Harry Potter (Boy 15, Gryffindor) looked over to his friend Hermione Granger (Girl 8, Gryffindor). She sat there with a look of shock on her face. If Crabbe was dead...
"Maybe," the girl's voice squeaked. "Maybe Millicent sent the signal..."
Montgomery's voice continued. "Onto the girls, then. A rather high body count this time. Starting off we have Girl 2, Susan Bones; Girl 4, Lavender Brown; Girl 5, Millicent Bulstrode; Girl 10, Megan Jones; Girl 11, Su Li; Girl 18, Sally-Anne Perks; and lastly Girl 19, Sadie Roper."
"Impossible..." Harry sat there, dazed. There hadn't been any guns fired in the afternoon since he met up with Hermione and Blaise. It was... impossible... He must have heard wrong.
"So," Montgomery's voice continued. "It looks like we're down to the final four. Good work, Potter, Granger, Longbottom, and Blaise. You might not be able to see me, but rest assured you have brought a smile of pride to my face. Forbidden zones, then."
Blaise Zabini (Boy 20, Slytherin) stood up, not even bothering to take out his map. "Pack up. We're leaving."
Harry looked to him, and he signaled for them to hurry. Montgomery's voice continued. "At 7 p.m. E-4 will become forbidden..."
Blaise slung his pack over his shoulder, holding his shotgun in one hand, and the Uzi in the other. "It's Neville. He found out how to contact us. He's coming, so move!"
Harry and Hermione didn't need to be told again. They quickly gathered their packs over their shoulders, and grabbed guns from the center of their camp, where Harry had deposited the weapons earlier. Hermione held the Colt .45 she had taken from Hannah in one hand, and Susan's Browning in the other. Harry held Eloise's SIG-Sauer in his right hand, and the Glock in his injured left hand. The remaining gun was tucked into his belt.
They didn't even have time to finish listening to the rest of the announcement before the grenade came flying toward them and they were forced to scatter.
Harry hissed in pain as he slid across the ground. He was pretty sure some of his stitches had popped. It was better than the alternative, though. Shrapnel from the grenade and truck flew through the air. Turning his head a little, he could see Neville Longbottom (Boy 11, Gryffindor) ducked behind a tree at the edge of the forest, holding his gun in on hand, and another grenade in the other.
Harry shouted at the others to run, but wasn't sure if they could hear him or not. If they were at all like him, their ears must be ringing as well. In either case, Harry took aim as best as he could, even though it hurt his injured side, and fired toward Neville.
The others must have gotten the message, as they began to fire as well as they slowly got up off the ground. He followed suit, continuing to fire. Remembering what Blaise had told them earlier about getting to the minivan, he ran over to them, while still keeping his eyes trained on their assailant.
As if they read his mind, the three of them began to run, occasionally turning around every now and then to fire back at Neville, who had yet to fire back. Neville simply remained ducked behind his tree.
Just as they were about to clear past their campsite, another grenade was sent hurdling through the air toward them. Once again they ran in different directions, ducking as the grenade exploded on the ground where they would have been. Before any of them could get up, Neville stepped out from behind his tree and fired toward the dust cloud.
Hermione squeaked as a bullet narrowly missed her head. Something hot had grazed by her right ear, burning some of her hair. She could feel some blood trickle down from the top of her ear. She heard someone shout to stay down, and then the rapid firing of Blaise's Uzi rang out from somewhere nearby. Even though she couldn't see past the dust cloud they were in the middle of, the sound of Neville's gun stopped.
"Harry! Hermione! Run! I'll hold him off!" Blaise shouted at them, although neither of them could hear him very well.
They got up from their spots on the ground, ducking as low to the ground as they could while they ran toward the minivan. Hermione had no idea why Blaise had wanted them to go there, as it was totaled, but the truck was in no condition to do much of anything anymore. She wasn't sure if any of it was still left, except as debris and scrap metal.
As they neared the far edge of the dust cloud, away from Neville, Hermione could see Harry's silhouette. She smiled with relief, then focused on her running. Gunshots rang out behind them.
They cleared the dust cloud and stopped, looking at one another.
"Do you think he's alright?" Harry asked, panting. His injuries were causing him to be out of breath faster than he should be.
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered. "I guess we'll find out."
Before either could say anything more, a silhouette approached quickly, and they continued to run towards the minivan, unsure of just who might be emerging.
Blaise fired a few more times toward Neville's general direction before the Uzi ran out of bullets. Not having the time to reload, as the dust cloud was settling down, he ran as fast as he could toward Harry and Hermione, who he could see just outside. "Run!" he shouted at them. He grimaced as a bullet tore into his leg, but didn't dare to slow down. Behind him he could hear the other boy's footsteps running closer.
Trying to ignore the pain that shot up his leg with every step, he limped toward them. "Move!" he shouted as he rejoined them.
Hermione's eyes widened. "You're hurt!"
Blaise nodded. "And we'll be dead if we don't move, so go!"
Harry shook his head. "We can't just leave you!"
Blaise swore. "Than cover me while I reload, then get your asses in gear!"
