28 Minutes Later

[Cerberus]

She should have stayed with Zaine, especially since she didn't have her fuck buddy to help her out right then.  Cerberus didn't know anything about her relations with Taran or her status as 'informant', so all he saw was a dancer stupidly leaving the club alone.  If the other members of the staff were alert to their intentions, they hadn't really let on, but he wasn't opposed to snatching them as they slowly trickled out.  Starting with this one.

For a big man, he moved awfully quiet, appearing out of the shadows that he'd been hiding in when Narkisa alerted him to the fact that they were to bring this one in.  He'd been enjoying the killing so far, but he could do live capture as well.  Narkisa had said to drug her, but he was saving the drugs for the ones that actually put up a fight.  He was certain there would be some, given what breeds he knew were employed there.  Big cats could be a bitch, even if they were untrained women.  A trainer had lost some slaves trying to hold one once, if he remembered correctly.  Thus, when he stepped up in front of Mya, he caught her surprised look, smiled, and blocked her path.

"Evening, precious.  Naptime," he said simply, elbow coming up with a sharp crack, and he caught her before she hit the ground.  She'd heal, and the injury would keep her out of commission for awhile.  Back to the vehicle.

[Mya Shadow]

 Mya really hadn't a conscious thought about where she was going to go. She hadn't made any provisions or called anyone; nobody even knew she was leaving the club. She did know that when she heard Zaine say Midnight, she didn't want to hang out any more. If Mitzi had left, then Mya could leave, too, right? How hard can this be? Get to car, start car, leave. I mean, Mitzi left and she's okay, or else Zaine wouldn't have told her to leave. Of course, he walked her out here, too. Damn, where are my keys?

She stopped to fish through her purse for her car keys, and when she found them, she looked back up to where her car was parked. It, and the rest of her view, were blocked by a massive muscular man. She opened her mouth, her eyes wide, and that was that. She fell down in what seemed like slow motion, hearing the clatter of her things smash to the ground next to her. After that, there was only blackness.

[Zaine Martin]

 Zaine peered out of the blinds as Nikolas chased the last of the patrons out of the club, and glanced over his shoulder at Eden. "I suggest you pull the two aside and have them phone their men, then brief everyone as to what is happening. My girls should be arriving here any minute, and when that's settled, we'll start trying to correct this large problem."

He pushed open the door just in time to see Quinn and Lily walk in, and walked to them, holding his car keys out. "Back it up to the front of the club, start pulling guns out," he said, giving the keys to Lilyana. To Rachel, he turned around so that they were facing the gathering girls, some of which were still not dressed while the others appeared in what was mostly work-out gear with heavy makeup. "Eden's going to give them the rundown, and while he's doing that, Nikolas, the vampire there, has taken a list of everyone, and had the decency to notate what they are. Try to get me an estimation of groups that we can transport, and the most valuable or least effective girls can go with the vampires. If need be, we can summon Patryk up from Frost and get him to assist us," he said.

He left her side to find Saffron, and ushered her to the dressing room.

"I was so happy to see you and now I understand that you are always with the bad luck," she told him, but she smiled and touched his face gently when she said it.

He took her hand and gave her a sad return. "Rafael is waiting for you, at least," he offered, to which she squeaked and ran back into the dressing room to change. When she came back out, he took her by the arm and lead her to Lilyana, who had just come back in. "Take the keys to my car and give me yours. I want you to head to Onyx, do you remember where it is? Don't stop for anything, not even lights. Leave a window down; if you wreck, fly."

When she was gone, he turned his attention to Lily and the duffel bags of weapons.

"You pack like a girl," she said with a sweet smile, dropping the last of the bags to the ground, making four in total.

"Maybe," he said. "Get ready to hand them out when Quinn comes by with groups."

[Eden Cobriana]

By the time Eden was in the back room with the rehearsal stage, facing his girls and the few guys that were also present, he'd already put out the word to Aimee and Melisande to see if they could rustle up some big muscle for this.  He didn't have his hopes up too high, but it would help.  He regarded the group as a whole, most dressed as he'd asked, but a few hadn't gotten with the program.  They were going to have to move FAST to pull something on over their underwear for this, and having to repeat the order didn't make him all that happy.  If there was a time to listen on the first try, this was it.

