IV - Life of the Party
The starry evening sky decreased visibility in DairyLand. Sam continued to look around the amusement park, following Moose as they both had their flashlights on. She and Moose walked up to the gate off a rollercoaster ride where many roamers were straggling around the line area. She then looked at where Moose was pointing at.
"Is that—?"
"Yup," smiled Moose. "It's a generator."
"It's got gas in it?"
Moose opened the cap where the fuel was stored and looked inside. There was fuel inside.
"Yeah. Not a lot, but enough to get us home."
"Great, let's get the others," said Sam.
"Not so fast," said Moose, approaching a power switch. "The gas may not work. We gotta try to see if it's still good."
"Right, we can put it on the truck and test the engine. Let's go."
"And walk all that way? Nuh uh, just crank the generator. I'll turn this thing on."
"What does it power?"
"It's connected to the lamp. So I assume the lamp?"
Sam cranked the generator on, turning on the lamp the power switch was hooked on. But not only was the lamp on. Multiple sparks went off as multiple generators began to sound in the distance. Then, before Sam could react, the lights for the entire amusement park turned on. Multiple gates opened. Some rollercoasters began to move. The ferris wheel began to spin around slowly. Carnival music played over the loudspeakers.
"You hear the other generators?" asked Sam. "There's more gas around. Turn the switch off— we're taking the gas with us."
Moose lifted his hand off the switch and began to walk away from the lamp.
"Hey, turn the damn thing off!" exclaimed Sam.
Sam then lifted her AR-15 as Moose quickly raised his arms up. She aimed it at Moose as she tried stepping back towards the switch.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Sam.
"Trying not to get eaten by the roamers behind you," said Moose.
Sam kept her eyes on Moose as she tried to reach for the power switch behind her. She then heard the sound of roamers growling. She instinctively turned around, seeing the roamers walking out of the line area and through the open gates. She then heard Moose's footsteps and quickly turned back around and raised her rifle.
Moose threw himself to the ground as Sam let out two suppressed shots. He slashed her ankle with his knife, getting an agonized yell out of Sam as she stumbled down to one knee. He then got up and kicked her back before running away.
Sam saw the roamers standing above her. She quickly aimed her suppressed rifle at them and shot a single shot before rolling over. As a roamer fell flat on the ground next to her, she quickly stood up and limped away from the roamers as she tried to look for Moose. But there was no sign of him. She turned around and swung her rifle, hitting a nearby roamer in the arm and making it stumble back.
Moose panted as he placed the blood-stained knife into his holster. He ran inside a bathroom and stayed inside for a few seconds before coming out with a jerry can filled with diesel. He ran back towards the truck seeing a group gathered up around it.
"What's going on?" asked Bruna.
"Sam turned on the damn generator after I told her not to," said Moose. "We got cut off and I don't know where the hell she is. Is this everybody?"
"My girlfriend is still out there," said Theo.
"I'm here!" exclaimed Nadia, running away from a small group of roamers. "Where do we run to?"
"We're not running anywhere," said Moose. "Just get in the back of the truck and close it. I'll fill this up really quickly and drive us back."
The group began to leap into the back of the truck as Moose filled the fuel tank with diesel. After seeing the back door close, he took out a chain from under the truck and tied it around the handle, locking the back of the truck.
He then hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine, driving the truck away from the parking lot as the roamers approached it. The lights around the amusement park continued to light up the horizon, attracting many roamers in the area, causing them to ignore the truck passing them.
Sam groaned as she felt blood soaking up her boot. But luckily, the bleeding has stopped. She continued to limp forward, using her AR-15 as a crutch. The carnival music continued to play loudly over the loudspeakers, attracting roamers that didn't notice Sam in the first place. Finding herself surrounded by roamers that were catching up to her, she had no choice but to make a sharp turn and limp towards the ferris wheel ride.
The ferris wheel rotated counterclockwise at a constant pace, making it hard for Sam to cross safely. As the roamers approached her, she decided to leap forward at an oncoming seat, landing inside it. She quickly stood up as the seat began to move up to a dizzying height and watched as the truck that carried the group drove away in the distance. She then looked down and saw roamers approaching from the other side of the ride, trapping her from both ends.
Sam's breaths began to shudder as she pointed her gun out of the seat, her legs folded with the floor of the seat. She felt the seat rotating back towards the ground, causing her breaths to become shakier as she popped off a few rounds at the nearby roamers. The roamers that she didn't shoot reached for her seat, forcing her to kick and shove back before the seat moved away from the ground again.
She reached for a walkie-talkie, but could not find any.
"Damn it, Oscar," she muttered.
At the top of the ferris wheel, she heard the carnival music dying down before the lights across the amusement park flickered off. Then, the lights turned off for the wheel and suddenly, the wheel stopped moving. Sam found herself surrounded by a ground completely swamped with darkness, leaving only a starry sky to look up towards.
"Help!" cried out Sam as she realized that no one around will be able to see her. "HELP!"
—
"There's Principal Wilbur's office," whispered Clyde.
