ROYAL WOODS AT BURPIN BURGER
Lincoln and Taylor were sitting outside on the curb in front of Burpin Burgers. They took their hoodies off and wrapped them around their waist, hoping to avoid the notice of the now heavy police presence. In their hands were half-eaten burgers, and resting beside them were Burpin Burger baggies with fries, and next to it were drinks. They sat there on the curb enjoying their meal, as they watched police cruisers race past them.
"Looks like the police found out what. happened", Lincoln said, taking another bite out of his burger as he blankly stared at the road in front of him.
"Yep...they sure did", Responded Taylor, taking a sip out of her drink. They were both still beaten and bruised. Cuts were covered around their arms and legs as a result of all the glass they caught themselves on in the car. Though, since they washed away a lot of the blood in the fast food restaurant's bathroom, it didn't look as noticeable. But they would definitely need to clean themselves when they got home.
"You think they're going to figure out it was us"? Lincoln asked with a mouthful of food.
"Nah, I fucking doubt it. At most, they're going to have photos of us from the apartment's security cameras, but we're definitely now wanted though, at least for questioning", Taylor answered, taking a large sip from her drink. "What the hell do you think Ronney met when he said we didn't have to worry about school"? she asked, looking over to Lincoln with a confused look.
"I honestly have no idea. But If I had to guess, they probably found a way to keep us from getting counted as absent, or just not getting in trouble with our parents. I guess they either have some kind of hacker in their crew or just intercepted the phone call to our parents. Either way, who gives a shit, I doubt we're going to have much of a future with school now", responded Lincoln, taking the final bite of his burger.
"Heh, what the fuck are you talking about you dork? Maybe for me since I never do my work, but I know you keep up with school and shit. Don't go saying stupid shit like that, you're going to finish school regardless of what we do", Taylor retorted. Lincoln just smiled and laughed a little.
"No, I'm not as smart as everyone pictures me. I'm failing math, which I'm probably going to have to retake. Mr. Bolhofner doesn't make his class easy or fair. Plus, this jerk Chandler doesn't help the issue", explained Lincoln. Taylor just rolled her eyes at the thought of her former math teacher.
"Ughh, Mr. Bolhofner, that guy is such a fucking asshat. The only reason I passed his bullshit class is because he didn't want me anymore. I guess I was just too much of a troublemaker, even for him. Ha, that old douchebag was begging the school board to just move me the fuck to the next grade, anything to get me the fuck out of his class", Taylor and Lincoln just laughed, enjoying a few moments of escapism, before their laughter died down. Taylor just looked down at the floor in sadness, as she now wished being a troublemaker in school was the only bad thing she did. Lincoln also shared that feeling, wishing his only problems were school, bullies, and a hectic family. Taylor looked back at Lincoln and smiled.
"Hey, look at the bright side, at least we have money. Plus, now I doubt anything at school, especially that jerk bag Chandler, will ever phase you again. I mean are insulting comments any real comparison to being shot at and killing people"? Taylor sarcastically asked, trying to cope with the actions they did. Lincoln smiled back and nodded his head.
"Yea I guess you're right. It's going to be one hell of a day tomorrow huh"? He asked. Taylor giggled, agreeing with his statement. She raised her half-empty drink up in the air between them and smiled a weak but genuine smile.
"Cheers to a new fucking life of crime", she stated. Lincoln grabbed his drink and raised it to hers, bumping the cups together.
"Yea cheers to a new fucking life of crime", He responded. Although he didn't like swearing and would never say them before today, after everything that just happened, he had to admit, cursing now felt natural.
ON THE SCHOOL BUS
Clyde, Liam, Zach, Rusty, and Stella were now on the bus heading back home from school. Though, a certain white-haired friend of there's was missing.
"Man, where the heck is Lincoln"? Zach wondered. He looked over to the rest of the group, who all shared the same looks of confusion.
"I guess he decided to walk home today...still, I haven't seen him all day. He was definitely here in the morning", Liam chimed.
"I'm really starting to worry about him. I tried calling him but he won't pick up", Said Stella, voicing her concern.
"I'm sure the dude is fine, He was probably just staying after class or something", Rusty tried to reason. Clyde just stared out the window, wondering where his best friend had gone too. He knew with their different schedules that they hardly saw each other in school, but still, they occasionally chatted during the fifteen minutes that they had between classes. But to not see Lincoln at all was weird. Especially if Jordan didn't see him. Clyde knew that Jordan and Lincoln had English and History together, and she had not once seen him throughout the day. He knew that Lincoln wouldn't have ditched school, so he was just assuming that he may have gotten sick and his mom had to pick him up or something. At least that was the only conclusion he could come up with.
Sitting in the back row where the 8th graders Anderson and Pablo, also missing a friend.
"Man, did Taylor seriously ditch again? She needs to cool it. If she doesn't pick up her attitude, then she's going to seriously fail the grade", Anderson annoyingly proclaimed. He had his arms crossed as he stared out the window, visually upset that his friend left school. Pablo, sitting next to him, was on his phone, texting a girl that went to their school.