"Everyone quiet down," he called out, the calm of his voice somewhat misleading.  Aimee and Melisande were the exceptions, since they were on the phone.  "We have NO time for playing around, so I'll explain once, then we all have to move.  Midnight is on the attack, and we're all in danger.  We have some hunters here that are going to help make this escape happen, but you're all going to have to work together and do as you're told.  We're arming everyone that we can, and taking all of you to the guildhouses until this blows over."

There was talking already, prompting Eden to raise his voice, something he didn't do often.  "ONLY if you have a damn good reason are you allowed to refuse, which is highly unlikely.  I don't want to hear of any of you being missing or dead, so we're playing this the hunters' way.  These two ladies are going to separate you into groups for travel and arm you.  Anyone who isn't dressed within 30 seconds of being placed in a group is going to the guildhouses as she is."

He stopped, looking out over the crowd of employees with cold red eyes for a moment before gesturing for Quinn to take over, which she did instantly.  She had the list from Nikki in hand, and had already starting putting the names into specific groups, though Eden realized a mistake on her part instantly.  She saw a male name and 'hyena' and seemed to assume that Jason would be more dangerous than Eden personally thought he could be, putting him in with a group of girls that the cobra didn't see protecting themselves all that well.  He opened his mouth to speak, only to catch Marius' eye and a slight shake of the head.  At his questioning look, the vampire opened up just a touch.

He's not staying behind, Eden.  Let him take those girls somewhere safe, he can handle it.  He's not the toughest we have, but I trust him.

Gritting his teeth, Eden kept his mouth shut, hoping that Marius was right.  Of course, Eden also couldn't read minds, and didn't know that Jason had been hurt trying to protect friends before.  He was just going on the fact that the male hyena had always been pretty damn shy, besides having issues talking to women.  Eden just had to back off and let the woman do her thing, which was tough when it was his girls and their safety at hand, but these people were supposed to know what they were doing. 

He returned to Zaine, Marius close by and trying to get a grasp on the situation.  "What's the plan?  Who's staying behind?"

[Lilyana Winter]

Lilyana came back into the room where Zaine and Eden were, her lips pursed in that kissyface she made when she was irritated. "The girls are ready, but I don't know how many of them are going to make it back to the house," she said. She looked at Zaine with an expression that plainly said she was over putting up with the bitchy princess attitude some of them were giving her.

Zaine glanced at her, and he could feel what she meant without having to ask her to elaborate. For a Doll, she had a personality, and it bothered Zaine slightly that she chose to use it now. "Lily, just get them there in one piece. That's a standing order. We can deal with what to do after," he commanded, knowing that she would have to obey.

"Fine," she said. She gave him a lingering glance with her icy eyes and then turned, blonde hair flicking defiantly behind her. She went back into the main room. "Quinn! Are you ready?" she called, hand to her mouth as she tried to weave through all of the bimbos.

Zaine forgot the disturbance momentarily and turned his attention back to Eden. "Who needs to stay behind?"

[Rachel Quinn]

By the time Lily got pissed off and went to Zaine to let him know that they were basically ready, Rachel had every girl that had expressed any sort of spirit armed and instructed in the use of whatever firearm they had.  They were separated in groups that were as balanced according to gun-skill and breed rarity as she could manage, and all Rachel could hope for was that they would get as many of them to the guildhouses as possible.  If it wouldn't have drawn attention, she'd have been lining vehicles up for a hasty exit, as well.  As it was, there was probably some sort of squad outside the club by now, and Quinn was NOT going to be warning them that there was a plan in the works by building a caravan of vehicles.

"As ready as we can be!  What's the distraction going to be?" she asked Lily, because if they were going to get out of here, there had to be a distraction.

"Whoever you think can make a good distraction and survive the attempt," Eden told Zaine bluntly.  As far as he understood, that was the plan, wasn't it?  "Dante is lincei and one of your hunters, so he should stay, Marius and Nikki can do some damage, and you and I are both rare enough to catch interest as targets.  What about the girls you called in?"

No, he hadn't missed Lilyana's attitude when she said she didn't know how many of Eden's girls were going to make it to the guildhouse, but he'd deliberately refrained from commenting because the blonde woman was trying to help them, even if she didn't like it.  It didn't endear him to her, though.  Fortunately, the other blonde had been more pleasant about getting to work and arming groups, so his complaints were minimal.  Still, this was the easy part.

