[i]July 23rd, Williams Public Secondary School, Cafeteria[/i]

“No, no, no, this is all wrong. I was promised-“ 

Adrian had been running for a while now. Everything had gone wrong. He needed to find her, quickly. Before they caught him, he needed to reach Essan, and give her the note. The school had been on lockdown for half an hour now, and SWAT teams had set up barricades, evacuating those who weren’t already taking shelter in the class rooms. To them, Adrian Harvey was a dangerous individual, compounded by the fact that he now possessed an officer’s fire arm. The sleek 9mm pistol was heavy in his hands, and was unnaturally foreign to him, a simple high school student who now held the world upon his shoulders. He hadn’t fired it yet, but it was enough to know that he could kill someone. 

As he ran through the hallways, he feverishly searched, to complete his final task. To pass on the torch, so to speak. It was after running around a corner that he saw her, hiding under a desk in the main holo presentation room. Essan. He ran up, and crouched, pointing the gun at her, and trembling. “You, out of there. Now.” As she stood up, he reached into his pockets, and placed the note in her hands, and sighed with relief. “Don’t let them know I gave you this. I know who you are, and you have to do this, later. You are the only one who can do this. Now get back down, befo-“ There was a bang, and a smash, as a small canister smashed through the large wall window, and yellowish smoke filled the room. The stinging gas caused tears to well up in both their eyes, and Adrian sprinted out of the room, coughing and wheezing as he barged through the fire escape door, and ran up the stairs to the roof. In hot pursuit behind him, lower down the staircase, was three SWAT officers, who quickly gave chase.

----

Moments later, he was out in the hot air of summer, wind whistling through his hair as the early morning sun beat down on him. He ran to the ledge, and looked down the six floors, onto the car park below, where a small crowd had gathered in a safety zone. They looked up, and pointed, yelling and scattering from what they perceived a crazed gun man. Except for a small group, who watched on, in horror. One of those individuals was Leonard, his father. As Adrian looked down, the officers busted onto the roof, and formed a line, aiming their weapons at him. Adrian whirled around, and responded by doing the same. They now stood off against each other, and the officers approached slowly. “You don’t have to do this, kid. We can help you, just put down the gun. You can walk away from this, boy.”

Tears sprang into Adrian’s eyes again, and he sobbed heavily, lowering the gun slightly. He knew it was too late for him. His life flashed before his eyes, and a million thoughts screamed into his head, wracking his body with grief. “There’s only one way to make you understand.” He raised his gun, and clicked off the safety, a loud audible snap. The officers raised their weapons, and froze. “It’s not worth it. Kid. Put the gun down. Now”
“I…I know…. All I need… Is one.” With lightning fast speed, the kid brought the gun up to his head, and closed his eyes, crying hard and tears streaming down his face. And with a deafening crack through the still air, it was all over.