"Ah, you know her. She doesn't care. Guess she just didn't feel like coming today", he responded, still texting.
"I guess, still, I would rather she come with us to High School then be left behind. But I guess it's whatever", He retorted. Just then the bus was passing the Burpin Burgers restaurant to their left, and that's when everyone saw it. Clyde was the first that took notice.
"Is that Lincoln...with who I think that is"? he abruptly questioned, interrupting the conversation between the others.
"Holy crap it is", Zach responded.
"What the heck"? Rusty added.
"Lincoln"? Liam said curiously
"What's Lincoln doing with...HER"? Stella exclaimed, a mixture of confusion, jealousy, and worriedness overcame her last word.
Meanwhile in the back seat.
"Well, there's Taylor. Guess she did ditch. Hey Pablo, she's sitting over there with... with... what the heck is she doing with HIM"? Anderson shouted. Much like Stella, a wave of emotion overcame the last word he said. Pablo looked up from his phone, turning his gaze outside the window. Upon seeing the sight, he was just speechless, not understanding what he was looking at. Outside were Lincoln and Taylor, both sitting down on the curb in front of the restaurant, casually eating and talking as if they were friends. Once the bus passed them, Clyde and everyone in his group immediately looked back at Pablo and Andreson with confused expressions. The two 8th-grade bullied returned the looks, not really knowing what to say.
It was indeed going to be an interesting day tomorrow.
It was now 4:30 pm, and Lincoln Loud was heading back home. He and Taylor stayed in the parking lot of the burger restaurant, continuing their conversation, though most of it was related to "work". They discussed what would happen next, what to do if the police got close to them, who was Mickey and how powerful was he, who were his kids and does he have anymore, would they continue to work for Ronney, how would they hide this from their friends and family and other things related. Once they realized it was getting late, they decided to call it a day. Giving each other a hug and exchanging numbers on their personal phones to keep in touch. They at this point just wanted to get home, shower, and go to bed. As he was walking, he felt the snub nose .38 revolver tucked behind his pants, gripping the cold handle. The gun felt powerful in his hand. Other than his grandpa, no one has ever held or fired a gun, yet it felt so...right to him. He brushed off the thought and picked up his walking pace, now noticing that cops were all over the place.
Once he got home, he was quickly greeted by his mom, who gave the boy a tight hug.
"Oh I was so worried about you, next time text me when you're staying out a bit later after school, okay"? Rita cried. Lincoln just looked up at her in confusion, then to the living room behind her. All of his sisters, except Lynn jr, and his dad were sitting on the couch, watching the TV in horror. Lincoln, feeling a bit relieved that his mom didn't know about him skipping school, hugged her back, promising to notify her in the future. A few seconds later, Lynn jr came bursting through the door, wearing her baseball uniform.
"Sorry I'm late, I got your text", she quickly said, running past Lincoln, almost knocking him down. "Get your butt over here Stinklon, something huge just happened", she said, jumping on the side of the couch next to Luna. Lincoln was now very curious. Why was his mom worried about him? Why was his family all in the living room nervously looking at the TV, why did Lynn come home early? She always has Baseball practice after school on Thursday. Rita began to walk over to the living room, standing next to Lynn Sr. behind the couch. Lincoln took off his hoodie and threw it on the coat hanger beside the door, before walking up to the couch beside Lori and Luan.
"What the heck is going on", he asked. Lori shushed him immediately.
"Be quiet twerp, they're about to talk about it", she said. Just then, Lincoln's attention was now on the TV, as the news anchor began to talk.
"This is Chad Cunning with News 5 coming at you with breaking news. The quiet town of Royal Woods is now on lockdown after recent events. Cutting to you live at the scene". The TV then flashed to a reporter standing next to the Royal Woods welcome sign where police were stationed. She was a young woman, with tan skin, a yellow suit, a yellow skirt, and a yellow headband. She was holding a news microphone, with a wire that protruded from the bottom and lead outside of view from the camera.
"This is Katherine Mulligan coming to you live at Royal Woods, where just behind me, Police are setting up checkpoints. Earlier this evening, a horrific incident transpired just outside of Royal Woods near Sterling Heights, an area known for high gang violence. At The Sterling Heights projects, an unknown duo, and members of the Southside Ballin Heights gang engaged in a deadly shootout, leaving one dead. The two suspects then stole a 2006 silver Chevy Impala, before racing out of the area and onto the highway leaving Sterling Heights and heading to Royal Woods. As they sped down the highway, they were engaged by a van that contained more Ballin Heights gang members, and a deadly shootout erupted between the two vehicles in the middle of the freeway. The shootout caused the van to flip out of control, causing a massive pile-up that resulted in the deaths of over 17 people, two of which were children. 28 other people have been rushed to Royal Woods hospital. The carnage just outside the front of our city is apparent, as police and firefighters have been trying to clean things up all day. But the question is, who are these two suspects? Here we have Royal Woods Police commissioner Ron McGerald. Commissioner McGerald, can you please fill us in on what is going on here in Royal Woods"? Katherine shifted the mic over to a heavier and short man. He was a white man in an officer's uniform, with a big bushy brown mustache and mean stare.
