419

You stand frozen in the hallway of the third floor with blood on your hands and Madison crouched against a wall holding her wounded arm. At the other end of the narrow corridor, a submachine gun is pointed at you as a red-haired woman maneuvers around the broken classroom furniture scattered in her path.

"Run!" Brody shouts, then he scoops up Madison in his arms, kicks in a classroom door, and runs inside. You raise your cavalry sword just as a bullet hits the wall next to you. Plaster explodes in a cloud of dust. Though you want to fight back, the red-haired woman has the advantage, so you duck into the classroom with the rest of the group.

You slam the door shut and back away as a flurry of gunshots sound off in the hallway. Woody swings his rifle around and aims at the door. Brody lays Madison on the teacher's desk, and she wails and holds her arm. The room has four rows of aligned chairs with built-in desks and several cabinets of supplies against the walls. On the far end, a door reads "Mrs. Mulligan." You grab one end of a cabinet and call for Brody to take the other end. The two of you slide it in front of the door.

The gunfire stops, but you hear hurried footsteps from the hallway. "Open up!" the red-haired woman yells, and the door rattles and pushes the cabinet back an inch.

"Why are you doing this, you psycho?" Madison yells.

Laughter comes through the door. "I know you're here for Jaime. We heard him call one of you, named Luth. If you come out, everyone else will live."

"I don't know why you're after Jaime, but we're not your enemy here."

"You have three minutes to open this door. If I have to bust my way in, you're all dead," the red-haired woman yells.

"What are we gonna do?" Brody says, hands on his hips as he catches his breath. His face is gaunt, and his skin looks pale.

You run over to Madison and check her arm. A small cut on her right tricep is the only wound. "The bullet grazed your upper arm. You'll be fine," you say.

"It hurts," she says and bites her bottom lip.

"Once this crisis is over, I'll take care of it."

You quickly consider all the possibilities for getting out of this mess. To save Woody and the twins, you could run through the teacher's office, make your way into the hallway, and draw the red-haired woman away from the classroom. Maybe you could lose her in the school or find equal ground to fight back. This puts you at a considerable risk. You could also sneak out and attack her while she's focused upon the door, though she might still break into the classroom and kill everyone. You might be able to convince Brody to distract the red-haired woman long enough for you to escape and find Jaime. He could help you deal with the bandit.