The class jumped to their feet. Fighting noises were coming from the hall as well as a few grunts. They heard the sound of a knife being drawn.
Before they could get close to the door, a masked person entered.
"What the-?" Ramona said.
"STAY IN THE CLASSROOM. LOCKDOWN INITIATED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE ARE HAVING A LOCKDOWN. I REPEAT, NOT A DRILL." The PA announcement called. "TEACHERS, LOCK YOUR DOORS AND KEEP YOUR STUDENTS INSIDE."
The class backed up as the ninja advanced.
"Do something!" Terrence screamed.
"Don't be a wimp!" Barry said.
He ran up to the person and attempted to fight. He was thrown aside in three seconds.
This gave Private an opportunity to sneak up from the other side and kick the ninja.
"You little-"
"GET OUT!" Private yelled. He unleashed a fury of jabs and kicks.
The man nearly missed Private's head with a knife. Barry got up and joined the fight.
Private swept his leg under and tripped the man.
"DUCK!" Ramona and Barry yelled.
They had lifted a desk and tossed it.
Private rolled out of the way and the desk came crashing down. Unfortunately, the man had avoided it too.
Sirens blared from the outside.
The man growled and threw something down.
BANG!
Smoke filled the classroom.
The class coughed.
Private ran to the door, but the man was gone.
The students gasped as they caught a glimpse of their teacher.
"Get him inside!" Barry said.
"But-"
"Kenny, Lee, Marvin, help me."
Private kept watch while the four sixth graders dragged unconscious teacher inside. As soon as he was in, they closed and locked the door.
"He's bleeding!" Ramona said.
There was a dark stain spreading on the man's side. They grabbed his jacket and tried to wrap the injury as best as possible. They arranged him into a more comfortable position. They avoided the small spots of blood that had appeared when they took him into the room.
"Now what?" One of the students whispered.
"I don't know." Another replied.
The students sat around their teacher in scared silence.
…
Skipper had been having an odd feeling all morning. He told Kowalski of his gut feelings, to which the taller boy said it was probably final exam nerves and the worry that he might not pass.
One of the girls said she wasn't feeling well and had to go to the bathroom. Marlene was sent to accompany her.
Skipper tried to shake the feeling as the lesson went on. He sent a message to Rico who replied that he was going to the bathroom.
"Kowalski, they've been in the bathroom for ages." Skipper hissed. "I'm texting Marlene, cover for me."
Kowalski stood up and went to the teacher's desk to ask a question.
Skipper: What's going on?
Marlene: She's really sick and she doesn't want me to leave to get help.
Skipper: Should I tell the teacher?
Skipper: Marlene?
Marlene: help
Skipper's head shot up. He ran to the door and saw two dark figures headed towards the middle school.
"MARLENE!"
He yanked the door open and ran out before anyone could respond.
"STAY IN THE CLASSROOM. LOCKDOWN INITIATED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE ARE HAVING A LOCKDOWN. I REPEAT, NOT A DRILL." The PA announcement called. "TEACHERS, LOCK YOUR DOORS AND KEEP YOUR STUDENTS INSIDE."
"Taro, no!" The teacher wasn't fast enough to stop him.
Kowalski ran out and saw Rico and Skipper.
"Kowalski, the middle school!" Skipper yelled.
Kowalski's heart pounded as he ran to the middle school.
…
Skipper and Rico burst into the girls' bathroom to see two masked men advancing towards Marlene. A retching noise was heard from one of the stalls.
"HEY!" Rico yelled.
The men turned around.
Rico dragged one of the men down to the ground. He pinned the guy under the sink and tore the mask off.
"Who are you?!" Skipper yelled, trying to get the other man in a headlock.
"None of your business, kid." The man grunted. He plunged his elbow into Skipper's stomach.
Skipper fell backwards into an open stall.
Marlene kicked the man from behind.
CLANG! Rico had been pushed off the other man and his head made contact with the metal bar.
He shook his head dizzily.
"RICO!" Marlene squeaked.
The two men turned back to the brunette.
"Uh-oh."
"Not on my watch." Skipper growled. He jumped on one and was able to bring him down. The other was still trying to get closer. "Marlene, hide in the stall!"
Rico couldn't see what he was doing. He kicked and punched the air wildly, seeing doubles of and triples of everyone and everything.
Skipper had one man pinned down while trying to fend off the other one.
Marlene kicked the other man towards Rico.
Rico picked up the trashcan and swung it around.
BANG! THUMP!
The man fell down, unconscious.
The pinned man was trying to escape.
Rico opened the door. "HEY! HELP!" He yelled.
A couple of police officers ran towards him.
…
Meanwhile, Kowalski raced into the middle school. He panted, looking around. There was no sign of anything wrong.
He heard a few noises and then a shout.
"DUCK!"
CLANG! CRASH!
That sounded like Barry. He headed upstairs as a man came down.
Kowalski scowled and tackled him. The man pushed Kowalski off.
