"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell; a hell of heaven." - John Milton, Paradise Lost

Max and Juliet tumbled through the door, the latter tumbling in to a sideways roll as inertia kicked in, as already the rest of the eleven girls were stampeding their way inside. Victoria slammed the door closed as the last of them rushed in, sidestepping to help Courtney overturn the large storage cabinet next to it. The metal slammed to the ground, screeching against the floor as they and a few others pushed it against the door, and those who weren't attending to the cabinet were taking the desks, the chairs, anything they could carry and stacking it against that lone entrance.

"Shit—Hey, anyone got a bandage? Anyone at all?" on a spare desk farthest from the clatter, Chloe had laid an unconscious Dana atop its surface, checking the auburnette for injuries and shouting for aid.

"I can help!" Taylor rushed over from the commotion, "Where is it? Where's the wound?"

Price directed Christensen to Dana's head, noting the terrible gash in the steel helmet and very carefully lifting it off. Both of them winced at the red patch on the cheerleader's scalp, and Taylor made for some pouch off to her side, "The metal might've fragmented, we gotta get those bits out before they make the infection worse."

"You, it was fucking you!" and both the girls looked to a developing scuffle, as Victoria angrily latched onto Max, pulling the startled brunette and shaking her like a toy doll, "I had it, I had it right in the palm of my hand and you made him fucking snap, why?!"

Guilt was rife for Caulfield, as she didn't bother to pry herself from Chase's grip, and instead stared back at the raging pixie blonde, unwilling to speak.

"He was willing to do it, I could tell. I had him in the palm of my fucking hand, Max," so the other girls grimly watched as the royal jabbed a pointed finger into the plate carrier the brunette wore, "But he saw you, and he snapped, almost fucking killed us on the spot. He wouldn't have done that unless you pissed him off somehow. What the fuck did you do, Caulfield!?"

"He's always hated me, Victoria," Max blurted back quickly, "it wasn't just you who gave me shit all the time. He just—he just didn't think I was worth the effort 'till now."

Juliet had silently shuffled her way to Dana and the two tending to her wounds, observing the scene with trepidation. A feeling of respect sweltered in her heart, as the berated brunette before them was more alike than initially thought. Turning to Taylor and Chloe, Watson could see the fire of friendship burn in the punk's icy blue glare, all that held her back from beating Victoria to a pulp was Christensen's need for a helper.

"Bullshit! This is more than what happened before then, and you know it," and those jagged emerald daggers tore into Max's nerve-wracked conscious, and sank their blades deep with every word, "You tried fucking with him, because of what he did to Kate, didn't you? Because you stuck your nose somewhere it shouldn't have been, and now he knows—"

A small, firmly grasping hand clutched onto Victoria's left shoulder, and the Queen was spun and shoved away, then backing up even further at the terribly cold stare that Marsh now sent her, "Back off, Victoria."

For her part, Chase held her tongue, but now there hung the atmosphere of blame, and no one but the accused, mousy brunette to answer for it. Everyone was looking to her for an answer, and Max felt herself suddenly shiver, fidgeting. She had no answer for them.

"How many teachers were in the cafeteria?" Kate suddenly asked. Then, noticing the confusion marring the girls' faces, she asked again, "How many were there?"

"Th-there was Ms. Grant, the science teacher," Courtney spoke up, "I saw her next to the drama teacher, Mr. Keaton."

"And the P.E. teacher Mr. Edwards, and the art teacher, and Boomer Bowman—they were holding that kid down when we left," Stella added.

"What's the point of this, Marsh?" Chase asked, dubious.

"There was supposed to be someone else, but he never showed. Jefferson wasn't here today."

Max and Chloe then looked to their dear friend, who had a frown and a far-away look in those dim hazel eyes of hers, and they silently extended their sorrows, for that terror came back now, after being swept from their minds.

"Jefferson and Nathan took us—Max, Chloe and I—he kidnapped us, dragged us into this place, a bunker under a desolate barn. The Dark Room," the other girls listened with perplexed fright, as the ragged blonde muttered still, "he tortured Max, and Chloe. He was the one who cut my hair. He was the one behind Rachel's death."

