Sin's side : Demon's assembly [Open]

[Nicolas Constantine]

Victor came to stand next to Nick as he interrupted Ryuu as he had. So it was Emily who had been shot. Nick hadn't known till Ryuu said so, and he was in a small state of shock. The woman with the megaphone now began to speak.

Sin? That's a rather suspicious name...

Even though she seemed to say that the situation was being taken care of, Nick didn't like the fact that it was the school board that was doing so. From previous experience, they all knew that whenever the school board got involved, there was trouble and people got hurt.

After someone blurted out a question, Ryuu spoke to their little group, followed by an agreement by Tash and Break.

"She definitely freaks me the hell out."

Nick's input was always insightful.

[David Blaze]

David spoke after Pine, his voice in challenge too. Perhaps these kids here felt something more than him, maybe not. All David knew was that this woman suddenly appears right after a bunch of shootings and the rampage of Orange and Purple. He didnt trust her as far as he could throw her...okay maybe not her. Maybe Orange. Yeah, as far as he could throw Orange, though it wasnt because of some vibe he got. He didn't trust her for her timing and for the people who sent her.

"Every other leader who stepped forward to stake claim on this place has done nothing but lie to us and twist us for thier own ambition or goals. Why should we trust that you are any different then them when you were probably sent by the same people who sent those two?"

He hated that heads turned toward him as he spoke- being the center of attention made him get sweaty. He was thankful when all heads turned back to her for an answer to the questions both he and pine asked. His eyes were cold fire, and he wanted answers to questions he wasnt about to ask while everyone was so close. He would find this woman and speak with her later, when ears you couldnt count on weren't nearby.

[Kate]

Kate had been out of school for a bit, but not because of the shootings. She had some stresses going on because of other issues going on in her life. The blonde had taken a leave and gone off by herself to the beach for a bit. She was back (and with a tan) in school, and had heard about the shootings. Had found out that Adrian was one of them.

That pained her, she had been away when Adrian had gotten shot... They were together, even if she had drifted off for a bit. The blonde took a couple of steps up, standing away from the rest of the students as the tiny lady began to talk and explain a few things. Kate really didn't note all the other things this lady was saying, because she had nothing to go off of. She didn't know the other teacher she resembled or anything because the girl only had had one class with the other woman.

No, she was just here to try and figure out what the hell was going on. The blonde didn't speak up, and didn't say anything. Those green eyes darted from the tiny lady to Adrian, wondering what she should do.

[Malix]

*CLICK CLICK CLICK*

Malix lowers her camera, and absorbs the words of the esteemed EMILIA SIN BWAHAHAHAHA. In her head, Malix adds the laugh in because it just seems so appropriate with that name! Not making any judgments at all; it's just so nefarious that it's lovable in a way!

All this talk of students being shot was very disturbing. Malix hadn't heard about it yet and hadn't known anyone whom had become a victim, as far as she knows. So she wasn't aware of the plight before today. This was serious!

Malix, being a new transfer, is not aware of who Mr Purple or Mr Orange are...she will have to ask someone about it, she decides. Clearly they were dynamic enough personalities on campus that they merited this woman using them as a dipstick to be measured against.

Malix's real reason for being here was photography though. She wanted to be on the school paper and would surely make it in on staff if she got a great story. And what better story than the drama surrounding SCHOOL SHOOTINGS!? This was going to be very good.

*CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK*

No flash photography of course, that would be rude and obtrusive. She captures the speaker and present students with the panache of a practiced photographer.

[I. Sin, M.D.]

Sin smiled at all the children's happy faces. Why, there were more children coming into her happy assembly! This was all working perfectly. All she needed was to stall for time while her shadow did the work.

It was a beautiful plan after all. She was not oblivious to the whispers of the crowd in distrust of her untimely entrance into the scene. Sin could get used to this - she loved power and attention, and boy did she like that camera at the side. Sin did several poses before she started addressing some questions.

"I have a question!"

Sin gave the kid a warm, friendly smile. Not exactly very nice to look at though. Her smile wasn't exactly very enticing. "You're here to catch the shooter correct? As nice as that sounds...How exactly do you plan on doing that? You may claim to be better than your predecessors but that remains to be seen. So what exactly is it you require our full cooperation with? What do you plan on taking away from us?"

