"Bitch!" 

A fist collided with the side of Grace's face. 

It wasn't strong enough to knock Grace off me, but it was enough for Grace to loosen her grip slightly on my neck. 

Despite the weak and tired ache of my body, I twisted out of her grasp. 

Flintstone brought his fist back, no doubt with full intent to hit Grace again, but Grace was ready this time. She reached up and twisted his arm, sending Flintstone crumbling to the ground, yelling in pain.

I scrambled to my feet just as Dumbo and Poundcake erupted from a door down the hall. 

"What's-" Dumbo clamped his mouth shut, his eyes widening. 

"Zombie!" He called, just before Grace lurched towards him, taking him into a choke hold. 

Then Cassie and Zombie rushed out of the room. Zombie's eyes met mine for a split second. He took a step towards me but I shook my head once, hoping he'd understand my warning. 

Zombie didn't knew what Grace was capable of. None of them did. 

"You must be Cassiopeia," Grace sneered, her eyes narrowing at Cassie. 

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Cassie demanded, her hand on the handle of the knife in her belt. 

I could tell she was trying to look threatening, but with the cropped hair, small figure and disheveled appearance, she had nothing on Grace. 

And Grace knew that. 

On top of it all, Grace had the leverage of being an Other, which the rest of them had absolutely no idea about. 

Grace just sent her a small, sick smile, tightening her grip around Dumbo's neck. 

"Let him go," Zombie said through gritted teeth. 

Dumbo reached up, his fingers fumbling around Grace's arm. 

His feet were off the ground now. 

His face was growing red. 

I took a small step forward, but Grace head snapped towards me, almost as if she'd sensed my movement. 

One glare from her sent me retreating back to the wall. 

The only thing that'd stop Grace now was if she got what, or who she wanted. Evan. 

 Evan must've been able to muster the strength to drag himself off the ground because he emerged slowly from the doorway. 

"Grace," he said. 

Evan's eyes met mine for a fleeting second before settling again on Grace. 

We both knew. We knew what she was capable of. And we both knew what she'd come for. 

"What was that?" Flintstone asked, pointing from Evan to me. 

He'd finally lifted himself from the ground, cradling his injured arm to his chest. 

I shook my head once, giving him the same warning I'd given Zombie only moments earlier. 

"Let him go," Evan said softly, holding up his hands. "I know it's me you've come for. So don't hurt him." 

Cassie's face read of confusion. And barely hidden behind the confusion, there was anger. Her knuckles turned white as her grip on the knife tightened. 

"Let him go and let's talk alone...in the room. Just you and me, exactly the way you want it," Evan said, his voice unwavering and calm. 

Grace seemed to think about his proposal for a moment before pushing Dumbo away from her. His head crashed against the wall and he fell to the floor. 

"Fine. You and her," she said, pointing to Cassie. 

Evan seemed reluctant for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "Fine."

Evan ushered Cassie into the room first before following. Grace turned to us quickly, a scowl on her face and her eyes narrowed to a menacing glare. 

"Don't try anything," she said, raising her gun as she stepped into the doorway. 

Almost immediately after Grace was out of view, Zombie moved over to join Flintstone, Poundcake, and I. 

Dumbo dragged himself to his feet, following Zombie. 

"Who the hell is she? And what was that look you and Evan shared about?" Flintstone asked in a hushed whisper. 

His arms were now crossed and he seemed to be putting on a strong front despite the pain of his certainly-broken arm. 

My eyes dashed to Zombie for a minute and then to Dumbo before clearing my throat. "She was someone Evan and I ran into on our way from Wright Patterson," I said. "Grace wanted Evan for something, I think they've had history, I'm not quite sure. But she's an Other and she nearly killed us both." 

"And you didn't bother to tell us any of this?" Flintstone demanded, throwing his one good arm up into the air. 

"Hey," Zombie said calmly, extending a hand, "Calm down and let her speak." 

I crossed my arms. "We thought she had been killed during our escape. We didn't think about the possibility of this," I said to Flintstone, gesturing around the hallway. 

"So Grace is an Other?" Zombie said before Flintstone could retort something back. Zombie was already nodding his head, understanding. 

"Yes," Dumbo confirmed. "Definitely an Other. She's too strong. If it hadn't been for Evan, she would've killed me without much trouble." he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. 

Flintstone nodded slightly. "She would've killed Canary t-" 

"What?" Zombie asked, his eyes hardening. 

"The psycho bitch would've killed your girlfriend if it hadn't been for me," Flintstone said. "Can you not see the finger nail marks and blood on her neck?"

I reached up to my neck, touching the skin for a moment. I hadn't even realized I was bleeding. I drew my fingers back, cringing when I saw the dark blood running down the tips of fingers and into the palm of my hand. 

Zombie eyes searched mine, exuding concern and worry. 

He knew better than to ask if I were ok, so instead he gathered me into his arms, winding his arms around me protectively. 

I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face into the fabric of his hoodie jacket. It took every ounce of my being to not burst into tears and beg him to take me somewhere far away. 

"If she's an Other, we need to get Nugget and Megan and get the hell out of here," Zombie said, his voice quiet but firm. 

I heard the shuffling of someone's feet and a small hesitant cough. Then Flintstone mumbled something and I grew uncomfortable, realizing that this was probably one of the first times they'd seen Zombie and I have any sort of physical contact. 

I opened my eyes slowly, carefully pulling away from Zombie. I couldn't be that weak, at least not with half of the squad watching. 