"Yup."
"You go on. I'm gonna keep going, make sure it's clear to walk to Liam's locker."
"Clyde, you don't have to do that alone."
"I know, but we have a party to get back to. I can't keep your sister waiting."
"Okay. Be careful."
"You too, Lincoln."
Both boys approached the reception room outside of Principal Wilbur's office. When they were in front of the door, Lincoln stood still while Clyde kept walking forward with his flashlight scanning the hallways. He looked back at Lincoln and gave him an approving nod. Lincoln nodded back as he placed his hand on the doorknob of the room and opened it.
He scanned the room with his flashlight, seeing Cheryl's reception desk outside of the office. He then flashed his flashlight through the window around the office, seeing the shadow of a man hanging on the ceiling with a noose around his neck.
"Oh my god," Lincoln whispered. "That can't be him. It can't."
Lincoln moved the flashlight away from the office windows and looked at the file cabinets around the reception room. He sat on Cheryl's chair and looked through the desks. He found a key and pulled it out before walking to the file cabinets. He opened each one individually before coming across a locked drawer. He placed the key inside the keyhole and unlocked the drawer. Inside the drawer were folders, organized in alphabetical order.
He grabbed the H tab and started shifting through the folders.
"Liam Hunicutt. There you are."
[insert flashback scene here]
"Wait, what? Locker 115 isn't his locker," said Lincoln. "Who has locker 508?"
Lincoln looked through the L tab of folders. He saw Luan's name. Then, he saw Luna's name. He opened her folder and saw her locker number. 550. He closed her folder and went to the S tab. He shifted through the folders and saw Rusty's name. Lincoln hesitated for a moment before continuing to look for Sam's name. But her name was nowhere to be found.
"Why isn't this updated?" asked Lincoln, his voice clearly distressed. "Why is Luna's name still here?"
Lincoln shut the cabinet and groaned.
"Oh, I'm dumb. I just have to get the master key from the janitor's room. Duh."
Lincoln walked out of the room and into the hallway. He saw Clyde approaching.
"Is it clear?" asked Lincoln.
"Yes. You got the combination number?" asked Clyde.
"No. I'm just gonna get the master key though."
Lincoln and Clyde walked past Liam's locker and towards the hallway that led to the janitor's closet. However, the flashlight revealed tiny flakes floating in the air. Not just dust particles. Small circular spores that floated around the fungi that seem to grow from the vent in the ceiling.
"That's the vent," gasped Clyde. "Please tell me it's not circulating whatever those spores are."
"No, the vents are off," said Lincoln. "Maybe rainwater made it to the vents. Fungus grows in moist places, right?"
"Do roamer fungi still follow the rules of biology?"
"It's gotta. Think the nurse's office has a mask?"
"You want to go through that hallway with all those… tiny things? No offense, Lincoln, but that's a dumb idea."
"Masks can protect against viruses, right?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"Lisa told me about SARS and MERS. Masks protect against non-airborne viruses. Could have protected us against this one. And spores are much bigger than viruses."
"Those spores look airborne to me."
"Maybe she said airborne…"
"Well… we don't know what can happen. The spores can get stuck on our clothes or on our skin… it's too risky. I don't want our people to breathe that kinda stuff in. I think it's too risky."
"Yeah. You're right."
"Of course, remember Ebola? People were in all hazmat suits. We would need a hazmat suit to get through this thing."
"We can look through all the folders to find Liam's combination number."
"All the folders?"
"Last time they were updated was 2011. When we were in first grade, Clyde."
"Yeah, no. We need to head back home."
"What? We're so close!"
"People are waiting for us, Lincoln. If we don't show up to the party soon, they're gonna worry. Or they might get mad. If we don't head back soon, Ronnie Anne and Lynn are gonna think we flaked on them."
"Fine. We can get to it tomorrow."
"Of course, buddy. Tomorrow it is."
Lincoln and Clyde walked away from the hallway, where the spores continued to float around the air. Underneath the door to the janitor's closet was a wide fungus plate with many spores lingering around it.
"...some mustard would have been great…" said Roger.
Whitney and Roger were talking in the background as Bobby and Becky ate their food slowly, both of them engaging in small talk here and there. Lori stared at Oscar from across the backyard, seeing him and Nora laughing together. She then looked at Melissa, whose face obviously indicated displeasure. She then turned towards Lynn in the distance, who tossed chunks of food as Lily watched her with a joyful smile.
Some people were dancing around the dance floor as the disco music spun around, flashing lights all over the place. Then, the disco music began to slow down and the lights softened. The music switched from disco music to slow dance music.
"Finally," said Whitney as she stood up.
"Let's go, Bori," chuckled Roger.
Whitney and Roger grabbed each other's hands and began to dance together. Bobby leaned towards Lori, who held out her hand in response. He smiled as he grabbed it, stood up, and walked away from the table, leaving Becky alone.
Lori placed her arms around Bobby's shoulders while Bobby placed his hands on Lori's waist. They danced slowly with the music, watching each other's eyes.
