CHAPTER 8

Carmen POV

Carmen was an absolute wreck. The four adults had been herded by the police back to the parents' waiting area, where they were told they had to wait until the police had more information. The worst part of the pain she was feeling right was the not knowing. Not knowing what the hell was going on in the school. Not knowing whether her son was going to take a bullet or not. Whether he already had. She knew more likely than not, she was never going to see her baby again.

Her and her family had been through hell together. First when she found out about her husband's job in the Ecuadorian criminal underworld, then fleeing the country with Miguel and her mom, then moving 6 times in 15 years because of her getting laid off due to budget cuts or any other reasons. Having to watch her son in a coma and then unable to move his legs for months. And now finally, just when all aspects of her life seemed to be clicking together (her relationship with Johnny, her job, Miguel's karate), it was all about to be cruelly ripped away from her.

As Carmen paced forward and backwards, her fingers incessantly tapping against her thigh as she waited anxiously, she glanced up to see Amanda and Daniel walking towards her and Johnny. Amanda and Daniel had gone to ask the police some questions about what was going on, hoping that their relatively high status level in the city granted them a bit more information.

"Hey. So what did they say?" Johnny asked urgently as the other couple walked over. Amanda took a deep breath, tears rolling down her, and everyone else's, cheeks.

"So we spoke to the cops. Asked them a couple of questions." Amanda murmured, and from her tone, Carmen could instantly tell that it wasn't good news.

"What's going on?" Carmen muttered, her hand squeezing Johnny's so hard that it was a miracle he hadn't broken any bones yet.

"We asked them why the police haven't just gone in and stormed the building yet." Amanda stated. "The cops said that because Barnes has around 30 students hostage, going in now would just be risking the lives of all of them. All they can do right now apparently is try and negotiate with Barnes and convince him to back off right now before anyone else gets hurt."

"We all know that isn't going to happen so what now? The police are just going to wait until Barnes has killed our kids and are going to hope and pray that he doesn't turn his gun on the others and just decides to wrap it up for the day?" Carmen snapped. Daniel sighed, his face etched with defeat as he nodded.

"Well… yeah." He admitted in barely a whisper. "The way the police see it is going in now automatically kills 30 people. Waiting and trying to negotiate first of all gives them the chance of trying to talk Barnes out of killing anyone else. And even if that doesn't work, only 10 people get killed. It's a numbers game."

"A numbers game? THAT'S MY SON IN THERE FOR GOD SAKE!" Carmen screamed hysterically, lunging at Daniel but quickly being held back by Johnny and swiftly taken away. As he pulled the struggling Carmen away, he held her tightly and whispered in her ear.

"Carmen, you need to stay calm. Please. Getting panicked is not going to help anyone in this situation." Johnny murmured.

"Johnny, they are just throwing my kid, our kid, to the sharks! Doesn't that bother you?!" Carmen exclaimed. Johnny's eyes widened in surprise and he chuckled mirthlessly.

"Bother me?" He laughed incredulously. "I want nothing more than to charge into that school right now and grab Barnes by the neck and just squeeze. Squeeze until he can no longer breath and has passed out and then yank his neck back and snap it. I don't care if he shoots me in the process as long as he dies beside me. And I want to beat the absolute shit out of every cop here for being so fucking useless but what good would possibly come from that? All we can do now is just have faith that Miguel, Robby and the others will make the right choices and will walk out of that school alive."

"Seriously? You really believe that Miguel is going to stay hidden in a dark room and let 30 children get shot for him?" She remarked. Johnny shook his head.

"No, I agree with you, he isn't. But the Miguel I know also isn't going down without a fight. I've spent two years teaching him how to defend himself. He's going to be okay." Johnny said, sounding a lot more confident than his uncertain self felt inside. Carmen wasn't convinced though.

"Johnny, just stop! You've been a great teacher to Miguel, but there's no way you've taught him how to outrun bullets. And you've taught him how to fight against people only really his size or skill level. Even if somehow Miguel manages not to get shot, and he's able to disarm Barnes, this psycho is bigger, stronger and more skillful than him. This isn't Robby that he's fighting anymore. This is literally a Karate sensei! He's going to overpower every single one of these kids in a fight, even if they all attacked him at the same time. The only way Miguel is possibly going to escape this alive is if he gets Barnes' gun and shoots him, and you and I both know he doesn't have what it takes to do that."

