A/N Well isn't this just an action packed week. Sorry for the long update, work and all that. Here is the dreaded shoot out. Dun dun DUNNNNNN!
Disclaimer: Iown nothing (boo hoo!)
Chapter 4
The sun was beating down on the courtyard, and the packed crowds stood, sweating in their clothes. The school of Queen Victoria had been in tight situations before, but this was just getting ridiculous. The men had been at the school for 8 days. At that time, they had taken the best beds, ate the food, drank their water, and forced them to watch the torture of a friend. And now they were making them do the most diabolical thing of all.
The men were guarding the sides and rear. There were also men at the front. To prevent the students from injuring themselves, running out into a path of bullets.
Jo and Zanthe looked at each other in despair. Their best friend had been there for when the times became to tough for them to handle. She was a shoulder to cry on, and could always be counted upon to produce a laugh. And now she was to die in front of them, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. They held hands, and prayed that it would be over soon.
Suddenly the door opened, and Wilkinson stepped out. Peter Creedy had left the day before, and he had passed the job of execution over to Charlottes guard. It was a miserable sight that met his eyes. Even the teacher's eyes were red and puffy. 'Babies, the lot of them' he thought maliciously. He stated to speak.
"Fellow people. Almost 6 moths ago, a student was taken on suspicion of having connections with the terrorist know as 'Codename-V'. As she was known to have no connections, and she refused to sign a statement saying that she didn't support him. It is by law that she be executed by firing squad. And, as we are here, we might as well do it in front of you lot, so you don't do it as well." He paused and smiled evilly, showing yellow teeth.
"Bring the prisoner out." he yelled and the door opened once again.
Charlotte blinked in the bright sunlight, but stepped out with strength. Her guards did not hold her arms, and she walked alone. She was still very thin, and she still had sores covering her body, but there was a fire in her eyes that was not there before. In her right hand, she was clutching the letter from Valerie.
She walked to the empty wall facing the crowd, and stood against it, her head held high. Wilkinson came up to her, and tied her hand around her back. As he did so, he whispered in her ear, "You are going to die like a dog. You will beg for mercy, and I will enjoy every minute of it."
Charlotte had been looking over his shoulder at the crowd when he had said this. When he pulled away, she whispered back, "I'll see you in hell." He grinned and fixed a white blindfold over her eyes. The last image she saw, was the image of two identical white faces, grinning at her from the roof.
EV
V looked at Evey from the top of the roof. It had been hectic getting up there, with the guards patrolling the school, and the climb to the roof had been more difficult than he had thought. Evey had been panting heavily, and had been sick when they had got to the top. But she was fine now, and she was peering over the edge, watching the students below them. They had been waiting an hour when the girl had come out. She had obviously taken Valarie's words to heart, because she showed no fear.
V drew a slow breath and let it out in a rush. It was a difficult situation that they were in. Creedy had gone, and there was that guard about to shoot this child. And he didn't even know what they were going to do with the child when they had rescued her! It was a tricky situation, and for the fist time, V questioned what they were doing.
People died every day as a result of the government. Why were they bothering to rescue one little girl?
Suddenly the guard was speaking again. He pulled himself back to the present and concentrated on getting up with the minimum of effort. Evey was to remain hidden, so as to give the most surprise. She had the gun in the back of her belt. The knives were merely for show.
Evey looked up at V and nodded her head slowly. She got up and slid down the drainpipe down to the ground and, moving as softly as a shadow, ran to the back of the crowd. Mean while, V pulled a knife out of his belt and started rotating it in his fingers, waiting for the perfect moment to plunge it into the guards back.
EV
Charlotte could only use her ears to hear know what was going on, but even she didn't need to know that she was going mad. She had seen V on the roof, and not only V, but another sitting beside him. And now she realised, mad people aren't afraid to die. She wasn't afraid, and so she was mad.
The guard was speaking to the crowd, but she wasn't listening. Fear had begun to settle in her stomach, like a lead weight. She didn't want to die, she was too young. She started to shiver, but the people around her put it down to cold. They laughed at her, and threw insults at her.
