IV - Checkmate

"Down the hall and left," said Moose.

Schoffner walked in the hallways with Moose handcuffed in front of her. Moose's face was bruised while Simon walked next to him. They turned to the left and saw the shadows coming from a particular classroom.

"It's locked," said Moose. "Nora has the keys."

"You couldn't have told us that before we went up here?" said Schoffner. "Douchebag."

"No need to waste time," said Simon. "I can unlock the door really quickly."

Simon took out his multitool and began to pick at the doorknob before turning it. The door opened, getting a surprise out of the captives inside the classroom. The captives then began to walk out, with some glaring at Moose.

"Just to confirm, this is the man who locked you all in here?" asked Schoffner.

"Yeah," said Bruna. "Talked about eatin' us all. He's a damn maniac."

Simon looked at the captives, not recognizing any of them.

"Where's Sam?" he asked.

The captives shrugged as Moose stared ahead.

"Probably wandering around DairyLand," said Moose. "She wasn't supposed to follow me… yet she did, and now she probably didn't escape from the dead ones in time. If she didn't follow me in the first place… she would have been among them."

"Wha… what did you do to her?" asked Simon, getting angry.

"I stabbed her ankle and left her for dead. But it's okay. It's okay because she had it coming."

Simon growled and kicked Moose's shin, getting a painful groan from him.

"Hey, stop!" exclaimed Schoffner.

"No, Schoffner," said Bruna, swinging her fist at Moose's face, getting a good punch in. "Kid was right to do that. Piece of shit deserves it."

Theo spat at Moose's feet. The captives were getting unruly before Lori, Lincoln, Clyde, Carol, and Becky showed up.

"Is Sam here?" asked Lori.

"No, she's still back at DairyLand," said Simon. "We have to go there and find her."

"Not yet. Schoffner— can you take these people home?"

"I can," said Schoffner. "Are you planning on staying here?"

"Calvin is coming," said Lori. "We're gonna need Moose to stay though. He's gonna be the bait."

"Are you sure? You know how I feel about executions. Even a douchebag like him has rights."

"Yeah, we won't execute him if he listens to everything we say."

"All right, it's safer if he stays here anyways," said Schoffner, handing Lori the keys to the handcuffs. "These people aren't exactly happy to see him. Catch Calvin and bring him back alive. We'll make him confess everything."

Lori nodded. Schoffner led the former captives down the hallway and out of the school as Lori stood behind a handcuffed Moose. Becky turned around and saw Carol, Lincoln, Simon, and Clyde. She then turned towards Moose and smirked softly before setting down her axe against the lockers.

Crickets chirped. Mosquitoes buzzed. Owls hooted.

Calvin panted heavily as blood trickled from his leg. His sweaty face looked around the street as he walked up to the entrance doors to the school. He grabbed the ACE 23 rifle from his back and went forward.

One of the two entrance doors opened, letting in a small breeze from a calm night into the school. His eyes and the barrel of the gun looked around the school as the light from the classroom dimly lit up the hallways, leaving a lot of corners and edges covered in shadow. He took a step forward, aiming his gun around. His eyes spotted no one waiting for him.

Calvin turned around and stared down the iron sights to his rifle as he peeked outside. He then closed the door.

"Moose, you in here?" he shouted.

Calvin continued to walk forward carefully, making sure each step touched the floor slowly so as to not create an echo.

"Moose?"

"I'm down here," said Moose's voice in the distance, sounding very soft.

"Where are you?"

"By the trophies."

"Can you go to the nurse's office? Lori shot me in the foot."

"Really? I thought we took out all the firing pins from the guns they had."

"She had a gun on her that worked… I don't understand how. None of the guns should've been working."

Moose exhaled softly as sweat dripped down his face. Behind his head was a Glock 17 pistol held by Lori and pointed at him. Lori leaned close to his ear.

"You're doing a good job," whispered Lori. "Go ahead, keep the convo up."

"Perhaps… she just happened to find it…?" exclaimed Moose.

Calvin noticed the slight tremble and hesitance in Moose's voice. He then turned towards the restrooms next to him, noticing a light coming from the boy's restroom but not the girl's restroom. He slowly opened the door to the girl's restroom and flicked on the light switch. He felt chills go up his spine as his face grew pale. He exhaled deeply as he tried to recollect himself.

"Why don't you and uhh… Nora come over here?" exclaimed Calvin.

"What about our captives?"

"Quit stalling, I got a gunshot wound to the leg. I need to get back to the community as soon as possible."

Calvin raised his weapon as he slowly approached the edge of the hallway, getting ready to turn around and see Moose.

"Moose. Did you hear? A gunshot wound."

"Yeah… I heard."

