Chapter 12: Infiltration
As the team arrived at the High School they saw that the place was also covered with graffiti, however unlike the wall they saw along the way this graffiti was more specific. What they saw was theses little figures that looked like they were from one of Lincoln's video games, but they were making obscene gestures. However they weren't the main focus on the school's defaced facade, for a large spray painted version of the Hazeltucky High School football team's logo adorned the area around the main entrance.
"This must be it." Said Luna.
"You guys ready?" Asked Sam.
The rest of the girls nodded in response.
"I don't see anyone." Said Leni.
"They could be hiding." Said Maddie.
"In that case we should split up." Suggested Margo.
"I say we go in pairs, so someone could fight back if ambushed." Said Sam.
"Who's going with who?" Asked Luna.
"I don't know…"
"And there's an odd number, so someone's going alone."
Sam pondered for a bit but then an idea came to her.
"I'll go alone."
"Really Sam?"
"Yeah, I figure you'd be the best to pair up with Leni. She is your sister after all."
Luna didn't want her girlfriend to fend for herself but then realized that she's a lot stronger than she appears. Especially when she has to be tough, which was a rarity but now after the apocalypse has become a necessity.
"Alright dude, I know you can handle it."
"Then I guess I'll team up with Nadia." Said Margo.
"That means I'm with you Lainey." Said Maddie.
They then heard gunfire and they all instinctively ducked. Fortunately whoever shot at them missed but they remained on the ground just to be safe.
"I think we got spotted." Said Sam.
"We better spread out now." Said Luna.
"I suggest we all take an entrance, coincidentally there's one for each party."
"How are we even gonna get there?" Asked Margo.
They then looked around at their surroundings until Luna made a helpful discovery.
"There's some bushes nearby, maybe we could cover ourselves with them."
"That's probably our best shot." Said Sam.
They then crawled over to the adjacent bushes, hid behind them, uprooted them, and then slowly but surely went on their way. They had to periodically stop to make sure the still unseen shooters didn't see them move and luck was on their side because not another shot was fired after they ducked that first time.
At this point it was time for each team to pick an entrance to infiltrate the school. Since they still needed the bushes for camouflage Sam just listed the names and locations of the entrances and each team picked the one they wanted. Luna and Leni picked the doors by the auditorium, Lainey and Maddie picked the doors by the gymnasium, Margo and Nadia picked the main entrance, which left Sam with the door by the shop classrooms.
With their entry points in mind the girls then exchanged some last minute words.
"What do we do when we're done?" Asked Margo in a hushed tone.
"I guess we'll meet back out front and wait for the National Guard." Answered Sam.
"What if one of us doesn't make it?" Asked Lainey.
While the girls were aware of the risk at this point the question was still met with a solemn silence.
"W…we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Said Sam.
"Well, let's do this." Said Luna.
"See you all out front." Said a reassuring Sam.
With that they all finally split off and went to their designated locations around the school. The task, while risky, seemed to be easy enough for the girls to handle as aside from the gunshots earlier it was a very quiet ordeal. However perhaps it was a bit too quiet.
Meanwhile inside the one of the science classrooms some armed Hazeltucky thugs were gazing out the window. They were making sure no one was trying to infiltrate the makeshift fort they turned the High School into. Of course they weren't the only form of reconnaissance on the premises for they also set up a rudimentary listening device outside the school. To the random passerby, or Sam and her gang, it looked like there was a small amount of litter strewn around the school grounds. Litter it was not though, for they were the other end of a large version of those old school tin can phones kids used to make decades ago. Unseen by the girls were the cables attached to the cans, which lead into the now defunct computer lab, where the receiving ends were labeled with the location they were listening in. For this is where the leader set up his base of operations.
"Sir, we got intruders." Said a random armed raider.
"I know, I heard it too."
"I can get some guys to gun them down for you."
"Or we can let them think it's a cake walk."
"Pardon?"
