II - Assassination Attempt
Calvin tipped his cap upwards as he slowly stepped towards the desk in the Oval Office, looking at the many papers stacked over each other. He shined his flashlight on one of the papers, revealing a sketch of a stick figure with long yellow hair going downwards. The stick figure had a teal dress on and was smiling as a cartoonish sun and bubbly clouds were drawn above it. Taped below the paper was a strip of paper, with carefully written quoted calligraphy. It stated: "Happy Leni" - Lily Loud
Calvin moved his flashlight towards the back of a picture frame, before he grabbed it and flipped it around. Inside the frame was a picture of the Louds and the McBrides standing in front of Mr. Grouse's home, standing along with him as Christmas decorations surrounded them.
"I've never seen these men before," said Calvin.
Moose and Beatrice walked up to him. Guillermo and Nora continued looking around the Oval Office as Raphael poured cooking oil at the bookshelves, tables, chairs, and curtains.
"Those men might be the black kid's fathers," said Beatrice.
"Disgusting," said Guillermo as Nora raised an eyebrow.
"You're disgusting," said Moose. "End of the fucking world and you still got something to say about everyone."
Guillermo smirked while Nora crossed her arms and walked away from him and towards Calvin.
"These two must be Lori's mother and father," said Calvin. "And look at all of her sisters. Look at this goth girl in black."
"That's Lucy," said Beatrice, placing a piece of paper on the table. "She wrote this haiku. No doubt it the goth girl."
"Interesting."
"Never seen the girl with the creamy blonde hair, either," said Moose.
"Right. It's the girl in the drawing. Happy Leni."
Calvin continued to observe the picture. He then squinted his eyes.
"I didn't know these two were twins. We never saw them together, right? No one saw these two standing next to each other?"
"I sure as shit ain't," said Guillermo walking up to the picture frame. "One of them's gotta be a brains-splattered, six-feet under shit rotten corpse. And I'm pretty fucking sure it's the spoiled brat-bitch-looking one."
Nora giggled. Moose shook his head.
"Jesus," he grumbled.
"You gotta admit it," smiled Nora. "Brat-bitch is such a funny name."
Nora looked at Calvin.
"Lola Loud. She had quite a reputation in Michigan's beauty pageants… but, not anymore!"
Calvin continued looking at the picture.
"Damn. They're all gone. That's… really tragic."
"Wow," Nora softly gasped. "Someone gained feelings!"
"It's nice to see you smile again," said Beatrice softly, "but you're not having second thoughts about this girl and her family, right?"
"Hell no," said Calvin sharply. "Are we good, Raphael?"
"The whole room's your oven."
Raphael handed Calvin a candle lighter before he and the other cannibals walked out of the Oval Office, with Guillermo, Nora, and Moose following them out of the room as well. Beatrice walked away before pausing before the door. She looked back at Calvin, who stared out the window, looking at the Washington Monument in the distance before looking down at the battered fences surrounding the North Lawn.
"You alright?" asked Beatrice.
Calvin nodded as he turned around. He walked up to Beatrice and lowered his eyes.
"This would've been a good place to live," he said.
Beatrice tilted her head and caressed his neck.
"We'll find other places. Places with more people. We'll find a way to make it. We always do."
Calvin nodded before he walked towards the exit, holding Beatrice's right hand. He then turned around and knelt down, flickering the candle lighter on. He hovered it over the cooking oil and tapped it, causing a small spark, before a trail of fire began to follow the rest of the oil. He stood up and closed the door as the fire began to spread rapidly around the room. The fire burned down the curtains, the shelves, the carpet, the desk, the papers. The paper with Lily's drawing was set on ablaze before crumbling into a dark pile of ash.
In the North Lawn, a group of X-Tribe members walked carefully throughout the dark smoky ruins. Then, the fire from inside the Oval Office illuminated the West Colonnade and the Rose Garden outside. The X-Tribe members walked towards the Rose Garden, firearms and bladed weapons in hand.