Calvin quickly stepped forward and aimed his rifle down the hall and towards Lori and Moose. He was ready to press the trigger before hearing a silent gunshot. He then felt his right arm flare up and burn as he stumbled back against the lockers, falling as the gun he used dropped.

Lincoln came down the stairwell while smoke flowed out of his suppressed MP5 submachine gun. He then aimed the gun over Calvin as Becky and Carol came out of a classroom.

Calvin held his arm tightly as he slid down the lockers, leaving behind a small trail of blood coming from his right arm. He hissed in pain before Becky and Carol both grabbed his shirt by the collar and dragged him across the hallway. They then tossed him onto a water fountain where Simon quickly grabbed him by his hair and stood up him up to his knees. Clyde grabbed his arms and pulled them back before handcuffing them together, placing the chains in between a pipe and the water fountain that it was connected to. Simon then released Calvin, shoving his head down.

Now, Calvin was on his knees, handcuffed to a water fountain while Moose was held at gunpoint. Calvin looked up and saw the display in front of him. There were many trophies and medals in front of him. But the one that his eyes locked onto was the one that had Lisa's name.

Lisa Loud, Recognized Hero, 2016.

He then saw Lori stand in front of him as she knelt down. Calvin then looked at Moose, whose arms were now being held back by Carol and Becky.

"Why…" groaned Calvin, facing Moose. "Why were you helping them?"

"I'm sorry, Cal," said Moose. "They promised to let me live if I helped them. That's all I wanted to do, Calvin. Live."

"That's what everyone you ate wanted to do," said Carol. "But you didn't let them do that."

Carol reached for her knife, but found it missing. She looked at each of her pockets as Moose realized what she was going to do. He backed away and ran before feeling a sharp pain in his knee. He stopped as he looked down with shocked eyes, seeing Simon pulling out Carol's trench knife from his knee. Carol gasped as she realized that Simon was holding her knife. The others all stood frozen and watched with shock, even Calvin.

Moose fell down on one knee. Simon then stabbed Moose's arms, causing him to scream in pain. He then stabbed him in the chest, again and again, as Becky tried to step in. However, Carol stopped Becky.

Clyde turned around in disgust while Lincoln looked away, not being able to handle any more violent sights. Simon then slashed Moose's jugular vein, causing blood to squirt out, some spraying onto his blonde hair. Moose then dropped dead. Simon took one last look at him.

"For Sam," he said before spitting on Moose's body.

Simon then walked over to Carol and handed her knife back. Carol looked at her knife with unease before turning her eyes towards Moose's body. She then turned to see Lori, who already turned away from Moose. Instead, she was focused on something else.

Calvin watched in fear as he felt Lori rummaging through his pockets. Lori grabbed her firing pin and the buck knife on Calvin's holster. Becky stepped on Moose's arm— though his corpse did not react at all— before she walked over to Calvin. She broke open the strap and pulled the gun off him.

"Haven't felt this gun in a while," said Becky, fixing the strap.

"Y-You need me alive," said Calvin. "The herd… they're coming to Royal Woods. Y-You need my help to lead them away. I can tell Beatrice to stop the fireworks."

"Do you hear any more fireworks?" asked Lori. "You said there were supposed to be fifteen fireworks. I only heard five."

"It's… it's in a pattern. She's not… she's not—"

"All your friends are dead. You're not getting out of this alive, Calvin. The only reason you're alive right now is because I want to show you something."

Lori stepped away from Calvin's face and showed him Lisa's trophy again.

"A hero, huh?" scoffed Calvin. "Thought she created the virus that turned people into roamers. That doesn't look like it aged well. Yeah… I heard her confession."

"She was a hero because she thwarted an influenza outbreak that happened right here in school," said Lori. "She lied about creating the virus. The virus has been around for decades. That's what Tim said. That's what Dr. White said. That's what Haley said. Of course she lied. She lied so that we wouldn't feel so heartbroken about her dying…"

Calvin lowered his head. Lori then grabbed his hair and lifted it up as he groaned in pain.

"Look at the damn trophy," hissed Lori. "That's what a hero does. The cure was real. It was being made. But because of you, that hope… is gone. And the funny part… you could have gotten away with it. You already destroyed our home back in D.C."

Lori moved the buck knife close to Calvin's arm wound. She then inserted it into the wound before twisting it, causing Calvin to scream in agonizing pain.

"That's what you did to George, isn't it?" asked Lori.

"Yup, exactly like that," said Becky.

"Stop— stop!" yelled Calvin.

"What is it that you said?" asked Lori. "You… checkmated me? But your bishops are gone. Your pawns, your knights, your damn queen."

Lori removed the knife from Calvin's wound, causing him to let out a small hysterical laugh.

