36 students remaining
He found them. Locked in heated battle. Kiriyama and Tom. Amazingly Tom was holding his own even with his injured arm. He pistol-whipped Kiriyama who backhanded him as he turned. Tom fell, the gun spinning away. As strong as Tom was, Kiriyama was far stronger. His power was unnatural. For a brief moment Tom lay defenceless at his feet. Kiriyama grinned and prepared to deliver the killing blow.
At that moment Tom saw a flicker of something running past his left eye. Vinny barrelled into Kiriyama with a running tackle. With this brief respite Tom snatched up his revolver and turned to see Kiriyama bring his foot down on Vinny's neck.
Vinny gasped, blood trickling from his mouth. 'Run' he said weakly, 'run' the voice was stronger. He pushed himself up and Kiriyama was momentarily unbalanced. 'RUN!' he shouted. Kiriyama brought his foot down again knocking him flat. He brought it down again. There was a snap. He brought it down again, and again, and again. Then he kicked the body aside and leapt on Tom. He was knocked flat. Kiriyama hands tightened round his neck. He gasped. His vision shifted from black, to red, to grey and back again. He saw Vinny's rifle hanging from the catwalk above. He reached for it. Missed. He tried again. His fingers grasped the handle. He brought it down on Kiriyama's shoulder and forced it into his mouth. 'You're dead, fucker' he said as he fired. Blood hit his face and Kiriyama fell backwards.
Tom fell away, panting. He rubbed his neck tenderly. There were still finger marks on it. He dropped the smoking rifle and crawled over to Vinny. His body was facing the corner. Weak gasps came from it. He turned him over. His face was a mess. His nose was smashed beyond repair and blood trickled from his mouth. He held in his hand a switch.
'L-listen t-to me now' his breath rattled, 'this is a dead mans trigger. If I let go of this button, the Semtex will explode. There's enough to take out this place. Go. Now.'
'Vinny, thanks.'
'Don't m-mention it. Just survive ok?'
'I will. I promise you'
Tom turned and left, his feet echoing in the dark. He reached the doors and fired at the metal. It broke away and he yanked the door open. The musty smell of the stairway assaulted his nostrils. He took the steps two at a time and crashed through reception to the main doors. Powering through them he found that the sun had started to rise on the second day.
Vinny sat, alone save for Kiriyama's body. He counted the seconds until he could release the button. He heard the doors open and sighed. This was it. Then a sick slurping sound caught his attention. The flesh on the Back of Kiriyama's head was knitting back together. The Kiriyama stood up. Again. He turned and saw Vinny propped up against the corner
'Did I not finish the job the first time, eh? Am I going to have to kill you again?' he strode over to Vinny and struck his face. His hand fell to the floor.
'My turn' he gasped and the trigger slipped from his fingers. Kiriyama was halfway through turning away when a Colum of fire ripped through Vinny, enveloping them both.
35 students remaining
Tom hit the wet ground. Dew he thought, so ordinary yet so out of place here. A wave of heat rose from the wrecked hospital. Sadness wracked him. He had failed them. He led them there and they all died because of it. He had killed them. They had died because of him. He hadn't pulled the trigger but he might have well as loaded it and given it to them. He wasn't going to let anyone else die because of him.