"Ohoho!" Boy, this kid was commendable. He had a very quick wit, and Sin was caught off guard by that question. Well, Amelia wasn't dumb, and of course she may have to tell them the painful truth. "Well, the answer is quite simpl-"

"Every other leader who stepped forward to stake claim on this place has done nothing but lie to us and twist us for their own ambition or goals. Why should we trust that you are any different then them when you were probably sent by the same people who sent those two?"

Sin gave the boy a scuffed laugh. How rude to interrupt her while she was speaking! No matter, He had a good question as well - she'd answer them one by one. "As I was saying, I require nothing from all of you but to just stand there and relax." She tried looking serious, as if to pretend on how serious this was - only her eyes looked somewhat amused. "The police investigations say that the criminal was probably after students whom are well known in the school. Notable figures, per se - the first one was really pretty, and several other were really good athletes." She sighed, "Sorry kids, but I believe it would be best if we let him or her, whoever that retard is, to come out. With all of you here, who knows how much of his or her targets are here? No assassin would really pass that one up~"

She then turned to David and gave him a smile. "Well, I don't bother with your grades or whatever else about you kids. You can have all the freedom you want and deserve---" She said. It wasn't exactly much of anything for the girl to know that her plan was already underway.

---

A shadow would be visible by the rooftop of the school's administration building not too long after Sin began to speak. It was, yet again, covered in a black cloth.

And it began again.

"Ready..."

"... aim..."

---

"-- I have been sent here to just investigate and catch that criminal. Perchance we catch her today, I'll be well off my merry way and leave the scho---"

*BABABBABABABBABABBAABANNGGG*

The school would resound again with sounds of bullets coming from the roof of the building in front of them. Sin was the first to react, acting as if she was surprised. "IT'S THE ASSASSIN! AFTER HIM... HER... WHOEVER THE FUCK IT IS!" The woman began to fumble with her pockets, now taking out a small gun before placing a bullet similar to a syringe inside. "What the eff are you guys staring at me at?! GO! GO! GO! GO!"

The shadow would jump downward and grabbed the flag as it went downward, the black cloth tightly clinging to it while a rather interesting clue flew from the shadow's cloth and onto the crowd - it was a wig with pink hair.

Sin jumped off the flagpole and began running forward, leading the students after the shadow who had now managed to basically run towards the canteen - or the gym... somewhere there!

"I've got ya this time!"

She was just too fast!

Who was this shadow?!

"NO WHERE TO HIDE! SOMEONE GO AHEAD AND BLOCK THE EXITS! HURRY! THE BASTARD'S FAST AS SHIT!"

OoC: Yes, there will be fighting on this thread. A one-versus-all battle between the shadow and every other student available.

Those who were shot were the following students:

• Kate McHallin
  
• Nicolas Constantine
  
• David Blaze
  
• Ryuu Hikari
  

They will now experience a -10% loss to all their statistical attributes until this quest is over. They have more or less consented. Victims have the liberty to have their character pass out or add any symptoms besides weakness.

[Kate]

Blah blah blah, we'll catch the bad guy. That's what they always said, right? Don't worry about a thing, it'll all be over before you know what happened!! Insert sarcasm here. Kate doubted they'd really do anything about the shootings at all. Instead she was sure that this guy would just wander off to play with someone else.

She looked at Adrian, and smiled just weakly. Kate was deciding to go over and speak to him. She had just told him she needed a bit of time to herself and left, leaving the apartment open to him. While she was away, apparently, some bad things had happened to the boy. It didn't matter how guilty she felt over the one night, he was hurting and she wanted to comfort him.

However, on her way over the world was suddenly turning on it's head. The blonde felt something sharp suddenly embed it's way through the back of her left shoulder. It was hot and burning, and made Kate suddenly scream out in agony. Those emerald eyes shot wide and the blonde fell to her knees as the small lady began rambling orders, telling someone to go after the person who had done this.

Kate remembered that she was wearing a white jacket, and white pants. Her own blood was staining those items as she sat there on her knees in shock. The bullet had gone through and through, tearing through her shoulder and the tattoo behind it.

It hurt, hurt so bad. And all she wanted right in that moment was revenge. Kate wanted to go kick some babies, at least if babies had shot her. Rather, the blonde was angry. That cold CEO part of Kate kicked in and she carefully, gingerly removed her white jacket stained in her own blood. From there she tore a large strip off the bottom and bandaged her wound to stop it from bleeding. Thanks to her Qi, one hand was enough. The blonde tied it off and stood, a pained snarl on her lips.