"Do you feel like there's anything off about Royal Woods?" asked Lori in a low voice.
"I don't know," said Bobby. "I'm just happy that my mom is happily dating someone. And I'm happy to be here with you. That's enough to make this place home."
Lori smiled for a moment before frowning, glancing at Calvin and Beatrice dancing together. The hate in her eyes still burned for them.
"Are you okay?" whispered Bobby.
"It's just all so overwhelming," sighed Lori. "So many new people, I can't even keep track of everyone we met. Even people we knew… it's all so much. I bet Whitney even knows how much I'm trying to avoid her and everyone else."
"It's all going to be okay. The night is almost over. After this is all over, we can go home and straight to bed. I can sleep with you if you want— I'm sure my mom won't mind."
Lori smiled before she placed her head on Bobby's shoulders, facing Calvin and Beatrice in the distance.
"I would really like that."
Tim and Maria looked into each other's eyes, dancing slowly just like every other couple.
"Tim?" whispered Maria.
"Mmm?"
"Where are our daughters?"
"Vonda decided to not come. She wanted to watch Carlitos, so I let her. I have no clue where Ronalda is, though."
"She's avoiding me," said Maria. "She probably feels betrayed seeing us together."
"The feeling will go away."
"Are you sure? Your daughter seemed happy to see us together almost immediately after she found out. Bobby's happy too."
"I'm sure she just needs time. In the meantime, let her deal with these feelings, you know? She's going through puberty, so her hormones are all haywire."
"That is true. After she has figured it all out, she will see how much of a good man you are."
Tim and Maria smiled at each other before giving each other a soft kiss. Lynn covered Lily's eyes while gagging.
"Yuck, adults kissin'," groaned Lynn. "Don't watch, Lily."
"Hey, Lynn. Still in middle school, I see," remarked JuJu.
"C'mon, you can't tell me that doesn't gross you out."
"It looks like… normal people kissing."
JuJu looked at Lynn with a serious face before breaking into laughter.
"Just kidding! It's totally gross! Can you imagine them making love to each other?"
"Aw, man!" groaned Lynn. "Now I feel bad for Vonda and Ronnie Anne!"
"Still wanna stay at this boring ass party?"
"I'm waiting for Clyde. I don't know what's holding him up, but he's taking an awful lotta time to get here."
"You don't think he flaked on you?"
"Nah… he wouldn't."
"You sure?"
"Well… I don't know. Now that I think about it, we never really made plans for tonight… I just assumed he'd be here, y'know? I guess he didn't wanna come. Not that he missed anything great."
"He missed watching you chuck those quesadilla chunks into your mouth," smiled JuJu.
"Yeah, well, he's seen it a thousand times."
"Wanna ditch this boring party? I got a different place in mind."
"Sure."
"Where are we going?" asked Lily.
"Oh, Lily. Right, forgot about… the fact… that I have to take care of you. I'll find Luan. Maybe she can watch you."
"Okay!"
The rock music had the crowd of people screaming and dancing as Sully and Mazzy let their guitar and drums rip. There were other band members from different communities playing other instruments, and even one was singing.
"Man, if Luna and Sam were here, they would be enjoying the heck outta this place!" exclaimed Benny.
"I bet they wish they were here," said Luan. "Because I bet that party is a bore. I bet they're bored as heck right now."
"You would be right," said Jane, sneaking into the conversation. "Hi, guys."
"Hey, Jane," greeted Benny.
Jane waved hello at him as she blushed.
"Thank goodness you're here," said Luan. "I've thought of so many princess puns. Like here's one—!"
"Oh boy…" whispered Benny.
"Which princess liked puns the most? Ra-PUN-zel! Hahaha! Get it!"
"Heh, yeah…" awkwardly replied Jane.
Lynn, JuJu, and Lily approached Luan.
"Hey, Luan," said Lynn. "Can you do me a favor?"
"As much as a tuna fish can!" smiled Luan.
"What?"
"Yeah, what do you need?"
"Can Lily hang out with you guys for the rest of the night?"
"Sure, where are you going?"
"I'm going to look for Clyde."
"Okay. Have fun!"
Lynn and JuJu quickly ran away from the town center as Lily turned around and looked up at Jane.
"You're a real princess?"
"I… uh…" stammered Jane as she looked at Luan and Benny, who were nodding their heads. "Yeah?"
"You don't look like Cinderella. Or Snow White. Your dress is too small."
Jane looked at her knee-length black dress, clamping her legs together as she began to feel insecure.
"T-Too small…?"
"She means you don't have a big puffy dress," said Benny. "But Lily, some princesses dress like normal people."
"Oh…" said Lily as she faced Jane. "Can you tell me about yourself? Like your name, how old you are, where you are from…"
"Sure thing, Lily. My name is Jane— Princess Jane Adler. I'm fifteen and I was born in San Francisco as Jane Akechi, but ever since my mom adopted me, I lived in Orchard Lake as… Jane Adler."
"That explains why you don't look like your mom," said Benny.
