The five of us had been locked in the room for close to 72 hours. Occasionally one person would be dragged out, only to return holding their ribs, limping or bruised. We never really discussed what happened during those times. We had been given food and water a couple of times and allowed to use the toilet. We didn’t see Steve at all during this time, he must have sent the others to do his dirty work.

We filled the time by talking about anything and everything we could think of. This included such topics as uni degrees, lack of decent television programs and even first kisses. I managed to survive telling them about my first proper kiss, under a blanket in my parents back yard while a group of us were playing ‘Spin the Bottle’. This was by far the most interesting story. When we weren’t talking, we tried to get some sleep, which wasn’t really easy as we were all really on edge and jumpy.

It was now Monday night. I was lying on the couch trying to get some sleep. This was made all the more difficult by the fact that I was using Paul’s knee as a pillow and he kept moving. Mikey was in a nearby chair, also trying to sleep. Tim was sitting in another chair, having a very animated discussion with Paul, this being the reason Paul kept moving. Scott was sprawled out on the floor asleep.

We all jumped as once again the door was thrown open. Scott sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mark came in, walked over to the couch and grabbed my arm. He yanked me to my feet and dragged me roughly out. Before the door was closed I looked back at the others. I saw tears glinting in Scott’s eyes and Paul mouth the words "Don’t give in".

I was taken back to the dressing room where I was first taken to see Steve. Again Steve was sitting on the table, still playing with the gun. There was an empty Jack Daniels bottle on the table next to him. When he saw me he broke into a grin.

"Sam, how lovely to see you again!" I said nothing, just stared at the floor, so he continued. "I don’t suppose you’ve given any more thought to my little offer have you?" His words were a little slurred, he was obviously drunk. I looked at him.

"What’s the point? You can’t win here, no matter what. The police will eventually get you."

"Ah, but I do win. As long as I have you the police won’t touch me ... and I will have you. You see, if you don’t do as I want then there are four other people that I can kill. Maybe I should start with your cousin."

I took a deep breath before asking "What if I agree? What will you do then?"

"I don’t know. If you perform well enough, tell the police what I want you to and help me out, then I might let the others go. At the very least I won’t kill them." He grinned at me again. "It’s the best thing you could do for them you know. After all, you are the reason that they’re in this mess. You really should do what you can to make up for that."

When I heard this, I knew that Paul was right, he was trying to weaken me. But I still couldn’t help believing him. I was the reason this was happening. I didn’t know what to do. The image of the others came to me, the look on Scott’s face and Paul’s words. I had to try and be strong and believe that it would turn out okay.

"You’re deluded!" I said. "You’re the one to blame here!"

"No," Steve got off the table and stepped towards me, "I’m not. I’m only here because you ignored me. I did all this to get your attention. That’s what the media are saying ... and that’s what the families of those dead people are thinking. You had better damn well accept it and do as I want." He grabbed me then, and pulled me to him.

I tried to struggle, but he was too strong, too determined. He was grabbing at me, kissing me. I tried to fight back, tears blinding me. I heard his fly unzip and tried to scream, but he smothered the noise with his hand. I fought back the only way I could think of. As he ripped my shirt open I brought my good knee up into his groin as hard as I could. He doubled over and reached for the table for support. I watched him as I backed towards the locked door. His hand closed around the bottle and he stood upright, taking a step towards me.

"You bitch. I’ll have my way one way or another. If you can’t fight back ... all the better." He took another step towards me and I watched him as he lifted the bottle above his head. Everything started to move in slow motion. The bottle flew towards me, Steve swinging it with all his strength. I felt it hit the side of my head, the explosion of pain and the warm trickle of blood. The nothing, as consciousness departed.

At uni we were told that when some people are unconscious, some of their senses such as hearing continue to work. As none of us had ever been in that situation, we were a bit doubtful of how accurate this was, even though the information came from very highly respected sources.

I’m not quite sure of when I became aware of the things going on around me or how long I had been unconscious. One minute there was nothing, the next I could hear voices. It was strange, I could hear everything but I couldn’t see, speak or move. I tried to open my eyes but it was as if my brain wasn’t getting the message through. Surprisingly there was no pain. I was scared, but couldn’t say so. I guess they were right at uni.

I was aware that I was lying flat on my back. I felt something damp on the side of my head and heard voices that I recognised.

"How is she?" Mikey asked. He sounded like he was across the room.

"I don’t know" Paul answered. "This cut is really nasty. That bastard must have hit her pretty hard."