"You see I knew our raiding would eventually lead to some form of resistance with what little population remained. I wanted to just have my teams wipe out anyone who tried to stop our looting but then I figured we should make an example of someone."
"Really?"
"Yes, think of those girls as an infestation of mice. How do you deal with them?"
"Call an exterminator?"
"Uh… yes but no."
"Get a cat?"
"Yes but no."
"Uh…I'm stumped."
"You set a trap. Why do you think I rigged all the hallways?"
"Security?"
"Now you're getting it."
"So you think the traps will wipe them out?"
"Little girls like them? Foregone conclusion."
"Are you sure we couldn't have just used our guys on them?"
"Well let me tell you something I saw on our last looting excursion…"
He flashed back to few days before when he observed two of his lower ranking raiders play around with their weapons until one of them misfired and knocked down one of them.
"Jeff come on Jeff get up."
Silence.
"They killed Jeff! They killed Jeff! Those lousy stinking yellow pansies! Those horrible atrocity filled vermin! Take that! Take that!" Said the raider as he got progressively unhinged.
He then started firing blindly in all directions thinking he was avenging Jeff's death but Jeff was actually still alive. Then the gun fired, the bullet only knicked Jeff's shoulder. It was barely a flesh wound.
"Frank…Frank I'm fine see it's just a scratch." Said Jeff as he came to and got back up.
"Damn it Jeff there you go again being a thorn in my side again and costing me kills! I swear you just keep finding ways to piss me off!"
After that Frank crossed his arms around his chest and he once again misfired his gun while it was pointed at Jeff, only this time Jeff won't be getting back up.
"Jeff come on Jeff get up."
"They killed Jeff! They killed Jeff! Those lousy stinking yellow pansies…"
This little anecdote showed the raider that most of the lower ranking members of the group weren't all that competent. So the leader was assured that the traps set would take care of any intruder and that the girls would put it to the test. At that moment the first party made their way into the school, Luna and Leni entered by the auditorium.
"Nice job on the lock dude."
"Thanks."
"Keep your voice down."
Leni nodded in response and they both stayed close.
"Could you pick the lock for the auditorium?"
Leni immediately pulled out a bobby pin and stuck it in the lock in question. After a few seconds of jostling the door opened and Leni pushed it all the way. Her enthusiasm actually saved their butts because the door activated a trip wire that fired off two guns placed on either side of the entry way. Had both girls gone in there the regular way they would have died instantly. Of course the sound was enough to scare the fashionista and rocker.
"Luna what was that?!"
"I think it was a trip wire!"
"But those were guns, not something I would trip over."
"That's not what that means Leni."
They then heard footsteps in the distance and they quickly went into the auditorium to hide. Fortunately for them it seemed that the only trap set in the room was the one Leni accidentally set off. They then went and ducked down in one of the rows of seats. They lied in wait for who they heard as they assumed they were coming to inspect the sound. Luna had her gun ready in case she had to defend her and Leni. The footsteps got increasingly closer and she saw a figure enter the doorway, but they lucked out again as the figure just looked around and walked back out. They waited a few minutes just to be sure before letting out a sigh of relief.
But that relief was short lived because they both heard a distant gunshot. Luna immediately suspected another trip wire had been triggered. It was faint but still audible, and Luna thought of the other girls.
"Leni…I think I need to go out there."
"But Luna we need to stick together."
"I know, so are you going with me?"
"I don't want to…"
"We can't just abandon them."
"Well…"
"If you stick by me you'll be fine."
Leni pondered a moment before nodding in agreement.
With that the girls made their way back out of the auditorium and made their way to where they think they heard the gun go off. Meanwhile Sam was already at the site of the shot and was in a state of shock, because she saw the lifeless body of Maddie. The main entrance of the girl's locker room had been set with a trip wire, and when the middle schoolers entered two guns directly above their heads fired. Maddie was shot in the back of the head and died instantly while Lainey was shot in the leg due to a fortunately timed flinch. Lainey lived but is now unable to walk due to the leg injury.
