"Blaine, we should try and find Santana," Kurt said quietly. They were still sat behind the trash cans, Blaine trying to catch his breath.
"Santana?" He asked, confused. His eyes were still wide with fear.
"Yes. She's purging tonight. She told me that it's time to stand up for our people, to get revenge," Kurt said. Blaine nodded at Kurt's idea.
Despite the tense atmosphere, Blaine leaned forward and pressed a small, lingering kiss to his husbands lips.
Kurt smiled sadly, wondering if this would be their last night together.
They both jumped in astonishment when their surroundings lit up. At the end of the street, a huge fire had just set ablaze. The sound of laughter filled the air and Kurt and Blaine ducked even further behind the bins.
A group of big, burley men with beards and tattoos, jackets with no sleeves and a ton of guns and knifes walked into sight. They were laughing around the fire. It looked like they had just thrown someone in to it, to Blaine's horror.
"What do we do?" Kurt asked, barely audible. Blaine shook his head, I don't know.
They turned to watch again. They were both desperate to leave. Something caught Kurt's attention to his right. It was hard to see because of the darkness but he could have sworn he saw something.
A man's face came into view and before Kurt could raise his gun or alert Blaine, the man put his finger to his lips, begging for Kurt's silence. He, too, was trying to hide behind some dumpsters. He put his hands in the air to show Kurt that he didn't want to hurt him, that he wouldn't. Kurt nodded and stared at the man.
He seemed far too tall to be crouching behind some dumpsters. He looked awfully uncomfortable, Kurt thought. He could see dried blood on the side of his head and matted in his hair.
The men laughed even louder and fired some bullets into the air for no complete reason. The man across from Kurt flinched and peered around the dumpster. He watched as the men walked away, looking for someone else to kill. The fire was still blazing.
"Thank you." The man whispered across the small space. Blaine jumped and spun around. He raised his gun but didn't shoot. The man pressed himself back against the wall.
"I don't want to hurt you!" He said.
"It's fine, Blaine. He won't hurt us," Kurt whispered so that only Blaine could hear.
"You don't know that," Blaine growled. He never took his eyes off of the man.
"If he wanted to kill us, he would've already!" Kurt reasoned. Blaine considered this and lowered his gun slightly.
The man was watching warily. It looked as if he was contemplating whether or not he should try to run.
"We won't hurt you. We don't Purge." Kurt spoke up. The man relaxed but still looked like he was about to run.
"If you don't Purge then why are you out here? And with guns?" The man asked.
"Why are you out here?" Blaine asked, his voice cold.
"Me and girlfriend were forced out of our apartment. I'm looking for her. I don't know where she is." He spoke quietly, sorrow colouring his tone.
"We're trying to hide. But we don't actually know who we're hiding from." The man looked confused until he saw Kurt's wedding ring, which glinted in the light of the fire. He looked at Blaine's hand and, sure enough, he was wearing one to. He understood then.
"I'm Finn." He said gravely, looking up through his lashes.
"I'm Kurt. This is Blaine."
"We should move whilst we have the chance," Blaine said. "You coming?"
Blaine didn't want to help Finn. Did he trust him? Absolutely not. But he couldn't just leave him there. Blaine stood up, offering Kurt a hand, and looked around warily.
"Thank you," Finn nodded.
"Do you not have anything to protect yourself with?" Blaine asked. Giving this stranger a gun was the dumbest idea Blaine had ever had, what if Finn turned on him?, but he felt obliged to. Finn shook his head. Kurt handed Finn his gun and pulled the spare one from his pocket.
"Why are you helping me?" He asked.
"I don't know." Blaine said. When they looked out onto the street, there was still one of the men laying over someone's body, punching them over and over again. Judging by the amount of blood on the floor, Blaine was certain he was dead.
Blaine, who was too busy paying attention to the man, wasn't looking where he was going. Incidentally, he kicked a can which echoed through the streets. The man looked up with a sly grin and saw the look of terror on Blaine's face. He raised his gun before Blaine had a chance to and a bullet was fired.