"Yeah, she's talented, intelligent, and beautiful. I'm not."
"That's a funny joke," said Luan.
"Right?" said Benny. "I'm sure you're amazing at taking pictures. I'm sure you're really smart and from the looks of it, you're definitely attractive… right, Luan?"
"Yup. Yes!"
Jane moved her short hair behind her ear as she smiled shyly, trying to hide her blush. She then felt Lily tugging her dress.
"What's San Francisco?" asked Lily.
Jane gasped as she knelt down. She looked into Lily's eyes and smiled.
"It's in California," said Jane.
"What's California?"
Jane's smile softly faded away.
"Oh boy…"
Simon walked through the dancing couples as he made his way inside the house. He passed by the cheering and the sound of pool balls being struck. Suddenly, Lana walked in front of Simon.
"Hi, there!" smiled Lana. "Sam's brother, right? Legend has it… we're around the same age."
"More or less," said Simon as he continued to walk.
"Where ya' headed?"
"I prefer not to say."
"Can I come with?"
"No."
"Why?"
Simon ignored Lana as she continued to follow him.
"Well, wanna dance when you come back?"
"No, thank you."
Lana stopped walking as she watched Simon walk away. She felt a pain in her heart as she sighed in a dejected tone. She then walked away.
Simon looked around the hallway he was in and quickly opened the door to Oscar's room. He closed the door and turned on the lights before walking over to Oscar's safe. He grabbed the combination lock and moved it to the E, then the G, then the O. Sure enough, the lock opened. He opened the safe and took out the notes with the coordinates and the list of names. He then stuffed it into his pocket and closed the safe.
The door to the room opened and Simon walked out. He closed the door softly before turning around, where he suddenly felt his heart drop. Oscar was standing in front of him.
"What were you doing in my room?" asked Oscar angrily.
"Nothing," said Simon.
"You know that's my room, right? Did you take anything from there? Did you?"
"I thought it was the bathroom."
"Yeah, sure you did! You know, your father Erik never made excuses like that. He was always honest with me. So answer me, you little brat! What were you doing in there!"
Simon raised his finger, as to look like he was getting ready to explain himself. Then, he made a run for it.
Oscar growled as he watched Simon run through the house, trying to escape as fast as he could. He grabbed his walkie-talkie.
"Plesko, Ravi, Clancy— there's a small child on the run! Blonde, blue eyes! His name's Simon Sharp! Catch him! Don't let him out of the premises!"
"Copy that, sir!" said Ravi.
"You got it, big man," said Plesko.
"Alright, Oscar," said Clancy.
Simon ran upstairs, passing by a few people. He then ran back downstairs and found Lana again.
"Hey, Lana!" whispered Simon out loud.
"Oh, it's you," muttered Lana. "Didn't you make it clear that you wanted me to leave you the heck alone?"
"No, I was just busy doing something. Can you do me a favor though?"
"Now you're asking me for a favor?"
"Can you hide these notes in your dress and take it to Sam? Or actually… just take it back to the house and show her later."
Simon handed the notes to Lana. He then quickly walked behind Jackie and Mandee as Officer Ravi walked into the house.
"Has anyone seen a little kid— blonde hair, blue eyes?" he asked.
"I think he went that way," said Jackie, pointing towards the living room.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Ravi ran into the living room, trying to get around the crowd of people. Lana and Mandee stood, confused as to what they were witnessing.
"Thank you," said Simon.
"No problem, kid," said Jackie.
"Jackie… what is going on?" asked Mandee.
"What we always dreamed about."
"Oh…"
Simon walked away from the girls as Lana followed him.
"Wait, where are you going?" asked Lana.
"Trying to find a way out of here," said Simon.
"I'm not gonna do this little task for you until you explain what's going on."
"There's no time," said Simon as he headed upstairs.
"Fine. Then, I'm not gonna do this for you. In fact, I'm gonna get the cops here."
"Ugh, Lana, I'm serious, there's no time."
"Dance with me, then. Wanna get out of here? Dance your way out of here."
"You can't be serious."
"Serious."
Simon sighed as he grabbed Lana's hand and started to dance with her. Lana smiled as she lay her head on Simon's shoulders, enjoying the slow dance the two were having. Simon blushed softly while rolling his eyes.
Will and Carol continued to dance with each other, moving their bodies closer and closer by the minute.
"Being fifth wheel sucks," grumbled Becky. "Nobody even notices me."
Will leaned into Carol's face, causing her to feel fear in her heart. She moved her hands away, getting ready to move away, but resisted any display of hesitation.
"I gotta use the bathroom," whispered Will. "All that food isn't sitting so well, heh."
"Oh, of course," said Carol, feeling relieved. "I'll wait at the table."
Will nodded as he shuffled away from the dance floor and into the house. Becky watched Carol as she walked through the dance floor, not taking her eyes off of her. Then, she saw Detective Plesko standing up next to the table where Carol sat, looking around the crowd. However, he glanced mostly at Carol.