Hey, at least all of the girls were dressed.

The instant Lily was close enough, Quinn took her by the arm to walk her a fair distance away from the other girls.  "Listen, we're going to lose most of them if we just leave with them.  I don't know how many people are out there, but this is too tempting of a target to just be ignored.  We have to draw the attacks out and engage before we let the girls make a run for it, or it's game over," she explained, and she already had an inkling of a plan started.  Doll or no, she was a smart lady.  She just also happened to be great at following orders and was programmed to keep fighting until her body wouldn't move anymore.  All things considered, she was pretty well-adjusted, though her plan might not have supported that idea. 

Frankly, she wanted to head outside like she was one of the girls trying to sneak out to her car and escape.  If she could draw some heat that way, maybe they could pull the kill and capture squad out of hiding. 

[Lilyana Winter]

"Well, let's just walk out there like two idiots and get beat on, then," she said with a shrug. She looked back at the rest of the girls and then to Quinn with a doubtful expression. "This is going to be worth it, I'm sure."

Despite being a doll, Lily still had a personality she'd been crafted, and that personality didn't necessarily think putting her ass on the line for a bunch of hookers was worthwhile. She was aching to fight after all of the idiocy she'd been put through, though, so she supposed surprising some idiot Midnight lackeys would be worth it. She turned to the girls whom Rachel had split up.

"We're going to draw them out. You get to the cars and get the fuck out of here. Everyone knows where to go, and we still have a few people outside waiting. As soon as we start to take heat, run."

Then she turned and pushed the door open. "Let's do this," she said.

[Zaine Martin]

 Zaine ignored Lily's bitching. He'd talk to Grayson about toning that shit down if it kept up, but for the time being, the aspects that didn't give Eden a warm fuzzy did tell Zaine that she was coherent to her own survival, and he knew if it meant cutting some of the girls loose, she might. She'd been programmed to avoid Midnight situations somewhere along the way; it only meant that was trying to override the rest of it. He'd deal with it.

"She'll be fine," he told Eden briefly. "She and Rachel are good." He scanned the rest of the area after a last glance as the two blondes nodded to eachother and pushed open the doors. They were stepping out into a trap, and they both knew it. Fortunately, Rachel and Lilyana were programmed to take damage and keep moving, so unless they lost limbs, they wouldn't feel a damned thing. Good for them. Zaine wasn't always so lucky.

"Dante can help get them out of here while the girls cause a scene. Marius and Nikki can run interference during if we need them to. I doubt seriously Midnight will expect vampires to get involved since the guilds are a fang-free zone most days. We'll be fine."

He heard screaming from outside, and knew he'd spoken too soon.

[Lilyana Winter]

 So, sure, Quinn had a good idea. Vampires were retards and sure as shit as soon as they ran out the door with their frightened WOE IS ME I'M JUST A GIRL faces on, they'd gotten swarmed.

"Please don't hurt me!" Lily whined, backing into the front bumper of a car as she let one of the vampires get close enough to her for her to be comfortable. She pretended to cower, only to thrust forward and bust him in the face with her forehead. He screamed and grabbed her, pitching her up and over the car. She landed on the hood of another, much nicer car, leaving a girl-sized dent as she slid off of it.

Asshole.

Behind her, the girls started to pour out, causing a bunch of confusion for the team sent to snatch them. Lily couldn't help but smile as she took another blow to the ribs, which dropped her to the ground for a brief moment. She looked up in time to catch a swift boot to the face, and it actually knocked her out for a split second, which was odd - her eyesight blotched out and then came back, so she assumed she had been knocked out.

She got up and jammed a knife into the vampire's sternum, hard, twisted and then yanked it out to re-plant it into his cheek. He made a loud gurgling sound and dropped, giving her the opportunity to draw her gun. She turned just as one of the girls got grabbed by another lackey, and made a run for them. She flung herself at the vampire, breaking the hold he had on the brunette, and took him to the ground.

When she finished, she stood up and brushed herself off -- and then the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, Rachel standing over her with wide eyes. Someone was on top of her and she yelled, or tried - she felt like she was drowning, and coughed up blood. Had she been attacked? What happened? Why was Rachel standing there?!

"Nnh," she managed, trying to say 'Quinn' but failing miserably.