"Didn't know you played chess. You got me good. The queen piece… the most powerful piece…. But just in case you didn't know… a checkmate means the king has no moves… you don't 'eat' or 'kill' the king."

"I know. Lisa taught me how to play. If only she was here to actually tell me to play correctly."

"If you're gonna kill me, get it over with. You'll regret it when the herd arrives at Royal Woods and everyone dies! You need me and you know it—!"

"Shut up," said Lori, wrapping a rag around Calvin's mouth. "Just… shut up."

A small growling sound could be heard. Carol and Becky moved away from Moose's body and walked over to where Lincoln and Clyde were standing. Simon saw Moose's body twitch softly before moving away too.

"That was fast," said Lori. "Must be the adrenaline. You on the other hand… are not going to get it the fast way. I'm gonna kill you the way you killed your victims back in Washington. And soon… you'll literally feel what it's like to be eaten alive."

Calvin struggled to speak through the rag in his mouth. He then felt Lori stab his knife into his stomach. He burned his vocal chords as he screamed with all his might as Lori dragged the knife across his stomach, creating a long cut that caused his organs to start slipping out. His face grew pale as he watched Lori toss his knife into a locker. She then closed it and walked away from the hallway with her group.

Calvin panted heavily as blood continued to pour from his gut. His intestines were falling down slowly as his stomach tried to fall through his wound. He then saw a roamer stand up from the corner of his eyes. He turned and saw a reanimated Moose growling as it stared at him with its golden eyes. He shook his head and tried to lift his hands up from the water fountain, but he was trapped.

Roamer Moose walked towards him as Calvin screamed through his rag, trying to beg for help. Roamer Moose then dropped to his knees and leaned into Calvin's face as it opened its jaws and bit down.

Calvin's muffled screams could be heard echoing across the hallway as Lori walked out of the school, now feeling a heavy burden being lifted off her shoulders.

"Is it true, Lori?" asked Becky.

"Huh?"

"Did Lisa really lie about creating the virus?"

"I don't know," said Lori.

Becky opened her mouth softly as she tried to keep the discussion going, but what she just heard caught her off-guard. She looked back at the school before turning forward again. She saw Carol, Clyde, and Simon following Lori. And she saw Lincoln walking next to Lori, his head leaning against her shoulders. The Louds were the only ones in the front. Her only option now was to keep following Lori.

Becky stopped at her tracks.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked.

"We're going after Oscar now," said Lori. "But we have to hurry. A herd may not surround the walls of Royal Woods, but there will be roamers. A lot of them."

"W-Wait," said Becky. "Are we going to kill him?"

"Schoffner wants to arrest him. She wants to keep some order of justice."

"We can't let anyone else take over. It can't be Melissa, can't be Schoffner, can't be my dad. It has to be you."

"Yeah. We'll see. Let's go."

"If you're not certain about it… then I'm not coming. At least… not until I know you will take over."

"Becky…" sighed Carol. "What are you doing?"

"I can't go back. I did something in there before I came out here with you guys, and I know I'll be punished harshly. But if you, Lori, can take over the place… then I know you'll let it slide."

"What did you do?" asked Clyde.

Becky remained silent as she set her axe down.

"We don't have the time for this," said Lori. "I promise I will take over as the new leader. I'll come back after it's all over, okay?"

"Okay," nodded Becky.

Lori nodded back and turned around as she started jogging. As the rest started to follow her, Carol gave Becky one last worried glance before following Lori to the community. Becky groaned softly as she looked at her axe, seeing the dry blood that was stuck into the blade.

Oscar paced around the gate as Melissa stood by the guard post. Clancy stood by Oscar as Officer Ravi walked towards them.

"Police station is locked down," he said. "If someone tries to break in, it'll sound an alarm."

"Good," said Oscar. "No news from Plesko yet?"

Ravi then leaned close to him and whispered into his ears. Oscar nodded before gulping. Maria stood next to Melissa as Bobby, Ronnie Anne, and Carlitos waited by the gate. Will kept standing in his guard post, keeping his eyes on the people that were gathering around the gate.

"Everyone, go home!" shouted Oscar. "It's late, you don't need to be out here!"

"These people want to know what you're going to do," said Melissa. "You keep pacing around and it's starting to make people panic a little because it seems like you have no clue what to do."

"Yeah? Here's my plan— everyone, get the hell home! Last time! Or else you're going out of these walls!"

"Roamers are gonna come, you know," said Luan. "Now's not the time for you to be Oscared. Now's the time to act!"

"You little—"

"Oscar, they're here!" exclaimed Will. "They're back!"

Will removed the binoculars from his eyes and pointed at the group of people jogging along the walls. Oscar walked up to the gate and looked through, seeing Schoffner leading back the group from DairyLand.

