Hannah Abbott (Girl 1, Hufflepuff) wandered around the forest aimlessly, looking for her next victim. She was really glad to have the gun in her hand now, and wanted the chance to use it. Maybe if she were very lucky, she would encounter the person with that beautiful machine gun. Then she would be certain to emerge victorious.
She was somewhere in the vicinity of E-6. Safely out of the confines of a forbidden zone, but there were two of those nearby, so she doubted that very many students would be hiding about. On the other hand, some of them might, so it was better to check to make certain.
Not quite paying attention to the ground in front of her, she nearly tripped over something. She was able to maintain her balance, however, and looked down at the offending object.
"A crossbow," she muttered quietly to herself as she picked it up. A weapon's a weapon, and it might come in handy later. She checked to see if it was loaded, and frowned to find that it was not. Glancing around for the crossbolts, her eyes fell upon the body of Justin Finch-Fletchley. She raised an eyebrow. It looked as though her housemate had died rather horribly.
Setting the crossbow aside, she walked over to him. "My, my. Someone's sure done a number on you, haven't they?" She smiled. "I might have to start taking things more seriously, won't I?" Naturally, he didn't answer back, but she hadn't been expecting an answer. She bent down in front of him, investigating his wounds. Other than all the knife wounds (and the crushed throat), it appeared as though he'd been shot as well. She remembered the sounds of the machine gun going off earlier, and figured that it must have been Justin who was shot. Her grin grew wider.
"Looks like I've got me a real rival," she said as she stood up.
Searching one last time for the crossbolts, and coming up empty, she decided that it was time to vacate and continue her search for someone alive.
19 students remaining
September 2 -- 7:46 p.m.
Neville Longbottom (Boy 11, Gryffindor) loitered somewhere in the vicinity of I-7 at the southern beach, resting while he allowed various thoughts to flow through his mind.
'Kill or be killed.' The mantra that had run through his mind since the beginning of the game was louder than ever. The reality of just what that meant only sunk in after he had been attacked by Justin Finch-Fletchley. It wasn't just the Slytherins who were playing; other students were as well. So if he was to make sure that no Slytherins won, he would have to kill anyone else he met. A rather discouraging thought, almost, but after thinking it over, it was the only way. The others had shown their true colors, and it was the same green and silver as that of the snakes.
He was playing to win now. It didn't matter whether the people he faced were friend or foe. Anyone who he came across would die.
He glanced at his tracker. He wasn't sure of which direction he should take. There was a lone student in H-4, probably resting. It wouldn't be much of a challenge to take them down, regardless of what weapon they might have. Well, maybe grenades might give him a few problems, but he doubted that more than one student would be equipped with such a weapon. There were some students hiding out in the outskirts of the residential district, which was rather close, but the trio of students in G-9 looked to be the most attractive of them all.
He checked his watch. In less than an hour and a half, G-9 would become a forbidden zone. Unless they were simply waiting there to die, they would most likely be leaving soon. And if he got there before they left, he would be able to ambush them as they were leaving.
Smiling, he made his decision and walked northeast.
19 students remaining
September 2 -- 8:06 p.m.
Hermione Granger (Girl 8, Gryffindor) glanced nervously at her watch, and then to the sleeping form of Harry Potter (Boy 15, Gryffindor) on the bed. She wasn't quite sure whether she should wake him or not, but they had less than an hour to vacate the clinic.
She was rather surprised that no one else had come to the clinic, to be perfectly honest. After all, any student out there who was injured might need medical care, and with the clinic becoming a forbidden zone at 9:00 p.m., this was their last chance. But it was quite possible that everyone was too afraid to come lest they encounter a killer. It was just too horrible to imagine that some of her classmates were killers, but trying to deny the truth would do no one any good.
She gently shook Harry awake, even though she didn't really want to. She knew that he hadn't gotten much rest all day.
"Huh? Is it morning already?" Harry mumbled sleepily as he stirred. Hermione shook him again. "Ugh. I'm up." He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Hermione nodded and walked towards the door. "Good. We have to be out of here in less than an hour. I'll go wake up Blaise, and I expect you to be up and moving by the time I get back."
"Yes, Mother," Harry smirked.
Hermione gave him a look, and then headed to the waiting room.
Blaise Zabini (Boy 20, Slytherin) was already up, checking his map. He glanced up at her briefly as she entered the room. "Not sure where we're going next. Any ideas?"
Hermione shrugged. "No clue. What are our options?"
Blaise took out a cigarette, but didn't light it yet. "North or south along the coast, or west in the forest." He raised his hands protectively as Hermione gave him a look. "Hey, you asked." He picked up the map that had fallen onto his lap. "If you're looking for your friend, we might try searching in some of the buildings around the island. If he's hurt, he wouldn't want to move around much. At least if he's smart."