"MOTHER FUCKER GOING DOWN!"

So she said, but she wasn't going anywhere fast anytime soon. The blonde fainted at this point. Passing out and falling face first onto the sidewalk.

[Nicolas Constantine]

She started answering the questions like any other school administer would, saying 'everything would be fine', and 'don't worry just go about your lives like nothing ever happened'. Which was hard to do when someone's life had been changed by the events that happened in the first place. Especially if that person was someone you knew, which in this case it was for Nick. He tuned back in to what Sin was saying.

"-- I have been sent here to just investigate and catch that criminal. Perchance we catch her today, I'll be well off my merry way and leave the scho---"[/i]

Sin was cut off by a repeated gun shot sound and Nick felt a sharp pain in the right side of his chest. He tasted a metallic substance in his mouth as he looked down at the area that hurt. There was a hole right there on the upper left chest, his white shirt now stained with the red of his own blood. He coughed and spat out a little of the thick liquid.

"Oh, shit..." he said, clutching the wound, his hands now covered in blood.

He looked around him to see everyone running and yelling in panic before he became dizzy and crumpled to the ground, out cold.

[ethan]

Sinful and Damned though they were, Ethan couldn't help but faintly admire his fellow classmates for their defiant nature, openly criticising an administrator the moment she even appeared. The lot of them certainly held some backbone. Of course, the older woman simply danced around and evaded everyone's questions, ever the consummate politician. Ethan grew tired of this idle banter and was about to get up and walk out of the assembly when the familiar sharp whistle and rapport of weapons-fire discharging sounded off everywhere.

Ethan instinctively dove down flat to the ground, removing himself as a target compared to all the people shrieking and flailing about. The shooter had apparently taken an interest to everything happening in response to his shootings.

Struggling to gain a bearing on the current situation, Ethan glanced up and saw what he knew to be the sniper dramatically making his/her escape, the figure clothed in a black material as they slid down the flagpole and then immediately took flight in another direction while the admin, oddly enough, was leading the chase.

"NO WHERE TO HIDE! SOMEONE GO AHEAD AND BLOCK THE EXITS! HURRY! THE BASTARD'S FAST AS SHIT!"

Regardless of where anyone else went, Ethan stopped by the flagpole first. He knew he saw something peculiar drop out of the cloaked figure's person as they made their escape. After shortly finding it, Ethan stooped down and picked up the object.

Very strange. A pink hair-wig?

Ethan put the thing in his jacket as neatly as he could before following everyone else after the sniper.

[Adrian]

Adrian, feeling rather uncomfortable during all of this, looked around nervously. People kept speaking up, confronting the woman, despite all her help. Adrian would have sighed, if he had the energy. Here this Ms. Sin was, awkward name or no, offering her services to help catch the killer, and the selfish punks that called themselves students tried to call her out for the failings of those who came before.

Adrian wasn't necessarily an easily-trusting boy, but he had been taught to respect authority figures, and Ms. Sin here counted among them. Besides, Adrian wanted revenge on the person who had gunned him down only days before, and he would be right there to assist the lady every step of the way.

On one of his nervous lookarounds, Adrian caught sight of Kate, and a frown crossed his face. She had been very distant lately, and Adrian wasn't sure what he could do about it anymore. They had been fighting, they'd tried to make peace and it had only worked so well. She had been acting strange, and he hadn't been doing much to help. He turned his head, hoping she didn't notice him looking at her.

When the shots rang out, however, Adrian didn't bother to look for anyone else but Kate. His eyes widened in horror as the red blossomed from her shoulder, and he cried out in anguish, his hand reaching out uselessly, as if just by waving his hand he could help her.

"KATE!"

Doing his best to ignore the mental trauma that could not help but follow a man after being shot, when hearing more gunshots, and the screams and cries of everyone else around, Adrian leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain in his abdomen from such sudden work, and scrambled over chairs, shoving people out of the way, until he reached the girl, who had just finished bandaging her wound with a strip of cloth. It would help a bit, but medical attention was needed, and quick. In the midst of this chaos, however, Adrian knew nobody would be able to get to her but him.

"Kate, are you alr...."

