The next day was the saddest and most painful any of them had ever endured. The shock of losing first Katie, and then Harold and Izzy in such close proximity was more than any of them could bare. To make matters worse, Sadie had come to and had learned of her best friend's death. Her sadness, along with Owen and LeShawna's, seemed to permeate through every corner of the hospital. It seemed as though the world had come to a complete stop. There was no possible way any of this could be real, it had to be a dream, some horrible nightmare that they were all experiencing. But they knew it wasn't. It was real, and none of them knew that better than Gwen, for she had been the first to die, and it was because of this experience she knew exactly how real it was.

At the moment Gwen sat alone, outside the hospital, once again consumed in her thoughts. There has to be a way out, she thought, there has to be a way to win this war. They have to come back. Noah and I did, so why won't they? I will bring them back, even if it's the last thing I do, I will have vengeance, I will see Dorian burn.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Duncan, who suddenly appeared by her side. He looked at her before drawing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He took one out and lit it, drawing a long puff off of it.

"I didn't know you smoked." said Gwen, raising one eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

"I don't." Duncan replied. "Or at least I didn't. I used to back when the show first ended, but Courtney made me quit. I swore I'd never go back to it, but, it's just all the stress of the last couple months, you know?" Her looked at her a moment before asking, "You won't tell Court, will you?"

Gwen smiled and said, "Don't worry Duncan, your secret is safe with me. I understand that you need a way to unwind." Duncan smiled and nodded, appreciating Gwen's honesty. He had a sudden desire to kiss her, but he pushed it aside. There had once been something between them, but those days were long gone. He was with Courtney and Gwen was with Trent. Still, Duncan couldn't help but wonder what things would have been like if he, not Trent, had gotten Gwen. Again he pushed the thoughts from his mind; now was not the time nor the place to dwell on such things.

He and Gwen headed back inside, where the others still sat in silence. Trent glanced at them and smiled. Like Duncan, he knew that Duncan and Gwen were just friends. And he also knew that when the two of them were together, they usually came up with a plan.

"So, what's our next move?" Trent asked, eying Duncan and Gwen.

"Uh, I'm not-" Gwen began, but Justin cut across her.

"Our next move is to kill that bastard." he snarled. "I made a promise to Katie that I would avenge her, and I intend to keep it."

"That's all fine and good, Justin, but we have to have a plan." said Tyler. "We can't just run in there unprepared, or we'll end up dead."

"Tyler's right, eh." said Ezekiel. "We need a plan."

"No, we don't." said Justin, trying to keep his voice calm. "All we've done so far is plan and look what that's gotten us. Death, injury, imprisonment. We haven't gotten anything positive out of just planning."

"Yeah, and those negatives could be far worse if we had just charged in like idiots." Ezekiel shot back. "Do you really think we would be better off if we had just ran in and attacked?"

Justin opened his mouth to argue, but LeShawna's voice stopped him. "Can we please not do this now?" she begged. "Can't we just take a day and-" she could not finish, the pain still to much for her. Gwen moved to LeShawna's side and placed an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Look, LeShawna's right." said Duncan. "We won't discuss this any more today. We'll come back tomorrow and figure out a plan then. In the meantime no one goes after Dorian. We do this together, with a plan, understand?" He looked at Justin, who nodded reluctantly.

A few hours later, Duncan was shaken awake by Chef. "What? What do you want?" he asked, grouchily.

"Justin's gone." said Chef. "I think he went after Dorian."

"Oh that stupid, pretty boy son of a bitch." snarled Duncan. "I told him to stay put."

"I'll get the others. We gotta go get him." said Chef.

"No." said Duncan. "Let them rest. Just get Trent, Geoff, and D.J. There's no need to wake everybody. And call Thomas."

"What about you?" asked Chef. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna get dressed, and then we're gonna go get Justin." snapped Duncan. "Meet me out front in five." Chef nodded, and left to retrieve the others. Duncan dressed quickly, kissed Courtney on the cheek, and left.

He met Chef, Trent, D.J., Geoff, and Thomas in front of the hospital five minutes later. "Good, everyone's here." he said, smiling at them.

"Duncan, what the hell is going on?" asked Trent. "Chef said something about Justin, but I didn't-", Duncan cut him off.

"Justin's gone after Dorian." he said. The others stared at him. "Yeah, I know, he disobeyed a direct order, and I'll kick his ass for that, but he is our friend, and we will not let Dorian take him too." He looked at Thomas and asked, "Did you bring them?"

Thomas nodded, and drew several large guns from a black knapsack. He tossed one to each of them and then let Duncan continue. "Alright, so here's the plan. We go in, get Justin out, and only use these if we have to, got it?" The others nodded and they set off.

Meanwhile Justin had arrived at Dorian's compound. He had snatched a blade from one of the cabinets at the hospital, which he now held in his teeth. He climbed the front gate and made it in. The grounds were silent and dark, and Justin quietly made his way towards the front door. A floodlight snapped on, making him freeze in his tracks. For a second, he did not move, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing did, and he proceeded. As he reached the front door, a guard suddenly burst out, a large gun aimed at Justin's head. "Who the hell are you?" the guard demanded.

"I-Who are you?" Justin asked, playing for time.

"Don't play smart with me boy." the guard snapped. "Who I am is none of your concern."

"But surely you have a name." said Justin, with a smile. He could see that this was going nowhere. With a swift slash, he slit the guard's throat, and entered the house. He found eight more guards, all with their guns pointed at him. "Shit." Justin muttered. He dropped the blade and moved towards them, ready to give himself up. Just then, Duncan and the others burst in, startling the guards.

"What's up, motherfuckers!" Duncan shouted. "I believe you guys are holding a friend of mine hostage here. That's something I just can't stand for."

The guards aimed and fired. "Oh, shit! Didn't expect that." said Duncan. "Justin, get down, you stupid fuck."

Justin ducked down, and Duncan, Geoff, Trent, D.J., Chef and Thomas returned fire. Justin grabbed his blade and went for one of the guards, slashing his Achilles tendon, dropping him. As he stood up another guard took aim and fired. "Justin, look out!" D.J. shouted. Justin turned in time to see the bullets, before they struck him in the chest. He fell and D.J. shot the guard, before rushing to Justin's side.

He grabbed Justin, lifting him of the ground. The others appeared at his side. Justin looked up at them, focusing on Duncan. "I-I'm sorry." he gasped. "Sorry I disobeyed you." His eyes rolled in is head and he went limp.

"Justin, dude, you gotta stay awake." said Geoff. But it was too late, Justin was dead.

A/N: Sorry about the wait on this chapter. I went home for the weekend and I didn't have access to reliable internet, so I wasn't able to update. It sucks, cuz it throws off my schedual for updating this fic, but what are you going to do right? Anyway, that was chapter 26, hope you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews.