#6: Freedom or Bust

[Namira]

"I still need -ahh!"

Evidently one of the terrorists had become fed up of waiting outside and started shooting. Or maybe the order to attack had been given, or possibly they had just seen a target and decided to pull the trigger.

Whatever had been the case, the end result was much the same: Lucy took a bullet to the chest and crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from an ugly wound which had blasted straight through the right hand side of her chest.

O-oh... that isn't good...

Lucy could see immediately that the wound was a fatal one: nobody picked themselves up from getting shot like that. If the horrible pain and how difficult it was to breath weren't enough, then the rapidly growing pool of blood underneath her was plenty enough indication. She watched with a kind of detatched fascination as a red stain slowly crept across her pale blue shirt. Lucy's eyes settled on something slightly to one side of her bullet wound, a small locket that she wore around her neck. Just like that, she was taken 10 years back.

*

Lucy was working hard on a few simple sums in class. It was nothing too mind-boggling, but for the six year old, certainly challenging. Lucy had always liked math - ever since she had entered school, and whilst the other kids messed around and played together, Lucy was adding numbers up.

There was a knock on the door of the classroom, and Lucy looked up. The teacher went to get it and Luc recognised the school secretary on the other side. Lucy went back to her sums, not noticing the hushed conversation that the two adults were having, the worried glances they were casting in her direction.

A little while later, the teacher, a kindly, ageing woman, sidled anxiously up to Lucy's desk. The young girl gave her teacher a slight smile, assuming she was coming over to check her work. Lucy turned her workbook, filled with meticulous, if simplistic and child-like numbers. However, her teacher ignored it, put a hand on Lucy's shoulder, then hesitated a second. Finally she began.

"Lucy... you... might not be seeing your Mommy and Daddy for a while,"

*

"Lucy? What's wrong?"

It was something of a foolish question to ask a distraught six year old who was still trying to come to terms with the fact that her parents were dead. Alongside that was that Lucy now... well...

"I don't want to live somewhere else! I want to live with... live with..." Lucy dropped her head and tears welled up in her eyes.

"It's just other kids Lucy. Some of them are even your own age. It won't be all that bad,"

"I don't want other kids," Lucy whispered. "I want Mommy and Daddy," her hand clenched the locket around her neck, inside of it a picture of the three of them - Lucy and her parents, all together, smiling. It was the only thing she had of them.

*

Two unfamiliar, smiling people stood in front of her. The ten year old Lucy, confused, looked between the two of them, a man and a woman. What was all of this about?

"Lucy, my name is Henry," that was the man, he crouched down alongside her and gave her a wide smile. Lucy didn't exactly know why, but she warmed up to him immediately. "This is my wife Melissa. Um... I don't really know how I'm supposed to say this but... uh... we're going to be your new parents,"

His words knocked the scab off the wound that Lucy still had over her parents. Even though they had died when she was younger, the trauma wasn't forgotten. Lucy looked down to the ground. It would be ...nice, to have a family again, one that wasn't just a ton of other kids. Lucy gave Henry a tentative smile back.

"I think... I'd like that,"

*

"Lucy, you think you'll come on Senior Trip?"

"I don't know... it doesn't really seem my thing,"

"Oh come on, this is one of the last chances you'll have to see everyone,"

"That's a good thing, in some cases,"

"It's only a trip. Come on, live a little,"

"... Fine, I suppose it could be fun..."

*

A thousand and one memories ran through Lucy's head as she lay there, watching her life slowly spill away. Some fun this had all turned out to be. But... but at least... at least she-she... at least Lucy had managed... to ssave... some p-people...

T-they can't let it be... for... for... nothing.

Escape...

.


LUCY O'DONNELL: DECEASED

[Theseus†]

So this was it.

This was what the fight for freedom was like.

Neil Sinclair had been in some pretty nasty gunfights, and scary situations on the island. All of them involved life or death. Though none of them, none of them compared to this. Why?

It was because of the prize.

If they could do this, they could get off. They could beat Danya.

If they failed, well...Neil wasn't going to think about that.

Neil watched as the students that stayed behind brought out their weapons and began to fight, and he did the same. His M16 was out, well Corbin's M16 really, and he began to spray down on the soldiers. He heard the sound of return fire, and could almost feel the bullets whizzing by his head.

Though the inevitable came. Students started to go down.

Neil Sinclair wasn't sure how long they could hold off, and while he was reloading his clip, he shouted over to Adam.

"Adam! How much longer!?!"

[SOTF_Help]

Konrad was pissed.

Squad one had been holding their position for a good twenty minutes after being instructed to do so. They'd been waiting for something; anything in which they could react and get going after Garnett. It wasn't so much that Konrad wanted to put a bullet through Garnett's head; after all, he'd deserted before. Konrad himself had been dispatched to look for him when he'd vanished during v1. That time, he'd managed to get away clean. It'd taken Konrad a long time to track him down and recapture him, and Danya had just...let him back in.

