Mike and Brittany were both down. Santana stood over them, fighting attackers off. Tears filled her eyes but she didn't stop. Artie and Tina were both still unconscious. Finn was seeing two of everything and Sam was afraid that his wrist was broken.
Though Finn tried to stop anyone that came close to her, Rachel figured her nose was rebroken and that she'd need stitches on her right arm after being attacked by a girl with a broken bottle. Lauren had saved her from that fight, and was still fighting. Rachel didn't mention the nose or the arm to Finn. She saw the weariness in his eyes. Like the rest of them, he just wanted it to be over.
They were tired. They were fighting now because they were afraid of what would happen if they stopped. So many of the kids that came to help them had fallen. Rachel walked across the field, stumbling over the unconscious (she prayed that's all they were) bodies of friend and foe. She didn't know when they would be able to stop fighting or how the victor was even supposed to be determined. As far as she could tell, they were all losing. She saw Mercedes still fighting, even though she'd lost her chair somewhere. She knew that her friend would continue to fight until she could no longer move. Mercedes had the heart of a fighter.
A wrestler ran into Finn, trying to knock the taller boy down. Sam hit him with the baseball bat Rachel had given him, probably breaking the boys shoulder. Sam turned and gave Finn his hand, helping him up. Broken bones were something they were all becoming too familiar with. McKinley High had become a war zone.
When someone grabbed Rachel's hair and pulled her back, she was almost too tired to fight back. "Finn!" she cried, struggling against the person who had her.
Finn turned around and felt the earth stop spinning. Zeke had Rachel…and had a gun to her head. "Zeke," he said hoarsely. "No."
Zeke pressed the gun to Rachel's head and she stopped moving. "Oh my God," she said breathlessly.
"My life is over anyway, right?" Zeke said shakily. "Even before this, it's not like I was ever getting out of Lima. I would have ended up just like my old man, working at the factory. Except he doesn't even have that anymore."
"Let her go, Zeke," Finn said desperately.
Zeke looked around. "What are we even fighting for?" he asked. "We were lost before it even began."
Finn noticed the brightness of the other boy's eyes, the trembling of the hand holding the gun. Zeke had lost it. He had given up all hope and was ready to end it any way that he could. And he wanted to take Rachel with him. "Please man, just let her go. You can take me." Finn walked closer to him.
Zeke pointed the gun at Finn. "Stop walking, Hudson."
Finn stopped moving. He saw Sam stop beside him. "Zeke, listen. I'm begging you, just listen to me," Finn said. He couldn't look at Rachel. He'd lose it. His heart was beating so loud he couldn't hear anything else. "It's my fault, right? Everything that happened, it was all my fault."
"Finn," Sam said lowly.
"No, it was. I did this. I tried to force you guys into something you didn't want to do."
Zeke turned the gun back to Rachel and Finn shook his head. "I don't even know what I was doing," he told them. "Josh came up with the plans and I just followed them. I was so angry…and I don't even know why. But now…" he looked again at the people still fighting. "It's over. Everything is over. If I got away from here tonight, they'd find me."
Finn's gut clenched. Zeke was talking like someone who had decided to end his own life. "There's always hope," Finn told him. "You can always get help."
"I don't want help!" the boy screamed, causing everyone to jump. "I don't need your fucking help! I'm not going to be able to dance around and sing and everything magically be okay!"
"What do you want, Zeke?" Sam asked him. "What do you want? Just tell us and we'll give it to you. Whatever it is, we'll let you have it."
"I want this bitch to die," Zeke said, pushing the gun into Rachel's head. Rachel closed her eyes but the tears kept coming. She could feel Zeke's entire body shaking. She knew that if she made one move, she'd be dead. She forced herself to open her eyes. If she was going to die, she wanted Finn to be the last person she saw.
Even with dirt and blood covering his face, he was the most handsome boy she'd ever known. His hair was sticking up in the front and all she wanted was to run to him, smile and comb it down with her fingers. She had loved him for as long as she'd known him. Even though the last week had been hell, she and Finn had loved more fiercely than most people do in a lifetime. Maybe that would have to be enough. Right now his cheeks were flushed red and she watched his lips move as he said something to Zeke. He looked terrified.
"Finn," Rachel said softly. His eyes moved to her face. "I love you."
"No," Finn said, his face crumpling. "No, Rach, it's not over."
"If I'm going to lose my life," Zeke told him, "it's only fair that you lose something to."
"Take me!" Finn cried, hitting himself in the chest. Tears ran down his face in streaks through the dirt and blood. "Shoot me! Don't take her. She hasn't done anything. She's innocent."
"You'll remember this for the rest of you life. By shooting her, I am taking you."
"I love you Rachel," Finn said, looking at her. "I love you."
Rachel nodded slightly, biting her lip. Finn's eyes held hers for a moment longer, then he charged the boy, screaming.
The shot rang out across the football field. Everyone stopped fighting, some with their weapons halting in midair. "No!" Finn screamed in anguish. "No!"