Welcome To The Circus (COMPLETE)

Hungry people always want bread

For this chapter I've added a song that I think is appropriate, as well as the gif :)
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"Why'd you bring him here?" Laci hisses from the corner she's tucked herself into.

"Relax, he's on our side, and has a plan." I reassure her, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"How do you know? He could be lying." Her eyes flick between me and him nervously.

I sigh, unsure how to explain it. "I don't. But I trust him." Dylan represses a smile, as Laci gawks.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you when he puts bullets through our skulls." She looks directly at Dylan, "She might trust you, but she's an idiot. I know better."

He shrugs at her, "Fair enough." he drops the rucksack he brought here on the floor.

"What's that?" Evan asks suspiciously.
"Your ticket to survival." Dylan unzips the bag, pulling out several guns.
"No." I blurt as he passes one to me. The others dig through the bag, Americans and their fascination with weapons...

"Take the gun." He says sternly.

"No." I assert.

His tone becomes more urgent. "Take it!" He pushes it to me.

"No, I won't!" I yell, drawing the attention of the others.
"This isn't a fucking game, Marnie. Take the gun." I snatch it from him so he'll shut up. "If anyone tries to hurt you, or anyone else, you shoot, you will not hesitate, or they will kill you first. Understood?" The gravity in his normally soft voice floors me, leaving me silent. "Those guys aren't amateurs, they're dangerous, love. Please, you need this. I wouldn't make you use it if we had any other choice." His eyes in the dim lighting plead with me to understand. I look at the 9mm in my hands, feeling my throat close up. My whole body quakes and I don't know how to put it down. This thing could kill me, one little bullet shooting out this thing fast enough, and I'm dead. Dylan nudges it so it's no longer aimed at him. "I hate guns too." He adds quietly, cupping my cheek, reminding me of how his mother was killed. "But there's no choice. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." I choke, trying to hold back the tears from hours of built up trauma.

"This isn't over yet, not by a long shot, I need you to be that brave girl that broke my ribs ten minutes ago, I need you to be brave."

I would much rather curl up in a ball in the corner now and let him take charge, but I know that isn't what my mother would want, she would want me to protect my brother, not break down like a coward, so I stand up straight, wiping my eyes. "I think I can manage that." I smile.
"Perfect. Now we better not shoot up the place, we have to be sneaky."
"What do we do then?" Laci inquires, she seems to have placed all her faith in him already.
"They've been in there for around three hours, they'll be hungry, we have to get them food."

"Okay, that's a good start, what do hungry people want to eat?" Evan esquires.
"Bread." We all simultaneously jump at the unfamiliar voice.
"Levi!" Laci shrieks, flinging herself into his arms, he wraps her into his chest protectively as she whimpers against him.
"How did you know we were here?" I ask, not wanting to show the immense relief I feel to have him out of harms way. He must have crept down the ladder noticed.
"Tiger had a feeling, I'm not even gonna bother questioning why he's here after everything." He gestures to Dylan, I roll my eyes.

"Long story, which we don't have time for right now. We were talking about what food to bring the hostages."
"Like I said, bread. Hungry people always want bread." Levi shrugs.
"How do you know that?" Evan squints. Poor, sweet, sheltered, Evan. Never missed a meal in his life.
Levi and I exchange glances, before Levi responds softly. "I guess you wouldn't know what it's like to go hungry." Everyone is quiet after that, I break the silence.
"Isn't there food in the dining hall already?"
"No, I checked. They never have food left in the open in the hall itself except for around half an hour before mealtimes." Laci responds, matter-of-factly. "Safety reasons."
"Even if there was food, I doubt they would give the kids any, hostages are at their best when they're lethargic." Dylan nods.
"Our best chance of finding food would be in the storage rooms in the back of the kitchen. Should we wait until it's dark? When the gunmen are tired?" Laci muses.

"Good idea. I have to get back out there in case Caleb suspects anything, he needs to think I'm working for him, but I'll be back later, you guys should sleep or something." He says as he backs up the ladder.
"Be careful." I whisper, watching him go, he leans over the edge of the trapdoor and meets my gaze, before he can say anything, he's interrupted by Laci's shrill complaint.
"How are we supposed to sleep at a time like this!"

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Two hours later, and the room is asleep, exhausted from the day's events. I'm the only one barely awake, I stare blankly at the monitors trying to figure out where to go from here. I'm on guard duty, even though I was supposed to wake up Evan for his shift an hour ago, I trust my eyes more than his. Dylan still hasn't returned, and I try not to worry, but that's fairly difficult considering that he's a double agent. Must stay awake. I glance at Laci and Levi, who are slouched in a corner, her head on his shoulder, and Evan, who is leaned against the ladder, gun on his lap, which can't be comfortable, and decide to turn on the T.V, since they are all out cold. A mustached man sitting at a desk greets me.

"We have an exclusive live update at Vidre Grammar, where the entire student body of at least two hundred children are being held hostage by armed men, negotiations are currently underway. Diane is on the scene. Diane, what's the update?"

"Thanks Steve, it has been five hours since the standoff began at four here at Vidre, unfortunately, Military aircraft are occupying the airspace and we have been forbidden from overhead shots, but it seems that the students are being held in the school's dining hall. As you can see-" The camera zooms on the building, showing a stricken Ingrid, sobbing at one of the windows. It's dark out, it's been five hours, so the time must be nine, I calculate. Yet Dylan is still gone. "The police are taking no chances with snipers here as all entrances are blocked by children-"

"Sorry, Diane, is that who I think it is?"

"Yes Steve, our sources have confirmed her to be fifteen year old Ingrid Kelly, daughter of Hollywood director Sean Kelly, so you can see there is a lot at stake here. At the moment Police negotiators are just doing their best to meet the gunmen's demands to avoid casualties, obviously, the goal is to get all the students out alive."

"I'm sure, and what are their demands?"

"Well, we actually have exclusive access to the original nine-one-one call audio which brought this to light."

"My name is Margaret Parker, I'm a student at Vidre Grammar." The sound of my own voice, only subtly more terrified sends chills down my spine.
"What's your emergency Margaret?"
"Listen carefully. Me and the entire school are being held by armed gunmen."
"Are you currently being held at gunpoint?"
"Yes. You have twelve hours to meet their demands."
"Or what?"
"Or hostages die."

"Are there children present?"
"Yes, all children."
"What are your demands?"
"Five hundred million."
"We've dispatched the SWAT team, and helicopters, we'll do our best to get you kids out, okay Margaret?"
"Okay."
"We will not be negotiating, twelve hours, starting now, if I see a single cop on school grounds, a child dies."

"That is simply chilling, Diane. You heard it here folks, Five hundred million. But who is the girl on the line? She is believed to be Margaret Parker, an Australian seventeen year old Junior at the school, it appears at this time that she is alive and well, as are the rest of the students, with seven hours to go."

"What a brave young girl-"

At this point I realize that the school is indeed a circus, and the rest of the world is spectating, wanting a big finale. So I can't listen anymore, and switch off the T.V.

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Apparently I have readers in Kuwait and Ethiopia, so hello to you guys, and to the rest of you, thanks for sticking around this far, school's out! So I should finish in the next few weeks, and hopefully the conclusion coming up is a thrilling as I promised!