. "I don't care if you're giving us the fucking world, you killed my wife you fucking traitorous whore and for that you will die."
"Have it your way then." said Heather, her expression suddenly cold. "Silas, Justin, take them." Silas nodded and charged, Duncan sidestepping him before he could land a blow. Within seconds, Silas' soldiers had descended upon the campers and the fight was on.
As the fight raged Heather slipped towards the back of the warehouse, hoping to escape without being noticed. "Time to go." she muttered to herself. "Sorry, Justin but I have more important things to do." She reached the back door and pushed it open, but Tyler spotted her before she could slip out into the night.
"No you don't you bitch!" he shouted, taking of after her, intent on finding Lindsey.
Gwen spied Tyler as he took off. "TYLER!" she screamed, alerting Duncan and Trent.
"Follow him." Duncan shouted, as he and Trent made their way towards Gwen, catching up to her as she slipped out the back.
Ahead of them Heather ran as fast as her legs would carry her, Tyler hot on her heels. She burst in to one of the other warehouses, slamming the door in Tyler's face. Heather made her way to the small room at the other side of the building, and pulled Lindsey and Allison from within. Seconds later, Tyler burst into the warehouse to find Heather standing in the center of the room with Allison in her arms and a gun to Lindsey's head. Tyler froze, his eyes wide.
"Drop it!" Heather snapped, gesturing at Tyler's gun. Tyler hesitated, not wanting to disarm himself in Heather's presence. "Drop it or she dies." Heather ordered, pressing the barrel of her gun against the back of Lindsey's head. Tyler obeyed, letting his gun slide out of his hand without resistance. "Good." said Heather, aiming her gun at him. "Now you can die."
Before she squeeze the trigger however, Duncan, Trent, and Gwen burst into the building. "Freeze bitch!" Duncan shouted, as he approached, his gun aimed at Heather's head. "Give Allison to Lindsey and back away slowly." he ordered. Realizing she was woefully outnumbered, Heather obeyed, handing Allison over to Lindsey and lowering her gun.
"What are you going to Duncan?" Heather asked. "You have me, all alone, without allies, now is your chance to kill me." Duncan hesitated, unsure if he should do it. "What's the matter Duncan?" Heather mocked. "I thought you wanted to kill me? Here I am, so kill me." Still Duncan hesitated. "Kill me!" Heather screamed.
"No." said Duncan, lowering his gun as well. The others looked at him in shock and Heather's eyes widened in surprise. "I won't kill you Heather." Duncan continued. "You may have betrayed us and you may have killed my wife, but I can't do it. It's not what Courtney would want me to do and I won't allow myself to fall into the darkness just to avenge her."
The others stared at him, none of them believing what they were hearing. After a moment Heather began to laugh. "So the true Duncan Reynolds shows his face at last." she said. "I always knew you were just talk. You talk a big game Duncan but when it really matters, you can't do what is necessary to win. So I'll give you one last chance, kill me, if you have the balls."
Duncan glared at her and Heather smiled. For a moment no one moved, and then, without warning, Heather shoved Lindsey towards the others, raising her gun as she did. As Duncan caught Lindsey and Allison, Heather fired off a shot, striking Gwen in the shoulder. A second shot caught Tyler in the chest and then Heather was gone.
Duncan stared at the others for a moment his eyes blazing, and then he tore after her, with only one action on his mind.
A/N: Okay, so for those of you who thought Heather had a bigger plan than just killing the others cuz she didn't win TDI or TDA you were right, so congrats, I guess. Also, the previous two chapters have contained a tally of the remaining chapters in this fic and I just realized today that those tallies are incorrect. As of chapter 36 there would have been 5 chapters left, 4 left as of chapter 37, and three left as of this chapter (I am not counting the chapter we're on, only those left to publish after this one which is 3). So, there you go, only three chapters left, sorry if I caused any confusion.