Gasps arose. Eyes widened at the revelation.

"How the fuck—but wait, wait," Victoria stumbled out, "you're talking about the photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson? The famous photographer? The man who is an inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands?"

"He is not a man. He is a monster," Kate growled, "And so is Prescott and his devils."

"How did you get away from Jefferson then? How did you guys escape?" asked the unnerved crowd.

Max then shuffled closer to Marsh, speaking softly, worriedly, "Kate, you don't have to—"

"I killed him."

Silence screeched in the room, and they couldn't even hear the sounds from beyond the walls. None of the other girls expected this, and their flinch at the sharpness of Kate's answer was plain and obvious. Her words bore no guilt, no remorse. Now the tense shoulders and hollow stare made sense to them, now came the stark realization that they were not looking upon their timid, warm, God-fearing friend any longer. There now existed someone else, someone colder, more silent and more estranged than they imagined.

"We came back to Blackwell, after that," Marsh resumed, and turned her unseeing gaze to the floor, "now we're here. Nathan wants us dead because we know the truth."

The shouting from the hall could be heard. The hounds were getting closer.

"But we want him dead because of what he did, what kind of person he is," the grip on Kate's Mauser tightened, until white knuckles were showing, "He is a devil. A horrid, murderous, treacherous devil. The Lord may dare to forgive him, but he will not be spared from Man's justice, from our justice."

That cold hazel gaze then locked to its nervous emerald counterpart, and glared in contempt, those months of bitter, burning hatred bubbling and boiling to the surface, "He has hurt my friends, he has taken my dignity, he has taken everything I care for. For that, I will kill him."

"Check the rooms!" came a muffled, yet murderous cry from beyond the walls, "Find them, now!"

"We gotta move, they're coming," Caulfield then turned to Christensen, who had been mostly occupied in removing the fragments of metal from Ward's head, "Some of you help carry Dana, the rest move to assist them. We'll go through the window, and run for the gate near the corridor."

A bit dumbfounded, the girls jumped to action as gunshots came from down the hall, echoing closer as the hounds searched the classrooms. They picked the largest window off to the corner of the room, farthest from the blocked door; its large glass pane, just big enough for one to comfortably vault over, was quickly shattered as they took the butts of their rifles to it.

"Come on, through here!" and swiping the glass shards aside, Max and Victoria led the way, vaulting over the ledge and onto the grassy field outside, turning back to receive the others. Juliet's quartet had gathered around their unconscious fifth, and together they carried her over to the window and into the waiting arms of the two leaders. Keeping the slumped cheerleader aloft, the quartet vaulted themselves outside, and eventually pulled the auburnette through the window.

Shots suddenly snapped through the barricaded door, splintering wood and ringing off the metal cabinets. Screeching could be heard then, as an unseen force barged against the blockade, pushing at the defenses with every bash of the door.

With a fearful cry, Chase's aides tossed themselves through the hole, tripping over themselves as they tumbled and ran for the others. Kate and Chloe exited immediately after, with the blonde rushing for the moving company and the bluenette taking her time, firing a burst at the hounds trying to break into the room, then dashing away.

As Price caught up to the group, already were half of them piling through the rarely used East Gate, which connected the campus to the hiking trails up along the mountain. Yet instead of following these gravel trails, they swung right, running parallel to the outer brick wall and moving south.

They stopped just short of the corridor, and from where she stood, Chloe could see Max converse pointedly with the royal blonde beside her, then Victoria beckoned her two minions at her side. The trio blitzed ahead of the pack and all the way to the school's south perimeter, with the rest waiting for a signal to move up.

It was now that the punk became aware of the discomforting lack of noise. No shots had been fired since she let those bastards have it at the window, and what ringing in her ears was now drowned by the sound of the birds in the trees. The sweet smell of the pines and of the earth beneath them made the expression on Chloe's face go sour—the world had been uncaring of their plight.

