Thank you so much to Be-nice-to-nerds for pointing out the ridiculously crazy storyline that this story has. Here's a tip for anyone writing: plan your stories…actually I'm probably the only person who doesn't, so everyone- keep up the good work! Valentine? PLAN YOUR STORIES!

Also, I just re-read the previous chapter and confused myself so I've made a little map of where everyone is so you can know who they're going to save first.

Alex,

River----Paulo,-----Amber ----- Li----- Eva,----- FREEDOM

Hex,------- Matt

Lily

That is the best darn map ever! So they're going to save Amber, then Li then Eva.


"Is anyone else trying to move?" Hex whispered and slowly everyone nodded. The wall of water was catching up to them fast.

"Alex?" Lily whispered but no one took their eye off the sight in front of them.

"Huh?" He whispered back.

"Open the door!" She shouted and turned to them; her actions seemed to wake everyone up and they gathered themselves up before running to the door. Lily stumbled and fell to the floor; the water was rising against the huge pile of rubble the wall had left behind. "Damn." She muttered and proceeded to remove the ridiculously high heels that Amnias had bought her to wear after handing her gun to Hex.

"Why are you dressed like that anyway?" Paulo asked conversationally as Hex and Alex tried desperately behind them to open the door.

"Amnias made me dress up for dinner." As she said this Hex and Alex both looked round to her; they hadn't noticed the dark purple dress she was wearing, the jewellery or the hair and make-up until she had said that. They also noticed the fact that the water had risen over the rubble and was even pushing through the solid wall of concrete.

"What a nice guy." Hex said sarcastically as they pushed the door open and ran through with Alex, Paulo and Lily followed after. They found themselves in a room identical to the one they'd come from. They stopped; taking a moment to catch their breath and clear their heads. They turned to Lily as they saw her move, she lifted her dress up to reveal her thigh and she grabbed a knife that was secured there.

"Ahem," Alex coughed pointedly for two reasons; a) Lily needed to hurry up and b) Paulo should stop staring. Lily proceeded to cut her dress; it was up to her ankles but she couldn't run so shortened it by cutting it off near her knees. "This wall is going to blow any second!" Hex shouted urgently and Lily nodded before replacing the knife and they continued running. The sound of water was overwhelming; it sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once but right now it had only seeped through and up to their ankles.

"Who we going for first?" Paulo asked, trying desperately to remember.

"Amber," Alex answered as they ran, trying to find their way through the half lit darkness; they could just about make out the broken mirrors, damp furniture and portraits. Suddenly Alex turned around and Lily almost ran into him.

"My third mission in Hungary?" Lily nodded, "you know that girl that picked me up?" Lily nodded again; of course she remembered, she'd organised for him to be picked up. "I spent two nights with her!" He shouted at her and she was so surprised by his action and words that she just nodded her head.

"Err…guys?" Paulo said as he and Hex waited on the edge of Alex and Lily's conversation; the water had risen almost to their knees and the wall could explode any second. Alex was looking at Lily as though he expected her to say something so she thought about what to say.

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?" Lily whispered and Alex nodded before looking down. "Thank you." She said and put a hand on his neck before resting her forehead against hers.

"Guys?" Hex said a little more urgently; the water was seeping in through the ceiling too; it was beginning to rain indoors!

"No more lies?" Alex asked and it was strange, even though the sound of water was deafening and Hex and Paulo's shouts of encouragement to move were growing louder, Lily found she could only hear Alex's voice.

"No more." She agreed and Alex kissed her quickly.

"Let's move." Alex said to the other two who nodded before they moved off again. They'd barely reached the other side before the wall behind them collapsed. They instinctively threw themselves to the floor and fell into the water. After a few wasted seconds Hex emerged and looked across to the wall; the fire was moving faster than water now. The other three stood up and now both drops of water and confetti-like embers were showering them. They were right next to the door and this time it was a wooden one. Paulo kicked it open and they all ran through. Lily was last and managed to stop herself running into Hex as she heard Paulo's yell. They had all stopped in a straight line

"What's the…" Lily looked ahead and down; there was nothing but darkness. This room had no floor; they were stood on a meter width of wooden edging.