Johnny sighed and looked down, nodding slightly. He didn't have any more motivational, encouraging words. He was just as resigned as his girlfriend. Seeing his children again would be a miracle, and all he could do was pray that God would grant it…

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Tory POV

"So what do you say?" Robby asked, hopefully as he stood over the 5 other karate students. At that moment, you could practically hear a pin drop in the group. None of them wanted to be the one to speak first. All of them were silently weighing up all of the possibilities they had, even though there really weren't many.

Tory's mind was whirring rapidly. It was like a computer program that had just hit an error. It was a new emotion. One she had never truly felt before: remorse. Although she occasionally felt feelings of slight regret for some of her actions, powerful remorse cascaded through her body like a tsunami wave. Being on a metaphorical death row with a ticking clock, it had put everything that had happened to her in the past year into perspective. She realised how petty her rivalry with Sam (a rivalry that had started about a guy of all things) really was. She realised that she was about to die with absolutely no friends who cared about her other than Robby. She had maintained an image that involved everyone fearing her, a disguise that she only had pulled off in front of Miguel and Robby.

But most of all, she realised that she would never see her family again. She would go down to her grave with her mother and brother's last memory of her being that she was the girl who almost destroyed the family by nearly being sent to juvie, and then becoming a massive bully. Although Tory never involved them in her Cobra Kai side of life, they weren't stupid. They had noticed how aggressive she had become, how she had no friends, how she always acted like she was being hunted by the mafia whenever the doorbell rang and they had put two and two together. They would never remember the true her, only the savage doppelganger that she had become in the past year. And she couldn't let that happen.

"You know what? Fuck it, I'm in." She said, standing up and walking next to Robby, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Right now, they weren't a couple. They were fellow soldiers, about to embark on their hardest mission ever.

"Me too. Nothing to lose, right?" Miguel spoke up, standing up and facing Robby and Tory. The three locked eyes for several moments and nodded at each other, a moment of respect flashing through the three as their enmity was quickly buried. Better their enmity than themselves, which would most certainly happen if they weren't 100% in sync with each other.

Hawk also quickly got to his feet, joining the party, leaving just Kyler and Demetri sitting down. The four others faced them.

"Well? Demetri? Kyler? What about you guys?" Robby asked. Kyler shook his head.

"Hell no, man! I mean I love Cobra Kai and all, but I'm not willing to die for it!" Kyler exclaimed. Demetri sighed and looked at Kyler, before glancing back at the other teenagers.

"Look, as much as I hate to agree with people so low on the evolutionary scale, I think I might have to go with Kyler on this one. Standard lockdown procedure is to stay in a dark classroom and keep yourself hidden."

"With all due respect, man, I think we're long past 'standard lockdown procedure', don't you?" Miguel chuckled. Demetri shook his head.

"Still! The rules are made for a reason. They are so we have the highest chance of survival! What you guys are planning is ludicrous. I'm sorry but I'm staying here."

The group nodded, mostly understanding, but Tory scowled at them.

"Pussies." She snarled, starting towards them in anger, but Miguel quickly held her back.

"Hey, calm down. It's up to them whether they want to come or not. After all, it's not like we're just asking for a spare pencil or something." He remarked. Robby nodded, turning to Miguel, Tory and Hawk.

"Yeah. He's right. We may very likely die." He stated bluntly. "We are literally risking everything doing this. So if any of you want to back out now, please say so now."

None of them said anything, all of them balling their fists in determination and practically hopping from foot to foot like boxers before the big fight. The four of them silently unlocked the classroom door and tiptoed out, stepping into the corridor for the first time. They knew exactly where to go - the first floor music room - but they were wary of Barnes hiding behind any corner, so they proceeded in a diamond-like formation, all of them watching carefully in a different direction. Miguel, who was facing forward, seemed to be leading the way.

"So… how are we going to do this?" Hawk whispered. "I mean I normally love a four on one fight, but this time for some reason I don't fancy our odds."

Suddenly, Miguel stopped abruptly, almost causing the four who were facing away to topple into each other.

"Hold that thought." Miguel said. "I think there might be one other person who wants to join us."

Hawk, Tory and Robby all turned to face the direction that Miguel was facing, and they read plaque that was on the door. It read…

THE OFFICE OF COUNSELLOR BLATT