Hermione nodded and sat down in a chair by him. "Do you really think we'll find him?"
Blaise sat back, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "To be bluntly honest, I don't like our chances. People are dying out there." He paused once more. "You are really going to hate me for saying this. But," he turned to her, "what happens if it turns out he's the shooter?"
Hermione's eyes widened with shock and she stood up. "He wouldn't do that!"
Blaise nodded sadly. "Maybe not. You know him better than I do, so I'll defer to you on that one. But who do you think it is?"
Hermione sat back down and looked at the ground. "I can't even begin to imagine who might do such horrible things." She quickly looked to him. "But I know it's not Ron! He wouldn't!"
Blaise nodded, and there was silence. Hermione wondered whether Harry was going to come out and join them or if he might have gone back to sleep. She knew that he needed the rest, but they also needed to leave soon.
"Carpe diem," Blaise said quietly, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Hermione turned to him.
He turned to look at her. "Seize the day. You really should do that. You might not get another chance."
She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
He just shook his head and stood up, smiling enigmatically. "Smoke break. Back in ten." He waved as he headed toward the front door, leaving her puzzled.
Just as Blaise exited the building, Harry emerged from the back, looking rather sleepy still. He joined Hermione in the waiting room, sitting down in one of the chairs. He watched the perplexed Hermione for a few moments, then looked to the front door.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and then Blaise came back inside hurriedly and grabbed the shotgun he had left on his chair. "We have to move. Now. Someone's coming."
Hermione stood up. "Did they see you?"
Blaise nodded. "Probably. Let's go." He grabbed his pack, and headed towards the back.
Harry stood and grabbed his pack. "I thought we were leaving."
Blaise turned to him. "We are. Out the back. There should be a fire exit or something." He paused. "I don't want to say this, but if we get split up, we should all meet up somewhere. Happy surgery land?" He smirked.
Harry blinked, trying to think of what that meant. Hermione snickered. It finally dawned on him that Blaise was referring to the store. "Might have been happy for you, but it wasn't for me."
"That's because you were either crying like a baby or passed out," Hermione teased. Harry stuck his tongue out at her.
"Let's move," Blaise said, heading into the back. Grabbing their packs, Harry and Hermione followed.
As they walked down the hall, Blaise would open doors and peer through them. So far no fire exit. He frowned. There weren't any exits marked, either. He muttered something about the clinic violating a number of fire safety laws.
There was one last door they hadn't opened at the end of the hallway. Hoping that it would be the exit, Harry and Hermione held their breath as Blaise opened it.
"The hell?" Blaise made a frustrated noise as he led them down the new hallway that had just been revealed. Towards the end, they could see a plainly marked fire exit. He turned to the pair. "Get your guns out. We'll be out in the open when we leave. Probably have to shoot our way to safety."
Harry and Hermione nodded, and took out their guns. Harry held the Smith & Wesson .38 that had once belonged to Michael Corner, while Hermione had Eloise's SIG-Sauer 9mm. Blaise held his shotgun ready as he cautiously approached the door.
He pushed open the door with one hand, then quickly aimed his shotgun out into the open space. They couldn't see anyone. Blaise nodded, and the three of them ventured outside, looking around to make sure that no one was around. Keeping close to the building, they slowly crept north.
Right before they had reached the northeast corner of the building, Harry, who had been at the flank of the group, took one last look behind him. His eyes widened as he recognized Neville Longbottom standing at the southeast corner, holding a gun in one hand. Harry's reflexes as a seeker came into play as he saw something trace an arc in the sky above, coming towards them. "Scatter!" he shouted as he ducked towards the east, firing his gun at Neville, who ducked behind his corner.
Blaise and Hermione ducked around their corner as quickly as they could. Seconds after they had done so, the flying object finished its trajectory, and exploded right where the three had been previously. Not wasting any time, Harry got up from his crouched position, and ran as fast as he could after Blaise and Hermione.
He stopped as he saw they were in the parking lot. There were a few vehicles that were left abandoned, and Hermione was currently breaking the window of one of them with the butt of her gun. Harry's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
Hermione reached through the broken window and unlocked the door of the truck. "No time, get in." She slid in behind the driver's seat, and reached to unlock the door of the passenger's side as well. Harry jumped into the passenger's seat, while Blaise hopped into the bed of the truck.
"Come on..." Hermione bit her lip as she fiddled with something below the ignition. The truck started, and she smiled. "Hold on tight."
Just as the figure with the gun came around the corner, Hermione floored the accelerator. Harry didn't even have time to look at her before he was lurched backward. He looked into the rear view mirror to see Blaise barely manage to stay in the back of the truck, but then recover.
Another projectile came flying toward them. "Grenade!" Blaise shouted from the back as he fired his shotgun at the shooter.
