IV - Takeover
The two guards outside the Protection Area sat on their chairs, opposite to each other. The large guard was scratching lottery cards while the bald guard was working on a crossword puzzle.
"Hell yeah," said the large guard. "Looks like I won a couple hundred thousand dollars."
"Must be your lucky day," said the bald guard.
They heard a knock on the door.
"You or me?" asked the large guard.
"You get it, fatass," said the bald guard.
"Do me a favor and fuck yourself."
The bald guard chuckled as the large guard opened up the door. Lori held a hand over her stomach.
"Can I please use the bathroom?" asked Lori.
"I don't know. Can you?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake," whispered Lori. "May I use the bathroom?"
"What's wrong with the one inside the room?"
"It's clogged. Water's flowing everywhere. C'mon, I have to go badly."
The large guard placed his fingers on an earpiece.
"Hey, Eddie? This chick, their leader– she wants to use the bathroom."
"Well… let 'em," said Eddie, his knuckles bleeding. "Keep up the act."
Alright," said the large guard. "Follow me."
Lori walked out of the room as the large guard led her across the hall and into a men's restroom. He opened the door and motioned Lori to go inside.
"No dilly-dallying," said the guard.
Lori walked inside, seeing three urinals and two stalls on one side of the restroom, and five sinks and paper towels on the other side. She turned on all five sinks while shutting the clog, letting the running water rise up as she walked into one of the stalls, dropping her shorts. The sound of urine splashing against the toilet water was muffled by the sink water as it continued to rise. She then stood up, raised her shorts back up and exited the stall before washing her hands with liquid soap. With the sink water now dripping to the floor, Lori grabbed the liquid soap and began squirting it all over the marble floor. She slowly walked over to each sink and turned them off, before looking into the large mirror. Adjusting her vest, she clenched her arms together to show more cleavage above her tank top. She then walked out of the restroom.
"Oh, thank god," said the large guard as he began to walk inside the restroom.
"Hey, there," she said with a seductive voice. "You know… I've been feeling a bit… hot lately."
"Well, that sucks," said the large guard before shoving Lori away.
Lori gasped as she opened up her arms. She clenched her teeth as she walked back in the bathroom. She saw the large guard against one of the urinals.
"Hey, get out," said the guard. "Can't you see I'm doing something private?"
Lori cleared her throat.
"We could be doing something… private. I'm feeling hot… and I think you can help me with that."
"Sounds like you're going through menopause," said the large guard. "But wait, how old are you?"
"Meno– what?" asked Lori. "I mean, age doesn't matter. What matters is how much I want your–"
"I say age does matter. You look like a damn teenager. You can't be getting menopause this soon. You're bullshittin' me, and I don't like being bullshitted on!"
The large guard zipped up his pants and looked at Lori as he walked over to a sink..
"Why are you looking at me like a damn creep?" asked the guard. "And what the fuck's up with the floor?"
"Fuck, this is why," said Lori.
She grabbed one of the sinks and held on to it as she kicked the guard's shin, causing him to slip and fall forward, busting his nose and forehead.
"Six letter word… aromatic evergreen shrub... known as the bay tree…"
The bald guard wrote a word into his crossword puzzle before hearing crashing noises in the bathroom. He stood up and walked over to the restroom before seeing Lori come out, appearing horrified.
"The hell happened?" asked the bald guard as he entered the restroom with Lori.
"I-I don't know, he must have had a heart attack or a stroke or something! He just fell over and I guess he got knocked out!"
The bald guard knelt down and placed his fingers over the other guard's neck.
"Yeah, he's out cold, but man, what the hell is all this water?"
Lori swung the pistol grip at the guard's head, dropping him to the ground.
"Oh, you bitch!" groaned the guard.
Lori knelt down and patted the guard's waist, searching for a knife. She was then kicked back before the guard stood up. She held on to one of the sinks and stood up as well. As the guard reached for his gun, she threw hers at his face, causing him to stumble back. Slowly rolling towards the guard, she was ready to throw a punch before the guard grabbed her vest.
"Let go!" shouted Lori.