"S…Sam…" Said a dazed Lainey.
"You got shot in the leg."
"Huh…?"
"I think the doorways might be boobytrapped."
Lainey then turned over to check on Maddie but when she saw what happened to her she let out a blood curdling scream. Sam was startled by this and that's how she noticed what had happened, and she had a similar reaction. Such a move caused another raider to show up and confront the girls, and it was at that moment that Sam sensed something. She turned around to see a rife pointed at her and Lainey, Sam immediately grabbed her firearm but the raider kicked it out of her hand before she could do anything with it. As the raider cocked the gun Sam began to think on her feet of a way to save her's and Laine's skin but luck was on her side when she heard a gunshot.
Sam looked in the direction of the raider and saw his lifeless body on the ground. Behind him was Luna holding a smoking gun and Leni cowering in a ball, no doubt being frightened by the sound. Luna was equally shocked as she couldn't quite believe what she had just done.
"Luna…" Said Sam.
"I…"
"You saved me."
"Yeah…I heard you and…"
"He was just about to shoot us."
"I know that…but…I took a…"
Deep down Luna knew that if she showed up any later she'd be looking at Sam's corpse right now. Even so she still felt like she did something wrong, as she had never killed someone before. Up to this point the worst she's ever done was give someone a black eye.
"Well Luna…I think Maddie got…"
Luna then looked over to see Maddie.
"Boobytrap."
"You too?"
"Yeah, Leni pushed open the door before we entered the auditorium and it tripped the wire, if she didn't do that…"
"What should we do with Maddie?" Asked Lainey.
The girls looked at the body and at the body of the raider. But before they could think long enough they heard footsteps in the distance."
"We'll come back for them later, we need to get outta here." Whispered Sam.
Sam and Luna then propped Lainey up in a way that she could use them as a crutch. Luna then called for Leni who was still balled up. Leni didn't respond, Luna knew right away that she was having another one of her episodes.
"Uh oh." Said Luna.
"What is it?" Said Sam.
"When Leni gets like this it takes her a little bit to calm down."
"That's gonna be a problem."
"I can't leave her behind."
"I'll take Lainey, you get Leni walking again, then meet us in the nurse's office."
"Okay."
Sam then placed Lainey on her back piggyback style and they headed off, while Luna went over to Leni.
"Leni…it's me."
Leni still remained balled up.
"The sound scared you didn't it?"
Leni nodded in response.
"It's okay Leni, we'll get you somewhere safer."
Leni then unpunched her legs and was now sitting on the floor.
"That's good, take a few deep breaths."
Leni did just that.
"Feeling better?"
"Just a little."
"You think you can get moving now?"
Leni got up, though her legs wobbled a bit.
"Where do we gotta go?"
"Nurse's office."
"I think I know how to get there."
"I'll join you, just in case."
The girls then made their way to the nurse's office, meanwhile Margo and Nadia were inspecting the Administration's office for potential raiders. Like Luna and Leni they lucked out in regards to booby traps, as the main entrance itself was rigged with guns too. After that they saw no other signs of raiders, even within what they've inspected so far.
"See anything?" Asked Margo.
"Not in the Guidance Counselor's office." Answered Nadia.
"I'm not finding anything in the Secretary room either."
"All that's left is the Principal's office."
The girls looked at the door that had was labeled "Principal Rivers". They tried to open the door but it was locked, and Leni was the only one who knew how to pick locks.
"What are we gonna do now?" Asked Nadia.
"Maybe I could shoot our way in."
Margo then aimed her gun at the door and tried to blow the knob off. But while she was accurate with the BB gun the other day she quickly learned that real guns aren't the same. She shot off randomly and all she did was scatter bullet holes into the door until she ran out of ammo.
"Uh…"
"My ears are ringing…" Said Nadia.