"I swear ... if I ever get my hands on that bastard ..." Scott sounded like he was right next to me. I felt something move on the side of my head and guessed that they were trying to keep the cut on my head clean, to get the blood off.

"I wish there was something we could do" Paul said. "I feel so damned helpless."

"I know," agreed Scott. "But there isn’t. She needs to be in a hospital."

After that comment I heard nothing. Things went silent as I lost full consciousness again.

Just as suddenly as before I heard voices again. I was still lying on my back, but this time someone was holding my hand. I still couldn’t see or speak, but I could hear someone talking.

"... but I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. Maybe this is like a hint or something." It was Paul speaking, he was still next to me.

"Yeah, but quitting TV is a bit drastic isn’t it?" Mikey asked, sounding a bit further away.

"Maybe. Like I said, I don’t know. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about." He paused for a bit. "God I hope she’s okay."

"I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Now that the others are asleep, what’s the deal here?" Mikey asked.

"What do you mean?" Paul asked.

"You and Sam. You’ve been sticking pretty close this whole time."

"Oh that. We’re friends."

"Paul, you only met her a bit less than a week ago. I know you, you don’t become friends with people that quickly."

"Usually no, but we just clicked I guess. She’s an amazing woman."

"Yeah, that she is" Mikey said. "It seems so unfair that this is happening to someone like her. No one should have to go through what she has."

"I know, and I keep trying to tell her that, to make her see that its not her fault. But she just won’t believe me."

"Well that guy had drummed it into her that it is. Its got to be hard for her ... Paul, are you okay?"

"Huh? ... Oh, yeah."

There was only silence for a bit. Then I felt something rough scrape the back of my hand. It wasn’t until Paul spoke again that I realised he was holding my hand against his cheek. I could feel his jaw moving as he spoke.

"Do you think she’ll be okay? She’s been unconscious for more than twenty four hours."

"I honestly don’t know" Mikey answered. "You’re really concerned, aren’t you?"

"Of course I am, aren’t you?"

"Yeah, but the way you’re acting ... it’s just not like you."

"I told you" Paul said "she’s a friend and I’m worried about her."

"So you’re telling me that you don’t feel anything towards her, no attraction. Just friends?" Mikey asked.

"No, I didn’t say that. All I said was that we’re friends. It’s weird, like you said I only just met her. But I really care about her." He squeezed my hand. "Maybe in other circumstances, but not now. Yes, we’re just friends."

"Paul, you’re gibbering. Whatever is going on is your business. I was just curious. Maybe once this is all over ..."

Everything went again.

This time when my hearing came back pain came with it. My head was absolutely pounding and the rest of my body was sore, but I couldn’t figure out why, at least not right away. I could hear people talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying. I tried to open my eyes, this time they responded. I opened them slowly, trying to adjust to the bright light. Seeing as that had worked, I tried to speak, calling Scott’s name, but all that came out was a weak groan. That was enough to get the attention of the others and they all came and kneeled at my side.

"Sam," Scott said, taking hold of my hand. "How do you feel?"

I realised that I was covered by a blanket. The pain I had felt was centring around my lower abdomen and breasts. Under the blanket it felt like I had no shirt on. A memory of Steve ripping at it and of his last words came to me and I suddenly became aware of what he had done to me after knocking me out.

I answered Scott simply and truthfully.

"I want to die".

"Police have made several attempts to enter the building but have been met with gunfire each time. Four officers are now confirmed dead. It has also been reported that one of the hostages, Mikey Robins, has also been killed."

Paul looked at Mikey, who said "Well at least its more interesting than dying of a heart attack over the Christmas holidays". He was trying to sound cheerful.

"It has proven impossible for police to get close to the building, with all of the exits being wired with explosives from the inside. As yet there have been no ransom demands. Things here at Global Studios are in a stage of stalemate." Tim flicked off the TV.

"Look on the bright side," Tim said, "at least they can’t keep making Breakers." This started an argument between him and Paul about which was worse, Breakers or Home and Away. Mikey threw in Neighbours, while Scott offered Pacific Drive. I said nothing, just lay there.

I hadn’t told them what had happened with Steve, though it wouldn’t take a genius to figure it out. When I was fully conscious and sitting up, the blanket still wrapped around me, I saw what was left of my shirt hanging on the back of a chair. I also noted that one of the buttons on my jeans was missing. Scott had silently taken off his jumper and handed it to me and they had all turned away while I put it on. As I did I noticed that I had bruises everywhere. That was Wednesday, yesterday. I had been unconscious for almost two days. Since then none of us had spoken about it, except for the occasional "How are you feeling" or concerned look from Scott.