But the man fell to the floor, blood gushing from his head, his gun falling from his hands and hitting the floor. Blaine and Kurt turned to Finn in shock. He had stepped out into the street and shot the man. He turned to face the two.
"I didn't come out here to Purge. But it doesn't mean I won't protect myself. And you helped me out." Finn said. Kurt was shocked that he could so easily kill that man. He didn't think he had the courage to do something like that as it would haunt him forever.
Eight hours and forty five minutes left of the Annual Purge
They continued walking through the streets. So far, they had avoided any more interaction. At that moment, they were walking past a street of shops. In the distance, Kurt could hear the screams of a woman, begging for someone to stop.
"You fucking bitch! Tell me why I shouldn't just blow your brains out right now!"
"Please! You don't have to do this! I love you. Don't hurt my baby!" She screamed.
"You think this is love? You fucking cheated on me, you slut! You don't know what love is! You deserve to die!"
Kurt looked at Blaine in desperation. He just wanted this night to be over, safe at home. As the three men walked further, the sound of screaming grew quieter, but that didn't mean Kurt didn't hear the gunshots that soon followed.
Blaine heard it too, and turned to his husband. His eyes were just as sad as Kurt's.
"I can't believe this is happening," Blaine whispered.
"Stop!" Finn whispered. Finn pressed his back against the wall of a shop and signalled for the others to do the same. He listened carefully whilst Blaine continued to watch the streets.
They were pressed against a small jewellery shop. There was an alley way in between the jewellery shop and the one a few metres away. Over the sound of chaos throughout the city, there was a strange sound coming from the alley.
"Listen." Finn said, concentrating. The sound was one that Blaine had never heard before. It was a strange hacking sound, but slightly metallic. Finn risked looking around the corner of the building. There was a man, hovering over a body, with an axe in his hand. He hacked at the body rhythmically. As he brought his hand down in a violent rage, Finn turned around, grimacing in disgust. He wanted to heave, to be sick. Luckily he hadn't eaten in the past couple of hours.
"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, not that he really wanted to know.
Finn just shook his head. He cocked his gun, lifting it up to his chin for better aim before turning back around into the alley way and shooting the man once in the head.
Kurt jumped.
"You sure do know how to use a gun," Blaine said monotonously.
"I used to be in the army," Finn said, his voice holding no emotion. Blaine moved to stand next to Finn in the alley way, asking him if he was okay.
Kurt looked around warily. He was freezing; the coat he was wearing was only intended for fashion purposes. He stepped closer to Blaine when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see what it was, whispering Blaine's name. For some reason Kurt couldn't find the words to speak.
All of a sudden, the shop Kurt had been previously pressed against burst into flames, the whole building engulfed in flames. The whole street lit up.
Finn pulled Blaine backwards, both of them staring up at the building in a mixture of shock and horror.
Kurt ran backwards, tripping on the way. He landed on his butt in the middle of the road. Kurt was too paralysed with fear to move or think. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
He stared up at the burning building, his mind not processing the events. The fire in front of him threatened to close in on him, to take hold of him as it had with the building.
Blaine was screaming his name, screaming at him to get up. Everything was just an echo in Kurt's mind, like he was in a never ending tunnel and Blaine was calling in to him.
Kurt tried to find the source of the voice. He could see Blaine in the bright light of the fire, see the panic in his eyes even from this distance. Even as he watched Blaine, watched his lips form his name, it was hard to hear him over the crumbling building.
Finn, who now had the rifle, was firing hundreds and hundreds of bullets. Blaine was also shooting but his gun wasn't as powerful. Kurt looked in the direction they were shooting and saw a group of men shooting back. One of them were staring at him intently, firing bullet after bullet. But every bullet missed the target, him, and it seemed to aggravate the attacker even more.
