The Metalheads

We scrambled to our feet, eager to know who had spoken to us. I helped Andy to his feet, then noticed that Ashley seemed to be having a little more trouble. He groaned as I lifted up his limp body.

"I...I can't stand. My ankle hurts." He rubbed his right ankle and winced.

I knew he couldn't go on with us, much less fight if we had to. I looked over at Andy, who was also watching his friend writhe in pain. I looked back at Ashley, then decided to move him over to the side, at least out of harm's way.

The voice we had heard spoke again, this time louder and clearer.

"Don't bother trying to help him. He's useless now."

Andy's voice echoed through the room. "Where are you?!"

A man jumped down into the dim light that surrounded us from a higher platform, landing perfectly on his feet. He walked slowly toward us, as Andy watched his every move. I used myself to shield Ashley.

"Now children, there's no need for the defense posture. I only wanted to welcome you to my capitol. That ceiling needed replacing anyway." He looked up at the bed-sized hole in the ceiling.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he really think he could politely welcome us? Andy moved backwards towards me, not taking his eyes off the man. Ashley asked the first question.

"Who are you?" he coughed.

The man cracked an evil grin, and began to circle us.

"I am President Black, and you have just unlawfully entered my capitol building."

I rolled my eyes. As if that was the worst of our problems.

"Do you know what that means?" he continued. "That means that you will all suffer consequences." He finished off his threat with another sickening grin.

We all just glared at him. I looked over along the far wall to see large cans of dark red liquid. I studied them for a minute as President Black focused his attention on Ashley.

He did nothing but smile. "What happened to you, little one? Did you hurt yourself falling out of the ceiling?"

Ashley glared at him in disgust. "Leave him alone," I snapped. He then focused his attention on me. My eyes didn't leave his as he began to gently stroke my chin.

"Ooh, I do like this one. Challenging."

My heart pounded in my chest as the adrenaline began its cycle through my veins. My desire to knock his teeth out grew.

"Don't touch me," I spat as I tried to pull his hands away from my face. This only proved to make things worse. He picked me up by the throat and he instantly changed from an evil smiling face to angry clenched fists in a split second.

I gasped for air and struggled to free myself from his death grip. It seemed as though no one could help me at that point. Black spots began to cloud my vision. I could hear faint screams in the distance.

This is it, this is where I die, I thought.

I thought he had finished me off, when I went flying out of his hands and into the concrete wall. I looked up to see Andy pinning the President to the ground.

Panting, I rushed over to shield Ashley from the ongoing fight. Both of us watched them throw each other around. Andy soon started to fall short. I wanted to help him, but I hesitated.

President Black had Andy pinned down after a few minutes. His chest heaved up and down. That's when I knew I had to step in. The man began to whisper in Andy's ear.

"You think you can beat me, boy? Not a chance," he hissed.

He swung his arm over his head to take one last swing, but not before I pounced on him. Using all of the strength I had, I wrassled him to the ground, punching and kicking as I went. He wheezed and coughed, his head hung in defeat.

I stared down at him, pushing him over with my foot. I made my way to Andy, who was still lying sprawled out in exhaustion.

Why did I hesitate? It pained me to see him hurt like this. I didn't think a man like that could, or would want to, hurt us this much. It made me want to fight him even harder.

I helped Andy up, and wiped some of the blood off his face.

"Are you okay?" I pushed a lock of hair out his face. He gave me a grateful look, but seemed that he couldn't fight anymore. He went and took a seat next to Ashley, who could do nothing but watch his friend be taken down.

I looked at the both of them, realizing it was up to me now. I stood up to face President Black. I still had a lot of fight left in me.

He stood up slowly, his grin returning to his face. "You think that's all I've got, little ones?"

I was focused on him, but I could hear his officers rushing in behind me to back him up. I soon realized I was severely outnumbered.

He inched towards me, pulling a gun out of his pocket.

"Face it, darling. You're beat." He pointed the gun at me, and I could tell that the officers behind me doing the same.

My heart raced faster, and my head spinned. They had me surrounded, and there was no way out. Except up.

I pulled one of my many daggers out of my belt and threw it behind them, distracting them long enough to grapple myself to the hole in the ceiling. I crawled out of sight of them, giving a chase.
"Follow her! Then blow her head off!" President Black bellowed to his officers.