[Kestrel Collins]

Kestrel had been with Dante, Savannah, and three other girls waiting by the door when Lily signaled out to them to run. She turned to give a last look to the club, but a firm shove from Dante sent her sprawling into the dark of the night. She tried to keep up with them, but suddenly there were fucking people everywhere.

She was almost to the SUV when someone grabbed her from behind. Kestrel screamed and lashed out. She was a wolf for Christ's sake, a Frektane. She bit down on his arm finally, but that didn't stop him - he'd been about to pop her head off like a grape when the tiny blonde girl tackled them both.

Kestrel pulled herself up to the ground and looked up at the rest of the group. "You saved my ass," she breathed to the girl - Lily, she thought her name was. But Lily was looking at her strangely - it made her uncomfortable. Kestrel had never been unnerved by a fox before - wolves were predators and fox were prey, but this fox definitely could have kicked her ass. The girl looked zoned out for a second - she'd never seen eyes so... empty before, and Lily lowered her head for a moment.

Quick as a flashed, she raised it back up, and this time there was still nothing behind her eyes, but she brought that gun up with her chin, and pointed it right at Kestrel's face. That was the last thing she saw before she died.

[Rachel Quinn]

It was not just a 'good idea', it was a spectacular plan.  As soon as Quinn and Lily started rushing in the direction of a vehicle, both looking panicked and scared, more like they were scurrying along than actually running, they were jumped.  Lily's advantage was that she was a fox, therefore able to heal and move a bit better than the mere human that Quinn was, but she still whipped around and dropped the girlish screaming and panic as soon as she was confident that the idiots attacking her were too invested in their attack to just break off.  She wasn't wrong.

One vampire had eaten a bullet and another was choking on the knife she'd plunged through the side of his throat before she was thrown sideways, and that didn't really help the poor fool whose throat was ripped wide open by her injury.  Oh, well.

She hit the pavement and the momentum flung her further, ensuring that she was going to have some fantastic road rash when this was done, but she just turned the fall into a roll as soon as she was able, taking her under a car that made it incredibly convenient to tear the Achilles' tendon out of someone who'd gone after one of the fleeing girls.  As soon as the man dropped, she plunged the knife into his heart, and then she was back out into the open air, hitting anyone that got too close to one of the girls that she could.  

At least she wasn't the only one, though.  She saw Lily on the move, taking just as many hits as she was, and then there was Dante flitting through the fray to urge girls on and putting himself between attacks.  He was bleeding and looked like he may have taken a nasty hit while Quinn was too occupied to see, but he wasn't showing signs of slowing.  The vampires, Marius and Nikki, seemed to be everywhere, and even Eden was on the move to get his girls into vehicles and out of the fray.  Quinn actually made it a point between being thrown around, putting big holes into Midnight personnel and yelling at nearby dancers to MOVE to watch Eden's progress.  She wanted to see what he had in him.  Apparently, it was enough.

She twisted some shapeshifter, a bird she was guessing by the way his arm had snapped when she yanked on it, around by the hair to get a better shot at him, took a nasty punch square to the face, and slammed the muzzle of her gun into his chest so hard that she probably broke his fragile birdie sternum before the bullet did, and was promptly tackled to the ground a moment later.  Her opinion of Eden's progress was nothing in comparison to hearing the tell-tale BOOM of a large caliber handgun fired at close range ringing in her ears and looking up to see a young brunette man pointing a gun in the direction of the body he'd just blown the head off of for her.  She smirked ever so slightly, having known that giving that kid a shotgun was a good idea, especially since he still had that and seemed to have acquired other weaponry on the way, and he grinned so suddenly that she couldn't help bu be proud.  Then, just as quickly, he shouted to the girls behind him and waved them in front of him.

"Good job, kid," she murmured, and then there was no more time for that.  Something else had hit the scene, something dark and heavy, and there was screaming going on, fortunately in the direction that Jason and his girls had already come from.  Maybe they'd be okay, but Quinn just didn't have the ability to worry about them further if they weren't okay.  She had a bit of a problem going on with Lily, and as soon as she took off in that direction, it was clear to her that 'bit of a problem' was an understatement.

Lilyana Winter had just blown the head off of one of the girls.