"What are you thinking about?" Paul’s voice startled me.

"Oh, nothing really." I couldn’t look at him or he’d see that I was lying.

"Sam, can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Sure, as long as it doesn’t involve me thinking."

Paul laughed, but it sounded uneasy. "No, not really. I just wanted to know ... yesterday you said something that’s been bothering me. You didn’t mean it when you said you wanted to die, did you?"

I didn’t answer right away. I didn’t know what to tell him, so I lied again. "No, I just said that because I hurt so much. My head ... the pain was so bad."

"Sam, I’m worried about you."

I looked up at him. "Don’t be, I’m fine."

Paul bent down and lightly kissed my forehead. "I hope so," he said.

I shut my eyes, feeling awful that I had lied to him. He was being so great, he really didn’t have to. He was treating me like someone he had known his whole life rather than a week.

My eyes opened as the handle to the door turned. I looked up to see Steve come into the room, followed by Mark. They locked the door and went over to a table, sitting on it. They both had guns, Steve was, as usual, playing with his, running his finger over the trigger. He looked at me, then at Paul, a sneer on his face. I wanted to sit up, but wasn’t really able to. The slightest movement sent my head reeling and made my stomach churn.

"Well, Samantha. Seeing as you didn’t take any notice of the warning I gave, instead choosing to try and hurt me, I decided that a more obvious show of my intentions was called for." Steve watched me as Paul helped me to sit up, my body protesting strongly.

"Steve ... what are ..."

"Shut up!" Steve thumped his hand on the table. "You had you chance and you blew it. This time you had better fucking well take me seriously."

Steve raised his gun and before anyone had the chance to protest, he fired. There was a scream of pain and a small splatter of blood hit the wall. Then Steve and Mark left and locked the door again.

Paul got up and ran to Mikey who was lying on the floor and groaning with pain. I looked at him, trying to figure out where the blood was coming from. It looked to be his shoulder, but there was so much of it that it was hard to be sure. I struggled to my feet and went to him. Scott and Tim were using the blanket to try and stop the bleeding. Paul was trying to get Mikey to talk to him, to tell him where it hurt, to say anything at all!

When I reached him I realised why there was so much blood. Not only was he bleeding from where the bullet hit, but also where it left his body. Mikey had been shot just below his shoulder on his right side. If he had been hit twenty or so centimetres to the left he would have been killed. Mikey’s groans suddenly stopped and his eyes closed.

"What’s happened? Is he going to be okay?" Paul asked, fear making his voice shake badly.

"He’s passed out, probably from pain and shock. His breathing is almost normal, it’s probably best that he’s unconscious. He won’t feel any pain." I said, stepping into the accustomed role of medical student despite the enormous pain that I myself was in. "The most important thing right now is to try and control the bleeding. Use the blanket and apply pressure to both entry and exit wounds." I walked around to where Paul was, at Mikey’s head, and crouched down next to him.

"What can I do?" He asked, his face ghostly white.

"Talk to him. It may sound silly, but there’s a good chance he can hear you. That alone might help him." I stood up to see how the bleeding was going, my head spinning. Ignoring this I went to where Scott and Tim were. "How’s it going?" I asked.

"It seems to be slowing down, but I can’t really be sure." Tim answered.

"Try and gently roll him on his side, you’ll be able to get to both wounds better." I started to fall over, but stopped myself by leaning on the walking stick. Scott handed Tim the blanket and jumped up to support me.

"I’m okay" I said. He should be worried about Mikey, not me.

"Bullshit Sam. You’re not in any condition to be moving around." He led me to the couch and sat me down.

"Scott, I know about this sort of thing. I need to help Mikey." I tried to stand but was overcome by dizziness and fell back to the couch.

Scott knelt down in front of me and looked me in the eyes. "We’re doing everything we can. You’ve told us what to do, and we’re doing it. You won’t be any help to anyone if you pass out again." He took hold of my hands. "Samantha, you need to rest, please. If you don’t, who knows what will happen. You’ve had two bad blows on the head ... you’re lucky to be alive. Don’t do anything to risk that ... I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. Trust me, we’ll do what we can for Mikey. Just tell us what to look out for, what to do."

"Okay" I said, "but you have to keep telling me how things are going and if anything changes." I reluctantly stayed on the couch while Scott went back to help Mikey.

