Chapter 3 – School shooting
Benjamin tried to retain his composure as he looked down at Shimmer's corpse. It was Ellie's horse, she had been riding it for years. A picture of a small brown foal flashed between his eyes, the way Ellie and him played with it. Now it was dead. Immediately assuming the worst when he recognized the horse, he looked around, but there were no signs of either Ellie or Dina. That alone meant that they might be alive.
What if they are captured?
The thought infuriated him. "Khan, come here." Ben ordered and wolf the obeyed, making his way forward after he was done feasting on Shimmer's flesh. Pulling out the tank top from his backpack, Ben knelt, holding the piece of clothing right in front of Khan, who sniffed it a couple of times and started looking for a scent. "Find the scent, boy. We're counting on you."
"We will find them." Jesse assured him. Khan tried his best to catch the scent. He sniffed the ground around the cars, around post signs which still stood tall, near the walls. Ben was very impatient, but he knew there was no other choice but to wait. Separating his snout from the ground, the wolf gave one short look to Ben and ran off. "He's caught something. Let's go." Ben said excitedly, and two of them ran after the animal. They ran for quite a while, passing through several blocks and streets. Ben didn't like them being exposed this much, but their options were limited. If Ellie and Dina were captured, they had to find them as soon as possible. Khan did seem to have found a scent which he followed for quite a while. Ben's legs were starting to hurt, and his breath was heavy from following the wolf who finally slowed down after some time. They stopped when they heard gunshots booming in the area, and pulled out their pistols. The sound of gunfire came from a distance, echoing between the buildings. One gunshot, two, and three.. "It could be them." Jesse said as he clutched the gun tightly, trying to pinpoint the location of the shootout.
"Could be."
Khan didn't allow this distraction to stop him in his search, thus he continued searching for the source of the scent, seemingly to no avail. He kept circling around the street until Ben realized they were wasting too much time. These gunshots were near. They didn't need the scent to find the battlefield.
"I think it's that way." Jesse spoke pointing down the street towards another crossroad. When they made it, they took a sharp turn to the left and jogged until they reached a building which Ben recognized as a school. They heard several more gunshots on their way there that sounded much closer in comparison to the previous ones. The gunfire was echoing in the school. A wide wooden sign said Eastbrook Elementary in the entrance arc. Holding a pistol in his left, Ben slowly walked, scanning the front windows of the first and second floor for a possible location of a sniper. There were no such signs, and companions closed in to the school through the yard. Small bicycles were seen lying on the ground, rusty and ruined. An old round fountain in the middle of the yard was dry and cracked in several places. There weren't any bodies in the yard, a reason more just to be more careful.
A blue, metal double-winged front door was closed. Ben reached with his right and opened it, pulling the door, revealing a network of dark hallways inside. Only source of light was coming from the outside windows. When his eyes met with Jesse's, Ben placed a point finger on his lips as a sign to be quiet and walked inside, followed by his companions. Both sides of the hallways revealed classrooms, packed with tables, chairs stacked at one place, and a teacher's desks filled with clutter. Some blackboards fell off the walls, while flowers in the vases have long since withered. Glass windows were shattered in many classrooms, and each classroom had at least three wide interior windows which looked right at the hallway. Whole school was one big mess. There were no clues of Ellie and Dina until they reached the place where four hallways intersected. Smell of blood lured Khan to enter one of the classrooms. When the two followed, they found the wolf sniffing on a human corpse.
"This one was killed recently." Ben realized when he looked at the corpse of a young man wearing a black hat. He was stabbed in the throat. This is the spot.
"There's another one here." Jesse said pointing towards another corpse in the corner. This one was much older. He had a few grays on his head. His shirt was soaked in dark blood. The man was shot through the heart. It was an instant death. "Look, WLF badges."
These belonged to the Washington Liberation Front, the ones who wrote Trespassers killed on sight at the entrance to Seattle. Ben couldn't feel sorry for them. They didn't strike him as the good guys. He decided to look around the room a bit further, trying to find a clue. Noticing broken glass on the ground, Ben looked at the windows only to realize those were whole. Looking upwards, he saw another window on the ceiling, except this one was turned out to be shattered. Did someone enter from above? On the floor below a table next to him, he found a cut rope. Kneeling down, he took it and examined it closely. Someone was tied here, he concluded and stood up.