Hermione nodded, and sped them up. The grenade landed behind them, missing them by only a few feet. Harry closed his eyes tightly, trying to calm his nerves as the truck rocked forward.
A couple minutes later, he had relaxed enough to open his eyes. "Where'd you learn to hot-wire a car?" he asked Hermione.
She just smiled, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. "You can learn all sorts of interesting things from books."
They rounded past the lookout where the Patil twins had been killed. Harry looked at it as they passed. "I guess we know who the shooter is," he said softly.
"Eh?" Hermione didn't take her eyes off the road. "Who?"
"It's Neville."
"Incoming!" Blaise shouted from the back as he fired a couple of shots behind him.
Hermione glanced into the rear view mirror. "Son of a bitch!" she hissed.
Harry turned around. There was a minivan behind them. Blaise ducked down as he reloaded the shotgun. Harry rolled down the window, and stuck his arm out, firing at the minivan.
Hermione frowned as she sped up. "Get back in here. You might hit Blaise by accident or fall out or something."
Harry reluctantly climbed back inside, and Blaise got back up, firing a few shots. Sparks flew as one of the minivan's tires blew out and the vehicle spun out of control, heading toward some rocks near a lighthouse.
Smirking, Hermione sharply brought the truck around the corner towards the edge of the forest. Once again, Blaise was nearly thrown from the truck as it spun around a few times before coming to a stop.
"Bail out!" Hermione shouted as they came to a stop. They took no time to get out and head into the forest.
Harry could see the ruins of an old building ahead. They ran as quickly as they could toward what remained of one of the outer walls. They could hear their assailant making his way into the forest as well. Ducking behind the southern wall, they caught their breath and waited.
Blaise dared to peer through one of the cracks in the wall. Behind the northern wall was Neville, who fired his gun at them. Blaise quickly ducked back in as cement shattered into dust, then fired back when the rattling of the machine gun stopped.
Ducking back, he turned to Harry. "Help me out here."
Harry nodded, and fired blindly in the direction Blaise had fired. He ducked as Neville re-emerged and fired back. He held out his injured left hand toward Hermione, who handed him her gun. Waiting for the next pause, he got up and fired both of the guns at Neville. He was pretty sure that at least one of the bullets hit, as Neville stumbled back and dropped to the ground.
Harry looked behind them, then turned to Blaise. "How fast can you run?" he asked.
Blaise shrugged. "So long as it's short distance, I'm good to go. Why?"
Harry nodded. "We can only go further into the forest, right?" He ducked as shots rang over his head. "I'll keep Neville here. You take Hermione and go. I'll catch up with you later."
Blaise nodded. "Happy surgery land?"
Harry smiled and nodded.
Hermione looked between them frantically. "Don't I get a say in this? We should all stick together!"
Harry shook his head. "If we do, he'll follow. Just go!"
Hermione nodded slowly, then crawled over to Harry. "Be careful." After hesitating for a moment, she kissed him on the cheek. More shots fired over their heads, and she backed away from him.
There was a pause in the rattling, and Harry fired at Neville, who ducked once more. Blaise grabbed Hermione's hand, and the two of them ran further into the forest. Whenever Neville would emerge from behind his wall, Harry would fire at him, forcing him to retreat. He relaxed slightly as Blaise and Hermione disappeared into the forest to the east, then decided that it was time for him to make a break for it as well.
Firing a few more shots at Neville, he got up, making sure to keep his head low. Neville was currently ducked behind his wall, which was good. Harry knew that he could easily outrun the other boy, especially since he had a head start.
He sprinted as fast as he could to the trees to the southwest. No point in going in the same direction as Blaise and Hermione yet. He would meet up with them later. He was almost there when he heard the sound of the gun rattling behind him once again, and felt something burn through his side. He fired back blindly and ducked into the forest.
He continued to run, despite the aching in his side. The machine gun went off again. Harry almost dropped the gun in his right hand as he could feel a bullet tear through his upper arm. By some miracle, though, he was able to hold on and fire back with the gun in his left hand. He grimaced as he could feel some of his stitches pop. Still he ran.
The machine gun went off again, but this time it no longer sounded as close as it had previously. If he had been shot again, he didn't feel it.
He wasn't certain which direction he was running to anymore. It didn't really matter, so long as Blaise and Hermione were able to get away to safety. And Neville sounded like he was a lot further away. But Harry couldn't relax yet.
For the second time that day, he found himself falling. Somehow he must have reached a small cliff, and was now skidding down the steep slope, just as he had done when he fought with Zacharias Smith.
As he landed on the ground below, he felt the breath get knocked out of him. Groaning, he tried to get up, but fell forward. He shouldn't be so badly hurt that he couldn't get up. He had to get back with Blaise and Hermione...
He cursed himself. If Neville found him like this, then who would protect Hermione?
He tried to get up again, but fell to the ground again and lost consciousness.
19 students remaining