With a swing of the arm and a crisp, "Let's go!" Caulfield ordered them past the corridor, and Juliet's party heaved their slumped comrade up and toward their escape, with the Christian and the punk following at their heels. The crunch of dried leaves was loud as they pressed on, reaching Victoria's scouting troop at the corner and stopping once again. From Ward's carriers came a tumble, as Juliet's foot struck an uprooted branch, sending the reporter to the ground in a heap.

"Shit, you alright holmes?" then Stella reached out for the reeling reporter, shaking off the twigs from her side as Watson stood quickly, "It's alright, I'm fine, I'm fine."

Alyssa, now the only one carrying Dana's upper body, visibly strained herself as she held the weight up, sputtering through clenched teeth, "Help, please help, she's fucking heavy."

Cackles erupted as Juliet and Stella rejoined poor Anderson, "Man, if Dana heard you say that, she'd have your ass on one of those wall mounts like a trophy."

The thought of it made the others chuckle, but they were silenced by a hush from Max.

"You guys follow the edge of the trees, look for a place to hide," then a look to Victoria, who held her MP5 at the ready, who nodded the slightest.

"Alright, go!"

"Up and at 'em, girls," Juliet led her posse to the trees, trudging through the foliage as Victoria and her two aides covered their escape. From her spot just behind Chase's trio, Max watched with anxious fervor as the clambering cluster of girls skirted the pines, slipping through a gap in the many branches and ducking low, out of sight.

"Vic, get your people ready," Chloe and Kate then assumed positions to support their flight, and Max herself readied her Mauser and aimed down the length of the brick wall, praying for no one to turn the corner.

"Set," the pixie blonde muttered.

"Go for it!"

Courtney and Taylor bounded with frantic strides to the trees, followed by a more cautious, more worried Victoria. The Queen strafed her way across the open, keeping her submachine gun pointed at the other end of that wall, then swiveled on her boot's heels and dove into the trees with her friends.

"Your turn, Maximus," Chloe urged, "we'll cover you, get moving."

"You be right behind me, Chlo," Max vehemently replied, and made a dash for the low ground behind those trees, going into a semi-crouch and shuffling quickly.

"Flashbang, out!"

Caulfield jerked her head to the sudden, baritone cry, and watched as a small cylindrical object soared in the air, arching over the perimeter wall and bouncing once on the ground. Instantly, Max was surprised as the tactical grenade cooked off, flashing terribly bright and echoing a thunderous BANG in her eardrums, the muffs she wore did little to stifle the power of that shrill sound. Blind and deaf, the brunette dropped to the ground, clutching her bolt action rifle close as the sounds of battle slowly overcame the horrible ringing.

Grass and dirt whipped up in small plumes as bullets carved themselves into the earth, and the violent whizzing noise of stray rounds over her head sent Max into a panic, clinging to the dirt and whimpering, begging for her life. Her eyes re-adjusted from the flash, and she dared to crawl on her stomach, hastily reaching the tree line and rolling into cover. Overhead, the splinters shot off the bark of the pines, and these splinters were whipping in the air around her and scratching her exposed skin.

Trembling, but now in cover, Caulfield supported herself with her rifle and rose to a crouch, clumsily making her way to the group of eight farther along the slope, the mess of huddled forms laying low, shouting over the hectic gunfire.

"I can't fucking see them, where are they?!" A burst of fire snapped at a pine tree next to an irate Alyssa, who swore, then let loose a salvo of her own. Closer to Max, Chase poked just over the berm, firing a burst from her MP5, "By the wall, aim for the corner of the wall!"

Taking a moment to herself, Max witnessed the sheer volume of fire bearing down on them, a swarm of hot wooden splinters showered above their heads, twigs and branches jerked as the incoming rounds buzzed like hornets, swift and deadly. Beside Chase, Taylor was speaking something into Courtney's ear, who writhed where she lay, clutching at her head and crying hysterically. Farther behind them, Juliet's group were faring no better; the bolt action, five-shot rifles they had were near useless to counter the constant suppressive fire, and they shrunk on themselves, for fear they be struck by the abrasive hot lead.