"Let's search other classrooms, they might still be in here." Ben explained "I'll go through one side, you'll do the other.''
"On it."
They separated to search the school thoroughly for any signs of Ellie and Dina. All leads had dried up at this point. Khan wasn't able to catch Ellie's scent anymore. When finished with his side of the school, all Ben found were more corpses. He made a count of a total of three corpses, two men and a woman, all wearing clothes with WLF signs embroidered on sleeves. Khan sniffed the corpses and around the corners searching for more clues. Ben met with Jesse who said there were six more corpses on his side.
"Anyone alive?" Ben asked, to which Jesse shook his head. The whole school was turned into a true battlefield. Bullet holes in the walls, broken windows, tables and desks knocked over to be used as covers. And corpses. Corpses all around.
"Let's assume one of them was tied to that table." Ben concluded. He was always a better tracker than Jesse. "Somehow she set herself free, or was saved. Upper window is shattered."
Jesse raised an eyebrow, coming to a conclusion on his own. "Then, they fought their way out of school, leaving a trail of corpses behind, like you mentioned earlier."
"Good boy."
Jesse punched him in the shoulder, Ben laughed at it. "All we have to do is follow the trail, and we'll know in which direction they went."
Ben noticed that Jesse's part of the school was noticeably more overgrown with vegetation that stretched on the floors and along the walls. Corpses Ben encountered in that specific area of the school were in much worse shape. Two of them had their brains splattered on the wall behind. One was even missing a leg from the knee down.
"Holy shit." Ben reacted to it, finding it hard to believe that Ellie and Dina did this. The three of them went through the library, finding another corpse there. Splinters were sticking out of his throat. Did Ellie do this? he thought horrified. On their way towards the courtyard they passed through the cafeteria when they finally made it out in the small courtyard surrounded by walls on all sides and low roofs. One side of the roof collapsed, allowing for an easy climb. Both of them twitched when they heard a thud on the roof.
"I want everybody down here now!" a female voice ordered, climbing down the collapsed roof. "Where the fuck did those shots come from? Search the courtyard!"
Both Ben and Jesse were hiding behind a container that was about four feet tall and wide enough to cover all of them. Khan stood firm below Ben, who couldn't see well how many of them were there. He saw three coming down the collapsed roof, but their footsteps indicated there were more of them, at least four or five.
"WLF?" Ben whispered to which Jesse shrugged.
"You, search the cafeteria!" a same voice ordered, after which a pair of footsteps faded away through the corridor from which Ben and the rest got out. Separated WLF members made it easier to pick them off one by one. Moving slowly through the grass, the three of them hid behind another container. They were one step ahead of them, and they must utilize it correctly. One wrong move, and they were dead. Looking down at his left hand holding the pistol, Ben didn't even realize that his skin had turned all white from squeezing the pistol so hard it began to hurt. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek, and Ben felt his heart pumping harder and harder with every second. He allowed himself to get used to comfort of Jackson so much that he forgot how it actually felt in the outside world. The infected were one thing. Survivors were the biggest threat.
"There are two of them behind this container." Jesse leaned towards Ben's ear and whispered to him. "Take the one closer to you. I got the other one."
Ben nodded, looking forward, and got himself in a position ready to attack. Two pairs of footsteps swept through the tall grass. He could see the tip of the rifle. Wasting no time, he jumped out of cover at the attacker, managing to get behind him by sheer surprise and get him in a headlock. Before the man could react, Khan did the rest by lunging forward, knocking both men to the ground, closing his jaws on a neck, ripping it out completely. Some of the blood sprayed Ben's face, a drop or two got in his mouth. Another WLF member was dead, his blood painted the grass red as Jesse stabbed him right in the neck. Wasting no time, Ben ran behind the closest tree on the tip of his toes.
"What's that?" a woman standing in the middle of the courtyard, whispered. She called out for her friends, "Brody? Zac?"