Becky sipped on her glass cup as she stared at Plesko, wondering what he was up to. He saw him grab something from his pocket before taking out his hand and hovering it over Carol's cup. Her eyes snapped open with anger as she watched a small object drop into the drink. The drink fizzled softly before turning clear again.
Becky stood up, her fingers shaking with her anger as she reached for a dagger. However, she was completely unarmed.
Carol made it to her table when Plesko faced her.
"I'm looking for a little blonde boy with blue eyes," said Plesko. "He related to you?"
"Simon?" replied Carol, moving over to her seat. "No, he's Sam's little brother. Why, what's going on?"
"He seems to be causing some mischief around the area. Oscar wants me to go look for him, but frankly, I don't got the first clue where to look. Considering he's in your group, I just wanted to ask you if you could help me look for the kid."
Becky stood up from her seat and grabbed her glass cup filled with vodka. Suddenly, she stumbled slightly and her vision went blurry for a second before she focused her eyes on the floor. She then lifted her head and began to sweat as she clenched her jaw. She then stormed towards the table, pushing through the crowd of people in the dance floor.
"You should ask his sister," said Carol, trying to be polite. "She should be here, somewhere."
"Sam isn't back yet."
"She's not?"
Carol grabbed her cup as Plesko smirked.
"I'd really appreciate the help," he said.
Carol looked at the man with suspicion before seeing Becky storm towards the table.
"Becky—?"
Becky slapped the drink away from Carol's hand and smashed her cup onto the table before holding the sharp edges against Plesko's chest, making him back up. Carol gasped as everyone turned towards Becky.
Lori and Bobby both paused their dancing to look at Becky with surprise. Tim and Maria grabbed each other. Calvin smiled as Beatrice nodded at Guillermo, who winked back.
The music stopped and the disco ball stopped spinning.
"Y-You didn't think anyone saw that, right?" hissed Becky, her voice sounding slightly slurred. "I'm gonna cut you up, I swear to God."
Some of the partygoers gasped. Chris stepped out of the house, trying to see what the commotion was about as Miriam peeked through the glass doors.
"Becky!" gasped Carol.
Becky raised the broken glass cup towards Plesko's neck as he raised his hands. Carol then grabbed Becky's arms and held her back.
"Becky, stop it!"
"Y-You didn't see what he was gonna do? N-Nobody saw?"
"What the hell is going on?" shouted Oscar.
"T-This man… no— this piece of scum dipped a pill in Carol's drink! T-Those sleeping drug thingies… he dropped one in there. H-He was gonna rape her!"
Plesko scrunched up his face as to appear in disbelief as to what Becky was spouting out.
"What…?" said Plesko. "You obviously had too much to drink. I was asking Carol for a favor, when did you see me do such a horrendous thing?"
"R-Right now, you lying piece of—!"
"Becky, enough!" yelled Oscar.
Clancy jogged into the backyard, seeing his daughter holding a broken cup as she had a murderous look on her face. Oscar stood in front of Plesko, earning an annoyed look out of Becky.
"G-Get out of my way," said Becky.
"You need to leave," said Oscar. "Now."
"Just listen to him," whispered Carol.
"C-Carol, he—" whispered Becky.
"I know. I believe you. But you have to go now. For me, please."
Becky huffed and puffed as she felt her heart thumping against her chest. She then shoved Carol away from her and turned around, yelling as she tossed her broken cup into Oscar's house, completely shattering the glass cup.
"Can I arrest her now?" asked Plesko.
"Hold on," said Clancy, jogging towards Oscar. "Let me just talk to her. I didn't have time to talk to her earlier. But give me some time now, I'll definitely get through to her."
"Nah, she's clearly unstable," said Plesko, taking out his handcuffs. "Move, Clancy."
"Please, Oscar. I gotta talk to her. I promise she won't do this again."
"Control her or else she will be exiled. Go!"
Clancy nodded as he jogged back across the dance floor and out of the backyard into the driveway, catching up to Becky.
Carol looked at the wet spot in the spot where Becky threw her cup at. She remained in shock as Will returned.
"I just saw everything," said Will. "She's really protective of you, isn't she?"
Carol turned towards Will slowly, left completely speechless. Plesko squinted his eyes slowly as he walked away, moving into the house with Oscar right behind him.
Clancy placed his hand on Becky's shoulder, making her come to a stop as she turned around.
"C-Can you talk some sense into Oscar?" asked Becky before hiccuping.
"What's wrong with your voice?" asked Clancy. "How much did you have—?"
"I'm drunk, Dad, okay? I'm stupidly f-fucking drunk! B-But I'm not stupid! I-I know what I saw there!"
"You lost your damn mind back there! You were gonna kill that guy!"
"I-I was gonna do worse! I-I can and I have done worse!"
"Yeah, like what?"
Becky hiccupped before groaning in anger. She felt her vision getting blurrier as she tried to look straight at her dad.
"Y-You have no idea what it's like out there. T-That rapist pig deserves to burn."
"I know what you're going through."
"L-Like hell you do."