They didn't need to be told twice. They fired their guns toward Neville's silhouette, which was coming into clearer view as the dust settled. Taking out a box of bullets that he had stashed into his pocket, Blaise reloaded the Uzi as quickly as he could.
Neville dropped to the ground, and the trio began to run to safety again.
Neville grimaced as he reloaded the Ingram. After this, there were only enough bullets for one more reload. He still had two more grenades left, but didn't want to use them, lest he give them cover yet again. It was hard to fire blindly into a cloud of dust, and his ears still rang from the noise of the previous two explosions. He had just barely managed to duck the flying shrapnel from the truck. But he needed to stop them from using it to get away.
Once he had reloaded the Ingram, he took one of his spare guns out of his open pack and followed them, running as fast as he could. He knew he could never catch up to them under normal circumstances, but he could not lose now. Not when they were the only ones standing between him and survival. He would not die here.
The trio ducked behind some boulders that littered the beachside, reloading their guns as needed. Off in the distance was the crashed minivan.
Blaise turned to Hermione. "You and Harry have to run to the minivan. Once you do, pop the hood and start it up. The instructions are on the piece of paper I gave you."
Hermione looked at him, confused. "But--"
Blaise shook his head. "No time. Take this." He took the stun gun he had taken from Theodore Nott out of his pack, and held it out to her. She shifted the Colt .45 to her other hand and took the stun gun, putting it into her pocket. "I'll cover you guys. Go!"
Hermione nodded, shifting the gun back to her right hand, and she and Harry ran toward the minivan.
Blaise stepped out from behind the boulder, firing toward Neville, who was approaching again. Blaise saw a few of the shots hit Neville square in the chest, and smiled as Neville fell to the ground. "That ought to do it." Relaxing slightly, he stepped away from the boulder, and turned to join up with the others.
A noise behind him forced him to turn around again. His eyes widened as he saw the muzzle of Neville's Ingram flare up. His body surged with pain as bullets tore through him. The music locket he possessed fell out of his pocket, opening as it hit the ground.
He sat on top of the staircase, careful not to make a sound. He didn't want his parents to know that he was still awake and listening to their arguing. He could hear his baby sister wailing from down the hallway, and wished that she would be quiet so he could hear what his parents were talking about.
"Please, you just can't leave! What about our children?" His mother begged, holding onto the sleeves of his father's robes.
His father took a step back, releasing his robes from her grip. "Rosalie, listen to me. I have to do this. Our children deserve a better life than this. It's the only way."
The four-year-old Blaise couldn't quite understand what was happening, but knew that it couldn't be a good thing. His mother was crying. The last time she cried was when her father had gone away on vacation. When Blaise had asked her when he was coming back, she just cried and told her son that he wasn't. Larissa tried to explain to him that their grandfather was dead, but he had no idea what that meant.
"I can't raise them alone!" his mother sobbed, trying to stand between him and the door.
He put an arm on her shoulder. "You won't have to. You have your brother to help, and I'll send money. It's just that it's too dangerous for me to have a known family. Please understand." He brushed past her toward the door.
Blaise nearly jumped as a hand fell onto his shoulder. He looked up to see his older sister smile down at him.
"You should be in bed," she whispered. She looked down at their parents and frowned. "This is grown up stuff."
Blaise shook his head. "Not tired." He turned back to his parents as his father opened the door.
"Gary, no!" Mama futilely grabbed at the back of his robes, but he just walked outside in silence. "Gary!" she shouted as the door closed.
"Father... you bastard..."
Everything went black, and Blaise Zabini fell to the ground.
Harry had turned around slightly when he heard the guns fire behind him. He nearly stopped running when he saw Blaise fall to the ground. "No!"
3 students remaining
September 3 -- 6:05 p.m.
Sanchez looked toward his superior nervously. Montgomery was watching the monitor intently, an inscrutable expression on his face. Clayton and Delacroix exchanged looks, then turned to Sanchez, who shook his head. It was best to leave the other man to his thoughts.
Sanchez's eyes glanced over to the still picture next to Montgomery's work station. As if reading his thoughts, Montgomery sighed and sat it face down on the desk. Nobody spoke as he turned around to face them, a hollow look in his eyes.
"One would think..." he began, his voice no longer as cheerful as it usually was. He cleared his throat. "One would think that I would be upset, right?" Not waiting for any of them to say or do anything, he continued, "They'd be wrong. Stupidity. When one gets stupid, one dies." He turned back to the monitor. "Playing the hero." He scoffed. "Stupid. Never turn your back on the enemy unless you're sure that he's dead. He should have aimed for the head."
The others said nothing, and turned back to their work stations when it became apparent the other man wasn't going to say anything more.
3 students remaining
September 3 -- 6:06 p.m.
Harry ducked behind a boulder as a shot passed by him. It was far too close for comfort. Just ahead of him, he could see the minivan. A lot of good it would do them if they couldn't stop Neville or lose his trail. He still couldn't understand why they were supposed to go there. Not when it looked as bad as it did.
He looked over to the boulder next to his, where Hermione was clutching her gun. He wondered if she realized yet that Blaise was dead. She glanced at him, and they made eye contact. Nodding at him, she emerged from the boulder, firing at Neville repeatedly.