Quinn didn't bother screaming or shouting to stop her usual friend in her tracks because something was wrong.  It was in the air, in the dark, it was all around them, and she didn't know what it was, only that it was messing Lily up.  She wasn't herself, not really, and if Rachel had to kill her to stop her from hurting the rest of the people they were there to protect, that was just what was going to have to happen, or she'd die trying. 

There was a single-mindedness to the swift, confident approach Rachel took to the situation, and that was basically that she ran up and hit Lilyana like a freight train would have.  There were no full-body tackles to start a wrestling match or anything quick and lower-damage, it was all pile-drive style movement with the intention of keeping her own feet, and as soon as she'd hit Lily, she went and did it again, and again.  With that method of handling things, it would have been an easy fix to the situation if Lily would have gone down like a normal human would have, but she didn't.  She took those solid hits like Quinn was swinging a sledgehammer at a steel beam, and then she started throwing her own punches.

The area directly surrounding them cleared out rather suddenly, with the chaos continuing around them as though there was a bubble of quiet reserved just for them.  That was, until Lily caught Rachel particularly hard across the chin and knocked her into a vehicle, just in time for Zaine to try to bust in.  Quinn straightened and threw her arm out in front of him so quickly that she may very well have fractured something on him, and she shook her head.

"I strongly recommend you do not engage her, Martin.  Interference has an expected result of severe injury or death.  Secure the civilians," she instructed, her voice somewhat...lacking in its usual personality and life.  It was likely her programming overriding her personal feelings for Lilyana, especially since she threw herself the few steps forward that were necessary to yank Lilyana back away from the girl that nearly had her arms torn off. 

This wasn't going to end well.

[Marius Grey]

There was a lot going on in a very short period of time, and most of it involved Marius and Nikki bouncing around like maniacs trying to keep the girls they looked out for on a regular basis alive.  So far, they seemed to be doing fairly well, especially with Eden, Lilyana, Quinn, Dante and Zaine helping out, but it was a few of the girls (and Jason) that surprised Marius most.  Quinn had armed as many of them as possible and Marius had approved of arming Jason and entrusting him with the protection of some of the girls, but to see him actually take charge and prove both Marius and Quinn right was pretty impressive.  Aimee had also taken a rather offense-oriented approach to this whole situation, using the shotgun Quinn had provided to her along with her demi-form (which usually looked so pleasant while she was on stage, and currently looked downright intimidating), and a few of the others had taken similar approaches.

Thank God for small miracles.  If they hadn't taken the initiative in protecting themselves when the attacks started, Marius really didn't think they'd have survived like they were, and he was actually stupid enough to think that they might really make this happen when an unpleasant aura of power spread itself out over the crowd.

"Fuck!" he hissed, shooting a thought off to Nikki that the shit had really just hit the fan, that everyone needed to be out immediately, and then there was screaming (more than expected) out of a certain area.  He couldn't just abandon the group he'd been herding, so he rushed them to vehicles, at the same time ensuring that Aimee, Melisande and a few others were about as safely headed to Onyx as was possible, and then he shot off in the direction the screams had come from.

There, he found a sight that he couldn't honestly have expected.  Quinn and Lily were beating on each other like they were both made of titanium, taking and landing blows that looked like they should level large men, and neither was flinching at what must be extremely painful, even though both were bloodied.  Zaine didn't seem to know what the hell to do, and if Marius didn't have the added understanding that came with being a vampire and knowing what that aura of power was, he might not have known, either.

Lily's aura was tainted with the power that had hit the scene, and Marius cursed violently under his breath when reaching out with his own power had no apparent effect, instead looking for an entrance into the fray.  Quinn took a sudden, harsh blow from Lilyana (who'd swung a crowbar that must have been dropped by someone else during the rest of the fighting that was still happening around them) and hit a nearby car so hard that the windows were blown out around her.  She crumpled and was working to get back up when Marius rushed Lilyana.

He took that crowbar in a swing that was meant to take him in the face and instead connected with his shoulder (pain), and threw a hand into her hair to twist her around uncomfortably, but conveniently for him, and then had to grab her wrist with the other hand as she swung again.  Before she could make another attack on him, he dug into her neck with fangs and plunged his own unique power into her -- essentially making her temporarily a dead zone for vampire powers.  Normally, he'd have just done it from where he'd been standing, but since his attempts at doing that had failed, he was forced to make a stronger connection.  There wasn't much that was stronger than the connection made during the bite, which was exactly why he'd done it. 