"Yeah, yeah we need to leave," I said defiantly, wiping my bloody hands on my already-stained jeans. 

I noticed the slight nod of Poundcake's head beside me and Dumbo gave a curt nod in my direction. 

"Flint and I will get Megan and Nugget," Dumbo said quickly, before disappearing down the hall. 

"We'll meet you outside, ok?" Flintstone said, rushing to follow Dumbo. 

I opened my mouth to say something but then the door burst open and out came Cassie, her nose swollen and mouth covered in dripping blood. 

"Get out! Run! Get out of the hall-"

Then came Grace, pushing Cassie to the side in one quick, effortless movement. 

Then came Evan, too slow, too weak to stop what happened next. 

The hallway echoed with the sound of Grace pulling the trigger. Bits of plaster flew from the wall where her first shot struck. 

There was screaming. From who, I didn't know. 

Another shot. 

I had to cover my hears, squinting my eyes as the shot distorted my hearing, sending vibrations ringing in my head. 

Cassie screamed for her brother, tears cascading down her cheeks, mixing with the blood caked on her skin. She moved to strike at Grace, Evan shouting at her to stop as her fist met Grace's face. 

Grace bared her teeth, unfazed by Cassie's feeble attempt. She lifted her gun up, swiveling around to face Cassie. 

She yelled something I couldn't hear, just as Poundcake brought his own gun up, aiming it at Grace. He aimed. He fired. He missed, his bullet only grazing the top of Grace's ear. 

Grace's eyes resembled that of a deranged animal now, darting wildly about as she rose her gun for the second time. 

She aimed. She fired. She did not miss. 

Poundcake, down. 

It was me screaming this time as I reached out to Poundcake's limp body. I felt my feet travel forward, drawing me closer to him. 

Images of Oompa's body falling to the ground flashed in my mind, clouding my thoughts and intensifying my screams. 

Then someone's strong arms were around me, pulling me away. 

Grace rose her gun, preparing to fire again. 

Then the sound of an attack helicopter approaching split through the air, it's bright lights filtered through the windows and swamped the hallways, blinding our eyes. 

When the helicopter had moved up to the hotel's roof, and the light was gone, only then did we realize Grace had gone as well. 

Cassie dove down to Evan and they shared a few words, speaking soft enough so the rest of us couldn't hear. 

Zombie moved over to Poundcake's still body on the ground. 

I closed my eyes, stumbling back against the wall to stop my head from spinning. 

I didn't know how many minutes had passed, but eventually Evan spoke up, clearing his throat. 

"She went to the helicopter," Evan said loudly, his voice barely audible amongst the sound of the helicopter. "Listen, she wants me. All of you need to go, Now!"

Evan pressed a tattered piece of paper into Cassie's hand, curling her fingers around it before kissing her hard on the lips. 

I looked away, towards where Zombie was still on the ground, kneeling beside Poundcake. 

Without a word, Zombie took Poundcake and heaved him over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes. 

"Let's go," he said. 

I snatched my fallen knife off the ground and slid it into my belt, my hands still shaking from what had happened only seconds before. 

I prayed Dumbo and Flintstone had gotten Megan and Nugget safely downstairs. None of us could deal with losing someone else. 

"Sullivan, let's go!" Zombie said through gritted teeth as he shifted Poundcake's body on his shoulder. 

I bit my tongue, deciding that now wasn't the time to tell him he wouldn't make it very far with his bad leg. Right now, all that mattered was getting out of the hotel.

Barely a minute later, we had rushed down the stairs and were throwing the front doors open. 

Dumbo and Flintstone had caught up with us, Megan and Nugget in tow. Nugget was crying about something, dragging Bear in the dirt behind him as he pleaded for Cassie to listen to him. 

I turned away from them, occupying myself with Megan, who was clinging desperately onto my hand. 

The sound of the helicopter grew louder as we stepped outside. The wind its blades generated rushed into our eyes as we began to ran. 

Our run quickly dissipated into a chaotic struggle as Nugget continued his hysterical sobs and Zombie finally collapsed under the weight of Poundcake's body. 

Dumbo looked at Zombie, kneeling down to where he'd fallen under the ground. 

"Sarge...he's not gonna make it," he said, his voice filling with regret. 

Zombie coughed, blood splattering onto the ground. "No, no," he wheezed. "I'm not going to leave him. I can't- I can't." 

I handed Megan to Dumbo before kneeling down on the ground. 

"Zombie," I said softly, resting my hand on his shoulder. " It's over." 

Zombie looked over at me and then down at Poundcake one last time. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry." 

And then the sky was ablaze, illuminated by the blast of fire and rubble as the hotel was blown to Dubuque. 

<><><>

Hey everyone, this chapter was a little bit of a mess just with everything that happened so please let me know what you thought! 

One more chapter in part 2! Can I get a "Hey yah!"?

I have something very very important to announce as well. I have just posted a new short story! And when I say short story, I mean short story. It's 500 words and for a Wattpad contest (It could be published in an anthology... so big stuff). 

It's titled "The Vote", and I would absolutely love for everyone to go check it out (mind you, it'll take you tops 60 seconds to read because it's so short)! Comment here once you've done so and I'll give a follow to everyone who reads and gives some feedback! 

On another note, I now have an ask.fm ! It's basically a place where yall can ask questions if you want to ask me anything regarding Perish. Maybe I'll even post some deleted scenes/ideas/or spoilers on there? Link in bio! 

Anyway, tighten your seat belt and prepare for the rollercoaster ride coming up in part 3 of Perish!