Stupid fucking idea, if you ask me. Of course, he didn't, because he's Danya, and you don't mess around with him. So here I am, chasing him AGAIN, and not only is he running around a fucking jungle, but there's a bunch of these cocksucker kids in the way who think that they'll be able to beat the system. Like hell...

Shaking his head, Konrad turned to a couple of the soldiers nearest to him, and requested a status report. The nearest one shrugged, and shook his head. Grunting in frustration, Konrad picked up the radio, and pushed the talk button.

"Base, this is squad one - request confirmation on armory assau-"

Konrad was halfway through his sentence when the radio exploded in his hand, and bullets began to rain down on the soldiers.

"Grrraaargh!"

Screaming in pain as bits of the radio exploded into his hand, Konrad dropped to the ground, half in agony and half in an attempt to avoid the shooting. The kids had fooled them; and the bullets were coming from the armory. Someone had an assault rifle, and one of the idiots hadn't seen them get on to the roof. As the pain shot through his hand, Konrad saw both of the soldiers who'd been close to him drop to the ground, spasming from various bullet wounds.

Now, the fight was on.

"WEAPONS FREE!"

With that command, Konrad listened to the sound of his solider's gunfire as they unleashed upon the armory. Waiting be damned, it was time to wipe these kids out.

For good.

[Cactus]

So much pain,
We, don't know how to be but angry
Feel infected like we've got gangrene
Please don't let anybody try to change me
---

"SHIT!"

John Sheppard was NOT expecting the hail of gunfire to come pouring into the armory. He'd been on the bottom floor, left with Lucy, Derrick, Jessica, and Darnell to defend from the lower position, while Bill, Adam, and Neil had gone up top. Things had been quiet for a while, as everyone who had decided to go had gone, and those who had stayed, well...

For us, it's all over but the dying. I don't really know what Dodd's going on about, and if it's even possible for anyone to escape, but everyone here's pretty much dead in the water if we stay here and fight these fuckers off.

As much rumination as John could do about his impending death, it was still a shock when the bullets began to fly, and the kids began to fall, beginning firstly with Lucy O'Donnell. Firing a couple of shots back out the window at the terrorists, John looked over at the other kids. Everyone was fighting back with what they could. Darnell Butler was spraying the Uzi out the window, every so often ducking down to avoid being hit by gunfire. Derrick was protecting Jessica on his other side, near to where Lucy had been hit when the gunfire had began. He held his pistol, firing out of a window, keeping Jessica behind him.

This is hell...this can't be anything else but hell itself...

With his adrenaline pumping hard and his heart slamming itself against his chest, John continued to squeeze off shots towards the oncoming squad of terrorists.

---
Me, just me, in the middle of a sea full of faces
Full of faces, some laugh, some salivate
What's in your alleyway
Recycling bins or bullet cases?
---

I think that I just started a war...

As he hit the deck to dodge a spray of bullets, Adam Dodd finally had the indication that sticking around might not have been the best of ideas. They were grossly outnumbered by a margin of about 3:1, and while they had a bit of a defensive position on the roof, the sheer number of soliders made it impossible to do anything productive aside from kill a couple off, and die.

Taking aim and squeezing off a few rounds from the M1, Adam knew that even though they were putting up a valiant fight, they kept getting closer. In hindsight, what they were doing was giving everyone else a chance to escape, but it all depended upon everything actually working out.

And who's to say that anything'll actually get done? Nobody's managed a successful escape before, but the collars are off. This is the furthest that we`ve come, and I'm not about to fail now.

Taking a peek over the roof at the soldiers below, Adam grimaced as he saw that even with all of the shooting, out of a total of sixteen (that he could see), they'd only managed to take down four, one of whom was hanging back near where they'd first began, probably smarting from where Adam had shot the radio out of his hand. Smirking at the sad fact that in three years, he'd become a fairly decent shot with most firearms, he ducked again, listening as a few blasts from assault rifles whizzed by his former position.

Glancing over at Bill and Neil, he saw that the two boys were undoubtedly holding their own. Neither seemed to be having trouble firing the weapons that they'd obtained, and under the circumstances, Adam had to say that he felt proud of them for sticking around. He knew why he was sticking around - if ANYONE could beat Danya at his own game, then he had to give them the best possible opportunity. He was amongst the best shots with a weapon, and didn't care if he killed anyone. Counting the terrorists that he'd murdered and the students, Adam realized that his 'kill-count' was probably well up into the twenties.