The beam of light from the flashlight moved around the sub-basement. Black stains were spotted around the pipes, and the paint on the walls were peeling off. The group slowly walked towards the electrical room, as sweat prespired on the bodies of the heavily clothed group in the damp room.
The sound of a bucket crashing into the ground was heard inside the electrical room. The group members raised their weapons, as Lori and David took the lead and hugged the wall by the door with their backs. David slowly extended his arm out, rotating the door knob and pushing the door open as slow as he could. With his right hand, he pointed his suppressed M9 towards the room and heard rattling noises. The door was halfway open and the flashlight revealed more of the room.
David's dilated pupils looked around the room as he slowly stepped inside, his lungs paused and his heart racing. He then heard the bucket being rolled around to his left. He slammed the door open and aimed at the source of the sound, the flashlight revealing the source of the sound. Lori shrieked as a rat ran out the tipped bucket and into a small hole in the wall.
"Oh my god, was that a rat?" asked Sam.
Lori panted as she nodded. She swallowed hard and caught her breath.
"Oh my god, I was holding my breath for too long," she panted. "That mini heart attack didn't help."
David looked at the electrical panel. The flashlight revealed cut wires and damaged circuit breakers. He turned around.
"Damn. We don't have time to repair this."
"Literally?" asked Lori. "Shit. That's just great."
"The Christmas lights are still on though," said Luan. "How?"
"Not all the wires are cut," said Benny. "These cannibals are using the darkness to their advantage. But why aren't all the wires cut? Why leave some?"
"Too lazy?" commented Lynn.
"Calvin's always got a plan for everything," said Jace. "He's planning to make this his home. He's gotta be— it's the only one I can think of."
David walked out of the electrical room. The group turned and followed him.
"Good," said David, clicking his earpiece. "His cockiness will end him. We've got cameras on our side. Ain't that right, Lincoln?"
"Right. So, the power…?"
"There's no time to repair the circuits," said David, walking up the steps out of the sub-basement and onto the Ground Floor. "We're heading to the Oval Office."
"Keep your voice down. In the library, there's a cannibal. The door's open. She's looking around the shelves."
"Roger that," whispered David.
Lori and David stepped out of the Grand Staircase and into the Center Hall, where the library was next door. David and Lori snuck towards the library, before pausing. David turned around and spread his hand around before turning it into a fist.
"Wait here," he whispered.
He removed his green and grey helmet— though he kept the rest of his camouflage armor on— then faced Lori and shifted his head towards the library before he turned off his flashlight. Lori nodded and walked behind David with slow and long strides as they entered the library.
A cannibal walked around the library, pointing her flashlight at the bookshelves. David and Lori crouched behind the bookshelves as the cannibal continued moving around, carrying a double-barrelled shotgun in her hands. David and Lori crouched around the library slowly as the cannibal continued to look around the room.
Each step forward raised Lori's heartbeat. Her eyes moved around quickly as sweat dripped from her palms. She had trouble swallowing as her breath left her lungs very slowly. Her senses were very alert in the dead silence that surrounded the room. Then, her stomach growled.
The cannibal turned around and walked towards the low bookshelves, shining her flashlight on the books. A very minimal amount of light peered through the tiny spaces between the tightly-packed books. David grabbed his pistol and raised his eyes as he hovered his hands above the floor, staying as still as possible. Lori held her stomach as she looked at the light that managed to shine on the wall behind the bookshelf, though no light went under the height of the bookshelves themselves.
"I know you're here," said the cannibal.
Lori's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes stared at David in fear. David crouched away from the bookshelf as Lori was unable to move. Her breath trembled and her eyes shook.
"Where are you?" asked the cannibal.
Lori placed her hands on the floor and began to crawl forward as the flashlight continued to shine above the bookshelves.
"Found you."
Lori's heart froze. Her eyes snapped open, her breath stopped coming out of her mouth, and her throat dried up.