She reached for the guard's eyes and began pushing her thumbs against it before the guard shoved Lori. She quickly grabbed his shirt, causing both to slip down the marble floor together, though Lori landed on the guard. The guard coughed as blood poured out of the back of his head.
"You shoot me, the whole place kills your group," coughed the guard.
"Good thing I'm not planning on shooting you," said Lori.
She rolled over the guard and ripped his earpiece out. She lifted up the guard's shirt up to his neck and pulled back. The guard clenched his bleeding teeth and held his shirt, pulling them forward. He stood up on his knees, forcing Lori to stand up and kick him down. He groaned as he tossed himself backwards, shoving Lori's back against a sink. She gasped in pain as she continued to hold onto the shirt.
"Fuck's wrong with you?" groaned the bald guard.
Lori yelled as she ran towards a stall, banging the guard against it, and forcing it open. Both of them fell to the floor, though Lori quickly regained her balance. She lifted up the guard with his shirt and pulled back while pushing her foot against the guard's back. He coughed violently as he struggled to move back. She then grabbed the shirt and continued to wrap it tightly against the guard's neck before pulling it back with one hand and pushing his head down with the other.
The guard flailed his head around, forcing Lori to smash it against the toilet seat. Then again. Then again. Blood flowed out his nose and his teeth as he turned redder.
Lori screamed as she shoved the guard's head down the toilet. The guard grabbed the toilet seat and struggled to lift his head up, his muffled screams coming out as bubbles. Then, suddenly, his arms collapsed and fell down next to the toilet as his head moved no longer.
Lori released the shirt, panting as she looked at the body on its knees, lying against the toilet with the head inside. She shook her head and continued to pat down his waist.
The other guard began to wake as its blurred vision showed Lori walking up to him. She knelt down and quickly sliced his throat open. He gagged and quickly stiffened as his body became lifeless. Lori walked out of the bathroom with a bloody needle point knife, and headed to the Protection Area, unlocking the door.
"If you don't feel up to the fight, go to another room and hide," said Lori. "The rest of us head to the armory. Move."
Lori walked out of the room and quickly hid in the narrow hallway across the Protection Area. Becky, Kotaro, Hana, Lynn, Vonda, Luan, Benny, and Ronnie Anne followed her. The others moved to the room next to them and passed it, before entering another room. Luna was the last one to walk in as she turned around, her hands on the door.
"Go get these wankers," said Luna, before closing the door.
Lori and the group slowly crouched past the kitchen, but stopped before the north hallway. The door to the armory was open and the lights were on. Lori looked out in the open hallway and then into the courtyard. There was no one. She motioned the group to enter the armory.
As the group entered the armory, Lori placed her hand out, motioning the group to stop. She watched as a Service agent held out a clipboard, his back turned against Lori. She walked towards the agent, knife in hand.
"I didn't expect company," said the agent, his eyes glued to his clipboard and pencil. "Whoever it is, I got this handled. Just go and–"
Lori wrapped her hand over the agent's mouth and shoved her knife against his lower back. Her hands muffled his screams before Lori dropped him to his knees and shoved the blade into the back of his neck and twisted it around, turning the screams into coughs. She then removed her knife before dropping the body to the ground.
"Come in, now," said Lori. "Grab your guns."
Two Service agents walked around the kitchen with a bowl of chicken soup. One of them blew into it as Sheila stepped out of the kitchen.
"You sure you don't want anything?" asked one of the agents.
"I'm good, thanks," said Sheila, pocketing a bag of tea. "Feel free to not come by. I'm thinking about quitting this job. You know, take my chances out there."
"Pussy," whispered the other agent.
"Dick," whispered Sheila as she walked away.
The two agents ate their bowl of soup as the cook continued to stir the soup in a large stock pot. Suddenly, an agent was struck by two arrows, a second apart. He groaned and fell on his knees as the second agent turned around. Suddenly, Hana decapitated the second agent. The cook turned around and screamed before her mouth was quickly shut by Becky. She looked at Vonda and Lynn pulling out their arrows from the first agent before he dropped to the ground. She closed her eyes and whimpered.