"Becky! I do know. I know and I'm not proud of it. Let someone speak from experience— calm down and control yourself."
"I-It's your fault I'm like this. Y-You always got angry when you were drunk. S-Screamed at Mom and broke stuff… always getting into arguments with her. And you didn't think I was watching you. T-Tried going to sleep with the pillow in my ears, trying to shut your damn screaming out. C-Crying myself to sleep, hoping that you guys would stop arguing…"
"I know, I'm sorry about all that. That's why your mother and I aren't together anymore. We wanted to stop making you feel that way. My baby girl… didn't deserve to hear or see any of that growing up…"
Becky clenched her jaw as she began to tear up. The fury behind her tears was unlike anything she's felt before. She wanted to kill someone. Something. Anything.
"...get it. I truly do," said Clancy. "But I don't wanna keep covering for you if you're just gonna keep landing yourself in trouble. You're better—"
"T-Then don't," said Becky, turning her face to hide a singular running teardrop. "I'm going home. Don't follow me. Don't come by. Just… don't. I don't wanna talk to you again. I don't wanna see you anymore."
"Becky…"
Becky walked away, leaving her father standing in front of the driveway as disco music began to play again in the backyard.
Inside the backyard, Lori and Bobby both walked inside the house, hoping to get a good look at Clancy and Becky from the windows. However, they couldn't see them.
"I'm worried about Becky," said Bobby.
"Her dad's handling it, I think," said Lori.
"In any case, you should keep yourself away from her. She might ruin our chances of staying here, right?"
"What? No, she won't."
"Babe…"
"I'm not gonna distance myself from a friend."
"Would a friend get us all kicked out? That is what is going to happen if she gets out of control again, right? You gotta talk to me and tell me that I'm wrong. I'm not the smartest guy in the room, so I must be wrong, right?"
Lori did not say anything. She simply remained quiet as she struggled to compile her thoughts together. Then, she saw Oscar approaching the two of them.
"Bobby. Can I pull your wife away from you for a moment?"
"Sure," said Bobby.
Oscar walked up to Lori and wiggled his finger, signaling her to follow him. They both walked towards the stairs before stopping and looking at each other.
"Remember what I told you yesterday?" asked Oscar.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know something like this was gonna happen," apologized Lori.
"All the stress your group is causing me is taking years off my life. I told you to control your damn group."
"We're not just a group… we're family. I think some of us are just having trouble adjusting. We're too used to life in the outside. We need more time to adjust."
"You guys aren't a pack of animals. You either adjust quickly or you're too far gone. That redhead that just shattered one of my cups— she's an animal."
"This is all too stressful for her, especially because you're not listening to her. Anyone can lash out when they're being ignored."
"She doesn't get to accuse one of our finest police officers and lash out in a drunken rage. Control your family… or else I'll separate you all by exiling her and anyone else who breaks my rules… forever. Your rebellious teen years are over. Grow the hell up."
Oscar walked away as Lori closed her eyes, feeling her hand moved towards the right side of her dress. She fiddled with her fingers before clasping her hands together, taking a deep breath to breathe away all the anger. But it didn't work. The anger still boiled within her.
"What's wrong?" asked Bobby. "What did he say?"
"I need a drink," said Lori, walking away.
"Really? He didn't need to pull you away from me to tell you that."
"Ugh…"
Lori walked up to the bar table. Patchy wiped a glass cup with a wet towel as he raised his head.
"Anything with alcohol," said Lori.
"I'll get you red wine," said Patchy.
"Sure, whatever."
Lori placed her hand on her face and sighed deeply into it as Bobby placed her hands on her shoulders.
"I thought you weren't gonna drink," said Bobby.
"I heard alcohol drowns terrible feelings away," said Lori. "I wanna see how true that is."
Lori looked up at the stairs on the opposite side of the room, seeing Calvin and Beatrice standing by the railing on the second floor. She watched them carefully as Patchy poured red wine into a glass cup.
"I miss New York," said Calvin. "That picture we saw earlier… it made me realize that we're really never going back."
"Whoopie, no more high taxes," said Beatrice.
"Hehe, right. Couldn't ever dance in a mansion like this over there."
"She's staring at us."
"Lori? Let her stare. She can stare all she wants. It's not going to change what's about to happen."
"What's going to happen after that?" asked Beatrice, her voice sounding concerned now.
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to settle down, right? This place seems perfect for a peaceful life."
"Of course."
Calvin grabbed Beatrice's hands, staring into her cold eyes.
"That's what we both want, right?" said Calvin.
"A peaceful life where we give up our habit? Our… craving for people?"
"I hope. The habit is proving harder to get rid of than I thought. Seeing Lori and her people again… it's making the cravings stronger than ever. I worry it's a habit I may never be able to get rid of…."
Lori continued to watch Calvin and Beatrice from the bar downstairs while Bobby looked around the room.
"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Lori. "Which body part tastes the best?"
"Maybe they're talking about the mansion's decorations. Oscar must've been loaded with cash before the outbreak. Or… they could be talking about puppies and kittens. Who knows."