"Hiding here, you stubborn little thing? Well, Mama found you."
Lori turned towards the bookshelf and saw one of the books moving in front of her eyes. She quickly moved her head back as the book was removed from the shelf and the light from the flashlight shined through the empty spot.
"Call It Courage. This shit is lit."
The cannibal walked away as Lori released her breath. She peeked through the empty spot and saw the cannibal walk into the bathroom, closing the door on her way in. She sighed and lifted her hands up as she stood herself up. Her arms then stretched outwards, her elbows bumping into the books near the empty spot. And her heart froze again as a few books fell into the floor.
The bathroom door quickly opened as the cannibal looked out into the library, holding the book under her arms. She shined the flashlight on the lower shelves.
"What the hell?"
She found the books on the floor. She then saw a quick movement behind the larger empty spot behind the bookshelf. The cannibal's eyes widened as she began to walk forward.
Lori gulped as she held her rifle. She held it firmly and counted softly to herself before getting ready to lift herself up. And she did.
She quickly stood up, pointing her rifle at the cannibal. In a split second, David popped out from behind the bookshelves next to the bathroom and slammed the grip of his pistol against the cannibal's neck. The cannibal fell like a sack of rocks, dropping her flashlight, her shotgun, and the book in the process. David grabbed her before she could hit the floor and forced her into a chokehold. He used his right arm to restrain the cannibal's, whilst wrapping his left arm around the cannibal's neck. The cannibal grabbed at David with her left arm in a futile attempt to free herself, before gagging as David tightened his grip.
"Where is Becky?" he whispered.
"Who?"
"The redheaded girl. Where the fuck is she?"
"Don't… know!" the cannibal sputtered. "Think you can… Save her…?! She's… already dead, you… fucking…!"
David clenched his teeth before squeezing his arms more tightly. The cannibal gasped for breath as air ceased to travel down her windpipe. As her face grew purple and her eyes became bloodshot, she frantically reached for her shotgun. David felt this and, placing both hands on the cannibal's head, swiftly brought it back, causing her neck to snap. The cannibal gagged one last breath before her head drooped down lifelessly. David released his grip and dragged the cannibal into the bathroom. He turned the locks on the doorknob, walked out of the bathroom and closed the door.
"One less cannibal to worry about," he said. "One less roamer too."
David picked up the double-barrelled shotgun as he walked out of the library with a relieved Lori. The group members looked at them with a face of worry for Becky. They followed David and Lori as they walked westwards.
"You think Becky is still alive?" asked Luan.
"Don't know," said David. "I'm hopin' she is, but right, that ain't my main concern. Wherever she is… wherever she's being held, there's bound to be more cannibals. And we're wiping all of them off the face of the Earth."
"For George," said Vonda.
"For George," repeated Lori.
"And Kotaro," said Jace.
"And Kotaro. And for everyone else that these monsters killed."
The mournful faces looked in different directions as some of the members tried to recollect themselves, some were trying to concentrate again, and some were simply trying to hold their nervousness in. Then, when they approached the Palm Room, they all regained a sense of alertness.
"Guys… Calvin set the Oval Office on fire. He's not there anymore."
Lori pressed against her earpiece.
"He set it on fire? Like everything?"
"Yeah."
Lori felt herself shaking with anger. Her breaths grew heavier and more unstable.
"Well, where the fuck is he?"
"He went upstairs. The place where no one goes. The West Wing, second floor."
David placed his back against the wall near the door before Lori kicked the door open. David shushed Lori but she didn't pay attention to him. She walked inside the dark room, as David groaned. He and the rest of the group followed Lori inside the Palm Room.
Calvin opened up his backpack as he approached a door at the end of the hallway in the second floor. He pulled out a pair of goggles that had a green shade to them. He turned them on and placed them against his eyes. He looked around, and saw the entire hallway, everything having a degree of green to them. He then walked towards the door at the end of the hallway with his group, all holding their weapons.