Funny. I'll be damned if I get to the coastline, all ready to escape, and some jackass like Darnell Butler puts one between my eyes or something. Of course, at this point, that won't be much of a worry...I'm up here, and he's downstairs, and both of us'll be dead within the next hour anyway...

As he reloaded the M1, he glanced up just in time to see Bill Ritch catch a bullet in the chest, a spray of red splattering all over Neil Sinclair, and causing Bill to collapse to the ground with a moan.

"FUCK! BILL!"

---
It's not equal, it's not fair
We're different people but we're not scared
We ain't never scared to pave a new path
Make a new street, build a new bridge
---

Checking his pistol, John saw that he was running low on ammo. With only four clips left, he didn't have nearly enough in terms of ammunition to hold out against a team of trained soldiers, and it didn't take a genius to see that the kids, while fighting valiantly, were not going to be able to survive much longer. The soldiers were coming too quickly, and their movements were far too calculated. Looking across the room at Darnell Butler, John called out to the boy. Getting Darnell's attention, John realized that they really had a single option.

"We need to fall back! The fuel room, and the garage are more well-covered than this place!"

Nodding with his approval, Darnell answered by firing back a couple of shots towards the soldiers outside. Looking across at Derrick and Jessica, John called out to them, and waved them towards the door to the garage and fuel rooms.

"JESSICA, DERRICK! We are LEAVING!"

Scrambling backwards, the four students quickly loaded their weapons (Jessica simply tried to make herself scarce in her circumstance), and then set off, firing as they went, making their way to the door at the back of the room. From having explored the building, John knew that the garage area consisted of three rooms; a large area where military vehicles would come in for repairs, a hallway leading back to the main fuel storage tankers, and the room with the tankers themselves. If anything, it would be a good place to fortify themselves, and there was a door that lead to the outside which would enable them to make a break for it if shit got heavy.

And shit was definitely getting heavy.

As they retreated, John heard Darnell grunt as he tripped over a bag that someone had left lying around, but immediately got up and continued on towards the back. As he turned and fired a couple of times out of the open windows from the armory, the back of Derrick's head blew apart all over Jessica, covering her in a thick red combination of sludge and brain matter. Cursing to himself as he saw Derrick go down, he was a bit surprised as Jessica screamed, grabbed Derrick's pistol, and continued on, leaving her friend's body behind her.

Good for you, Jess. If we can't keep our wits about us, then we're not helping anybody...

---
Say, can you see by the dawns early light?
Free slaves running, songs words weren't right
Now, a new days coming
The few stay stunning while the many are handsome
Your soul is alive but they want it for ransom
---

As one of the few people that Adam gave a damn about on more than a casual level here in SOTF, Bill Ritch sure had a great way of picking his spots. His friends had died before, and he'd experienced the pain and the loss on so many different occasions in the past, but seeing Bill go down RIGHT NOW, when they were so close...was frustrating, to say the least. Swearing loudly, Adam scrambled over to where Bill had fallen, his large form facedown on the ground. Without so much as a thought towards the fact that his downed friend might be dead, he reached across and rolled him over onto his back. Much to Adam's relief, Bill wasn't dead, but rather in a significant amount of pain. The bullet had gone right through his chest, and it was oozing blood at a steady pace.

"Fuck, Bill...what the hell have you gone and done to yourself, eh?"

Groaning, Bill unclenched his eyes and gasped a bit, looking down at the ugly wound in his chest. Trying a weak grin, he failed at it, and ended up looking more exasperated than anything else.

"A-Adam...I think I got in...got in the way..."

Adam shook his head, trying to hold back the anger that was bubbling up to the surface. He forced a fake smirk on his face, but it was beginning to become harder and harder to keep in the emotion that was percolating within himself.

"Nah, bud. You haven't gotten in the way at all. In fact, you've been more than helpful, man. I probably wouldn't be standin' here if it wasn't for you. Goddamnit, man."

Unable to contain himself anymore, Adam looked away from his fallen friend, and scrambled up to the edge of the roof, sticking his head up and firing off his M1 at any shapes that he saw on the ground. The shots sent a few of the soldiers scrambling for cover, but didn't hit any of them. It was here that Adam realized that they were now VERY close to the building, and would be upon them within minutes. The shooting from inside of the building was now lesser than it had been, but still kept them at bay. Stepping backwards to avoid the inevitable spray of bullets, Adam realized that their time at the Armory was drawing to a close.

Time is up, we can't stay here any longer. This was a losing battle from the start. What the fuck was I thinking? I can only hope that everyone else has made at least some semblance of progress on getting off this fucking rock...

"Neil, we gotta get the fuck out of here! There's no more time! Bill, can you get up?"