"Hey, lady," whispered Becky. "Lady! Shut up! If you keep screaming, I'll kill you."
The cook hyperventilated into Becky's hands as she opened up her watery eyes.
"Control yourself," said Lori. "We'll lead you out of here. Don't tell anyone we're here and we won't have to kill you. Understand?"
Footsteps came rushing down from the pantry room.
"What the hell is going–?"
The survivor wearing white clothing and a chef's hat was quickly struck by a bolt to the chest. She groaned as her legs folded back, dropping her body to the ground. Ronnie Anne's eyes and mouths were wide open as she lowered her crossbow.
"No!" screamed the cook. "That was the chef!"
Becky shut her mouth again as she kept screaming. Water ran down the cook's eyes as Becky slammed her against the refrigerator, shushing her.
"C'mon, shut the fuck up, 'fore I kill you" whispered Becky.
"Knock her out," said Lori.
The cook continued to sob before Becky lunged her machete against her stomach. Ronnie Anne snapped out of her stupor as the group members flinched. Becky released her hand from the cook's mouth, letting her gasp with soft whimpers, blood running down her lips. She pulled out the machete, letting the body drop with her back sliding down the refrigerator.
"Becky? No…!" whispered Lori out loud.
"Damn…" said Lynn.
"I'm… I'm going to go back with the others," said Luan. "You know, they need protection and stuff… you know?"
"I'm coming too," said Benny.
She and Benny walked away before Luan whispered to herself.
"God, what a kitchen nightmare."
Lori and her group walked out of the kitchen, slowly walking towards the Bowling Alley. She handed Lynn the needle point knife and nodded at her. Lori opened the door and they both burst inside, with Lynn kicking the door back shut. A couple shouts were heard followed by the sound of blades ripping into flesh. Then, thuds to the floor. Lori and Lynn walked out with blood in the hatchet and knife.
"Let's keep going," said Lori.
The group walked down the middle hall and made it back to the south hall. They looked inside the Diplomatic Reception Room, and found a guard napping inside.
"Do we kill him?" asked Kotaro.
"He's got an earpiece on," said Lori. "So yeah."
Hana walked up to the napping guard and stuck her katana inside his forehead before pulling it out. She followed the group out of the room and walked past the China Room where the group were hiding.
The group walked inside the library, catching the eyes of a female agent. She dropped the book and slowly raised her hands up.
"Woah, I don't really mean trouble," she said.
Lori walked up to her and pulled her earpiece out. Becky and Hana stood behind the agent.
"I need you to stay quiet and we won't kill–" said Lori before the agent reached for her gun.
Becky grabbed the agent's hair and pulled it back behind the chair, forcing the agent to look up at her eyes. Her green eyes glared at the agent as she chopped her throat against the chair with her machete. The agent sneezed out red mucus before her eyes closed. The group then walked out, passing by a sign stating 'QUIET, PLEASE.'
"Holy shit," said Rob, holding crutches before raising his arm to his earpiece. "Eddie, the group's loose and armed. I repeat, they are–"
Becky raised her Glock and shot Rob in one his cheeks, dropping him to the ground.
"Well, that didn't take long," said Lynn. "Fuck do we do now?"
"We gotta stick tight and use the halls to our advantage," said Lori. "They got cameras upstairs. Can't risk going up."
Eddie lowered his hands as he yelled. More gunshots roared inside the White House. David laughed as blood poured out of his mouth. A tooth lied in the table next to him.
"You guys are gonna need to pray to God," said David. "You're going to Hell today, Eddie."
"Shut up!" yelled Eddie. "Stan! Stay with them! I gotta find out what the fuck's going on!"
Stan nodded as Eddie walked out of the room. George's chest puffed in and out as his bruised face looked down.
"Well… better start talking gentlemen," said Stan. "Just 'cause the big man left don't mean we stop talkin'."
Stan took out a blowtorch and lifted David's shirt up. Smoke and the smell of burning flesh mixed with David's agonizing scream added to the hellish environment they were in.