They were pinned down.

Max looked over her shoulder, back to where Chloe and Kate still remained, and felt dread swell in her chest. She dared to crawl up the slope, just enough to see the muzzle flashes of Chloe's AR and Kate's Mauser before incoming fire made the brunette duck again, a grimace on her face as she wracked her head for a possible way out. The low ground they resided in was the only depression in the earth that they had, as far as she could discern the area surrounding them only offered the pine trees for cover. While their trunks were strong and hardy, Max worried of being stuck behind the wrong tree, and being shredded when the bullets would snap through the bark and wood. It was too risky, they had to find some way else, a way that would work—

"Stop, please STOP SHOOTING—!" came a broken shriek from Wagner, having lost her wits even with Christensen by her side, "I can't fucking take it anymore, stop shooting at us, stop shooting at us—!"

Rifle clutched in her right hand, Caulfield crouch-crawled past the broken soul, and made her way closer to Juliet's group. Said bronze-brunette was hovering close to the unconscious Ward, clinging tightly to one of Dana's unreciprocating hands, eyes wide with terror and flinching at every snap of the twigs. Brooke and Stella were prone, laid next to Anderson, who was spitting her fury at their attackers with livid passion. It was short lived, as her Mini-14's magazine ran empty moments after, and the stocky girl desperately rolled down what little bit of the slope, screaming at the top of her lungs, "GRENADE, GET DOWN—!"

THUM

The ground rumbled, and an explosion burst from above where they lay, a geyser of smoke and charred flecks of dirt showered them. They spasmed as the burning bits nicked their skin, seeping into shirt sleeves and shoes. With clenched teeth and narrow eyes, Max coughed out the smoke from her lungs and crawled on her stomach, situating herself just below the berm's crest.

The gunfire trickled, and died out after a minute's worth.

Slowly, the girls shook the dirt out of their hair, and rose from their prone positions, though never enough to expose themselves. And they shook, nerves spazzed and twitched, hands trembled and curled into fists. Whimpers sounded as Courtney still sobbed, even after the violence ceased.

"W-what now?" Taylor muttered, eyes darting from Victoria to the horizon above, "'Tori—?"

"I—I don't know, Tay'."

"I know you're there, Vic!" came Prescott's cry from beyond the trees, from somewhere they couldn't see, "Give me what I want, and you and your friends will be free! I swear on it with my life!"

"Not this shit again," Max heard Brook say, and the brunette turned and noted the weary look in the Filipina's gaze, devoid of energy. The adrenaline was wearing out, and everyone was at their wit's end. Stella and Alyssa had equally sunken faces, heads hung low and defeated.

Max looked to Victoria, who had taken it upon herself to answer, shouting, "I don't want any more games, Nate! I want this to be over, I want us to walk free!"

"You will, just give me what I want," then came a pause, as he was waiting for her to answer.

Caulfield could see the gears turning in Chase's head, weighing the options, the pros and cons. Not like they had much of a choice.

"What is it then—what do you want, Nathan?"

"You hand over Caulfield, and I let you all go," he demanded, "I don't care how many you have, I just want Caulfield."

Silence. Dread had gripped the mousy brunette's heart and was tugging.

"Vic?" Taylor hesitated, "are we really gonna…?"

Movement then came behind the denim blonde, and Wagner leveled her rifle at Max, wide eyed and deranged, "At your word, Vic! Just say it and I'll make her do it!"

"Courtney, no, wait—!"

Some rustling came from a tangle of branches behind Wagner, then Chloe and Kate slinked into the open and collapsed into the depression, Price had her AR drawn and leveled at Chase's wide-eyed aide.

"Don't fucking do that, put it down," the bluenette barked, and next to her, Kate angled her Mauser at the trembling, black haired royal.

"Fuck you, Price, I want to live," Courtney bit back, now aiming at the threatening punk, "You're not fucking stopping me, none of you are!"

Alyssa looked on in mute terror, as Stella and Brook also raised their rifles at the senseless Wagner. Taylor was torn between her best friend and the idea of offering Max into Nathan's hand, and Victoria was still silent, still brooding.