Neil nodded at him, and fired off a couple more shots as a reply. In front of him, Bill struggled to his feet, having a great deal of difficulty, but still managing. His complexion was a horrific ghastly shade of white, and he was obviously in an enormous amount of pain. Leaning against one of the vents sticking out of the rooftop, he nodded at Adam, even though his condition betrayed his response.

"Yeah, I...I think so."

Stepping over to where he'd dragged his pack up onto the roof and dropped it, Adam rummaged through it, looking intently for something. Bill glanced at him inquisitively, and even Neil stopped shooting and looked at Adam, who had started grumbling under his breath, but was getting progressively louder as he went on.

"...and then they offer me a whole fucking college education, so it's gotta be all fuckin' perfect...oh, hey, what else could possibly go wrong, right? What else could possibly be any worse than getting kidnapped and having to murder people to survive...couldn't happen again, oh, noooo, we'll make sure of it...gotta fuckin' protect the interests of those who've been wronged by external bodies, who're all fuckin' out to get everyone else. Fucking assholes think they can run the world, so go back to a normal life, that'll show them. That'll fucking show them! THAT WILL FUCKING SHOW THEM, WILL IT? WELL FUCK THIS! FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUCK THIS SHIT! THIS HAS BEEN ONE BIG FUCKING MISTAKE AFTER BAD IDEA AFTER COLOSSAL FUCK-UP IN A ROW. GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT! WHAT THE FUCK!? HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES AM I GOING TO WATCH MY FRIENDS FUCKING DIE OUT HERE ON SOME COCKSUCKING ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF ABSOLUTE FUCKING NOWHERE!?"

With his last exclaimation, Adam yanked out a small plastic bag, which contained four grenades on it. Neil's eyes went wide as he saw them, and Adam, whose anger had boiled out into a near white-hot rage, simply grinned, and looked at the grenades.

"Fucking soldiers want to try and fuck with us? I'm sick and tired of all this. I'm done with this game, I'm done with fighting for my life, and I'm so goddamn tired of Danya. I've gone and fucking had it. It's time to march downstairs and really show these assholes that they shouldn't fucking mess with KIDS!"

Adam grabbed his pack, slung it around his back, and wrapped the bag around his wrist, starting for the ladder at the side of the roof. He didn't get very far though, as Bill grabbed his arm as he walked past, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"W-what are you doing, Adam?"

Adam looked at Bill as though he had two heads.

"What the fuck does it look like I'm doing, Bill? I've had enough of this, and I think it's time to force-feed these fuckers a grenade or two. Come on, you and Neil have gotta get out of here. All you need to do is get to th-"

Bill cut him off, surprisingly forceful but still speaking in his stumbly, sad manner. His words were obviously taking a great deal of energy to say, but they were important, and his expression showed it.

"Come on, Adam. You...you know as well as I do that I'm toast. I'm not going anywhere...I can't. Please don't get mad, but you know that I'm right. You shouldn't throw your life away for no reason. Y-you've got people counting on you to get them out of here. People...like Izzy."

Adam's face fell. Izzy had slipped his mind. She'd left with the other students, as they'd all hurried out. Hadn't even said goodbye to her, hadn't even said a word to her as he stayed behind and she left.

Wow, what kind of guy does that make me? I told her that I'd protect her, that I'd do anything for her, and here I am...ready to blow myself to shit or get shot up...and for what?

"Bill's right, Adam. If anyone's getting out of here, you should be one of them. I told you that I'd back you, but that's provided you aren't making crazy decisions. Like running off to commit suicide..."

Taking a short step forward, Bill half-nodded at Neil's words. "Come on, Adam. Give me the grenades. I'll stay back, and...give them hell for you. Besides...I think that I have a plan."

Adam, who had backed down from his self-destructive rage, deflated a bit, and nodded sadly. The two of them were right, of course. While he had a bullet wound in his leg that was bothering him like a bitch, and his various other war wounds, none were killing him as quickly as Bill's gunshot wound.

"...dammit," he whispered in quiet resignation. "Fine...you're right. You have a plan?"

Smiling that sad little smile, Bill nodded, and weakly held out his hand, gesturing at the bag that Adam still held in his hand. With a bit of trepidation, he handed the bag over, eyes locked with Bill's the entire time. As the larger boy looked in the bag and nodded slightly at the contents, he coughed a bit, the pain becoming almost too much for him to bear.

"I do...look, I've got to do this quickly, I'm running out of time. You two need to put as much distance between yourselves and this building as you can..."

The look on Adam's face just about said it all. The realization of what Bill was about to do dawned on him, but so did the fact that it was the only way. His wound was probably untreatable with the supplies and expertise that they had, and Danya's forces were probably upon them already. Four grenades wouldn't do nearly enough damage, but from the look in Bill's eyes, Adam could tell that he definitely had a workable idea.