Suddenly she heard a "Ready!" and knew that in a few minutes, her life was going to end. Her school was crying in fear, begging them to release her. Tears welled up in her eyes and fell down, stopping at the cloth, so that wet stains were seen forming over her eyes.
"Aim!" yelled Wilkinson, and the sound of muskets being put to the men's shoulders stung her ears. She concentrated on the eyes that she had seen. She wanted to remember them, the kindness that was in them, and the fire.
"Fi-." Suddenly he was stopped short. There was a gasp from the crowd, and the sound of turning. Men were shouting everywhere, and the crack of the muskets was heard. Running, running, everywhere there was the sound of running. She shouted to be saved, confused, and lost in the sea of people. She couldn't take the blindfold off; her hands were bound behind her back. She struggled to move, but her legs seemed paralysed to the ground. 'Oh, God, I'm going to die.' went through her mind like a siren.
Then there were hands on her wrists. Soft ones, with a gentle touch to her raw skin. The ropes were cut free. Then the hands were pulling her blindfold from her eyes. She blinked, and gasped at the grinning face above her. The man put his finger to his lips, and took her hand. He pulled her to his right side and wrapped his arm around her, holding her to himself. His left hand pulled a dagger out of his belt and plunged it into the neck of the man running to get her. She screamed and clutched the waist of V closer, like a Koala. He then realised that it was getting more difficult to fight with her clinging onto him like that. He detangled her hands from his waist and pushed her to the side.
Her school mates her running everywhere. Men were running everywhere, and she was in the middle of it. She was scared, and she was cold. She clutched herself, and stared after the man in black, with his daggers. She ducked and turned, avoiding the men as they raced to him. V twisted and turned like a snake. Suddenly she saw a man run up behind him, gun raised. She picked up a knife and threw it into his back. The man thudded down on the ground and V turned and looked at her. She raised her eyebrow and ran to him. He picked her up like a little girl, running like a maniac to the front, motoring down whoever was in his path.
He ran and he ran, twisting, ducking in between the men like a snake. The girl was whimpering in his chest, and she was clutching him with an iron-grip. Evey had to have the car ready that was what she went out for. They had packed everything and it was waiting at the front of the school. Evey would be at the wheel, ready to drive back down to London.
He reached the front of the school faster than he had imagined. The girl was still hung onto his shirt like a limpet. Evey was in the front, her mask off, the hands clutching the wheel and her foot revving up the gear. V reached the back of the car, opened the door and prised the girl's fingers off of his shirt. The girl was not crying, but tears were leaking out of her eyes, and she was gasping and shaking. With a sinking heart, V recognized the beginnings of shock settling into her small body. He got into the front seat, but before he could close the door, he heard a voice cry out to him.
"Wait!" V poked his head out of the car and saw that the girls in her year were running down the steps. They reached the door.
"What happened to the men? The rest of the guards?" V asked.
"The rest of the school are sorting them out. Here." The girl with the long blonde hair, Zanthe he remembered, shoved a plastic bag towards him. V opened it and found clothes, books. On top of the entire jumble there was a small, grey stuffed rabbit.
"Here, comfort." explained the other, the brown haired girl. On an impulse, he handed the rabbit to the back seat. The girl reached out and took the rabbit, calming a little. Her whimpers started to cease, but she was still in shock, the shivering shaking her small body. V turned back to the girls.
"Please bring her back to see us." the brown haired girl whispered. "We want to see her again."
"I can't make any promises, but I will try." V promised. He put his head back in and closed the door. Evey stepped on the peddles and the car zoomed off. V looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the girls fighting the rest of the men. 'I will promise,' V thought, 'you will see her again.'
EV
"Pull over Evey." V asked as they neared the A1 to London. Evey pulled over to a lay-by and V got out of the car. He got into the back seat with the girl and shut the door. Evey looked over her shoulder and nodded, understanding. She started to drive again.