"Dead puppies and kittens."
Lori grabbed her cup of wine and looked into it. Bobby watched her act hesitant before she took a large sip. She then coughed and covered her mouth as a small amount of wine dripped from her lips. She gagged as she set the wine glass down.
"Hey, you alright?" asked Bobby.
"This… tastes so… bitterly disgusting," coughed Lori.
Tim approached the bar, waving at Bobby, who waved back. Lori grabbed a napkin and wiped her tongue with it.
"How are you guys enjoying the party?" asked Tim.
"Great—!" said Bobby.
"This party sucks," said Lori. "I wanted to be normal and let loose for a night. But then Oscar had to go right ahead and be an asshole. Why is he such an asshole?"
"His wrinkles and graying hair is putting a new kind of fear in him," said Tim.
"He needs to relax. He could still live for a few more decades if he wasn't such an asshole."
"Old and paranoid. Those would be the two words I would use to describe him. And ironically, none of that paranoia is directed at Calvin and his people."
"So you see it too?"
"I do. Something is seriously off about them. They disappear for a couple days, then come back. Others disappear and don't. Moose has that cold look in his eyes every time he talks. Almost as if he is desensitized to the violence that goes on outside. Nora seems very unstable— you can tell with her mannerisms. Guillermo is an aggressive bully— Oscar's type. Calvin and Beatrice… they're good at hiding who they truly are… because if I hadn't known better, they'd seem like reliable survivors."
"I wonder why you can see it, but Oscar can't. What makes him so blind to their actions?"
"Maybe he isn't blind. Too many people have been disappearing lately. There's no way he doesn't notice it."
Tim heard the sound of crutches clacking against the hardwood floor. He turned around and saw Luna standing next to them.
"Is Sam one of those people?" she asked.
"You could hear us?" asked Tim.
"Well, I was kinda eavesdropping on you guys. What happened to Sam? Is she okay?"
"She's not back yet?" asked Tim.
"No! I've been looking around the house, asking people about the supply-run group! No one's seen them come back! Moose was with then, wasn't he? What is he gonna do with Sam?"
"Calm down, Luna," hushed Tim. "I'm gonna go see what's up."
Lori stood up as she took a small sip from her wine cup. She shook off the bitter taste as she began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" asked Bobby.
"Gonna get some answers."
Lori walked towards the stairs as Luna began to walk away from the bar. Tim stood up and followed her.
"And you're going where…?" asked Tim.
"I'm going to DairyLand," said Luna. "I gotta rescue Sam."
"No," said Tim. "You're not going alone. We're both getting her and the others back."
Luna nodded as she and Tim walked out of the house. Bobby turned away from them and towards Lori, watching her walk up the steps.
Beatrice signaled Calvin to look behind. He turned around, seeing Lori storm towards them.
"Easy there, Lori," said Calvin.
"Where's Sam?" asked Lori.
"Last I've head, she's at DairyLand, looking for balloons and confetti. Maybe she stayed for the rides."
"I'm literally gonna kill you if I find out your friend did anything to her."
"Are you, Lori? In front of all these people? No, you won't. Your precious family will all get exiled and that's the last place you wanna be at."
"If you were so smart, that's the first place you wanna be at. Outside."
"Right, that would be smart. My group and I will be out there, free to roam anywhere. We could be hiding in the shadows, we could be anywhere. But we won't stray too far. We'll be where you least expect us to be. You're bound to go outside the walls at some point— you like it too much out there to not go. And when you do… we'll be coming for you. You prefer to live the rest of your life in fear? Harrowing… paralyzing… fear?"
Lori felt her heart racing. Her hands were sweating. Her eyes wobbled with fear.
"Luna and Tim are going to try to save Sam, aren't they?" asked Calvin. "And poor Becky is gonna be exiled."
Lori began to breathe rapidly, trying to keep her hands away from her dress.
Becky sniffled as she walked along the street, passing by her mother's house. Her sandals pressed against the manhole cover in the ground, causing her to flinch as she stumbled away from the cover and into the ground. It felt very hollow underneath the cover, intensifying the off-balance drunk feeling that Becky had at the moment.
She groaned and looked around to see if anyone saw her trip. But there was no one around. However, something caught her eyes. There was a small opening in the walls. She carefully stood up and walked towards the opening, seeing how narrow it was. She moved her arms through the opening, easily making it to the other side of the wall. She then placed her legs through it before the rest of her body.
She turned away from the wall and out into the abandoned streets of Royal Woods. A few roamers roamed around, not noticing Becky in the dark. However, one nearby roamer lifted its head up and revealed it's glowing golden eyes as it began walking towards her. She reached for her dagger, but once again, she was reminded that she didn't have it— Lori did.
Becky knelt down and grabbed a rock from the ground. Then, a car with Tim and Luna inside drove by, catching the roamer's attention as it turned around. Becky snuck up to the roamer and struck it in the head with the rock, knocking it to the ground. She stumbled down with the roamer too before noticing that it was still alive. She looked at the blood pouring from its temple and relished at the sight. She swung the rock again, and again, and again. Harder each time as the skull shattered and brain tissues were squashed apart.