"That was just…"
Before Margo could finish they heard the knob turn on the Principal's door. The girls then froze as they saw the door crack open. During the preceding exchange, Leni and Luna were on their way to the Nurse's office, but Margo's gunshots were audible. Leni freaked out a little again, but Luna was able to keep her from collapsing. They were able to determine that the sound was coming from the Administration area, which was very close to the Nurse's office. They then heard screaming coming from there and they immediately ran over to that area. Back at the scene Nadia was staring at what was left of Margo, who had quite a few rounds blown into her by the guy in the office. The raider then pointed the gun at Nadia's head, this was an easy target for him as Nadia was paralyzed with fear and didn't even think to grab her weapon. Just as the raider was about to kill Nadia a gunshot was made in their direction. They both turned around to see Luna holding a now smoking gun.
"Shoot I missed.." Said Luna under her breath.
The raider then immediately shot at Luna but she was able to duck out of the way. This started a shootout in which Luna and Nadia were trying to take out the raider, and they actually got him. However before they could react several more of them made their way into the Administration area, and they all started shooting. Luna knocked over a nearby file cabinet and ducked behind it and would occasionally pop up and shoot some more when she thought she could dodge some of the onslaught.
During all this Leni was once again curled up in a ball and shivering. Luna saw this and was using whatever spare brainpower she had left to try and remedy her situation. During one of her ducked down periods she crawled over to Leni and tried to comfort her. She knew that they were close to the Nurse's office she mulled over the idea of having Leni go by herself, as that would mean she wouldn't be shot at.
"Leni, you need to get up." Said Luna while shaking her.
Leni whimpered in response.
"C'mon dude the nurse's office is right down the hall, just go out the door behind you."
Leni shook.
"Need me to help you up?"
Leni nodded.
Luna then got to Leni's back and placed her hands in Leni's armpits. As she lifted her up she momentarily forgot about her surroundings and that was the moment she felt something hit her chest. Luna fell to the floor for a second and as she got back up she still felt a sharp pain in her chest. She placed her hand on the part of her chest where she felt the pain and when she moved her hand to inspect it she saw that her hand was covered in blood. She then started to feel her heartbeat beginning to slow and knew what was about to happen. Luna tried to use the last of her strength to help Leni up but it was no use, when she tried to help her up this time she just collapsed on the ground and that was it.
Meanwhile in the nurse's office Sam was guarding the door while Lainey was sitting on a table with a bandaged leg. It had been mostly quiet until the adjacent shootout, which had prompted Sam to raise her guard. Something snapped her out of it and that was a blood curdling scream that was then silenced by a gunshot. Sam knew that voice, it was Leni, and with that she ran right into the scene of the shoot out and was met with the gruesome scene. She saw Luna's lifeless body hunched over on the ground and Leni's lifeless body laying in the opposite direction with a bullet wound in her head.
A blinding rage then overcame Sam and she immediately began firing her weapon, and when she stopped she saw that she killed the raiders that were standing at the other end of the corridor. Sam then saw Nadia near where the raiders were standing, though she was a goner too, but Sam was able to determine that she was shot long before her arrival. Still in a rage, Sam then set off, determined to single handedly purge the raiders from the building.
Meanwhile back at the Hunnicutt farm Officer Schoffner was on her own ham radio trying to contact the National Guard unit she and the others had planned to use to take out the raiders since the plan was to use the girls as cannon fodder. During the previous week the commander she talked with said that his unit was getting smaller and smaller due to the radiation but was confident that they'd still make it over in a decent number. But this time the radio had been dead silent, she double checked the frequency and everything and there was no answer. She knew that they use radio silence as a form of stealth but based on her prior experience it never lasted this long. As she changed the frequency she caught a conversation with two users about a bunch of dead soldiers found on the Ohio state line and they mentioned a town that she heard the National Guard mention a few days earlier.
The horror set in once she realized what had happened, and set in harder when she realized what she had done.