He then ordered an officer to drag Andy and Ashley out of the room.

"I have a special place for you two. Trust me, she won't come back for you," he laughed.

They exchanged glances, unsure of whether or not they would really be saved.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I crawled through the ceiling, looking for another way out, I couldn't help but worry about the guys. Where would he take them? What would he do with them? It was foolish of me to just escape and leave them there like that. Now that I knew he was intent on killing me, he would do everything he could to them to draw me to them. I then knew what to do. If it was me he wanted, I'll give myself to him.

I soon came across another hole in the ceiling, but it wasn't big enough for me to fit through. I peeked through it, and sure enough, President Black had them lined up with guns to their heads. I had to act quickly.

Think Kat, think. I had to get through the ceiling again, but how?

I began to jump, hoping to break the concrete. I succeeded after about the fifth jump. I went crashing down into the room below. This time I was prepared for the fall.

"Ah, look who decided to join us? The woman herself," he smirked.

Ashley let out a muffled scream, then the officer next to him slammed the butt of his rifle into his head. He groaned, falling backwards.

"Don't touch them again," I hissed. I put my hand on my dagger, ready for someone to strike. ~
The officers drew their guns towards me, and so did President Black. Now, I had questions of my own.

"What do you want from us? Why are you trying to kill us?"

He began to laugh, as if I was already supposed to know the answer.

"You broke into my capitol, darling," he replied. "That's a federal crime."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And so is killing your own people."

He stopped, and turned to look at Andy and Ashley. Andy was trying to find a way to free himself, while Ashley just looked terrified. I wanted to help them, but I was waiting for the right moment.

The President turned back to me. "Killing my people? Darling, those people were outcasts, nobodies. I only disposed of them."

I raised my eyebrows. "You mean my people? My innocent people who were pushed aside and forced to be confined into a small space and then randomly selected to be killed off one by one?"

"You still killed them or tried to kill them, outcasts or not. The only reason they weren't killed was because I saved them." I couldn't help but argue with him now. I knew what he did was wrong.

He grew angrier. "And you think you're some kind of hero? Just because you helped a group of people escape from prison you think you're magnificent," he shot back.

I clenched my fists, gripping my dagger tighter.

"I wouldn't have had to save them at all if they weren't put into prison in the first place."

He seemed to have had enough of me at that point, because he cocked his gun and aimed straight for my head.

I bolted for the door, and ran out into the lobby area. It was set up kind of like a court room, with benches and a large stand at the front.

I jumped over and around the furniture, dodging the bullets that sailed through the air. I hid behind one of the benches, while the officers dragged Andy and Ashley into the room. It seemed like President Black wanted them to watch me die.

"I hope this is what you came for," he hissed to them. "Because she's not making it out of here alive."

He shot at the ground multiple times, trying to see which bench I was hiding behind. One bullet barely missed my foot. He sprinted between the rows desperately in search of me.

As he got closer to me, my heart pounded faster and faster. Darkness was not on my side this time. I had to think fast, or else, I'd be gone for sure.

"I don't play games, darling. Come out, wherever you are, and I might not kill you."

He stopped right in front of the bench I was under. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I had to do something.

Now.

Before he could turn around, I jumped out from under the bench and tackled him to the ground. I held my dagger under his chin, my knees pressing hard into his stomach to hold him down. ~
"Let them go," I hissed. "And stop terrorizing my people."

He squirmed beneath me, but I held him down firmly.

"Your people? They wouldn't listen to you if their lives depended on it."

He then commanded his officers to start shooting Andy and Ashley. I could hear them both whimper. There was nothing they could do to help themselves at that point. I couldn't let them get hurt.

I jumped up and started running at one of the officers with my dagger in hand. He dropped his gun and took off. The other officer wasn't so reluctant. He cocked his gun and pointed it at Andy's head, ready to blow out his brains.

Without thinking, I jumped in front of him just in time, shielding Andy from the bullet. Pain shot through my side as I skidded onto the ground, knowing I'd been hit.

The last thing I remembered was two voices screaming my name, before everything went black.

Notes

Here's chapter 15 for you guys! Enjoy!

<3<3~Madisonrobo