Scott Andrews - School_s Out

"Green, take these guys to the armoury and issue them with new weapons and ammunition."

He nodded wordlessly, and ran back into Castle, towards the cellar. The others followed.

Suddenly the banging on the door stopped, and the Blood Hunters' guns fell silent. Norton and I exchanged worried looks and ran up the stairs and into one of the rooms overlooking the lawn.

"What's going on?" I shouted.

"Dunno sir," replied one of the boys who'd been shooting down at them. "They all just ran around the side of the building."

At that moment there was a terrible scream in the distance.

"That came from the back," said Norton, and we ran out of the room and across the landing. We pushed through double doors and ran across the main hall balcony to the rear stairs. Norton was in the lead as we crashed through the door and jumped down the stairs three at a time. We came out next to the cellar entrance, and found ourselves in the middle of a pitched battle. Green and the men he'd been arming were fighting hand-to-hand with a group of about ten Blood Hunters, but I could see more pouring into the courtyard outside.

How the hell had they gotten in?

Norton and I opened fire from the stairs. I could see Green, both hands raised, trying to slow the descent of a machete that a big muscled Blood Hunter was forcing down towards his head. The Blood Hunter was grinning as his biceps flexed and the blade inched down. I couldn't get a clear shot through the crowd, so I lowered my head and shoulder charged the fighting men, barrelling through them until I was next to Green. I shoved my pistol into the Blood Hunter's perfectly sculpted six pack and squeezed the trigger twice. The man staggered back and slid down the wall, clutching his guts.

Green fell backwards too, into a corner. He curled up, buried his head in his hands and began to sob. I couldn't worry about him now. Someone banged into my left side and sent me staggering against a door. Which was open. I tottered for a moment in the doorway but I couldn't regain my balance. I reached out with my left arm to steady myself. But my left arm was in a sling. I fell headfirst down the hard stone steps into the musty cellar.

While I sprawled on the damp brick I heard someone slam the door against the wall and come running down the stairs behind me. Still on the ground I turned and saw a Blood Hunter woman charging towards me. I shot her twice but her momentum carried her forward and she collapsed on top of me. Her lolling head cracked into mine and the force smashed the back of my skull against the brick floor.

Bright spots danced in front of my eyes, and felt myself starting to pass out. I closed my eyes, steadied my breathing and tried to focus, but it was hard. God knows how many blows to the head I'd taken in the last twenty minutes. I was pretty sure the only thing keeping me conscious was Matron's home brew. I wasn't looking forward to the come down.

I managed to stave off unconsciousness, and rolled the wounded woman off me. She was still alive, but she was out for the count. I decided the time for taking prisoners had long passed. I put one in her head to finish her off.

I had just got to my feet when I heard a tremendous explosion and a sustained volley of gunfire. It sounded like it came from the front of the school.

They'd blown the doors.

The sounds of battle overhead grew more intense. We were being overrun. I turned and ran into one of the side chambers. I picked up a box of grenades and a kit bag. I shoved as many of the bombs inside as I could, then I nipped into the next chamber along. I strapped two machine guns across my shoulders, put another pistol in my belt, and shoved as many clips of ammunition as I could carry into my pockets. I was carrying more hardware than Rambo.

A Rambo with bugger all muscle tone, gangly arms – one of which was useless – a mild case of acne, a broken nose, a head that felt like a punching bag and a system full of unknown drugs. Still, I had lots and lots of guns.

"Rock n' Roll!" I yelled, cocked my machine gun, and went running up the stairs. Straight into somebody's fist. My nose cracked once more and I went tumbling back down the stairs to the bricks.

"This," I said wearily as I lay there, "is getting repetitive."

"Don't worry," said a familiar voice. "It'll all be over soon." Mac was standing at the top of the stairs, shaking the fingers of his good hand. At least hitting me had hurt. He looked down at me and sneered.

I tried to bring my gun to bear but Mac was too fast for me. He was down the stairs before I could gather myself and he kicked the pistol from my grip. Then he stamped on my good hand. Even above the sound of the battle overhead, and my own shout of anger, I heard yet another bone crack.

Didn't feel it though. Really, really good drugs.

There was a stutter of machine gun fire from the top of the stairs. A Blood Hunter stood there, shooting back into the corridor, guarding the cellar door. At all costs I had to stop them taking possession of the armoury. I wanted to reach for a grenade, but even if my free hand had been working and I could pull a pin I'd only succeed in blowing the entire school sky high, taking everyone with it. Not an option.

Mac stood above me, gun pointed straight at my face.

"I really want to shoot you in the head, Nine Lives," he snarled. "You have no idea how much I want to shoot you in the fucking head."

"Be my guest." I screwed my eyes closed, waiting for the impact.

"But that would be no fun," he said. "I mean, orgasms are great, but they're so much better after a little foreplay, don't you think?"

"Shoot me or shag me, Mac… make your mind up."

He ground his foot on my hand. I could feel jagged edges of bone scraping against each other in my little finger.

The screams and gunfire from above were intense now. I imagined the Blood Hunters pouring through the front door, slicing and shooting the boys, smearing themselves in fresh blood and bellowing their victory.

"It's all over, Lee. There are too many of us. I'll be back in charge of the school within the hour. Maybe I'll celebrate with another crucifixion. What do you think?"

"Not very original," I replied. "You want to supersize it. How about a flaying, perhaps? Or maybe a dismemberment? Surprise me."

He squatted down on top of me, and leaned forward until my broken nose was almost touching his stubby little burnt wreck of one.

"I will, Lee. I promise you that. Now get up and dump the hardware."

He stood up and let me rise, keeping his gun on me as I let the weapons and ammunition drop to the floor.

"Now we wait for the commotion to die down so I can go claim my prize," he said.

"What about David?" I asked. "Won't he have something to say about you taking control?"

"David's my problem. Let me worry about him. You worry about me, Lee. Worry about what I'm going to do to you, Norton and that little shit Rowles, and anyone else who survives the fight. There's gonna be a bleeding tonight."

There was something different about Mac, and it wasn't just the injuries and the missing hand. He was taking real joy in the destruction happening above. He seemed more feral, less in control. His one good eye sparkled with barely concealed madness, very different from the power hungry thug I'd known before. He used to be unpredictable; now he was just plain scary.

"Mind if I sit while we wait?"

Mac opened his mouth to reply, but a burst of gunfire from the doorway silenced him. I saw the Blood Hunter by the door struggling with someone, heard a bone-crunching snap, and a man's lifeless body tumbled down the stairs to land at our feet.

"Yeah, why not," said Mac, ignoring the corpse. "Pull up a box of grenades. Let's bond."

I turned into one of the side rooms, looking for something to sit on.