She sighed a sigh of relief. She tossed the rock away, catching the roamers' attention. She then dipped her fingers into the roamer's body and moved it around its organs. As the roamers approached her from the distance, she rubbed the blood around her face, her arms, her legs, all across her dress. The smell of perfume was now completely masked by the smell of decaying blood.
She stood up and took a deep shaky breath as the roamers approached her. She closed her eyes for a moment as she heard their feet shuffle closer and closer. Then, as soon as they moved close enough, she opened her eyes and watched the roamers pass by her. She was surprised. This wasn't just Dana's gut trick. She had no organs on her body. Just roamer blood. The blood of one roamer was enough to mask her scent.
Becky smiled.
"Everyone who's crossed me has ended up dead or worse," said Lori. "You shouldn't have crossed me or my family. You shouldn't have captured us back in D.C. You forced us to fight back and we killed your friends for it. All in the name of self-defense. This… this is self-defense too."
"Seems a little too personal for it to be self-defense," said Calvin.
"You made it personal. Life could have been easier for the two of us if we never crossed each other's path. But life has to be unfair."
"Life has always been unfair. I could've graduated with a law degree. But I had to drop out to take care of my daughter. The daughter that this world took away from me. And now… here we are. I guess we have to make the best of it."
"If I kill you now, will this plan of yours fall apart?"
"I must confess, it will. The whole plan is for me to survive. I attacked Oscar before, but he didn't know it was me— go ahead, tell him. He won't believe you anyways."
"You…"
"I attacked him, tried to kill him. But my group and I managed to escape and not get caught. Funny enough, just days earlier, Oscar exiled a group of people. Rather young survivors, I must say. So, I put on an act. Made it inside the walls. Framed the exiled group. Made Oscar think it was them. And I killed them. All to gain his trust. Your group coming here? I foresaw that ages ago because I know how strong you and your people are. So, this is the plan I set up and this is the plan that is still happening. You see, I always play the long game so that no matter what… I'll have you locked in a checkmate."
Lori looked down at Bobby, seeing him clutch his chest as he watched her, feeling worried for her.
"Beatrice… keep the plan going," said Calvin.
Beatrice nodded and walked down the steps. Lori turned around as she tried to follow her.
"Don't follow her."
"Where is she going?" asked Lori.
"Probably to check on Tim and Luna. But if you wanna follow her, go ahead. See how that ends up for your pal, Sam."
Lori froze. Her heart was pounding unbelievably hard as she watched Beatrice walk out of the house. The sound of duct tape unrolling can be heard. Calvin looked at Lori from behind with a smirk. Bobby's eyes widened as some of the partygoers gasped. The unrolled duct tape fell to the ground.
Lori turned around as Calvin gasped. He raised his hands as fast as he could as Lori swung her dagger at him, slashing the palm that covered his throat. He yelled in pain as Lori leaped at him with Becky's dagger. The partygoers screamed and tried to flee from the room as Patchy ducked underneath his table. Bobby stood up in shock, not knowing what to do.
They both slammed against the wall as Calvin grabbed Lori's wrist. He struggled to get the dagger away from him before she slammed the dagger into the wall, missing Calvin's face.
Lori removed the dagger from the wall and swung the dagger around, slashing Calvin's nose. He screamed before grabbing the blade with his hands. He struggled to take it away from Lori before they both tossed the knife downstairs.
Calvin punched Lori's face and pushed her against the railing. He began to wrap his bleeding palms around his neck as she tried to reach for Calvin's face. She groaned as her back bent against the railing, trying to keep herself from falling. She then kicked upwards, hitting Calvin's groin.
She tried to run downstairs for the dagger before Calvin tackled her down the stairs. Both of them fell and rolled down the steps, bruising themselves with each roll. Upon landing on the ground, they each gasped in pain. Lori crawled towards the knife as blood dripped from her lips. She then grabbed the knife before Calvin jumped behind her, pushing her down against the floor as he tried to reach for the knife. Lori headbutted him, causing him to stand up. She grabbed the dagger before Calvin kicked it right out of her hands, sending it flying across and out the house onto the front yard.
Carol's eyes widened as she looked at the blood-stained dagger knife, knowing it belonged to Becky. Some of the partygoers nearby wondered what was going inside the house as the sound of thrashing and yelling could be heard. Clancy grabbed his walkie-talkie as Ravi could be seen running inside the house. He tried to look inside the front glass window, where he could get a good view of the bar.
Blood continued to drip from the dagger knife. Lori and Calvin screamed at each other as they ran towards the front glass window. They both tried to toss each other out of the house. Suddenly, they both shattered the front glass window, completely covered in blood and bruises as they fell to the front yard.
The music stopped. Now, the whole community watched as Lori and Calvin were fighting each other to the death.
End Credit Song
You're Somebody Else - Flora Cash