Neville ducked behind a boulder. Sparks flew as bullets grazed past it. He frowned. Even though the vest protected him, it still hurt whenever a bullet connected with it. He was certain that there were bruises all over his torso, but that was the least of his worries. If they realized that he was protected with a bulletproof vest, they might aim for his head, and that would be it. He was so close to freedom, and couldn't slip up now.
As soon as the barrage of bullets ended, he jumped out from behind his boulder and fired toward the girl. He didn't even pause as she shrieked with pain as one of his bullets connected. She ducked behind her boulder again, and he ventured forward to the next boulder, closing the gap between them.
He was just barely able to duck behind the next boulder before Harry popped out from behind his and started firing at him. He waited it out. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hermione move off to the next boulder ahead of her. No matter. They were running out of hiding places, as there weren't very many boulders left for them to hide behind up ahead. After that, they'd be in the open. He might not even have to break out the two extra guns he had in his pack. But it wasn't over yet, so he couldn't relax or get overconfident.
Even though his Ingram was running out of bullets, he was good to go with the rest of his guns. And in the off chance that he exhausted the rest of his supply, he was closer to the Uzi and shotgun that the fallen Blaise had been carrying than they were. If he ran too low, he would just go back and retrieve them. No, they would most likely run out of bullets before he did. All he had to do was wait.
Harry cursed as he ducked back behind his boulder. This wasn't working. Neville was trying to force them into the open. He tried to catch Hermione's eye as she appeared from behind her boulder and fired toward Neville, but she ignored him. He advanced as quickly as he could to the next boulder, firing behind him a few times for good measure. After a few shots, the gun clicked.
"Hermione," he called as he hid behind the rock and began to reload. She turned to him as she ducked back. "This is getting us nowhere." There were only two more boulders between them and the minivan.
She shook her head. "There's not much we can do."
He took a step toward her. "But at this rate we'll be killed!" A bullet grazed by him and he stepped back.
She looked at him and fired back at Neville, who ducked back. "So what do you suggest?" she asked.
Harry sighed. "I don't know. Maybe... If we could reason with him..."
She just looked at him sadly, then fired at Neville, who had emerged once again. She ducked back as her gun clicked. "I doubt it would work. Damn!" She tossed the Colt she had been shooting with to the ground. She was completely out of bullets for it. She shifted the Browning from her left hand to her right.
"I've got an extra gun," Harry offered, gesturing to the gun tucked in his belt.
Hermione shook her head. "No. I wouldn't be able to reload. You've got the bullets."
He nodded. "I could give you those, too."
"Too dangerous." She fired the Browning at Neville, who had advanced on them again. Tears were forming in her eyes.
Harry nodded, then turned his attentions back to the battle at hand. Based upon the shadows on the ground, he could tell that Neville was just one boulder away. "I'm just so sick of this," Harry said as he fired toward the other boy.
"We can't give up now," Hermione said. She dashed to one of the boulders by the minivan, making sure to fire at Neville whenever he would appear. After she had reached safety, Harry followed her, slightly slower due to his injuries. She covered for him as he ran toward her.
After he hid behind the other boulder, she turned to him. "Listen to me. You go and run to the minivan. Hide behind it. I'll cover for you, and join you."
He shook his head. "No. I'm not leaving you. You go."
"I can't!" she argued back. "I have to start it up. I have to be the last one there. Don't argue with me, just go!"
Harry glanced to the minivan nervously. Even though he knew it was a lot closer, it still seemed as though it was miles away from his vantage point. He turned back to her. "You only have one gun. You'll have to reload before you can get there. I'm not leaving you behind to be killed."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Then leave the extra gun and bullets behind. I'll pick them up before I follow. Deal?"
Harry glanced to the minivan again, then looked back to her. "Fine." Making sure that he wasn't sticking out, he crouched to the ground, setting the SIG-Sauer on the ground before setting down his pack and rummaging through it for the extra bullets to the Smith & Wesson. He sat those down on the ground, as well as the gun he had tucked in his belt. Picking up his pack and gun, he gave Hermione one last look as he slowly stood up. "Be careful."
Hermione nodded, holding the Browning tightly. "Go."
As one, they emerged from behind their boulders. Harry ran toward the minivan while Hermione shot at Neville whenever he would emerge. She had to keep Neville from firing at Harry, while being careful to make sure she didn't need to reload. When Neville was ducked behind his boulder again, she raced toward Harry's abandoned boulder to collect the extra gun and bullets. She barely made it before Neville started firing at her again.
Not bothering to pick up the gun or bullets yet, she fired back at Neville, who ducked again. She glanced nervously to Harry, who was almost at the minivan. She couldn't afford to look too long, though, as Neville was emerging again. She fired, but her gun only made a clicking noise. Her eyes widened, and she bent down to pick up the gun Harry had left for her. She was about to stand up when her fingers fumbled and the gun fell to the ground. She swore and went to retrieve it. This time, she was able to keep a hold of it. She smiled and stood up...
...And faced the barrel of Neville's gun, aimed right at her forehead.
3 students remaining