Max felt the guilt swell, and bubble over.

"You think Nathan'll spare us? We all know he's fucking lying through his teeth," Chloe spat, "He nearly killed Dana, and now, he wants Max—but I'm not gonna let that happen, don't make me fucking shoot you, fucking snake!"

"I don't fucking care what I am anymore," Courtney snapped, "I just want to live, I want to go home. I just want to see my family, and I'll do whatever it takes. You'd do the same if it wasn't you he wanted," the Mauser hovered between Chloe and Kate, and they could see Wagner's finger resting just before the trigger.

"Stop!" Max placed herself between them, arms reaching out and pleading, "please stop! I'll do it. Just stop it—"

"You ain't doing shit," Price growled, staring down Courtney, "Ey, Vicky, you mind putting a leash on your pet here?!"

"Court," the Queen tersely commanded, and after a moment's hesitation, Wagner then lowered her rifle, ashamed, and humiliated. The others lowered their weapons in turn. A coldness settled before them.

"If you want to do this, Max," Victoria reluctantly inquired, "then it's your choice. You know where I stand."

Eyes turned to Caulfield, who sat there on shaking knees, hunched and worn down, yet determined. A hope shined in those blue eyes of hers, shining in the shade of the pines, "You make sure everyone gets out of here alive, Victoria. That's all I want. Get to the police station, the fire department, somewhere you can hide at, and bide your time."

Chloe and Kate shuffled to their best friend's side, and surprised Max then. They huddled close with their rifles, and Chloe looped an arm around the brunette's shoulders, then with a solemn smile she spoke.

"Don't think we'd let you go out there alone, Max. The pirate crew follows their captain, even to the bitter end," Chloe muttered to her, and Max felt the terrible tugging in her heart ebb away. To the bitter end, indeed.

With that, the three signaled to Chase that they were ready.

"Nathan!" she then called out, "I'm coming out, don't shoot!"

"Wait, Vic?!" the royal's aides cried out, and before they could reach for her, Victoria rose from the slope, and stepped out, past the shrubbery and into the unknown. Immediately did Max and her companions also rise, and follow the pixie blonde to their last stand.

"Get ready to cover them!" Max heard Juliet call from behind, as they trekked past the low-hanging branches, stepping out into the open field of grass that separated the forest and the street. Ahead, they could see Victoria, who marched boldly to Prescott and the several hounds at his flanks, armed and ready to kill at a moment's notice. Some flickering movement caught her attention on her right, and Max beheld the terrible sight of smoke and small flames, of burning police cars and the splayed bodies of policemen. The poor souls had to have been opened up on by Prescott's men at some point during the firefight.

God help us.

"Before we do this, I want their weapons on the ground, no more bullshit," Nathan ordered, waving his pistol in an arrogant gesture. His lackeys held their guns by the shoulder and at the ready, pointed towards the girls.

"Tell me what the fuck happened in the hallway, and they're yours," Chase pressed, and the Prescott heir scrunched his brow, annoyed.

"Vic, what the hell are you—"

"You don't get to play games with me, Nate," she venomously argued, "after you nearly shot me to pieces trying to help you, I figured I'd be kind enough to only ask for one thing in return."

The frustration boiled inside the leader of the pack, and with a snarl he spat, low and deadly, "You forget you're not in a position to ask for anything. Hand them over, Vic, now."

"Why don't you tell that to the 'others' still waiting for my signal over there," and Chase jerked a thumb over to the trees, "One wrong move is all it takes. I just want this one thing Nathan, don't be a hardass and get everyone killed over it."

Max observed the frown on Nathan's face tense, then ease up very slowly as the silence ticked by. Then, with a sigh, he gruffed out, "What?"

"I want you to promise me that everyone else over by the trees leaves this place alive. That's it. I want your word on this, Nathan."

