When the Clock Strikes Midnight

6:45 p.m

I groan as I hear someone calling my name. I turn, covering my ears with my hands. I feel someone grab my shoulders and I start swatting at them, wanting to be left in peace to sleep. I suddenly jump awake as someone starts shaking my entire body. My eyes fly open to see Veronica shaking me. I sit up, rubbing my eyes.

"Not cool bro. I was sleeping." Veronica starts crying and I instantly become alert.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She points down at our ankles, crying harder. We both have an ankle tied together with barbed wire. Her ankle is bleeding and cut up from trying to fight it. I gasp, but don't try to get it off. She looks at me, tears still rolling down her face.

"It's ok Veronica. This is probably just a part of the next challenge. Try not to fight it. It will just cut you more that way." She calms down, reaching down to rub her ankle right above the barbed wire. I grab her hand, wiping the blood off of it.

"It's gonna be ok. Do you know where we are? Or what the next challenge is?" She shakes her head, looking down. I look around, taking in my surroundings. We appear to be on a track in the middle of nowhere. The track is red, staining my hands red whenever I wipe my hand across it. There is a lot of tall grass around us. I look around the track and see everyone else laying on the ground, tied to another person with barbed wire. Suddenly a loud siren starts blaring and I jump, while everyone else around us jolts awake. I see a lot of confusion in the crowd. I realize that some people are starting to move, not noticing that they are ripping up their ankles in the process. I quickly realize that I need to do something.

"Guys! I know that you are all confused, but you all have barbed wire around your ankles. You will cut your ankles awfully if you don't stay still. So try not to move." Everyone looks down at their ankles, their eyes widening. I look around to see who everyone is tied to. I see that Haley is tied with Amy. Katie is tied with Ashlee. Bryan is tied with Dave. Kevin is tied to Claire. Jack is tied to Aaron. Anthony is tied to Jackson. And Willow is tied to Theo. They all look around in confusion, but they don't move at all. Some of the people start crying in the crowd so I look away, looking at Veronica again. She has stopped crying for now, but she looks like she is about to start crying again. I grab her hand, pulling her towards me. I am careful not to move our ankles so that we don't get cut. I pull her into a hug and let her cry into my shoulder. Suddenly I feel someone grab me underneath my arms and pull me up. I keep my hold on Veronica and bring her up with me so that our ankles don't get cut too much. They still get cut and Veronica whimpers, holding onto me. I get turned around to see one of the ski mask guys holding my arm. He pulls out a gun, pointing it at my head, then at Veronica's.

"Everyone stand up right now. Or one of these two is going to get a bullet to the head." I can hear everyone around us trying to stand up. Eventually all of the noise around us fades away and I assume that everyone has stood up. The guy quickly turns Veronica and I around and I have to grip her arm so that we don't lose balance. I feel the tip of the gun pressed into the back of my head. I tense but don't let go of Veronica. The ski mask guy slowly leans towards me, his lips up against my ear.

"So we meet again. Thought we would have more of a wait. Hopefully your cuts have stopped bleeding. Now be a good girl and hold still." A tear rolls down my face but I don't move, holding still. He leans back, chuckling slightly.

"So, we have come to our next challenge. This will be a three legged race. With barbed wire, of course. We need to have a little fun. So, let's begin. Everyone needs to head to the starting line. I'm assuming you all know where that is." Ski mask guy releases Veronica and I and we slowly head towards the starting line. I grab her hand, stopping her for a second.

"We need to figure out a way to do this smoothly. Or else we are gonna die. So, we are both dancers. So let's do this with 8 counts. Every time there is an odd number, we will use our conjoined feet. But whenever it's an even number, we will use our other foot. Got it?" She nods, taking a deep breath. I smile at her, preparing myself for this.

"Ok. Let's do this. 5, 6, 7, 8." We start walking, and we quickly adjust to it. We start going smoothly, almost like we are walking normally. I can feel Veronica squeeze my hand harder every time we step together because it is cutting our ankles. We make it to the starting line and I look over at her, squeezing her hand to try and give her some strength. We wait until everyone else makes it there. When everyone gets there the ski mask guy walks in front of us, arms crossed.

"Ok. The rules are simple. You and your team have to make it to the starting line on the other side of the track. So you will be going 200 meters. There is no time limit. You just can't be the last pair. If you are, well, then I think you know what will happen." Everyone looks around at each other, some people starting to cry. The ski mask guy pulls out a flare gun.

"Ok. Let's start. 3, 2, 1, GO!" He shoots the flare gun and everyone starts. Veronica and I continue to count together quietly. We start going pretty quickly. I'm tempted to look back but I don't, just focusing on our steps. We make it around the curve and tears start clouding my vision. I use my free hand to wipe them away, smiling as we get closer and closer. I haven't seen anyone pass us yet, so we must be in first place. We only have a couple more steps to go. Veronica and I keep on counting quietly. We finally make it past the finish line and I start laughing, tears rolling down my face. Veronica falls to the ground and I fall beside her, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. We both start laughing and crying, glad to still be alive. I sit up, wiping my eyes. Veronica sits up beside me as we watch the others start coming towards us.

"We need to move. They need to be able to cross the finish line wherever they come from." Veronica and I quickly stand up and walk further down the track, counting slowly. We sit down a little bit away and turn to watch everyone else. I start watching Jackson and Anthony as they get closer to the finish line. I look further down the line, trying to see who is in last. I see that Katie and Ashlee are all the way in the back. And right in front of them is Hailey and Amy. I grab Veronica's hand, trying to stay calm. I look forward and see Theo and Willow cross the line. Veronica lets out a sigh of relief as tears run down her face. I see Jack and Aaron cross the line and I sigh, but I know it's not over. Jackson and Anthony cross the line and I sigh, tears rolling down my face. I am watching anxiously as everyone gets closer and closer to the finish line. Bryan, Kevin, Claire, and Dave all pass the line at the same time. That means that Hailey, Amy, Ashlee, and Katie are the only ones still out there. I start panicking, not wanting any of them to die. I start trying to pull the barbed wire off of Veronica and I, trying to be careful so that I don't cut her. I can't get it off so I grab Veronica's hand, pulling her to her feet. She looks over at me, understanding in her eyes. We walked quickly to the finishing line. Theo and Willow walk over to us and Theo and Veronica embrace. I step quickly towards them so that we won't get cut as bad. I keep on staring at everyone else, trying to see who is going to win. Both teams are pretty far away still, and they are both mostly tied. I see Katie and Ashlee start to gain a lead and my eyes water. I love all of them, and I don't want any of them to die. But Hailey is my best friend. We've been besties since birth. Literally. So I can't lose her. I suddenly hear a scream that brings me back to reality. I look over and see that Katie and Ashlee have fallen over. Hailey and Amy quickly pass them and get to the finish line. They pass it and fall to the ground, both of them crying. I quickly put my hand over my mouth, sobbing silently. I drop down to Hailey, pulling Veronica down with me. That makes Theo and Willow fall over too, but I don't actually care. I wrap my arms around Hailey, crying. She pulls herself over to me and wraps her arms around me so that we are actually embracing. We both sob into each other's shoulders, not looking up for anyone. I then remember about Jackson. He must be dying right now. I quickly let go of Hailey, turning to look at Jackson. He locks eyes with me just as we pass out.

A/N: So, yeah. Sorry guys. I didn't want to do this, but I had too. I couldn't kill off Hailey yet. And also I'm having some writers block right now, so this chapter might not be that good.