Adrian's voice faded as the girl's eyes rolled up into her head and she plunged forward, fainting from the shock and sudden blood loss. Adrian burst forward the remaining few steps, feeling something tear in his stomach, underneath the gauze keeping his stitches wrapped up tightly. He winced in pain, but caught Kate before she fell face-first into the ground. He held her up with one hand, and with the other, tore off his shirt, ripping the buttons from the seams as he kept it bunched around Kate's wound, staunching any remaining blood flow after her own handiwork. He was now shirtless, and a small blotch of red was forming around his own bandages, but he didn't seem to care, or mind.

He lifted Kate in his arms, and began to walk quickly for the infirmary. Despite the haze of his own blood loss, and the chaos of the scene around him, Adrian's mind began working overtime at the words Ms. Sin had said before the gunshots rang out.

Despite speaking a few times as if she wasn't aware of the shooter's gender, he thought, almost off-handedly, there were a few other times where she specifically mentioned 'that bitch' and 'her', like she knew exactly what the gender of the shooter was... that seems like pretty specific information...

Whatever leads Adrian might have stumbled upon, however, he neither knew nor cared to follow up on. The only thing that mattered would be getting Kate to the infirmary, where hopefully Ms. Clavering could take care of her.

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Victor looked at the girl, something wasn't right, the words she was using, the way she was saying them, she didn't really even seem to care, the way she posed for malix's pictures. this woman got more and more fishy by the second. she asked for all of our cooperation, then asked us to simply stand there and relax? no, this couldn't be right, there was one loophole right there. the fact that she just openly admitted that we where all here as bait? that is just F***ed up... there is no way any school official of any legitamacy would be that cruel, or that uncaring, they wouldn't allow things like that to just happen, would they? well even if they did, victor wasn't going to stand by and just let it all happen. Victor hadn't been here long, but he was now getting into the swing of things, he was making friends, and he wasn't about to let anything hurt his new friends, especially some crazy lieing bitch, or a freak shooter.

and then the bullets rained down.

the sounds like thunder pained breaks ears as he jumped down, covering his ears and head, leaning close against the first thing he could feel to put something between himself and the bullets being dropped on them. it stopped, break sprung to his feet to see the shooter, jumping onto the flagpole, losing its pink wig... whatever that means. and running off. The bitch yelled some orders and took off after him. SO MANY LOOPHOLES victors brain screamed at him, but there was no time for that now, now was time for action. He assesed what happened, ryuu and nick where hit, which sucked because they where two great fighters, not to mention good friends and fellow band mates. And david, he hadn't met david save one time that was a little awkward to be completely honest, but he seemed like a nice guy and he knew that he was nick and ryuu's friend, and a friend of a friend is a friend. "Don't worry guys, I'll give him a good punch for you" Victor said under his breath to himself and ryuu and nick as he ran after the shooter, jumping over anything that got in his way. The woman was a little ways in front of him, he kept just as much of an eye on her as the shooter though.

[Ryuu]

It seemed everyone in their group agreed with Ryuu for the most part, they all didn't trust Ms. Amelia Sin. She then began to answer the guy's question, but was then interrupted by David, but took it in stride and gave a scoffed laugh before answering his question as well. Although she looked serious, Ryuu was close enough that he could see her eyes, her eyes, which looked somewhat amused. Ryuu however, was anything but amused. He frowned, first she began by saying the sniper was a she, now she was jumping to being unsure whether it was a he or she? Something was up. Ryuu wasn't sure what exactly, but something was definitely up. He then saw her turn to David and smile, as she answered his question, and then telling them she was here to catch the sniper, going back to calling the culprit a she. Now he definitely knew something was up.

But before Ryuu could voice his thoughts to the group, the sound of gun shots rang out, the mere sound of it, brought back the painful memories Ryuu had locked away deep down, the day, the moment his mother had died. Alex had but all forgotten about it, but hearing that word, the memory came rushing back. Ryuu's eyes flashed, no, he had to suppress it, he wouldn't let it surface. As Ryuu fought to suppress the memories, his mouth opened as he let out a gasp in shock, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, which sent him falling backwards. He tasted a metallic substance in his mouth as he saw his own blood splatter around in the air before he landed on his back with a thump. "... Damn... it..." He managed to mutter in a low growl, as he clutched his left shoulder, blood flowing freely from the hole in his shoulder, one eye closed in pain. "You... do that... Victor..." Ryuu growled out, as he coughed and spat out some blood, fighting against the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him, as all around him, people were either in a panic, or chasing after the shooter. Damn it... Emily... I'm sorry... Ryuu then passed out, his body slumped from the blood loss.