"Amber!" Hex shouted and they looked across to see, on the opposite side of the room Amber was stood on the edging that ran across all the walls of the room. "Walk carefully!" Hex called to Paulo and Alex as they had begun to take the route along the edging on the walls; the wood was old and damp, it would most likely fall if they all ran across it. Paulo, leading the group, walked as fast as he dared; he was all too aware of the water, fire, creaking wood and impending darkness beneath them. "Hey guys!" Paulo shouted over his shoulder.

"Yeah?" He heard them all call.

"Who else has the Indiana Jones theme song in their head?" Lily just stared ahead in wonderment at Paulo's cool attitude towards all of this. Hex shrugged as he looked around to see Lily's questioning look and Alex shook his head.

"Sorry mate," Alex called to him; finally realising what Paulo was trying to do, "I've got the James Bond theme in my head." He said and everyone laughed despite their predicament. Paulo was using the old fashioned trick of: if you're doing a practical that seems really difficult it'll get worse if you think about it so try not to.

"Batman," Hex joined in their conversation.

"Lily?" Paulo asked her what was in her head because she hadn't spoken; indeed when he glanced back she was looking down with a horrified expression.

"Yes?" She said shakily.

"What song is in your head?"

"I…" She wasn't replying, she was thinking too hard; the more you thought, the more worried you became until you eventually-

"Lily, don't stop!" He heard Hex yell, "you practically do this for a living-"

"There is no situation in real life that is this insane!" Lily snapped back as the wood creaked beneath her.

"Lily!" Amber shouted urgently, she wasn't that far away now but Lily wasn't looking, she stared determinedly into the darkness beneath her. Lily wasn't scared of the dark but falling into nothingness freaked the heck out of her.

"Alex?" Hex called to him.

"Yeah?" Alex had turned and was coming back anyway. He saw the look on Hex's face and sighed.

"She's your wife!" He said seriously and put his hands up to show he meant no harm. It took at least seven seconds for them to pass each other. Alex reached Lily who was still looking down.

"We're going to move." He said slowly and was all too aware that water had begun to pour in through the door. The water wasn't such a problem anymore though; it was the wall collapsing that was the problem. Lily shook her head. "First day we met, what song was playing in the café near by?" He asked and Lily looked up; taken by surprise at the question. Alex took a hold of her hands and took a step backwards, causing Lily to move forwards without realising.

"Mondo Bongo," she said, keeping her eyes fixed on his now.

"How did it go?" He asked and his eyes constantly kept flicking back to the wall.

"I was patrolling a Pachinko," Lily whispered, "Nude noodle model parlour in the Nefarious zone." Alex nodded and kept her moving, they were so close to the end. "Hanging out with insects under ducting, the C.I.A was on the phone."

"Alex," Paulo called to him but Alex couldn't afford to listen.

"Remember Lily?" Alex had to get her attention again as Paulo's shout had caused her to look down again. "Latino caribo, mondo bongo, the flower looks good in your hair." He said and Lily looked up at him.

"You can stop attempting to sing." She said with a smirk as she let go of his hands and walked past him. Alex turned around in confusion to see everyone right next to him. Lily and Amber embraced.

"Get me the fuck out of here." Amber said with a shake of her head as Alex approached and embraced her. "What the hell happened to you guys?" She whispered to him.

"We'll talk-"

"We all seem to be forgetting that-" The wall came down and they put their hands over their heads. Once it had fallen they all looked back at it, "that will happen." Hex finished his sentence.

"Ha!" Amber shouted as she saw the water was simply falling into the void below them; there was no way they could drown. But the smile on her face fell as they realised that when the wall had given way it had taken some of the wooden walkway with it and now, as the rubble fell with the water, it was pulling the wood away from the walls on both sides. Paulo was reminded of an incident he'd gone through a few years ago when he'd witnessed skin being ripped from someone's arm; it was the same thing. "Wait," Amber said, "if that's falling and we're stood…" they looked down and then to the walls; the edging would rip away with them on it.