If this didn't work, he didn't know what would, but they would be well and truly boned in that case.

[Lilyana Winter]

Lilybot had certainly gotten her ass handed to her, but she'd been doing some of her own damage. She'd killed the first target in front of her, and had mowed through several more before her magazine ran empty. She looked at the gun with a perplexed expression, as though surprised that it was so... useless - and then used it to pistol-whip the next person she came across. She had no idea who this person was, but they were a target, and thus she exerted reasonable force. She had taken hold of the woman's arms, the bones of which felt like shoddy wood beneath her fingertips. She could feel them shatter as she wrenched down with her grip, and when she yanked, she could feel them slide in and out of joint. It was such an inferior design, the human body. Lilybot was so much better.

And then she was sailing over a car.

The assailant, Quinnbot, was going to give her a run for her money. No matter. She didn't feel anything - nothing at all, really - except for the peculiar sensation that was blood rushing down her face and arms as she and the other blonde beat the living tar out of one another. Kick, block, kick, block, punch, forearm, block. Pick up pipe, swing, block. Airborn. Fall. Stand. Jump.

And then she was hit from the side by another person, a not-Quinnbot, and that was it.

And then she was screaming. Or, trying to. Marius had not only broken Niall's hold over her, but he'd caused her a great deal of shock - and since Niall had been using subconscious triggers, it also meant her programming was frying. So, of course, Lily naturally assumed that Marius was Cassius and that she was in Midnight. So she twisted and fought to conceal herself, broken vocal cords reduced to scratchy begging for him not to hurt her, and that she wouldn't do it again.

It was plainly obvious that this was not the same Lily that had just been fighting with Quinn, nor was it the same Lily who had been standing in the club with Zaine twenty minutes before. This was a different version of Lily, and she sucked.

[Zaine Martin]

 With all of the commotion, Zaine really hadn't had time to see what was happening until it was too late. "LILYANA!" he yelled. But she and Quinn were going at it pretty hardcore, and he hesitated long enough to allow Marius a chance to jump on top of her. What the fuck was going on?

"What the hell are you doing?" he screamed, but as he drew closer to the scene, it became rather clear. Horror washed over his usually impassive face as Marius moved enough for him to see Lilyana and the state she was now in. Bleeding, beaten and trying to disappear. That was characteristic of Midnight, of the files he'd read on her before Grayson had fixed her.

"What, did she hit her fucking head and knock her programming loose?" he snapped. He reached down and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her up. He didn't care how bad she was hurt. "Lilyana, LOOK AT ME!" he demanded.

The fox tried to shy away, but Zaine's shaking wouldn't allow it. "Stop, please - " was all she got out before he whipped her across the face with his free hand, which luckily did not have the gun in it. She let out a yelp and fell to the ground again, but this time Marius was back between them. The vampire didn't know what to do, but he didn't want any of it to go further, so he just acted as a barrier until he could figure it out.

All of the lights around them went black in that instant and a loud, trembling roar shook the ground. Zaine's head snapped up and his jaw ran slack as a massive, terrible dragon - DRAGON?! - appeared above them.

"I think we're going to need backup," he grunted.

[Marius Grey]

Straight up, Marius didn't know what the hell to do with Lily, but her current state was not conducive to well, anything, at this point.  Beating on her more now that she'd stopped with the aggressive behavior wasn't the best course of action, though.  Frankly, he was about 5 seconds away from zapping her and knocking her out, then making Quinn get her to one of the vehicles.

That was when the lights guttered out and a roar shook through them all, and Marius could lie and say that the hair on the back of his neck didn't stand up and his head didn't jerk in the direction it had come from in both shock and horror, but he knew something everyone else didn't.

"That's not a dragon.  It looks like a dragon, but it's not.  Everyone, MOVE!" he ordered, and he went right ahead and blasted Lily right then and there.  She was making a fuss, more scared than before by the sudden introduction of a dragon, and he shoved her at the equally damaged Quinn before invading Zaine's space.  "That is Niall making a personal visit on Eden's place.  All the back-up you could muster up is just going to be more corpses and slaves in the end."

Point being?  Trying to fight now was a lost cause, because Niall alone was a powerhouse, and that didn't include whoever had shown up with him.  They needed to LEAVE.