Suddenly, a gunshot splattered blood against the picture on the wall of Eddie. Stan dropped to the floor. The vent opened up and Lincoln crawled out, landing on the table.
"Oh," sighed David. "Nice one, son."
"Yeah, great going, kid," said George. "What were you doing in the vents with Sherry's gun?"
"Long story," said Lincoln, jumping down. "Where is the key?"
"Right next to you on the table. Hey, kid, how's Vee?"
"She's fine," said Lincoln, unlocking the handcuffs. "Everyone is. At least the last time I saw them."
The gunshots continued.
"There aren't too many survivors here," said David. "Actually, our group's got the same amount of people. We should be able to clear this house quickly."
"Yeah," said Lincoln. "There are families in here. People not part of the Service. Why don't we help them?"
David nodded. George picked up Stan's pistol and removed the magazine to peek inside it, before placing the magazine back in the gun. He opened the door and pointed it out, inspecting the halls.
"Coast is clear," said George.
"Let's go help the families, then," said David.
Lori and her group continued firing at the agents near the Palm Room. Two bodies laid in the ground while the group were in a standoff with two more agents, one of them being an injured Jimmy. Lori and Becky moved forward, slowly creeping up from the entrance of the room. A couple bullets struck near the entrance of the room, forcing Lori and Becky to stay back.
Eddie ran inside the Palm Room from the West Wing entrance.
"Fuck's going on here?" he asked.
"Sir, the group's on the other side," said Jimmy.
"Push 'em!" screamed Eddie.
The two Service agents moved up ahead, heading towards the residence entrance of the Palm Room. They peeked outside and found no one.
"There's no one here," said an agent. "It's safe. But I'm hearing gunshots somewhere else. From the East Wing."
Eddie walked out of the Palm Room and entered the residential part of the White House. He and the agents marched into the East Wing. As they passed the North Hall, the agents were quickly met with gunfire as Lori sprayed her AK-47 at the agents. Eddie ran ahead and into the staircase, darting past the first floor as Lori chased him. She placed the gun strap around her chest and ran up the stairs with her Python while grabbing the walkie-talkie.
"He's going up the roof!" Lori said into her walkie-talkie.
Meanwhile, a couple residents were running out into the courtyard, holding their bags and their weapons. George walked up to a family of three and noticed the mother holding a weapon.
"Are you part of the Service?" asked George.
"Yeah," said the woman. "But I'm not going to harm you. Any smart Service agent would be smart enough to run outta this building. The ones attacking your group– those are the assholes who love doin' this shit for fun."
The woman grabbed her son's arm and her husband's hand as they walked out into the courtyard, leaving the building. Lincoln smiled as he walked back into the Palm Room. He stopped.
"Drop your weapon," said Sheila, aiming her gun at Lincoln.
Lincoln tossed the M1911 into the floor and raised his arms. He took a deep breath.
"Look… Sheila. That's your name, right?"
"You're that kid I saw earlier. You're attacking my people."
"They're not your people," said Lincoln. "You only care about your mom. And that's good– I'm not judging! I just… I know you're better than this."
Lincoln dropped his arms.
"You don't really want to do this," he said. "You can't do this anymore. That's okay. You don't have to kill me. Your mom is out there, looking for you. You can just go. Just go and never look back."
Sheila lowered her gun. She placed it in her pocket and ran out into the courtyard, following the dozens of other survivors who did the same. George and David ran into the Palm Room.
"That's all of them," said George.
"Okay," said Lincoln. "I'm going to the roof. I have to make sure they really aren't coming back."
David and George nodded as they ran to the armory. Lincoln ran past the North Hall and into the staircase where he met up with the rest of the fighting group. They ran up the stairs, leaving stains of blood on the red carpet.
The door to the Promenade, the porch that wrapped around the White House roof, burst open. Eddie fired his pistol at the door while running away, his shots missing wildy. Lori ducked and used the door as cover. She then peeked her head out and aimed her revolver at Eddie. She took a deep breath and steadied her aim before firing, the bullet striking Eddie's right arm.