The door opened and Calvin soon found himself outside in the West Terrace, a patio walkway that served as the roof of the building that connected the West Wing and the Residence Building. He aimed down the ACE-23, which had a red dot sight attached to it. He knelt down on the side of the patio and watched the torches burn in the distance as the cannibals walked past him, all headed towards the Residence Building, as Guillermo opened the door.
"Comin'?" asked Guillermo.
"Yeah… just give me a minute."
Calvin looked down at one of the approaching X-Tribe members, the leader of the Arlington X-Tribe. She wore a mask that covered three quarters of her face. It covered every part except for her right eye, which was covered in small ashy red scars that looked like veins. She looked up and gave Calvin a thumbs up. She then turned towards the man holding a short torch and nodded.
"Ready... aim... throw!" yelled the man with the short torch.
Calvin stood up and walked to the Residence Building with a smile on his face as the X-Tribe members used their torches to light the rags contained in the bottles of alcohol they had, proceeding to toss them at the marble floor of the West Colonnade, blocking the path to the West Wing.
Lori shrieked as the bottles shattered open, spewing flammable liquid everywhere. The walls and floors of the walkway outside the Palm Room went up in flames. Lori quickly closed the door to the Palm Room and lifted her rifle as she stared at the dozens of X-Tribe members outside the building. More bottles were thrown, shattering against the windows and setting the shrubs of the Rose Garden ablaze.
"Jesus Christ," muttered David. "They don't fucking stop."
"We're not getting to the Oval Office, are we?" asked Lori.
"Nah. Lock the doors. We gotta go back and then up."
"Lincoln! Where's Calvin going?"
"He's in the main— the Residence Building. First Floor. I'm looking outside the West Palm Room! There's fire everywhere!"
"Don't worry about it," said Lori. "Just stay in contact…"
An X-Tribe member knocked one of the Palm Room windows before he took off his mask. The skin around his jaw was deformed and covered in rashes. His protruded eyes looked into the room as he smiled, revealing a few missing teeth. He then lifted his rifle and fired at the window, causing the group members to shriek and yell.
"Oh fuck!" yelled Benny as he dropped to the floor.
"Get away! Get away!" yelled Bobby as he shielded Vonda.
"Fucking hell," gasped David. "Don't panic! Don't panic. The windows can take it. But not for long. Let's get the fuck outta here."
The windows continued to withstand the bullets, but with small cracks beginning to form, as more X-Tribe members joined in on shooting the Palm Room. The group members quickly ran into the Residence Building with the X-Tribe in pursuit as they walked along the outer walls.
"There's a cannibal headed your way," said Lincoln's voice in the earpieces. "He's coming out of the Map Room fast! Shoot, he's right—"
The cannibal exited the Map Room with a shotgun in hand, before finding himself blinded by a beam of light. A split-second, and his face was met with a suppressed shot from David's M9.
"—there. Woah, quick reflexes."
Lori looked out the windows inside the Map Room. The faces of the X-Tribe stared through them, illuminated by the torches they held. Many of them were darting past the rooms, running off elsewhere.
"Creepy weirdos," mumbled Lori.
The group walked across the North Hall and peeked into the Basement Hall. After seeing it was clear of enemies, the group crossed the North Hall and entered the armory.
"Why are we here?" asked Lori. "Is there a ladder or something we can use to get to the Second Floor really fast?"
"I don't think so," said David. "We're here to get some ballistic shields."
"Ballistic shields? You mean those heavy metal things?"
David grabbed a black rectangular shield which had an arm strap. He lifted it up with one arm, the shield covering his neck to torso.
"It's not that heavy," said David as he opened the other entrance to the armory, the one that led to the court outside.
"Then why are we going outside?"
"The X-Tribe people are trying to get in the White House," said the voice in the earpiece. "They're trying to break the doorknobs and stuff. It's pretty durable, though."