"Yeah...yeah, alright. Bill, you, uhh..." What did you say to someone who was knowingly walking off to their death? Something like 'see you later' just wasn't going to cut it, nor would it be appropriate.

"...it's been a pleasure, my friend. I'll make sure that nobody forgets what you're about to do. I promise you that."

Nodding, Bill extended a hand to Adam, who shook it. "Thanks, Adam. Now...go on...you need to get going!"

---
The bass drumming is the anthem
We step to the heartbeats
Of our granddaughters and grandsons
And
---

John hadn't been shot yet during Survival of the Fittest, but he imagined that it hurt like a bitch. The bullets that had been fired his way had been managing to avoid him, but it seemed like every time that he got out of the way, someone else managed to walk right into one. As they'd pulled themselves out of the main room and into the garage, Darnell Butler had been hit in the leg, and amidst his angry, pained grunts, had still managed to make his way in and barracade the door. It certainly wouldn't do a whole hell of a lot of good in the long run, as the soldiers would break through within a matter of minutes, but it gave them some time to find a way out of the garage area. The only two doors in the whole place were labelled 'fuel room' and 'roof', and perhaps unsurprisingly, the roof door was locked from the outside. None of the large garage doors worked, thanks to the lack of power, and it seemed that for the time being, anyways, John, Darnell, and Jessica were stuck.

Darnell found himself leaning against one of the workbenches, gingerly examining his wound. The bullet had gone into his leg and bounced around, breaking one of the bones and making it incredibly painful to walk. He was low on ammunition, and the situation didn't really appear to have much of a resolution in sight. In short, he was a little depressed. He watched as John paced around the room, searching for a way out; ANY way out. The only door that opened was the one to the fuel tanks, and that didn't lead anywhere at all. In short, as soon as the soldiers broke through the door, they were all screwed.

His thoughts went to Keith, and Kallie. He'd stayed behind because he wanted to make a difference, stand up to Dodd and his holier-than-thou mindset. They were fucked if they really needed HIM to escape. Dodd was just some jerkoff who thought that he'd done it all; seen everything, and Darnell was more than happy to let him die. Of course, when Dodd had volunteered himself to stay behind and defend the place, he'd looked like the big fucking hero, and Darnell couldn't take that.

I had to make sure that Kallie got out...I had to make sure that she was safe. I didn't expect that I was going to get stuck here...Keith, you'd better look after her...

He barely had time to have the thought before the banging on the door of the garage started. The soldiers had arrived.

---
Rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise

Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
---

David Konrad couldn't believe his luck. He'd stayed back with a medkit, and had been patching up the wound in his hand. The lucky shot had managed to fill it with bits and pieces from the radio, and he'd sent the rest of the squad up ahead, along with Carver and squad four, who'd arrived from the Eastern forest. He'd sent squad three back to the coast, to guard in case any of the kids had gotten out, though it was hard to say for certain. What he was certain of was that he'd love to put a bullet in the head of whomever had been on the roof. He'd been occasionally watching the melee from his safer position as he bandaged himself up, and had seen one of the kids go down from a hit, but there'd been more than one, and he couldn't be certain that they'd put down the one who'd gotten him.

Nonetheless, David felt comfortable that a group of about ten kids would probably be nothing against a squad of well-armed soldiers. They'd gotten a few lucky shots away, but otherwise, he knew that they wouldn't be much of a threat. As he finished wrapping his hand, Konrad grabbed the binoculars out of his pack, and held them up to his eyes, taking a look into the Armory via the front windows. It appeared that the squad had fanned out and was clearing the rooms, trying to break into the garage area. A couple bodies of students lay on the floor, unmoving, which made Konrad smile. It hadn't really been any question at all as to whether or not they would be a match for-

WHAT!? Impossible!

As he'd put the binoculars down, he saw movement to the far left of the back wall of the armory, heading into the jungle, towards where he knew the coastline to be. Throwing the binoculars back up to his eyes, he focused in and saw that indeed, two students were quickly making their way away from the armory, and much to his chagrin, he recognized both of them. Danya had briefed the soliders before they'd set out on the island to whom the most dangerous threats were, and both Adam Dodd and Neil Sinclair both qualified as such.

"Son of a bitch!"

Reaching down for his radio, he suddenly recalled what had become of it, and cursed quietly to himself. This time, it looked like he would have to deal with them himself. Picking up his rifle, Konrad started into the bushes, hopefully to try and cut them off.

---
Lost hope and found need
Grounded by our surroundings
Did the walls scream, universities
Or you and I verse the tees?
---

"There's...no time to explain, just listen to me!"

