CHAPTER 27: THE ASSEMBLY
It was 12:00 PM when we got all the groups to the Auditorium. Clayton said that he had a plan. I'm just hoping that it works. While Clayton was on the stage testing the microphone, I was up in the sound booth making sure that the audio does work. So far, all systems work. While I was working on the audio, Russell, Edgar and Johnny were making sure that the exit was blocked so no one can leave while Clayton gives his speech. Zoe and Pete are patroling the perimeter outside while everyone else was inside. Yeah, things were going as planned so far. Now it's up to Clayton to do the rest.
I watched through the window of the audio booth as Clayton messed around with the microphone. Once I got the audio right, I gave him the thumbs-up and he started his speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've been fighting these undead monsters for around a month now. We did what we could to survive when we were out there. And then two weeks ago, we took the school back from the undead, buried our loses and burned the zombie corpses. We made an oath, an alliance to where we all would work together. But lately because of an unfortune accident, the alliance has been shaken up. We had two cliques attack one another yesterday. We can't let stupid rivalries and accusations ruin what we have established so far".
"It's hard to live with killers and psychopaths, especially when they kill one of our own", Vance remarks in the crowd. "Bitch, we didn't kill anyone", Duncan says to Vance. "Oh fuck you, you dropout. You guys got Johnny locked up in the asylum months ago and now got Hal killed", Ricky says. "It was an accident", Omar says in an agressive tone. "Bullshit, I saw you push him", Peanut tells him. "Shut your greasy mouth", Omar tells Peanut. "People please, calm down", Clayton says on the microphone. "That tears it, we're leaving", Peanut says. Just then, the Greasers got up from their seats and started making their way through the audience. "Seriously, please sit down", Clayton says to the Greasers.
As the Greasers got to the aisle, Johnny went up to his clique and told them to get back to their seats. "You're a fucking Judas, Johnny. You're blind from the truth. These bastards are killers and yet, you rather believe them than your own friends", Peanut says to Johnny. "Peanut, shut down or I'll make you", Johnny threatens. "I'm not going to say it again, people. Please stop and think about what you're doing", Clayton says. "You know what, Johnny? For once in your damn life, just shut up. Everyone in the clique stopped caring about you a long time ago when you started dating Lola. Seriously, go back to your whore and stop trying to push us around". At first, it seemed like that Johnny didn't care about what Peanut said to him. All he did was stared down Peanut with a cold expression on his face. But just as he was about to head towards the door, he turned back and took a swing at Peanut's face.
Peanut fell to the floor with a loud thud coming right after impacting the floor. Soon after that, the Greasers started attacking the Townies in the audience. It was so crowded that some of the Greasers and Townies accidently struck some of the Bullies, resulting in a three-way battle between the three cliques. The non-cliques then started trying to get out of the audience, crawling over the seats just to get away from the heated battle. The non-clique students ran to the door to get out of the Auditorium, but neither Russell or Edgar would let them out. Meanwhile, Johnny and Peanut were beating the living crap out of each other. The only people who weren't engagged in the violence was Norton as he was off on the sidelines watching his own clique tear each other apart, Clayton on stage watching the chaos unfold and me who was all alone in the audio booth. After a while of watching the chaos, Clayton pulled out what looked like a gun, held it close to the microphone and fired striaght up in the air.
Everybody including me covered our ears as the sound of a gunshot echoed through the room. Man, was that loud? "WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN?" Clayton yells in the microphone. "Look, we need to work out our problems, and I mean everyone. I get it, you all have trust issues especially for stuff that happened in the past. I was never here during the school year, so I don't even know half of the issues that many of you have or been through. But that should be left in the past. We're dealing with a crysis here. It's kill or be killed. We're dealing with a an outbreak of zombies, something that I thought would never happen outside the comic book or Hollywood film. We need to work together to survive the dangers that lurk outside the gates. That was the point of even coming back here and clearing the school: so we can live in peace until help arrives or until these things start dying. But instead of working together and getting along, we're fighting amongst ourselves. We're bringing up the past, we're framing each other for murder, and worse of all, we're making ourselves vulnerable for attack. If we want to survive, we need to band together. Don't any of you want this to work? I know for a fact that this is what your parents would probably want you to do: band together and survive".
After hearing what Clayton had to say about our parents, everyone in the Auditorium then started moaning, looking down to the floor, scratching their heads, et cetera. "If we can't get along with one another, then we might as well kill each other. We might as well open up the gates and have every zombie nearby wonder onto campus just to eat us all. There's no point in survival if we can't get along". From the looks of it just from where I was standing, Clayton might have been crying, but I honestly couldn't tell. After hearing that speech that Clayton gave to them, everyone then started apologizing to one another. Townies and Greasers apologized to one another, Greasers among Greasers, even the Bullies started to apologizing to both cliques. And those three cliques apologized to the non-clique students as well. Damn, not once since I first showed up at Bullworth Academy have I ever thought that this would happen.
"We all lost loved ones. We all did things that we aren't proud of doing, but we can be better than that. We can move on, rely on each other for support. I know we can do it. I know we can make this work. We just need to get our heads straight and focus on the pressing issues infront of us. That is what you all need to think about as you step out this room and outside on campus. Now get out of here, and think about all that I said". I turned off the equipment just as Clayton jumped off the stage and into the crowd. By that time, everyone then started leaving the Auditorium. I got out of the audio booth and went down to the ground floor. "You did a good job up there", I told him as I caught up with him. "Hell, I was kinda winging it up there", he says. "I don't think we'll havie a problem with anyone fighting for quite a long time". "What do you think is going to happen now?" I asked him. "I don't know, but it sure will be peaceful from now on", he answers.