"That's why," said David, before pressing his earpiece. "Copy that."
"You're gonna kill them? That's nice and all, but what about Calvin?"
"That's your mission," said David. "Go. Find him, and end this."
Lori scoffed as she opened a drawer.
"You're going to fight them— alone?"
"I was actually hopin' some of you can accompany me. If anyone's willing."
Lori grabbed a thermal scope from the drawer and attached it to her rifle. She looked at the group, whom seemed uninterested in helping David face all those X-Tribe members, except for Luna, Sam, and Jace. Lori shrugged.
"Eh, what the hell. Go with David. Keep each other safe."
The trio nodded, each grabbing a ballistic shield of their own. They began to move outside before Lori grabbed Luna's shoulder.
"Be careful out there," said Lori.
"I will," said Luna.
Luna walked onto the court where she followed David to his RV. Lori closed the door and looked at her group members. She then noticed Vonda leaving the armory.
"Where's she going?" asked Lori.
"Yo!" exclaimed Lynn. "Von! Where're you going?"
"Upstairs. You guys are too fucking slow," said Vonda as her voice trailed off.
"Bro, we gotta get her," said Lynn.
Lori shook her head.
"She's on her own. We're sticking together. I'm sorry."
Lynn muttered to herself as she picked up two brass knuckles. She placed them in her pockets, then then raised her PPK/S pistol. She stretched out her arms and cracked her neck before breathing out an angry sigh. Lori exited the armory with a flashlight attached to her rifle. The Christmas lights dimmed and lit up again.
Calvin looked around the Master Bedroom while holding a grenade in his hand. His thumb played with the pin as he looked around, finding empty water bottles, clothes on the floor, makeup on top of the drawers.
"Last chance!" he shouted.
"Do we all back up?" whispered Guillermo.
Calvin sighed as he grabbed the doorknob.
"Yeah. Go back up."
Calvin pulled the pin and placed the grenade on the floor. He promptly left the Master Bedroom and closed the door before jogging away. Some of the cannibals present covered their ears, while others braced themselves and held each other. Then, a large explosion was heard as the door swung open, allowing dust and debris to fly out the room.
Lana placed her hands over Lily's mouth as she shuddered, hearing footsteps pass their room after the explosion. Indistinct voices echoed across the hall as Clyde looked nervously around in the darkness of the closet.
Calvin looked inside the smoky room and was met with an obliterated bed, shattered drawers, clothes torn to shreds, and items plastered into the cracked walls.
"Now they know we're here," said Neville.
"Yeah, that's why you're going to stay here and wait for them," said Calvin. "You and a few others."
"Where you goin'?"
"East Wing. If I recall correctly, the laboratory should be there. We get the cure, you ambush the group. Killing two birds with one stone."
"In the meantime, look for the others," said Beatrice. "There are eight people hiding somewhere. Find them."
Neville nodded before he and a couple other cannibals walked around the Second Floor, shining their flashlights around the room. Calvin and the rest of the cannibals walked towards and down the stairwell before they headed to the Easy Terrace, making their way into the East Wing.
David, Luna, Sam, and Jace boarded the RV. David holstered his M9 before grabbing Reggie's M16A4, setting the rifle to burst-fire. Luna took the Ruger 10/22 and slung it across her shoulder using the rifle's strap, then picked a Uzi for good measure. Sam attached a foregrip to her AR-15 before taking up her ballistic shield. Jace made sure Lana's AKS-74U was loaded before spotting the Bowie Knife in the RV's closet.
"Anybody want this?" Jace asked as he held the tool and inspected the blade.
Luna shuddered and walked to the booth table at the end of the RV. David glared at the knife before looking away.
"Nah, I'm good," said Sam. "Give it to Lincoln. I think it's his."
"Okay."
David closed the RV door and sat in the driver's seat.
"It's been a while, David," said Jace. "We still got fuel in this metal box?"
