Purge Night | 5SOS

TWENTY-ONE

6:00 am

"No!" Lindy flinched at the sound of Coltshire's gun going off, followed by Ashton's pained cry echoing through the spacious room. Lindy felt the worst feeling settling over her, thinking momentarily that Ashton had been shot. But when Calum's head snapped back, dying instantly from the bullet that had entered his head, time seemed to slow. Ashton was running to Calum's body, tears streaming down his face as he slid to his knees. 

Lindy had no time to grieve for Calum - She turned her head, watching Coltshire raise his gun again, this time aiming for Ashton - And he wasn't intending on missing. 

Suddenly, Lindy knew what she had to do.

Whipping out her gun, Lindy pointed it at Coltshire, shooting him twice in the head unblinkingly. Lindy was frozen, gun still pointing straight ahead as Coltshire dropped. All was silent, minus the sounds of Ashton sobbing over yet another one of his best friend's dead bodies. 

It's all over now, Lindy thought, shakily putting her gun away and turning her attention to Ashton. Calum's body was crushed to his chest, Ashton's face buried in his old friend's neck as he rocked back and forth. 

"He died hating me!" Ashton sobbed, throwing his head back. Lindy felt her heart break at Ashton's tortured cries - Lindy had lost one best friend tonight, but Ashton had lost three all within a single hour. He was going through hell, and there wasn't much Lindy could do for him.

Glancing over her shoulder, Lindy caught glimpse of Harry, who was stroking his chin as he watched the scene unfold quietly from the corner with his intense green eyes fixated upon both of them. "We have to go," Harry reminded them. "I can guarantee you all that there's backup on the way."

You could at least try to be more gentle, Harry, Lindy thought, sending a pestered glare in Harry's direction before wandering towards Ashton to lightly grip his shoulder. "Ashton," Lindy said quietly. "We really need to get out of here."

Ashton shakily glanced down at Calum's body, before lifting his head to stare at Lindy with wide, fearful eyes brimming with tears. "We can't leave them here." he fretted.

"Ashton," Lindy tried again, kneeling down beside him. "I know leaving the ones you love behind is horrible - trust me, I know. But if we don't leave right now, we'll end up dead just like them."

Lindy knew she sounded harsh - but she'd rather have Ashton alive and pissed off at her than dead and liking her. Miraculously, Ashton didn't argue with her, and pushed his grief aside long enough for her to take his hand. Lindy knew what this feeling was - it was the state of emptiness that came after the initial feelings of sadness and pain after losing somebody. "I don't want to leave them like this," he said quietly, fishing around for something in his coat pocket. "We need to do something about it." Lindy's face fell when he pulled out his lighter. 

Harry's catlike footsteps sounded behind them as the limber boy joined them, standing over Calum and Andi's bodies. "You're going to burn them?" he questioned, eyebrow arching slightly.

Ashton flicked the match, watching the tiniest of flames appear. "Not just them," he said unflinchingly. "The entire mansion is going with them, too." 

Covering our tracks is a smart idea, Lindy thought. But a single lighter won't burn down a gigantic mansion. She frowned, glancing around for something they could use to ignite the fire.

 "Does anyone know where lighter fluid would be stored in a dining room?" Harry questioned, voice dry with sarcasm as he raked his fingers impatiently through his long curls.

"There was some backstage," All three heads whipped up to see Michael in the doorway, a jug of gasoline dangling from his hand. Judging by the distant, faraway look in his stormy green eyes, Lindy knew that Michael was aware of Calum's death. 

Of course there would be gasoline backstage - It probably wasn't uncommon for Purgers to dose their victims with a flammable substance before burning them alive, Lindy thought, watching Michael unscrew the cap of the jug. The liquid sloshed side to side as he swung the jug around, sending the flammable fluid splashing all over the floor. 

x x x 

Having made a trail of gasoline from the dining room all the way to the giant front doors of the mansion, Harry, Lindy, and Michael stepped back, giving Ashton space to drop the lighter. It had been two minutes, and all Ashton had done was hold the lighter out, staring at it with an unreadable expression etched across his tired face. Nobody was rushing him - Everyone, including Lindy, knew that dropping the lighter would be one of the hardest things to do. After all, they were about to reduce Calum, Luke, and Andi's bodies to nothing but dust, if the mansion didn't explode first. 

When Ashton still didn't drop the lighter, Lindy saw Michael step forward, letting his machine gun clatter to the ground. He stopped beside Ashton, murmuring something in his ear. Ashton's shoulders relaxed slightly, and Lindy saw him turn his head to Michael to offer him a small nod. Harry's eyebrows lifted in question when Michael glanced over his shoulder at his two surviving friends. 

"We're doing it together." he informed them, before gripping Ashton's hand that held the lighter, counting to three, and letting it drop. The trail of flames rose instantly, spreading across the trail of gasoline like wildfire as it disappeared into the mansion. 

"We should probably run now before this thing blows." Harry said, turning to speed down the endless stone driveway. Lindy followed, hearing Ashton and Michael's footsteps thundering behind her. The wind whistled through her ears as she ran for her life, hardly registering the early morning sunlight bleeding through the trees on the horizon. They finally made it to the street, just as a deafening explosion shook the ground. 

Lindy whirled around to see the once-beautiful, prestigious Coltshire mansion engulfed in flames, plumes of jet black smoke rising into the sky and marking a sharp contrast to the milky pink sky of dawn. She stole a look at Ashton, the flames of the mansion reflected in his glossy eyes as he watched the place smolder. Lindy wasn't a mind reader to know what he was thinking.

Somewhere inside lie the remains of his friends - their bodies, like most, if not all of the party guests, would never be found or identified. Their families would spend the rest of their lives not knowing their whereabouts.

Lindy wasn't sure how long they stood in silence watching the mansion burn before tires squealed in the distance, alerting them of whatever backup had finally arrived. The side street just past the ivory fence line surrounding the estate was crowded with several identical black cars, all headed straight towards the long, winding driveway. "What do we do now?" her eyebrows shot up, looking to Michael or Harry for guidance.

Harry's face was set into a permanent frown. "Zayn and I parked our car by the guesthouse." He said, pointing to a smaller cottage on the opposite end of the Coltshire's grand field. It was untouched by the explosion, obviously, and was concealed from the road by a wall of pine trees - their escape would go unnoticed by the people in the black cars hoping to rescue Governor Coltshire. 

"Let's go get that car." Michael said, charging after Harry as they sprinted across the field for one last Purge getaway.