John couldn't believe his eyes. Bill Ritch, of all people, had emerged from the door on the roof. He was shot, and looked to be in piss-poor shape, but he was there, nonetheless. He was there, and he'd closed the door to the only way out of the room, which had again locked behind itself. Darnell had flipped out, but Bill was having none of it, quickly shuffling down the staircase, a plastic bag in his hand, stopping every couple of seconds to grimace and cough. It didn't take a doctor to see that Bill was all but done for, but he seemed to have a purpose. The amusing oxymoronic sentence aside, John half-wondered what Bill was trying to do.

"Bill, what's going on? Where are Adam and Neil?"

Just shaking his head, he moved towards the fuel room, with only a glance back towards the barracade, which was in serious danger of collapsing. John followed along with him, as did Jessica, and eventually, a limping Darnell, muttering under his breath. Along the way, Bill opened the valves that would pump gas into a vehicle, and set them to the 'on' position, allowing gasoline to flow through and be dispensed as needed. John shot Jessica a quizzical look, and followed Bill as he walked through the door to the fuel room. As they all passed through, Bill turned to the three students.

"Lock it."

Jessica shook her head, shocked at the suggestion. "What are you thinking? We can't get out of here! Why would we lock the door, there's a whole group of angry soldiers out there!"

Breaking in, Darnell was decidedly angrier. "If you hadn't closed that fucking door, we wouldn't be in this fucking situation right now! You know we can't get OUT from here, right? Come on, fat boy, what the he-"

"Don't you guys get it? W-we're not leaving. There are soldiers outside, and they're on the roof, too."

John's eyes widened, and a sudden feeling of panic washed over him. He now knew exactly what Bill was doing. "There IS no way out. In fact, there is only one way that the rest of this is going to play out for us. What's in the bag, Bill?"

Bill ignored him, and turned around, continuing on towards his destination. Numbly, John turned and hit the lock on the door, and set off after him down the small hallway. As the three of them had almost followed Bill through the hallway door, they heard a crash as the soldiers breached the barracade. Cursing, Bill sped up his wounded pace, gesturing them into the fuel tanker room. It was a small room, with three extremely large fuel tankers that were linked through a central switch and console that controlled the fuel distribution throughout the armory through a series of pipes. The four students stood in the room, as what Bill was doing truly dawned on them. Locking the door, he headed over to the control console, and looked it over. There was no power coming to it, but a light blinked on the console, and a smile crept over his face as he saw that the backup power generators were in fact alive and well.

A stroke of luck, perhaps...

Grimacing as a surge of pain rushed through his body, he was aware that his time was coming to an end, and if he didn't do this soon, well...then it would have all been for nothing. Pained, he turned around and looked at the three who would be walking the path to destruction along with him.

"Guard the door!"

---
React, automatic and we burst when squeezed
And make 9-11 each emergency
Urgency, amber to red like the turning leaves
Oh please, let the hurting cease
---

John, Darnell, and Jessica all looked at each other uneasily, trying not to resign themselves to their impending fate. Jessica was crying, the reality of the situation hitting her like a ton of bricks. She slumped to the ground and sobbed into her hands. She didn't want to die, never had, and had fought hard to stay alive. After Derrick, her friend, had perished suddenly, she'd kept going, but now...her own mortality had seemingly caught up with her.

Darnell stood with a bitter expression on his face, and shook his head, looking angry and annoyed. He'd fought as hard as anyone, had killed people, and had hated himself for what he'd done. Once he'd found Keith and Kallie again, everything had seemed to make sense again for him, and he'd gotten the sense that everything was going to be all right. And now...? Now they were all about die. Fuck Bill Ritch. The fat fucker had doomed them all, and he was pissed. Still, there was nothing he could do about it, and he began to pace around the room, unwilling to accept the inevitable.

John, on the other hand, simply felt numb. He knew that it was the only way. If anyone had a chance in hell at getting out, well...the soldiers couldn't be allowed to come after them. If what Bill had said was true, then John had to figure that going out in a blaze of glory was better than getting a bullet in the head from some kid. His only regret was that he wouldn't be able to graduate high school, make something out of himself, find a good job, maybe a boyfriend who wasn't a total fucking queen, and live a full life.

But hey, there's always next time, right?

Nodding to Bill, John took a position behind one of the tankers, and aimed his pistol at the door. The soldiers had breached the outer door now, and John heard the whirring noise that indicated Bill had activated the gas pumping system. The gasoline now circulated through the facility, and an explosion here would probably bring the whole fucking thing down.

Bill himself was dying. His life had been slipping away slowly since the roof, and he'd found a strength within himself that he'd never assumed himself to have. Maybe it had been the fact that he'd spent time with Adam and Izzy, or maybe it'd just been the whole 'running for your life' thing, but he knew that he was a stronger person in the end. His mother would be proud that he was taking a stand. She'd be devastated, of course. His death would probably be as damaging to her as a bullet to the face. But maybe...just maybe, she would take some comfort in knowing that at least he'd died for a reason. If at least one person escaped because of what he was about to do...