"God," I thought, "if you really are up there, please let Mikey be okay. Please let this all be over soon."

"What’s wrong?" I asked. I tried to slowly sit up but my head was still hurting too badly and had to lie down again.

"You were screaming. What were you dreaming about?"

"Umm ... I don’t remember." I tried to look at him but couldn’t see him clearly. "Why’s it so dark?" I asked.

"About an hour ago the power went off. I don’t know what’s happening."

"Are the others still here? I can’t see."

"Yeah, we’re all here" Tim said. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. I tried sitting up but got dizzy. I think I still have pretty bad concussion." Someone reached for my hand, I think it was Scott.

"I told you not to try moving too much" he said.

I ignored this comment. "How’s Mikey?" I asked.

"He’s still unconscious" Paul answered. "He needs to be in hospital, you both do."

"He’s lost a lot of blood" Tim said.

"I know, but he should be okay if he doesn’t lose any more. If he gets to hospital ... maybe I can talk to Steve." I suggested.

"Sam, you know that won’t work. There’s no way you could reason with him ... he’s insane" Paul said, practically spitting out the words.

"Yeah I guess. I just thought that ..." My words were suddenly cut off. A commotion in the corridor made us all jump. There was yelling and the sound of footsteps running.

There was a loud shout of "Get down!" and a huge explosion rocked the building.

The room shook and bits of plaster fell from the ceiling. There was all sorts of noise coming from the corridor including shouts and gunfire, and there was a strong smell of smoke. I crawled off the couch and over to the others and the four of us huddled together, trying to protect ourselves and Mikey from falling plaster.

"What the fuck’s going on?" Tim asked. Before anyone could answer the door burst open and Steve and Mark ran in. Steve grabbed me and hauled me to my feet. Mark did the same with Paul. Tony quickly followed them in and dragged Scott to his feet.

"What about them?" Mark asked waving at Tim and Mikey. Scott looked at them before answering.

"Leave them, we don’t have time." They then took Paul Scott and me out into the hallway. Steve was practically dragging me, I didn’t even have the strength to stand on my own.

"HOLD IT!" a voice yelled from somewhere in the corridor. Steve turned around, holding me so that I was in front of him. He was holding the gun to my head. In front of us were a number of police officers. They were all armed and wearing bullet proof vests. Behind them the corridor was filling with smoke.

"Drop the weapons" one officer called.

"I don’t think so" replied Steve. "If you come any closer, these three are dead." No one moved. The police stayed kneeling, with their guns pointing at us. A noise behind us made Steve turn his head and swear to himself. I couldn’t see, but I guessed that there were police behind us too.

"Lower your weapons, you have no choice" the officer repeated.

"No, you’re the ones with no choice. We have a choice, to let them live or to let them die. You don’t." Steve yelled back. He sounded cocky, but I could feel him trembling. he was scared.

"Steve," I said, "please do as they say. You can’t win here."

"Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about" he replied.

"Yes, I do. Either you give up and let us go or we die. The police aren’t going to give up. Either way it won’t turn out the way you want it to." I was almost pleading with him.

"All I want from this is you" he said.

"Then why are you willing to kill me?"

"Because, that way I know that no other man will ever have you. And because I love you so much, if I can’t be with you ... no one can."

What happened next was so sudden that it all seemed like a blur. All I know is that one moment I was being held by Steve and the next I was on the ground. There was gunfire all around me. I tried to block my ears against the noise. I saw Paul lying next to me covering his head, but I couldn’t see Scott.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. I tried to look around but there was a lot of smoke. I did see Steve, Mark and Tony. They were all lying on their fronts with their hands behind their heads, officers standing above them. Some officers came over and helped me and Paul up, asking us if we were okay. I nodded, still looking around.

A scream escaped my mouth when I finally saw Scott. He was lying on the floor, blood quickly spreading around him. Forgetting the pain in my knee and head, I ran to him and fell to the floor next to him.

"Oh my God ... Scott ..." I couldn’t continue. Scott turned his head to look at me.

"Are you okay?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Forget me, I’m fine" I said through my tears. He shut his eyes. "No, Scott" I tried to cradle him, holding him to me, hoping that somehow I could give him my strength. "Scott ... please don’t die. We made it through this, you can’t go now. There’ll be an ambulance soon ... please ... Scott ... hold on!"

His eyes just stayed closed, his body limp. All I could do was sit there and scream, covered in the blood of a man who was not only my cousin, but one of my closest friends.