[Tash]

Truth be told, Tash was zoning out for most of Sin's speech. The woman was probably just another administration puppet, a school board clone. They'd all go home after this and nothing would happen and the shooter would get tired of....

And then came the thunder out of a clear blue sky. Breath catching violently in her chest, Tash threw herself flat on the ground behind a trashcan after the sound of the first shot. There was an uproar - everything was chaos - Sin was blaring away about catching the assassin, students were screaming, some were crying. People ran about in confusion and she could practically smell the fear as the panther in the back of her mind awoke with a snarl, its hackles raised. It bristled, seething and she rolled out from behind the trash barrel, crouching and ready her head on a swivel, heart pounding and her mouth dry with fear. As she recovered from the initial shock, she registered two things: a wraith like figure fleeing the scene...and Nick, lying on the floor covered in blood.

"Nick!" Her voice cam out strangled as she clambered over to him, any thought of impending danger fleeing from her mind. She was a clear and open target but she wasn't thinking about that at the moment. Her first instinct was to take off after the mystery assailant, hunt them down and bring them back, but one look at Nick changed her mind. After scanning Nick's prone form, her eyes coming to rest on an exit wound in his left shoulder. What little she could see of his face looked pale and there was blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. She had no idea if she should roll him over or leave him where he was. On the one hand she didn't want to do more damage than had already been done. But she was afraid he'd drown in a puddle of his own blood or vomit. She bit back a sob of fear and anger and knelt beside her friend.

"Oh, dio. Oh, Nick. Merda. Merda, merda. Acceso, il donnaiolo, non esce su me. Soggiorno con me qui. Soggiorno con me. Scopata..."

[David Blaze]

David shook his head, eyebrows drawing down slightly. What the hell was this woman getting at? She tells them shes now in charge and then says she is going to do nothing about them as individuals. If your the headmaster, you deal with all problems not just one, and telling students they are free to do as they like won't help a bit. David was about to speak up when a gunshot rang through the air. Rather than look around to see who was shot, he looked up, staring straight at the person who was shooting people. David clenched his fists, then, as he was deciding how best to get up there, felt a sharp pain. He looked down at his stomach, reaching up and feeling the small whole.

Why him?

He was not an individual of note, at least not anymore, this much he knew. He stumbled, keeping his consciousness for as long as possible. He fell, plastering not one foot away from the body of the young nicolas constantine, whose face had begun to blur in his vision.

Then the world went dark.

[Pine]

A small wave was given to Max in acknowledgment of his thumbs up. Pine was getting his explanation when another student spoke up. The student played on the idea that because Sin came from the same boss that sent Orange and Purple she would be the same. It was a fair assumption based on what knowledge the students had. It was here Sin began to answer both questions. Her answers were enough to make Pine smirk. His arms crossed in front of his body.

She was lying. Anyone who was paying attention to what she had first said and her response would also notice this. Police officers when they interrogated people they always listened to the fine details of a story. Not every part of the story only that which was specific. The reason they did this was because the finer details always changed when a person was lying. For example Miss Sin had stated as a matter of fact that the shooter was a female. Now she had gone and said that it could either be a male or female. The way she used the word bitch seemed very clear as to the gender of the shooter.

Then there was a loud crack and student hit the ground. Pine knew that sound, it was a hunting rifle. It was most likely firing 30 caliber rounds. People were running screaming and pointing at the roof where the shooter was. Pine gritted his teeth as the bullets flew but stayed perfectly still. By standing still he minimized the chance of being shot accidentally if he wasn't an intentional target. If he was a target then by standing still he minimized the chances of someone innocent getting shot.

His eyes were not fully fixed on the shooter but on the reaction of Sin. She wasn't acting right. For starters she pulled a firearm from her pocket. This might be America but who would bring a firearm onto school property. He was pretty sure it was illegal even for school staff to carry them here.