Kowalski tumbled down the stairs and got up, groaning.
He heard sirens followed by a loud bang.
He and the man fought each other until another man came down.
"Let's get out of here!"
"Oh no you don't!" Kowalski yanked one of the men and brought him down. He wrestled the man to the ground.
The other one had vanished.
The man pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it down. The blast caused both of them to crash into opposite walls.
Kowalski heard footsteps, his head was pounding.
"Hey, kid, are you alright?"
Kowalski nodded. "My brother…I need to find…my brother…"
"We need to get you to the nurse."
The officer took Kowalski to the nurse's office where he saw Rico, Skipper, Marlene, and the sick classmate.
"I texted Private." Skipper said. "They said they're all fine."
Kowalski nodded.
It was an hour and a half until the lockdown was called off. The officers were entering each classroom.
The school Principal congratulated and scolded Rico, Skipper, and Kowalski. He congratulated them for their help, but scolded them for ignoring a lockdown. Rico defended himself by stating he was in the bathroom. Skipper said that technically he was already out before the lockdown officially began.
The Principal explained the dangers of doing what they did. The teens weren't in trouble.
He was about to go on when an officer and the Vice Principal entered.
"What's going on?" The Principal asked.
Ms. Petrie sighed. "They found someone injured."
"What? I thought they did a sweep in ten minutes? They said-"
"There was someone in a classroom." The officer said. "We're not sure about the full story."
"Who is it?"
"Randy Campbell."
The teens gasped.
"My brother's in his class!" Kowalski said.
"They're all fine." The officer said. "Two students have very minor injuries, but they're fine. Their story is that they were attacked in the classroom and they managed to kick the guy out before locking the door. Unfortunately, Mr. Campbell was badly injured."
"How bad?"
"Pete, I don't think he's coming back. Not for a while, he was unconscious when they found him." Lauren Petrie said. "We need another teacher to cover for him. Not to mention, we need to explain it to the elementary school principal. There are students there who are siblings of our students and Randy works for her too."
"I can explain this to Anna; she's an old friend of my sister."
"Mr. Taylor, can we talk outside?" The officer asked.
The principal nodded.
The three adults left the room.
Barry and Private were brought in a few minutes later.
The nurse sent everyone except Kowalski and the sick girl back to the classrooms. She didn't want to risk Kowalski having a concussion.
There were no bells that day. The entire school was still in shock. They were told that they were all dismissed for the day while investigations continued. Many parents picked their kids up, but the ones who lived in the apartments were escorted back by some officers.
"What do you think happened?" Some whispered. No one had really informed them what happened.
The only ones held back were Mr. Campbell's sixth grade class, Skipper, Rico, Marlene, and Kowalski.
They were interrogated twice, but the same answers were given. Finally, upset parents were begging to see their children.
Private, Barry, and Kenny stayed behind with the teens. Rikki and Rocky were also staying behind while Kowalski, Rico, Marlene, and Skipper were questioned.
Ramona would have stayed, but her brothers had been calling her since school got out, worried about what the others in the apartments said. Julien was making up a story that scared Eggy so badly; Samuel was still holding his hand after two hours.
Finally, they were let go. They trudged home, still anxious and nervous.
Families were notified of what occurred.
Rico and Rikki's dad was very concerned and spoke to his kids for an hour.
Marlene's parents didn't want to get off the phone with her.
Skipper and Rocky had to listen to their brothers yelling in the background while their parents tried to calmly speak. Rocky stayed silent for the most part to spare her brother a little.
Barry's foster parents called to ask him to stop getting himself in trouble.
Private dreaded the call from his mother. But it was his father who called. Andrew told his son to try to tone the danger down. Private didn't mention that he had been fighting; making it seem like the teacher was the only one fighting.
Kenny received a phone call, but declined to answer.
Kowalski sighed and took his phone into the HQ.
He returned two hours later with a completely furious expression. He refused to speak to anyone, even when Doris tried to talk to him he ignored her.
…
Once they had returned to school, they got all the information they needed.
Four masked men entered the school, three had been caught. There were no casualties, but one injury. Mr. Taylor said that he got an update that Mr. Campbell was still alive, but unlikely to return soon.
He personally paid a visit to Mr. Campbell's sixth grade class.
"Who's going to teach us for the rest of the semester, Mr. Taylor?" Allie asked.
"We found a substitute who should be here soon." Mr. Taylor answered. "In the meantime, you should review your workbooks or read ahead. I'm sorry we couldn't find someone right away. We have a teacher who can cover the classes after this one, but the only one who could cover this class is on paternity leave."
The class opened their books. One of the janitors was brought in to supervise the kids.
The substitute came fifteen minutes later.
She grunted and slammed her suitcase on the desk.
"I'm the substitute for these delinquents."
The janitor grumbled, wished the kids good luck, and left the room. The substitute turned to the students and glared at all of them.
"I'm Rhonda."