Weston

Daniella cried out as she hit the steel. She opened her eyes and was staring once again into the face of the agent. Thoughts raced through her head, how had he gotten here, where had he come from... After all that had happened to him, he was still after her... and now she knew he wasn't going to hesitate to kill her. She heard Poppy barking from below her, knowing she was in danger, but unable to help her now.

Every time she looked at him, she saw the nails, saw his lifeless eyes filled with bloodlust, and she hated herself. She hated herself because of what she'd done to another human being. But she was forced to forget this as he leveled the gun in his hand at her head. She knew she'd never be able to escape this time. She was lying on the top of the elevator, and he would definitely kill her before she could move. She saw his finger press down on the trigger and closed her eyes, preparing for the end...

Instead of a bullet going through her head, though, she heard a clicking noise. With a gasp, she realized that he was out of ammunition. By some miracle, she was still alive, and tried to make the most of this opportunity. She jumped up to her feet as quickly as she could and shoved him backwards, running past him and looking around frantically. She saw a red light near the top of the shaft, and a lever next to it. Maybe it could bring power to the elevator... she knew that if she was going to have any chance of escape, she would have to get the elevator moving again.

Daniella spotted the metal ladder on that side, in the same spot on the opposite wall as the one she'd used to get up here, and made a running jump for it. She hit the bars hard, nearly knocking the wind out of her, but clung to them as tight as she could, not daring to look down. She glanced back, seeing the agent fumbling with a clip of ammo at his belt. Apparently he remembered how to use his gun well enough. She knew she had no time to waste, and began climbing the ladder as fast as she could.

She was beginning to panic again, her hands slipping on the bars and her breathing turning rapid and shallow. She knew she was a sitting duck up here, one shot was all it would take and that would be it. She closed her eyes and just concentrated on climbing the ladder, reaching up to the next rung and pulling herself up, repeating, repeating... it wouldn't be long now. He would shoot her before she could make it. This was the worst idea she'd ever had. She turned her face upwards and opened her eyes, finding the red light close now, the lever almost within reach.

Although she told herself not to, she found herself looking down at the elevator. She saw the agent finally putting the clip in the gun, when suddenly a shape jumped from the elevator... was that Poppy? She saw the dog jump across onto one of the iron girders that lined the shaft, nearly slipping and falling to the bottom... he was risking his life to save her. She shuddered, trying to keep moving, and climbed the last few rungs to the top. She did not dare glance back down, he could kill her at any minute... she reached out with her flagging strength and pulled the lever down.

At that moment, a bullet hit the wall close to her head. She heard the elevator moving again, and knew that the reason he missed was probably because of the sudden movement... but next time she might not be so lucky. She looked down to see the elevator descend to the first floor. It sank down just far enough so that the girder that Poppy had jumped to was level with the top of the elevator. She saw the agent already aiming for his next shot as Poppy jumped fearlessly onto the top of the elevator, running and jumping onto the man's back. It caught him by surprise, and he struggled with the dog, trying to get him off.

Poppy was buying her precious time, and all she was doing was sitting there staring. Daniella started back down the ladder, hoping against hope that she would somehow be able to get back inside the elevator, and escape onto one of the floors. She didn't want any more violence, she didn't want more death, that's not how this had to end... but that's the way it was headed. Trying her best not to panic, she climbed downward as fast as she could, hearing Poppy yelp. Please be okay, she prayed as she continued to climb. She owed everything to that dog, and if he died... Another shot rang out.

The bullet entered her right arm, which immediately went limp. She dropped the white statue she'd been trying to hold onto. Daniella screamed in pain, and realized she was falling. She was plummeting to her death, falling to the bottom of the shaft. It was all over... Suddenly, her body smacked against one of the iron girders. She felt something in her back snap, and yelled out in agony. If she injured her spine, she was dead... but she found she could still move, she was still breathing, she was alive. She rolled over in excruciating pain and attempted to stand on the girder.

She slowly got to her feet, her back threatening to kill her. She had only fallen to the next girder down, but it was enough to seriously injure her. She was now below the top of the elevator, but she knew all the agent had to do was look over the edge and he could kill her. With her flagging strength, she reached out for the ladder once more with her left arm, which wasn't the dominant one, and she had a hard time just getting onto it. She didn't look up, didn't want to see her impending doom... everything was turning gray again, the entire world threatened to swallow her, she could hardly control her own actions... all she knew how to do now was climb.

Daniella kept climbing for what seemed like forever, thought she heard more gunshots but wasn't sure, nothing existing to her but the ladder. She couldn't breathe... she was going to suffocate... tears streamed down her face as she tried to run from the truth... that she had no hope, and she was going to die. Finally, she felt no more rungs below her feet, just stone, and knew she had reached the bottom. She didn't want to look around, didn't know if she had the strength, but knew she had to.

She saw the agent climbing down the ladder on the opposite side, turning his head to look at her. All she saw in his eyes was death... all he knew how to do now was kill. The horrifying realization dawned on her that only one of them would be leaving this place alive, and she knew who it was going to be. All she could do was stand and watch, against the wall, unable to move... Even as she saw him aim the gun again from up on the ladder, all she could do was cry and shake her head. This was the end. He shot her again.

The bullet hit her in the left side, dropping her to the floor in writhing, shrieking pain, the overwhelming sensation racking her entire body. Things were beginning to black out... she was dying. She tried her best to fight the gathering fog, watching the agent descend the last rungs of the ladder. She looked around for something, anything... And then on the wall next to her, she saw another lever, larger than the one near the top. It wasn't within her reach, but she might be able to make it. She had no idea what it was, no idea what it did, but she just knew it did something... and she wasn't just going to sit here and wait for death.

With what remained of her stamina, with the last of her life, she dragged herself over to the spot below the lever. She looked up at it and read the words printed in red beside it.

CAUTION!

EMERGENCY RELEASE SYSTEM

DO NOT PULL UNLESS IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY

She looked back through her tears at the agent, who had by now reached the floor opposite her and was facing her, his eyes filled with primal fire, the object of the hunt now wounded and prepared for the kill. She watched as he began walking toward her, aiming his gun one last time, right between her eyes. She closed her eyes, whispered a prayer, and pulled the lever down as hard as she could.

Weston was closing the distance between himself and his prey. He had to kill her. He needed to kill her. It was all that fueled him now, his mind concentrated on nothing else. He aimed the object in his hand, the killing tool, straight at the girl's head. His lips contorted into a lopsided grin as his brain kept repeating the message... kill... kill... She reached up and pulled something, and suddenly he heard a noise above him.

He turned his head upward, watching the shape get larger and larger. He knew death when he saw it, knew when it was rushing at him. And as he saw his own doom closing in on him, one more thought broke to the surface of his mind, one last, brilliantly clear memory in the face of death... he had a family. In those last few seconds, the bloodlust was gone, the girl didn't matter anymore. He was going to miss them so much. He never got to say goodbye...

The elevator smashed down on top of Weston, and death embraced him.