Pride-struck, the heir looked at her, a forlorn feeling in his eyes. It dawned on Max that even despite his appetite for destruction, for murder and savagery, the beast still had his heart for someone. That this love and care held his tongue, even when a lie could've come to him easily. It was the perfect distraction.

One of the boys ripped off his ski mask, and, along with two others, turned on Prescott's gang with their assault rifles, the sudden movement startling the lot of them, "Drop 'em, drop your weapons!"

Prescott turned his head to see a gun pointed in his face, and did nothing but frown. The boy behind the gun, a tall, black haired lad, then spat to the prince, "I'm done with this shit, man. You think I want any part with what you've done, all the people you've killed?!"

"Put it down, Andrew. I'm having a discussion here," the heir deadpanned, as if expecting this.

"Fuck this, and fuck you," Andrew replied, his two comrades and the rest of Prescott's loyalists were muzzle to muzzle with each other, "You talked of revolution, not murder. I thought you had good intent, that this was a good cause, but I should've known. None of this is right!"

Nathan instead looked to Andrew's accomplices, and only then did his frown show.

"You too, Zach, Logan?" he asked of his betraying brothers, who did not respond, keeping their weapons trained on Prescott and his loyalists.

Victoria and the girls witnessed the scene with absolute bewilderment, as one of the loyalists not at immediate gunpoint pulls his own balaclava off, revealing himself to be Carl. The right-hand man was furious with his gaze, and took his time smoothly drawing his sidearm, a small Makarov pistol, and aiming at the traitor, "You know better than to threaten the hand that feeds you, Berry. Put it down, you damn jock, or else," he spat.

Then came a slight noise then, growing louder, and louder. Heads turned to the road, as a single police cruiser drove up the street and into view, the occupants rushing out of their seats and drawing their weapons. It was Madsen, along with a couple of other officers who had not been involved with the first responders.

"Hands where I can see them!" the head of security bellowed, pointing his service revolver at Prescott and the cluster of boys surrounding him.

"What the fuck is going on?" Chloe murmured to Max's left, completely blindsided by the sudden chorus of shouting. Max concurred with a disbelieving shake of the head. Already were Andrew's trio moving to separate themselves from the rest of the revolutionaries, as David's group stopped at a distance, untrusting of the infighting, and Nathan could be seen staring at his surrounding enemies, watching some of his more loyal ilk now throw their guns down in an attempt to save themselves.

Then, he smiled.

"Oh, what a wonderful day."

Carl looked wide-eyed to the prince, and then, resoundingly, he cried out over Madsen's demands for them to surrender, "Long live the Storm!"

With his Makarov raised, he attempted a shot at Andrew, and was shut down by David with two rounds to his center mass. Markson crumbled, falling onto his back and rolling face down in the dirt. Zach and his boys proceeded to back farther away at the gunshots, themselves tossing their guns at the order of the officers.

Nathan raised his pistol, aiming for Madsen. The security guard made the grave mistake of hesitating, and for a single second, stared into the face of Death.

KRAK

Nathan's GB-17 pistol clattered to the ground, himself following thereafter as he clutched his chest, falling onto his back as the bullet tore through him. Cold, bitter air swept into the bleeding hole in his crimson-black heart, and with his last second of consciousness, he stared, truly terrified, at Judgement, who looked down at him with her cold hazel gaze, and a smoking Mauser.

A/N - Andrew Berry, otherwise known as "Andy" Berry, is a member of the Blackwell Internationale, and the only son of police officer Anderson Berry. For the sake of not confusing his canonical name (Andy Berry) with his father's name (Anderson Berry), I made the change of his name to Andrew. He is referenced in a photograph that can be found in the Two Whales Diner, featuring him as the winner in a fishing contest.

Carl Markson, an original character made by me, the writer, is not based off of anything or anyone, and served his purpose as described, a right-hand man to Nathan's plans. He holds minimal importance.

I wish to ask you all for feedback on the pacing of these chapters. I can only assume the pacing was optimal given the circumstances, but if you have anything you want to bring my attention to, please leave a comment/review and let me know.

If you have any critiques, or compliments, go ahead and leave a comment/review. Again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. -MB