V shuffled closer to the girl. She was still curled up into a little ball; the rabbit nestled in her arms. Her large green eyes looked at him from her arms, the tears still pouring there way down her face. V put his arm around her and she stiffened instantly.
"It's o.k. I won't hurt you." he whispered to her. She still didn't relax, so he stroked her arm. This was a technique that he used to calm Evey down when she was stressed. It obviously did not have that effect with the girl.
She launched herself across the car, the rabbit forgotten. Her eyes where huge and terrified, and she was trembling. But V was not looking at her face. As she had moved, he had caught a sight that had made him physically sick. On the inside of her thighs was blood. 'Her virgin blood' he realised. She had been raped, and by the looks of it, more than once.
V moved back to the girl. He kept his hands to the sides of the car and he moved slowly, so as not to provoke her.
"Keep away from me!" the girl yelled, and she tried to back away from him. "You're like the rest of them, the sods! I hate you!" Luckily the window was closed, or she would have fallen out. V reached the girl and forcibly pulled her into his lap. She was still screaming abuse and waving her fists about, but her words were indistinguishable through her crying. She allowed herself to be pulled onto his lap and her tears slowly dried up. V rocked her slowly.
"They came for me after the first 2 months." she said after about 5 minutes. Evey looked back for a brief moment before turning back to the road and negotiating her way around the traffic. V looked down at the girl and waited. She seemed to be steeling herself to tell him.
"I thought it was going to be another torture session, you know, with the water, or the brands. But they took me to a different room. I had a blindfold on, but this was longer, the distance I mean. They took my blindfold off, and pushed me into this room.
"It was beautiful. The room, it had a long bed, with drapes, and big pillows, and pure white sheets. I just stood there, looking at this room, and the door opened. I looked around, and there was Wilkinson, in this silk bathrobe. I knew then that there was something wrong.
"He moved to me, and I moved back, but I moved back to far, and I fell onto the bed. He looked at me and laughed and said, "You got the idea quickly." The he took of the bath robe and climbed on the bed to me. I tried to get to the opposite side of the bed, but he grabbed my leg and dragged to him.
"I…I," she gulped and started again, breathing in short, shallow gasps. "I…couldn't help it, but I looked down at him. He…he was huge! God, it was so big! I wanted to get out, but I couldn't. He took off my shift, and he made me kneel, and he…he… He made me…"
"Evey, pull over now!" V yelled urgently as the girl turned green and started to wretch. Evey moved the car to a lay-by. V opened the door and supported the girl as she crawled out and was violently sick in the hedge. V rubbed her back and murmured encouragements as she was sick over and over again.
Eventually the girl hung limply in V's arms and he got back in the car, wiping the girls mouth with the edge of his cape. Evey handed the girl the water bottle and she took a long drink. Evey started the car and the girl went on with her story.
"It was horrible. After he made me do that he dragged me back onto the bed and he raped me. I could hear the men laughing and his panting, and I was just crying. I had imagined it to be special, with the man I loved, not with a great brute. After it all, I was taken back to my cell. I was handed back my shift, and was just left there. I just cried. I was in so much pain, I couldn't even get dressed. I had no food for 3 days. I was starving." She stopped and looked at V. "Please don't hurt me. I don't want to die."
"Your in safe hands. We won't hurt you." V assured her. The girl nodded and sunk into his embrace. Her breathing became slower and more regular, till eventually V thought she was asleep. He was just about to settle down himself when he heard a small voice.
"V?"
"Hhhmmm?" V answered.
"My name is Charlotte. Charlotte Anne Margaret Finch. You can call me Lotte." The Charlotte went to sleep. V looked over out of the window and thought. This girl was desperate. She needed a home. A place to keep her out of the cold. And she could help. With Evey pregnant, he needed another assistant. And she was perfect. V stroked her bald head and composed himself for sleep.
"Good-night, Little Lotte."
A/N Right, I know that it has taken me extremely long to update. Please forgive me. The sex scene was extremely difficult to write, so if it offends people, sorry. As always, please review! And don't worry, I will update more quickly.