"Of course, the two suspects were last sighted here in Royal Woods, and we believe that they are still here hiding somewhere. I want the public to know that we have every officer from Royal Woods, with aid from Sterling Heights PD, on the scene. We want to remind people that the suspects are armed and dangerous and that if you see anything suspicious, contact the police immediately. Here are photos of the suspects". The screen then flashed to a blurry picture of both Lincoln and Taylor wearing their ski masks and walking through the entrance of a parking lot. The photos were taken from the security cameras back at the apartments. Underneath the photo was the word WANTED, written out in bold. below that was some more information that said "wanted for the involvement in murder, grand theft auto, and harm against the public. Believed to be involved with the gang wars between the Southside Ballin Heights gang, and the 3 west side amigos street gang. If you have any information on the identities or location of these two contact police". The TV then cut back to the reporter Katherine, and Police Commissioner Mcgerald, who continued to speak. "We're going to have the town in lockdown for some days while we track down these two suspects. Rest assured citizens of Royal Woods, we will find these two before they can commit any harm. We put our foot down with gang violence here at Royal Woods. Although schools and work will still be open, we are issuing a 9 o'clock pm curfew that citizens must follow. We'll keep you updated". Katherine took the mic back and returned her focus back to the camera.
"You heard it here folks, be on the lookout for these two suspects, we'll keep you updated", she concluded, before commercials took the next segment. The Loud kids were all talking amongst each other nervously. Crimes like this just weren't common in Royal Woods. Lori pulled out her phone and started to talk with Bobby.
"I know Boo Boo bear, It's really scary. But we're safe right now, Police are everywhere", she said through the phone.
"Like, what if they come and break into our house, and steal all my pageant trophies", Lola dramatically stated, as she pretended to faint on the couch. Lana just rolled her eyes.
"Yea right, like they'd want your lame girly stuff", she said.
"Eh don't worry about it, anyone who comes through our door is going to be met with a roundhouse kick. I need a real partner to practice my Judo techniques on too", said Lynn jr, who was punching and kicking at nothing.
"Now look Kids, you're mother and I are going to be taking this seriously. As long as dangerous criminals are taking refugees here in Royal Woods, we don't want any of you going out outside of school or work. Is that understood kids?" Lynn sr explained. He was met with a unison of groans from the girls, but eventually, they all agreed to it, as they continued their discussion about what they could do to stay safe. Meanwhile, Lincoln was just staring at the TV screen in silence. The wanted sign with him and Taylor stayed on the TV Screen, and the number of fatalities was scrolling at the bottom. His mind began to race. Seventeen people? was he hearing that right? Did he really just kill seventeen people...including two children? He didn't know what to think. Fear, paranoia, and especially guilt began to wash over him until both his burner and personal phones began to buzz. He pulled out his personal phone first, seeing a bunch of texts from Taylor and his friends. Even messages from Ronnie Anne. Most of the text was just Clyde and his group chat checking up on each other, making sure everyone was okay and that the whole loose criminal situation was worrying them. Ronnie Anne was texting more or less the same thing. He opened his phone up, ignoring the messages from his friends and going straight to Taylor's messages. Her messages read.
Taylor: "DUDE ARE YOU SEEING THIS SHIT? HOLY SHIT, THEY'RE PUTTING ROYAL WOODS ON LOCKDOWN". Lincoln read. He began typing back to Her.
Lincoln: "I know, my whole family is worried right now. We're now wanted, though it's a good thing they still don't know who the two criminals are...also...all those people we caused the deaths of".
Taylor: "I know dude, just try not to think about it. We just have to worry about our own asses. They still don't know who we are, so we're okay. Anyways check your other phone, we got an urgent message from Ronney".
Lincoln took out his other phone, reading the message that was sent from Ronney.
Ronney: "WE HAVE AN ISSUE; I'M GOING TO CALL YOU TWO IDIOTS IN A GROUP CALL WITH MICKEY AT 2AM TONIGHT. I THINK WE FUCKED UP".
Lincoln just stared at the message, now even more worried.
"Oh terrific, what more could go wrong", He thought to himself. On the couch where the rest of his family were talking, Lisa Loud, the second youngest Loud sister was ignoring the ramblings of her sisters and parents, and instead was staring at Lincoln. She saw him look at his phone, then back at the TV. She took note that he looked freaked out. sweat was dripping from his face; his eyes were dilated and his hands were visibly shaking. Not only that, but she was also the only sister to notice the cuts and bruises on him. She knew her family was always in their own little world, and never paid attention to the little details, especially towards their brother. But she did. Not only that, but she noticed the black hoodie that he had thrown on the coat rack. She turned back to the TV with the wanted poster of the two criminals wearing black hoodies and ski masks, then back to the black hoodie on the coat rack. Lincoln then quickly grabbed his hoodie and ran up the stair to his room, all while his family was too busy talking amongst one another. Lisa just returned her gaze back to the TV, squinting as she stared at the wanted poster
"Oh, dear, my oldest and only brother unit...I know you're involved in this somehow, and I will find out how", she thought to herself.