Khan was invisible in the tall grass, but Ben could see him from above. Wolf was looking at him with his piercing blue eyes, his white head colored red from blood. Ben's heart was pumping even harder when he moved again. Going low behind two containers and another tree, he found himself in the middle of the courtyard, just a few steps behind that woman calling out for her friends. She was wearing a brown coat and holding a revolver in her right. Jesse was nowhere to be seen, but Ben already knew that he separated himself to take out the rest of the WLF.
"What the.." she couldn't finish her sentence when Ben pressed the blade of his knife against her throat. "Stop it, you don't have to do this." she whispered, two of them standing above two corpses.
Ben felt his hand which held the knife shaking. The woman tried to use his weakness against him and release herself from his grip, but she was too slow. One clean slice was all it took to open her throat and end her life. Her limp body collapsed on the grass, painting it red. Sudden noise of footsteps from the right prompted him to instinctively pull out his gun and aim.
"Hey, hey, it's me." Jesse warned with his hands raised. Asian's face and hands were covered in blood. With a deep sigh, Ben lowered the gun and looked at the low roofs around them.
"Is that all of them?" he asked with a heavy voice.
"I think so." Jesse replied and, without wasting any time, started to loot the bodies. "We got ourselves some free ammo."
Ben frowned. "Yeah.. free ammo."
The adrenaline that rushed through his blood cooled down, and he had to sit down for a second. Burying his face in his palm to calm himself down, Ben realized that just now he killed two humans. He killed a woman by slicing her throat as if she was an animal.
"Hey." Jesse said when he approached, then placed his hand on Ben's shoulder. "It's them or us."
"I know. I just.. don't worry 'bout it." Ben replied, his voice almost trembling as he got back to his feet. "Let's climb on that roof and see what we're going to do from there."
Roof was easy enough to climb because it tilted almost all the way to the ground, even Khan was able to climb. Using the collapsed lower roof to climb to the higher one, they found themselves on the top of the school, overlooking a city below them. Skyscrapers in the distance looked even more impressive from that position.
"Nice view." Jesse commented on the skyscrapers. "Imagine what this place looked like before all of this."
Ben smiled, "It's kinda hard to imagine it. A city this big as a safe place, that is."
"Yeah, but just think about it, about living a normal life every day. There would be no infected, thus no patrols, people didn't kill each other all the time like they do now." Jesse was getting quite passionate about it. "Imagine yourself, going to a high school like every normal kid of that time, getting bored to death by your teachers, finding a girl, just hanging out and so on."
Ben sat on the roof ventilation system to reflect on what Jesse said. "Yeah.. I wouldn't mind that." Finding a girl, Ben thought as he gazed at the distance absently. It was actually quite hard for Ben to imagine himself with a girl. It's not that he didn't like them, it just seemed too good to be true. It was nice to daydream about it from time to time, it took him away from the real world. Their chatter was interrupted by another set of voices. Ben leaned over the edge of the roof to see more soldiers of WLF entering the courtyard, finding their dead sisters and brothers-in-arms. A sound of voices merged with the footsteps, and he couldn't comprehend what they spoke about. Preoccupied with the voices below, they didn't notice a figure that appeared on the other side of the roof.
"They're here!" a WLF member shouted, outstretching his rifle. Ben immediately jumped behind a small platform with the solar panels to use it as a cover. Jesse ran in the opposite direction when the man fired his rifle, missing Jesse's head by an inch, hitting the wall behind him. Khan stood ready next to Ben, showing his teeth. Ben cursed to himself when he recognized the voices from the people below. Bastards from the courtyard have climbed up.
"Where are they?"
"One is behind that solar panel. The other one ran through the door back into the school."
"Good. Flank the one behind the panel. Ryan, you're with me."
Footsteps were louder and louder, and closer with each second. Ben held his knife tightly in his left, ready to attack at any moment. He couldn't wait for them to close in completely because they'll just attack him from both sides at once. Somehow, he had to turn the situation to his advantage. They didn't mention seeing a wolf.
"You think they're with those two girls?" a set of whispering voices communicated.
"Maybe, I don't know."
Two girls, he thought, widening his eyes. Did they catch Ellie and Dina?
