Bullet For A Love

Chapter Thirteen

We headed to the computer lab, next door to classroom six. We hid behind the teacher's desk, as it was between the two doors.

Something struck my mind, but Danielle said it first.

"Should someone go double check Tyler?"
The room fell silent. Danielle spoke up again.
"Well, we don't know if that gunshot was truly by him."
I grunted. "Danielle, who else do you think is in the building?"
Danielle slumped back against the wall.

For a moment, it felt like hours passed in a second.
Time felt too wacky to be real right now.
We were all squished together, huddled and keeping us all warm.

Then I heard it.
Slap.
Slap.
Slap.
Slap.
Slap.

Tyler was down this hallway.

"Everyone be quiet!"
My whisper was sharp in the silence.

If Tyler was making that slapping sound, there were two conditions. One, he got out somehow. Maybe he lockpicked in the dark. Or somehow, turned the light on.
Second of all, he had another gun. He's not gonna run low on weapons unless somehow we can pat him down.

But there was a condintion that was good for us.
We had a gun. And a twelve inch knife.

The slapping and footsteps got quieter and quieter as Tyler sauntered down the hallway.

"We can stay in here until the police arrive. Its one of the last places Tyler will check." I state bluntly.
"Yeah, but shouldn't it be safer to be on the second floor?" Xander added.
"Thats what he wants us to believe." I shook my head. "My heart says he's going to check every classroom upstairs right now."

After more silence, Danielle pitched in something.

"Hey, who else hears that?"

The sounds of sirens filled my ears.

The police had arrived.

The only thing left to do was to get to them.

"I'm hungry." Calum wailed.
I tossed him my last granola bar and peeked over the teacher's desk. If the police did arrive, then we needed to get out there.
After all, we did have a gun and a long, pathetic excuse for a knife. But I don't think any of us truly wanted to hurt Tyler too badly. We all didn't have it in us to fatally injure someone.
The faint siren sounds felt bitterswwet in my ears. Why did I feel that this wasn't the right time for the police to show up?

"Guys, are you sure its the cops?" I mention.
Max looks at me funny.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are you sure? I can't trust anything anymore."
Liam put a hand over my shaking one.

"Jacks, this is the only sound of hope we've had in hours. We can't miss an opportunity."

I sigh.
"I get it."

We all slowly stood up, Calum limping and leaning against Max. Max wrapped an arm around Calum, protecting him and tying his body to his.
We all slowly opened the door, and I scanned the hallway with my eyes.

"Lets go." I signaled.

We all slowly crept out the room, the eerie feeling I was holding on to made my stomach sink.
As we all walked down the hallway, clutching onto each other, the police sirens were still faint.
I think some hope began to die down between the seven of us.
I bit my tongue as Sukaina latched onto one of my arms. I felt like I needed to protect her, and be protected by everyone else.

Reaching the end of the hallway, we noticed there was no Tyler.
We kept walking, stepping silently, eventually finding ourselves standing in the center room, where this shit all began.

"I don't get it. Surely we would hear the sirens really well by now?" Calum pitched.

My mouth opened to say something, but it was interupted by a loud, blazing and high pitched sound. Something was coming from the speakers above.
We all ducked down and covered our ears from the sudden sharp noise.
Then, it hit me.
If Tyler was controlling the speaker, then he was in the office.
I slowly stepped towards the office, ready to see if Tyler was going to emerge.

Sure enough, he did.
I stood up and shouted over my shoulder as Tyler made eye contact with me.

"Run!"

I felt my feet break into a fast pace as I bolted away from Tyler. I saw Max scoop Calum over his broad shoulders and match my pace.
Everyone was short on my tail.
And so was Tyler.

Shit.

I picked up my pace, my desperateness growing greater as I turned each corner.
We did one lap around the base of the school, and then ducked into the cafeteria to loose him.
He followed us in, and I thew a nearby metal tray table his way. Tyler dodged it almost immeaditaly.
Getting out of the cafeteria, I could almost feel Tyler's breath down my neck.
I shook off the feeling and turned into the main room.
Everyone parked themselves behind me.

"Upstairs!"

We all ran upstairs, me leading the pack in the front.
After getting upstairs, we ducked behind some fire doors. I peered through the glass and saw Tyler step up the stairs, his eyes scanning the hallways.

"Keep going!"
I hollared.

We all picked up more speed as we dashed through the hallway.
Tyler was following us, not too short behind. He was reaching for something in his pocket.

After doing one more lap around the school, we glided back down the stairs.
I had no idea Tyler would follow us down there, too.
I heard Xander and everyone panting behind me.

"I can't go on!" Xander said between pants.
Me, too, was out of breath. But Tyler was already making his way down the stairs.

"Everyone get into the main gym!"

We all followed my on- the- spot command and ducked into the main gym as Tyler made it to the first floor. We shut the door and limped into the giant storage room as best as we could.
Closing the doors and shoving the long basketball bin in front, we all slumped back to catch our breathes.

"Man, that guy can run fast." Liam said between breathes.
"Maybe he's made out of metal or something." Sukaina responded, a slight chuckle to his words.
I laughed alongside everyone, a small smile tugging at my lips.

I pulled off my hoodie and tied it around my waist, warm. We all sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the coolness of the storage room.
Then, I heard it.
The sounds of sirens slowly picked up in my ears.

"Sirens!"
I shouted.

Sure enough, the sirens slowly got louder and louder, like real sirens were supposed to sound like.

The police were here, and ready to save us.

The only problem was getting to them.