6:33 am, 27 minutes until the end of The Annual Purge.

When the doors opened I bolted right inside the room with my gun at the ready. I paused as I looked around the office. It was huge, first of all, but it was so untouched. Then I saw him; I saw the back of Mark Pierce's head behind the desk at the back of the office. He then just gave a light chuckle as he slowly turned around to look at me in the face. Even though I hadn't seen him in a year, he looked no different. He still had the parted black hair. He still had the dark, tanned skin. He still had that unforgettable smile.

"And here I thought you weren't going to show up, James," he told me with that smile. "Been a long time since I've seen you. How've you been?"

I responded by pointing my gun at him. He then chuckled again.

"I see you still haven't gotten over... last year," he told me.

"Of course I haven't!" I replied, forcing myself to not pull the trigger right then and there. "You killed my family and destroyed my home!"

"James, what's important is it was done to let me release my-"

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHY IT WAS DONE! YOU DESTROYED MY LIFE!"

"James... well, who's this?"

I looked and saw Kelsey right next to me with a scared face.

"She's not important right now!" I told him. "This is about us!"

"James, I know you're upset, and I would be, too, if I was in your situation. However, it wasn't my plan to make you feel that way... Because you weren't supposed to survive that morning."

He was kind enough to give that last line with an evil smile.

"Well, guess what?" I asked with a very frustrated face. "You're not going to survive THIS morning."

BANG! I fired the gun at Mark. Kelsey screamed loudly. Mark jumped out of the way and the bullet hit the wall behind him!

"You shouldn't have done that," Mark said with a shaking head.

Suddenly, what seemed like a thousand men rushed into the room carrying large machine guns pointed at me and Kelsey. Mark laughed again.

"I knew you'd be after me this year, James," he explained. "That's why I made sure I had protection at all times when the siren blared last evening."

I just glared at him.

"Originally, I WAS at the safe house, but that changed when my men saw you in front of the cube at the Pier. That's when I went here."

"Don't you think the safe house would be safer?" I asked.

"Well, admittedly, I didn't expect you to get inside, let alone kill all my helpers," he explained. "But I couldn't take that chance. People get crazy when they're angry. But now, I have you right where I want you. And now, you're never going to escape alive. I'm going to finish what I started!"

"I never thought I'd say this," I growled, "but I hate you, Mark."

"I don't care," he replied.

He then snapped his fingers and suddenly all the bodyguards adjusted their weapons.

"Any last words?" Mark asked.

I just stared at him, and then back at the guards. Then I looked at Kelsey. Tears were rolling down her face, which was as red as it was when I first met her hours earlier. I then slowly took a deep breath. I had an idea, but there was very little chance of it working. But I knew it was my only chance.

"KELSEY, DUCK!" I instantly screamed.

I then quickly ducked down and rolled away. All I could hear was rapid gunfire all around me. I had no idea if Kelsey was OK, but that wasn't my main concern. All I cared about was moving as fast as I could. I quickly got up and ran around the whole office in a total sprint. I could see Mark ducking down behind the desk, as a good portion of the bullets were heading that way. I also managed to see Kelsey following my lead and running around, as well! I then ducked behind a bookshelf, and tried to stay calm as bullets flew around me. I then looked into the shelf and saw a single hand grenade in there. I'm not sure if it was a gift from God or what, but all I knew was I instantly grabbed the grenade, pulled off the pin, and chucked it at the guards! At first, they seemed confused as to what I threw, but then they screamed in terror, and the next thing I knew, a loud explosion occurred and the gunmen flew all over the place! Blood covered the walls and floor, and human body parts were all over. There was silence for what seemed like forever as we all stared at the mess in front of us. Mark slowly turned to me with a confused look.

"That was... gruesome of you," he finally managed to say.

I just stared at him. He looked so scared, like that could have been him. And it easily COULD have!

"But not as gruesome as THIS!" He continued.

He then pulled out a shotgun and quickly aimed it at Kelsey! She then gave a loud shriek and covered her eyes! There was no question about it; I had to do this NOW! I instantly pulled out my gun and aimed it at Mark's face! BANG! I pulled the trigger, and the next thing I knew, Mark was falling backwards and the shotgun flew into the air. When it finally landed, there was absolute silence. It was like no noise was coming from anywhere. I walked over to behind the desk and just stared. Lying on the ground, in a pool of blood and with a hole in his head, was Mark, not moving at all. All I could do was stare at him. He was my best friend. He was my enemy. And I killed him. The only thing I could really think of was the simple question, 'was it worth it?'.

"You... You did it..."

I looked at Kelsey and saw her face was still red and soaked with tears. I just lightly smiled.

"Yeah," I told her. "I guess I did."

And then I realized the answer to my question: yes, it was worth it. I only killed him right then and there because he was about to kill Kelsey, a girl he didn't even know! He didn't know her name, her relationship to me, or anything! He just knew she was important to me, so he tried to kill her. He had already taken my family. I wasn't about to let him take her, as well! And I suppose if you want to get really technical, the fact I headed this way tonight was worth it. If I had stayed home tonight, Kelsey would have never been saved by me, and who knows if she would be alive right now...

"Thanks, James," she told me with a small smile. "For... everything."

"No," I replied. "Thank YOU."

"For what?"

"You're the one who kept me motivated."

"To kill Mark?"

"No... To stay alive!"

She just stared at me. I could see her eyes watering again, only this time I assume they were happy tears.

"C'mon," I told her. "Let's get out of here."

Suddenly, I heard a gunshot and I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder! I looked towards the door and saw another guard in the doorway, pistol in hand! That's when the horrible realization hit me; The Purge wasn't over yet!

"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" the guard shouted.

He then ran over to me and grabbed me and Kelsey by the shoulders (he was kind enough to grab my recently-shot shoulder) and pulled us out of the room! He then yanked us down the stairs while we were both screaming and resisting, but this guy had a strong grip! I didn't know where he was taking us, but I kept wondering if we were still going to survive The Purge.