"Why do we waste so much time enjoying the scenery?" Hex shouted at them and kicked the door open.

"At least this has a floor!" Paulo shouted and walked in, "hello Li!" He said quickly, picked her up from the middle of the floor and just kept running.

"Hey!" Li protested but then saw everyone else running.

"Hi!" They all said but kept running. She glanced behind them and gasped as she saw the massacre in the next room. "What the hell did you do Paulo?!" She shouted to him and the others grinned.

"Nothing!" He protested and put her down, by the door. "Alex do you have the key?" He asked and everyone had caught up and were now catching their breath. Alex looked up with an open mouth.

"I…lost it in the water!" He said and ran a hand through his hair.

"Damn," Paulo muttered. "Oh well," he said and proceeded to pull the, this time made of metal bars, door out of the wall. Hex and Alex shrugged before going to help them. The girls had a quick reunion before the door was ripped from the wall. They all peered in to see a corridor. There were naked bulbs, barely lighting the place, swinging from the ceiling.

"They're swinging." Hex observed.

"No shit, Sherlock." Amber replied and Hex looked over to her with a bored face.

"And to think I missed you." He muttered.

"That was a British reference," Amber explained, "you hate my American saying-"

"Americans have sayings?" Li interjected.

"You always say British colloquialisms are cooler." Amber said and folded her arms haughtily.

"How did these two make it work and not us?!" Paulo shouted at Li but pointed at Hex and Amber.

"Guys I think we should-"

"Maybe for a lot of reasons!" Li shouted over Alex and Lily took a step forwards.

"LOOK!" She shouted at them all, "WE'VE ALL GOT ISSUES- BUT RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO RUN!" But everyone was already running.

"Lily you sure are scary when angry!" Li called back to her.

"You should try working with her." Alex said and only Hex, Paulo and Lily laughed.

"What?" Amber asked before Lily stopped the whole group by holding up her arm.

"Oh yeah, we'll have to tell you…" but Alex's voice trailed away as Lily opened the door. It was dimly lit too like the hall but had an eerie green tinge to the walls, there were a few tables with broken, discarded bottles and as everyone approached with caution they saw that the green tinge was given by around 15 computer screens with numbers scrolling across them. And stood in front of the screens was Matt, holding Eva. Everyone walked in slowly, trying to keep in mind that there was a time limit on how long they could spend in here. Without hesitation Lily walked over to Matt who was evidently surprised they were all here. She removed the knife from it's strap on her thigh and put a hand on Matt's arm before pushing him back into the wall. He held on tighter to Eva.

"Mama!" Eva shouted before looking around, "daddy!" She smiled and waved. "Amur!" Amber saluted her.

"Give her to me," Lily said as Matt's back hit the wall. She put the knife against his throat and within a second everyone could see a small streak of Matt's blood appear behind the blade.

"Lily!" Amber and Li screamed; the only ones surprised she was capable of acting like this. But then something happened no one was really expecting-

"HEX!" Amber screamed for Hex had cocked the gun Lily had handed to him earlier and put it to her head.

"ALEX!" They all shouted as Alex took a broken bottle from a nearby table and moved to hold the sharp glass against Hex's neck.

"What the hell is going on?!" Li shouted at them but no one was really listening.

"So," Lily whispered and moved closer to Matt, "who's got the guts to go first?" she asked but Matt was staring past her at Hex; did he care that much, he'd let one of his best friends kill him?

Oh dear. Not good. If no one got the predicament at the end here's another little diagram:

Alex (bottle)-- Hex (gun) - Lily (knife) - Matt (Eva…who is not a weapon)

You can tell I've actually been revising this year- all the diagrams!

Yay for mind-maps: they RULE.

Oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Or else I'd have forgotten XP