Kurt slowly snapped out of his state of mind, resurfacing to reality, and moved as fast as he could. He looked around for his gun and scrambled towards it. He fired several bullets in the direction of the shooters. Purely out of luck, he hit two, one of them hitting his attacker. Kurt's mind was a blur as the group of men seemed to run away, disappearing out of sight.
When it was evident no one else was around, Blaine ran to his husbands side, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Are you okay? Please be okay!" Blaine demanded.
"I'm fine. I'm fine!" Kurt said frantically.
"What the fuck was that Kurt? I thought you were dead, or dying. You could have died! You didn't move, you just lay there! I don't- I don't- Why-" Blaine rarely ever swore and it always surprised Kurt when he did. He hugged Blaine tightly, ignoring Blaine's rant. He was okay. Blaine was okay. That was all that mattered to him at that moment.
Kurt eventually pushed himself off of the floor, brushing his grazed hands on his trousers. The heat from the fire was suddenly oppressive, burning Kurt's skin. He coughed on the smoke surrounding them and with every breath he took, his throat burned.
Eight hours and two minutes left of the Annual Purge
After recovering from the horrifying event, the three men ran through the streets, listening and watching for any dangers. They stopped to catch their breath in an alley, out of sight. Blaine was getting pretty sick of hiding in alley ways but what else could he do?
Kurt felt like he could collapse at any moment. He was drained of energy and was desperate for a drink.
The sound of running approached them, as well as the sound of crying and short, panicky breaths. Finn slid down the wall, his energy drained and waited for the footsteps to fade away. But they got closer and Blaine looked at Kurt warily.
At the moment, a small figure rounded the corner. At the same time, Blaine stepped defensively in front of Kurt and cocked his gun in preparation. The small figure, a young women with tear stains down her face, opened her mouth to scream when her eyes rolled skywards and she collapsed onto the floor with a loud smack.
"Rachel!" Finn cried. He hadn't noticed it was her, the lighting was too dark. But as she fell to the ground, her face came into focus and all he could do was shout her name.
He sprawled over to her unconscious body and shook her shoulders.
"Rachel! Rachel, wake up. It's me, Finn. Come on, Rach!" Finn said, trying to wake her. Kurt knelt down next to him, Blaine still keeping an eye out for anyone who might have heard Finn shout.
"Don't shake her! She fainted, you're not supposed to do that," Kurt said gently.
Kurt moved her gently so that she was laying horizontally and turned her head to the side. Finn took off his jacket and covered her body so she would keep warm. Kurt checked her pulse and glanced up at Finn sympathetically. He assumed this was his girlfriend, the one he was trying to find, and his heart swelled at the look on Finn's face. The latter looked like he was trying to hold back tears as he stroked Rachel's hair.
About three minutes later, she started to stir, her eyes opening slightly. Her face expressed her confusion. It was as if her memories of the night came tumbling down on her like a wall of bricks when her eyes flew open in horror. She tried to crawl backwards as she saw Kurt and Blaine. She was mumbling under her breath, clamping her eyes shut in fear.
"Rachel, stop. It's me, It's okay!" Finn said, reaching out for her. She flinched away from his touch before his words settled in. She opened her eyes and looked up at Finn. She through herself at her boyfriend and nuzzled her face into the confines of his neck. She was crying again, her sobs loud. Finn rubbed her back, trying to sooth her.
Blaine was scared someone close by would over hear her and find them but luckily no one showed themselves. Kurt looked away, feeling like he was intruding on something private. He stood up and joined Blaine who had moved to look around at the street.
"This is so wrong," Blaine muttered, not turning to look at Kurt.
"I know," Kurt said.
"I love you so much, Kurt," Blaine said, his voice full of emotion. He turned slowly to look up into the eyes of his husband.
"I love you too." Kurt said. He reached out and linked hands with Blaine, his grazed hands stinging. He leant in to kiss his husband, wondering if this would be their last.