The shooter lept from the roof and began to run. Pine's eyes caught a glimpse of pink hair as the shooter began to run. Then Sin yelled at the students to catch the shooter. Another contradiction, first stating we didn't need to do anything and now she required them to chase the shooter. Why would he do such a thing, priority should be getting the police here and saving those who were shot. If left alone they would die. There was always another chance to catch a shooter but only one chance to save a dying student.

Pine began to look around as the students began to clear the area. The student that had spoken out after Pine was laying in a pool of his own blood.

"Shit..." Pine said under his breath and ran toward the boy. Pine then lifted his shirt and saw the wound. Removing his sweatshirt Pine ripped off the sleeves and put one part on each exit wound. Pressure was being applied to both wounds and Pine noticed another boy laying on the ground and could hear Tash saying something beside him. Pine took his hand off the wound in the boys belly and tossed the rest of his shirt to Tash.

"Don't just sit there cover the damn wounds. Apply pressure and pray he stays alive!!!!" Pine yelled before looking around at the students around.

"Max...Max call the cops and get an ambulance here now!!!!"

[Patrick O'Connor]

Patrick had come back to school after a long, long absence. There had been a lot of drinking involved and not much else. He hadn't paid attention to anything but his own pain. He hadn't been watching the news. He hadn't known what was happening at his school. He didn't know nor did it really fuss him up when he had learned that ten of his fellow students had been shot. He heard that that Emily chick had been shot and was in a coma. He was slightly put off by that, not out of care for her but out of care for his own amusement. She was a funny one. Too naive and idealistic. He clashed with her often. The only thing that he really knew about her other then she was the one that was always trying to stop him was that she had a really long name.

To be honest the shootings actually amused him. No, he wasn't about to get a gun and start shooting his classmates from his hate. As much as he hated people he wanted to survive and please himself. Getting arrested and killed for something so stupid was pathetic and worthless. But the shootings were kind of amusing as they were out of the norm. Patrick invited them as he invited booze into his body. No, he wasn't a violent sadist. It was just something to occupiy his interest. To him it was almost like a football game. If it were a rival football game Patrick might be jsut as interested. Anything to get his mind off of his own pain. It was a game.

This group meeting was interesting. That was the only reason why Patrick was here. He was not involved though. He stood off in the distance and he had kept his distance for the entirety of the meeting. He stood off to the side, listening by barely hearing the megaphone. What he did hear of the woman was kinda suspicious. Call it street smarts or whatever. Patrick had lived over ten years on his life on the streets. The cold streets of Boston and in New York. He hadn't survived by believing everything that someone responsible had told him. You had to be able to see through the lies and find the truth. Not even that though, you had to be able to at least see the lies. The truth? You didn't necessarily need to know that, just what the lies were. Patrick wasn't quite sure what her lies were but he knew enough to tell that she was telling them. That was enough. Maybe she had enough truth in her to have information that was important but he didn't know what he could trut and what he couldn't. That meant he couldn't trust her.

Everything was going on, rather uneventfully and to be honest Patrick was getting bored. And then shots rang out from the administrative building. Patrick was quickly able to assess that he was not in the line of fire because he was a ways away. It was no big deal to him. That was the sad thing. He had been in more shootout then he could count. He knew that cool, clean, accurate and calm action was what was necessary. Patrick's first action was to locate the shooter. Whoever it was started running. Patrick noticed that they were running towards him. Patrick was right next to the end of the building so when the guy jumped down Patrick was near. About twenty feet. Patrick gave a quick look to the crowd noticing that everyone was crowded around the people who were down and shot. Patrick cursed, "Damn, those bastards can't do anything but gawk."

This was fun and all but Patrick didn't really feel like getting shot. He didn't really get involved. But with all the people running this way or near to where he was. He didn't seem like he had much of a choice so he made a snap judgement. He leaned down and picked up a rock a little smaller then a baseball. He turned back around and threw the rock at the shooter who was now thirty feet away from him and near the doors of the building he was heading to. Patrick knew that he could not catch up and it was unlikely that anyone would be able to so he threw a rock to slow him down as he staryed running. Patrick's target? The person's lower head/ neck. He knew that If he hit them there with a rock that he could slow him down enough.

With Patrick running he was moving relatively fast but all hope of catching of the guy, at least for Patrick lay in hitting the shooter with the rock. If he hit the shooter then he would catch up. If he didn't then he probably wouldn't and the shooter might get away unless there was a variable that Patrick was missing. Either way, it was all or nothing...