Maybe...just maybe it will all have been worth it. My life will have some meaning, and my mom can look back on me and be proud of who I turned out to be...

Bill took a single grenade out of the plastic bag, and placed the rest of them on the console, next to the pipe that fed into the tankers. He needed to be sure that it would get the job done.

"Hey, Bill?"

Bill looked up, and John Sheppard was glancing back at him.

"Y-yeah John?"

"D'you think that the rest of them are really going to be able to pull it off? Get off of the island; escape Survival of the Fittest?"

Bill looked back at John, and smiled a genuinely happy smile, even though there were faint tears in his eyes.

"I do. I don't just think that they will...I know it."

John furrowed his brow a little, and and gave him a short nod.

"Well, that's good enough for me. I sure hope this works, big guy."

---
Don't let apathy police the populace
We will march across
Those stereotypes that were marked for us
The answer's obvious, we switch the consonants
And change the sword to words and lift continents
---

As John finished his sentence, the soldiers broke through the final door, and John began to fire, calmly and carefully. The first three or four went down, but when John ran out of ammunition, he took a bullet in the shoulder and went down in a heap, groaning. Jessica scrambled to the side, and was bashed over the head with the gunstock of a rifle, while Darnell just slumped against the wall, watching, unable to take the pain in his leg anymore. Nonetheless, he took a shot to the gut as well, and moaned in agony. Turning, his body half-obscured by the console, Bill held the grenade below the console, but shouted weakly at them. "WAIT! DON'T SHOOT!"

The soldier in the front sneered at him, and raised his weapon, which was when Bill slowly raised his hands, showing that he had his fingers wrapped around the pin, and set his hands slowly down on the console. The soldier's sneer turned from a sneer into a ghastly expression of shock, and he called back behind him.

"SIR! YOU NEED TO GET UP HERE!"

One man made his way to the front of the group, a tall man with a crew-cut and somewhat of a large nose. His uniform identified himself as 'CARVER', and he took one look at the situation, and immediately stiffened. As he did, John Sheppard dragged himself into a leaning position.

"Son...look, son. We don't want to kill you. How about this...you put the grenade down, and we'll let you and your friends walk out of here, let you go free! How does that sound, hm, son?"

John laughed at him, and shook his head. "Right, and I'm Jojo, the dog-faced-bitch-boy, here to do tricks for your merry amusement."

Ignoring John, Carver took a step towards Bill, holding his hands up in a non-violent sort of gesture.

"Seriously, son. I mean it. Put the grenade down, and we won't shoot you. You have my word."

"Your word? Do you think that means anything to me? Look! I barely had a chance here in the first place. Now, I'm shot and bleeding; I'm going to die, whether you shoot me, or I pull the pin on this grenade? It doesn't matter, I am going to die. Y-you people took us from our trip, you forced us to do...these awful things...what good reason would I have to show you any mercy at all?"

John piped in. "You tell him, Bill. He doesn't fuckin' deserve it."

"Y-you wanted us to kill each other! You put us in a hopeless situation, and watched us f-fall apart! Well, how about now? H-how do YOU like it?"

The soldier's face fell, and he shook his head softly, whispering one word.

"Don't..."

Bill looked him right in the eyes, finally, for the first time in his life, full of resolve.

"For the first time in almost two weeks, I'm going to do what I want to do. Go to hell!"

With that, Bill pulled the pin.

Carver felt the knot tighten in his stomach, and all of the sound seemed to eject itself from the room, in anticipation of what was to come. The only one that stayed around came from John Sheppard, who just put his head down, and laughed.

Bill looked down at the grenade, and smiled, feeling at peace with himself. He knew.

His last thoughts were not for the terrorists, not for John, for Adam, or for himself. Instead, his last thoughts were with his mother.

He had done something great. Something worthwhile. Something to be proud of.

I love you mom, and I hope that you'll always remember the good times that we had together. Don't worry about me. I'll always be with you. No matter where you go, or whatever you do, I'll always be watching over you...always...

He knew.

---
Rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
---

You could hear the thunderous explosion from anywhere on the entire island, and likely for miles off the coast. The first blast came from deep inside of the armory, and two smaller ones followed quickly therafter, but it was the fourth explosion that was the big one. Indeed, it seemed to spread throughout the entire facility, and the pressure that had built up within the gas tanks was pressed to it's limit within seconds. Finally, the fifth blast was the one that took the entire facility apart, sending debris and a fiery ball of gasoline spraying upwards into the air. Anyone who looked up in the sky would see the fireball, and the release of pressure was enormous.