Ben clutched the pistol in one and knife in the other hand tightly. Footsteps were closer and closer with each moment. He took a deep breath and without further delay jumped out of his cover at the man with a rifle. Shooting a rifle at such a close distance isn't always a good idea, especially when the attacker is fast with a knife. Too slow to react, WLF soldier was presented with a knife in his stomach all the way to the handle of the blade. His rifle fired, but because of the cold steel in his stomach, it hit the solar panel instead, producing a startling noise of the shattering glass. Another soldier ran around the panel to shoot Ben in the back, only to be greeted by Khan's sharp teeth which tore apart his whole face. Khan was growing furiously, ready to tear apart anyone who dared threaten his master. His eyes turning downwards, Ben noticed a body twitch below him. The soldier with the knife in his stomach was still breathing, his face red from pain as thick rills of blood flowed down his lips.
"Tell me about the girls, and you won't die in pain." Ben said as he knelt down next to him. "I promise."
Soldier's head was bald and a weak beard decorated his lower face. His eyes were teary. This man didn't want to die.
"C-coward." he said and spat blood in Ben's face. "You fight.. like a coward."
Ben gave him a look of pity, "Maybe. I can end this quick. You don't need to suffer."
Soldier gripped the knife, trying to pull it out. His hands were shaking, and the strength of his grip was betraying him. "Two girls.. young.. escaped.."
"Where? Where?!" Ben pressured the soldier, but when the latter tried to speak, only blood came out. He was choking on grabbed a handle of his knife, pushing it even deeper in his stomach. With a silent moan, fire of life was extinguished, and his eyes stared right through Ben into something unknown. Sighing sadly, Ben closed his eyes and stood up, ready to go after Jesse. Door Jesse entered while escaping led downstairs back to the school, to the second floor they didn't search. Readying his gun, Ben carefully walked down the stairs, expecting unexpectable. Khan sniffed the floor searching for the enemy. Ben knew the wolf would lead him right to them. Ben didn't hear any gunshots, presuming Jesse was hiding well. Two went after Jesse. Two more they had to kill. As Ben got down to the base of the stairs, a gunfire exploded, echoing through the corridor on the second floor. With haste, Ben ran forward, noticing two men that stood by the door of the office, shooting at something inside. When he was close enough to be sure in his aim, Ben stopped, lowering himself on one knee when they noticed him. Holding the pistol with both hands, Ben aimed for the head. One of them attempted to stretch out his pistol at Ben, but he was too late. Trigger was already pulled, firing a bullet that passed right through his throat, spraying blood on the fellow WLF member, blinding him for a second. That second was enough for Jesse to splatter his brain on the wall behind with one precise shot of his rifle. Their corpses lied on the ground when Ben ran over to the office, seeing Jesse behind the desk, repeating his rifle.
"Thanks." Jesse said and scratched the back of his head, moving around the desk towards the corpses. He kept his on Khan's snout for a few seconds before turning them back to Ben. "I guess the others are dead."
Ben nodded, remembering the bald soldier whom he killed. He felt sick. "Take what you can from them. I have something to tell you."
In a few minutes, they looted all the corpses on the roof, finding a few pistol and rifle rounds. For now, they had enough ammo to last them a while. Ammo wasn't the only thing they found, though. There was also some alcohol and bandages, two lighters, sandwiches, bottle of water, and some pills that Ben couldn't recognize. He used the bottled water to wash Khan's snout although the wolf had already licked off the majority of the blood already. Ben just had to clean the parts his tongue couldn't reach. He stroked his head as a reward for a job well done.
"Listen." Ben said when he turned his attention to Jessie. "One of the soldiers mentioned two girls."
"Did he say where they went?"
Ben shook his head. "No."
Jesse was not pleased. "Shit. What now?"
"We need to find a trace of them, a clue.. anything."
Ben wasn't pleased either. In the beginning, it was easy to follow Ellie and Dina because he knew they were going to Seattle. In Seattle, it was easy to follow the open gates and a road which led in one direction. Now, they had to face a massive city of Seattle with no other leads to follow. He wasn't pleased about it either, same as Jesse. The whole thing became so much bigger, and Ben was slowly realizing that this was much worse than he initially expected. What did I get myself into? he thought as they got off the roof, back on the streets. Where the hell are you, Ellie?