The pistol dropped on an ashy crater in the porch. Eddie held his bleeding arm as he passed by the debris, before stumbling near a missing balustrade. He crawled towards the edge of the porch, the evening sun shining on his face.
"Allen!" yelled Eddie.
Lori quickly turned and shot the sniper in the head. Eddie panted as he faced her. With her approaching closer, Eddie pulled out his flare gun and aimed it upwards.
"Step any closer and I'll fire it!" yelled Eddie.
Lori stopped in her tracks and continued to aim her revolver at Eddie. Lincoln, among with the other fighting members of the group made it up to the roof porch. They walked up to Lori before standing behind her.
"That's what you want, right?" shouted Eddie. "You want this place! You know how good it is! How valuable! You know how badly I wanted to keep it!"
"So badly, you would kill others for it, right?" said Lori.
"YES! It was the only place I could live without worrying about being eaten alive by– by–"
Eddie stood up and looked over the capital, pointing his flare gun at the roamers in the distance.
"...by those things! No humans. No dead ones. No worries. The Service never had to worry about getting their families killed the way my husband and son were killed. You know…"
Eddie pointed the gun at Lincoln.
"...my son was a lot like him! Young! Full of spirit! Courage! But people… they didn't give a damn! I cooked for our government, you know! I provided service to them. But they left me to rot in this shithole place!"
"People would kill for this place," said Lori.
"I know… I know! This place is a glimmer of hope. I thought the government would come back and take us outta here. That's what the flare is for. They're coming back…"
"There is no government," said Lori. "Just anarchy. You had the chance to create a real government. But what did you do? Kill people and take their shit."
"I know! I know…. There's no way to excuse my actions. I only wanted you to understand."
"We understand," said Lincoln.
Eddie looked at him.
"So you know…" said Eddie.
"Yeah, I know how bad people can get," said Lincoln. "But look at yourself. Do you not realize you're becoming just like them? Like the people who killed your husband? Your son?"
Eddie panted as Lincoln continued talking.
"Please… respect their memories. Throw away the flare gun. It's the only way you're getting out of here alive."
"Shut it, Lincoln," said Lori before turning to Eddie. "Just know, I'm going to kill you, no matter what. Shoot that flare and I'll feed you to the dead that come here."
"You're not killing me," said Eddie, tossing the flare gun to the ground. "Thanks, kid. You tried. You can have this place. If no one else is coming to save me, then no one is coming to save them."
"That's nice to know," said Lori, raising her revolver at Eddie.
"Lori…" whispered Lincoln. "Try to hold on. He's not a threat anymore. We can exile him. Please, Lori, please."
Lori gulped. She lowered her revolver.
"Like I said, you're not killing me," whispered Eddie. "But you know what? Take this place. Fuck this hopeless world. You're better off living here than I am."
Eddie then looked at Lincoln.
"Don't make this mistake again, kid," he said. "Don't ever try to spare someone like me again. I'm a lost cause."
He sniffled and closed his eyes as he stepped backwards off the edge of the roof porch, his body leaning back and falling as his screams descended closer to the ground. David and George looked out the windows of the Palm Room before seeing his body land on the courtyard, blood splattering into the glass panes.
"Christ," muttered David.
The wind blew against Lori's hair as she looked down at the ground, finding Eddie's corpse stiff in the ground with a pattern of blood behind his head. Her eyes were wide as she was unable to close her mouth.
Lincoln ran to the edge of the roof, prompting Lori to hold him back as he fell to his knees, looking down. Shocked and confused, he covered his mouth as he struggled to take his eyes off of the corpse.
Lori shook her head and placed her revolver back into her holster as she lifted Lincoln back up. She looked back at the group, who were all left speechless.
"Did you get them all?" asked Lori.
After a moment of silence, one member spoke up.
"Yeah," said Becky. "There weren't that many."
"Well… this place is home now. Let's get something to eat."
Lori walked back to the porch entrance.
"I can take bodies out and burn them," said Hana.
"I'll help," said Kotaro.
"Me too," said Ronnie Anne. "I don't really feel hungry."