There had in fact been more gasoline in the facility than Bill Ritch had accounted for, and the fire within the pipes had spread quickly enough that it had caused the entire building to go up in flames, causing total destruction throughout the entire facility. Three quarters of the building simply ceased to exist, being incinerated within the extreme temperatures of the explosion. Squad three, of whom had primarily been stationed on the roof, were almost totally decimated in the blast. Those who managed to somehow avoid incineration by the fireball were catapuled for miles, burned almost beyond recognition, and dead as soon as they hit the ground. For the people inside of the facility; there wouldn't be enough bones to identify the remains.

---
Rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
Together we rise, together we rise
---

Dave Konrad figured that he had a bead upon Dodd and Sinclair, and was doing fairly well at tracking them, until the armory decided that it would explode with absolutely no warning. For Konrad, the only thing that he remembered after the blast was the feeling of being swept off of his feet, and slammed into a tree by the shock-wave, which rendered him unconscious immediately.

---
If you believe in redemption
(Rise, rise)
I'm calling to you from another dimension
(Rise, rise)
If you believe in redemption
(Rise, rise)
I'm calling to you from another dimension
(Rise, rise)
---

Adam Dodd and Neil Sinclair were making great time away from the Armory. After leaving Bill on the roof, the two had made haste down the ladder on the side of the roof, into the jungle and towards the nearest coastline, which on Adam's map was only somewhat of an approximation. Neither of them had any idea how long that it was going to take before they got far enough to reach it. The two of them had barely been on the move for any time at all, before the heard a thunderous explosion from the armory that they'd left behind them. Adam turned around, and his shoulders fell. He'd figured out that Bill was planning to blow the place up, and it looked like it had worked. It also meant that his friend was dead.

"Bill..." He whispered, but as the explosions rocked the armory, his eyes widened as a final, large one swallowed the area up, and sent what looked to be a fiery blast wave at them.

"Oh, FUCK! GET DOWN!"

Grabbing Neil's shirt, Adam frantically looked around for a place to jump. The only thing that seemed appropriate was a small stream, so without any more hesitation, he dragged Neil towards the stream, and threw them both down into the cool water as the shock-wave passed over their heads. The heat was near unbearable, and Adam felt his skin probably scorch a bit from it, but it was over almost as soon as it had started. Tenatively, he opened his eyes and glanced up and around the area.

The blast wave had done some serious damage. The heat had scorched pretty much everything, including the both of them, and had done a number on the foliage surrounding them. Looking back towards the armory, all that Adam could see was what looked like a fiery crater. His jaw dropped, and he pulled himself up from the creek, grimacing as the bullet wound in his leg reminded him of its presence.

Fuck me...way to go, Bill...way to go.

Tapping Neil on the shoulder a couple times, Adam gestured to the direction that they'd been heading. His words, however, didn't seem to have the urgency that he meant to them. He was still in awe.

"C'mon, man. We've gotta go."

Looking back at the crater, Adam shook his head, and then turned around, only half-focused, and headed towards the coast, where he hoped that rescue was waiting for them, and not more wanton death and destruction.

They couldn't fail now. Not after they'd come so far.

Not after the cost had been so high.

---
If you believe in redemption
(Rise, rise)
I'm calling to you from another dimension
(Rise, rise)

If you believe in redemption
(Rise, rise)
I'm calling to you from another dimension
(Rise, rise)

B114 - TAGGART, DERRICK -- DECEASED
G72 - JONES, JESSICA -- DECEASED
B01 - BUTLER, DARNELL - DECEASED
B99 - SHEPPARD, JOHN - DECEASED
B55 - RITCH, BILL - DECEASED

((Adam continued elsewhere))

[Theseus†]

Neil Sinclair now knew the true definition of a hero. It was people like Bill, people who gave their lives to help save others. Neil owed his life to all of the students who just died, and to Adam Dodd.

The explosion was huge, immense, and Neil had no time to think, he quickly followed Adam away from the area.

If he made it out of here alive, he would remember to thank Adam.

((Neil Sinclair continued elsewhere))

[Ciel†]

Dominica had been outside of the armory the whole time. She saw that boy storming out, the boy whose name she did not know and she heard the shots. And she knew what was going to happen so she did the only sane thing anyone could do. She ran as far as she could, a few miles away from the armory before she stopped.

And then the explosion. The large explosion that no huge gathering of trees could ever cover. She gasped, falling back on her back, looking back towards where the armory was with a look of surprise. She had seen no one leave that place, not one.

"Neil Sinclair, the man who you were looking to for hope, the one person that was keeping you sane, is dead. You have no reason to be pretending."

Escape was rather emminent... but that didn't mean that it was going to happen. Did she have a chance?

She got up and just kept moving. Her mind was numb.

(Continued at the beach)

[SOTF_Help]

((Footage Continued in Camera #7))