"Remember that trip to Baltimore I took last week?" said David as he started the engine. "I visited Brendan's old place. Free fuel. Took back some guns too."
"They just gave it to you? Or did you steal it from them?"
"It ain't stealin' if there ain't no one usin' them. Brendan's dead, Jace. All his people too. Calvin made sure of that."
Jace gulped as he looked back at Sam and Luna, both nodding softly. He then turned around, looking at David's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"Remember that when you're fighting these fuckers," said David.
The RV made a turn around the court and onto the South Lawn, driving over the snow in the driveway. The wheels slipped on the ice, causing the RV to skid against the snow, though David regained control.
"Nice and easy. Nice and—"
A low-sounding explosion caught David's attention as he looked at the dust, debris, and glass flying out a window on the Second Floor.
"Holy hell," said David.
He pressed the brakes on the RV as the headlights revealed the X-Tribe cannibals in front of them.
"Let's go!" shouted David.
He kicked open the driver's door and walked out with his ballistic shield as the tribespeople fired their rifles and pistols at the survivors. He crouched as Luna, Sam, and Jace all walked out of the RV, with the shields covering their upper bodies.
David tilted his head from the shield and shot his M9 at some of the cannibals. His bullets struck their chests, their arms, their legs. The masked cannibals shouted as they dispersed. Luna stood up and covered her left upper body whilst firing her UZI at the running cannibals. They quickly fell to the ground as their torches fell into the snow, drowning their fires out.
"Throw 'em!" yelled the Arlington leader.
A cannibal tossed his torch towards David, which he quickly dodged. He moved his head back behind the shield and groaned as the bullets ricocheted off the metal cover.
"Watch out for the torches!" yelled David.
Luna shrieked as a torch flew towards her. Sam quickly batted it away with her AR-15, before she was shot in the arm. She quickly lowered her shield as she groaned.
"Sam, are you…!"
"I'm fine. Armor caught it."
Sam smiled at Luna before facing the cannibals. She yelled as she placed the shield down on the snow, mounted her rifle on top of it, and fired away. The masked cannibals quickly went down as Jace fired Lana's carbine at any stragglers.
David walked forward before being struck in the leg. He groaned at the stinging pain as he pulled the bullet out of his thigh pad. He fired his M9 repeatedly as he continued advancing forward.
The four shadows continued to walk forward in the headlights as the X-Tribe members ran, with the exception of the Arlington leader and the cannibal with the large torch. Jace fired his carbine, hitting the cannibal with the torch. He groaned as blood squirted from his legs, causing Jace to gulp before he was caught off-guard by a bullet that struck the cannibal in the chest. The cannibal twitched and went lifeless as Sam moved the sights of her rifle towards the dying Arlington leader, who lay on her back against the snow.
"The X… will avenge… Woodrow…" groaned the leader.
She lifted a concealed pistol towards Sam. David approached the leader and took out the double-barreled shotgun he had taken earlier from the cannibal at the library, aiming both barrels at the leader's face before pulling the trigger. The two shotgun shells proceeded to destroy the mask as well as the face it covered.
"Damn," whispered Luna.
"Try not to feel sorry for—"
A sniper bullet darted across the South Lawn, causing David to flinch. Sam gasped as she fell back, her hair blowing against the wind from the rapid drop.
"SAM!" yelled Luna.
"Shit!" yelled David.
He quickly crouched in front of Sam and Luna, holding his shield up as another sniper bullet darted across the lawn. The bullet rang against the shield.
"There's fucking more of them!" yelled David.
Jace quickly ducked behind his shield as rifle bullets flew across the lawn, coming from the west.
In the distance was Giovanni, surrounded by more X-Tribe members, this time led by a man in a half-red, half-yellow mask. Giovanni smirked as he crouched down, firing his sniper rifle again as the Richmond X-Tribe cannibals ran past him. He pulled the bolt back and looked into the scope.