[b]Bex - Haywood[/b]

He sighed in relief as he took the girl into his arms. He wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but he couldn't deny that Katie was rightfully Tyler's. Perhaps Katie would calm Tyler down and stop all this nonsense, but Bex knew that was unlikely. Tyler had become a bad man no matter what his intentions were. Bex had to admit he was probably a bad man himself at this point.

His eyes lingered on Lauren's dead body as he lifted Katie off her feet. He so desperately wished that things could have gone differently. Lauren had been good to him-- A [i]friend[/i]. She hadn't deserved this. All she had wanted was a little girl to truly [i]live[/i]. Why did it have to be like this?

Bex looked over at Daniel and stared at him warily. "Emma will be returned to you safely," Bex said. "I promise." He began to walk back to the line of cars when one of the scouts suddenly popped their head up from behind a vehicle. He aimed his gun in Tyler's direction and Bex froze in place. The man shot, but it went wide and missed Tyler easily.

"Thomas fucked us over!" he yelled. "These aren't bandits! This is all wrong!" More scouts began to yell and some began to argue. Further shots went off and Bex scrambled to get low. He slid in front of one of the vehicles, Katie still in his arms. He couldn't see what exactly was happening, but it was clear that the scouts were turning on each other. Bex could hear Tyler ineffectually yelling over the din of shouting trying to rally them back to his side. Some of the scouts yelled in his favor, but it was clear no one had much idea what they were doing any longer.

"I-I-" Bex tried to speak calmingly to Katie, but his mind had begun racing to process everything that was happening. He let out a strained breath and spoke into the girl's ear, "We're going to get to safety and we're going to save my friend, Emma." He then turned to Daniel amidst the chaos and nodded to the man. Bex couldn't quite talk to the man over the shouting, but Bex desperately wished he understood. 

Still crouched low, Bex rushed around the vehicle, pushing through a couple of the scouts along the way. He hoped that no one would shoot him while he held a little girl, but-- "Bex!" someone cried, and Bex felt a bullet strike near his feet. He cursed out loud and straightened up in order to sprint to Haywood's gates.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I'm so sorry, we just needed to get out of there!" They [i]needed[/i] to get to Emma, and then Bex would figure this all out. Lauren would have wanted the girls to get to safety. That's all Bex could think about as he sprinted past the gates and toward the building where Emma was being held.