"Holy hell…" muttered Oscar.

"Hey, Bobby, can you get the gate?" asked Will.

"Sure—" said Bobby.

"No," interrupted Oscar. "No one's opening the gate."

"Why?" asked Melissa.

"The roamers are here."

Oscar backed away from the gate as the roamers were coming from the left. Some began to squeeze themselves against the gate while others walked past it and continued to walk towards Schoffner's group, who were coming from the right.

Schoffner looked at the metal fences along the border of Ketcham Park, keeping the group in between the park and the walls of Royal Woods. She had no choice but to keep going forward as the roamers behind the group were catching up in the distance.

Vonda came running down with her bow while handing Ronnie Anne her crossbow. They then began to shoot at the roamers at the gate with arrows and bolts. Luan used her katana to stab the roamers and keep the gate from becoming swarmed by them.

Schoffner took out her pistol and began to fire at the roamers, popping off multiple rounds, successfully hitting many of them in the head.

"We gotta help them!" exclaimed Will. "They're gonna become trapped, Oscar!"

Maria climbed up the guard post and took out her own pistol. She aimed down from atop the walls and fired her own gun at the roamers from the other side.

The gate was now free from living roamers. Schoffner now led the group to the gate, where they all had their melee weapons out, but almost no energy to use them.

"Open the gate!" yelled Schoffner. "There's a whole group of 'em coming after us!"

Oscar shook his head softly as he stared at the gate, feeling hesitant. He continued to hear gunshots going off.

"We gotta let 'em in," said Bobby. "Everyone, back away! Carlitos, go back home and—"

"You open the gate and you die," said Oscar, taking out his pistol. "If the roamers enter, that's what's going to happen. Don't open the gate."

Bobby felt the threatening tone in his voice. He knew better than to open the gate now.

"Dammit, Oscar!" shouted Schoffner. "Just open the gate! Somebody!"

"If you don't open the gate, I'll kill you!" growled Bruna.

"Can we climb over those fences instead?" asked Nadia.

Schoffner turned around and saw the cars parked against the fences in a way that allowed them to climb over the fences to Ketcham Park. However, there were swarms of roamers waiting on the other side.

"No can do," said Schoffner. "There are roamers there too."

Bruna took out her own Kahr P45 pistol and fired at the roamers that were surrounding them. However, the recoil from each gunshot fatigued her even further as she struggled to keep herself standing.

Theo held up a lead pipe and began to beat the roamers that were getting too close to the group while keeping himself out of the bullets' trajectories.

Nadia used a hammer to help her boyfriend out. If a roamer got too close to Theo, she would strike it, knocking it down to the ground where it would either be dead or wounded. If wounded, another group member would come in and stomp on it.

"Why aren't you letting them in?" yelled Will. "Oscar, they need help!"

"Oscar!" yelled Melissa. "Oscar!"

"I'm out," said Schoffner.

"Me too," said Bruna.

Theo hit one of the roamers with his pipe before dropping to his knees, panting heavily as he felt lightheaded. Nadia felt dizzy too as she backed up, bumping into Schoffner.

"Do you have any more ammo here?" asked Maria.

"No, I'm all out," said Will. "Oscar, we need more ammo! Oscar!"

"Oscar, they need to hear you speak!" yelled Clancy. "Damn it, he's out of it."

Oscar remained frozen as he continued to watch the carnage in front of him. He felt his heart beating slowly before hearing more gunshots.

Lori fired multiple bullets at the roamers from behind, now getting them to come for her group. Carol stabbed some of the roamers with her trench knife while Lincoln fired his MP5 at the roamers, making sure to aim away from Schoffner and the former captives. Clyde stomped the wounded roamers in the ground with his metal leg while Simon fired a Calvin's pistol at the roamers.

Clancy defied Oscar's orders and ran to the gate, unlocking it and then sliding it open. Schoffner and the former captives quickly poured into the community as Lori, Carol, Lincoln, Clyde, and Simon finished off the roamers.

Bobby, Luan, Vonda, Ronnie Anne, Maria, and Will all exhaled heavily as they lowered their weapons, taking a look at all the roamers that were lying around in the street outside the walls. Then, they looked at Lori and her group.

Will looked down at Carol, seeing her put her trench knife back into her pocket with haste. Ronnie Anne looked at Lincoln, seeing a traumatized expression in his eyes. Clyde and Simon followed them inside as Bobby took a look at Lori, who stood behind the short pile of bodies. Traces of dark blood stained her face and her bandages, while fresh and brighter blood stained her hands.

Lori stepped over the short pile of bodies and into the community, staring deep into Oscar's eyes. Clancy then closed the gate behind her.

"Is that everyone?" asked Clancy.

"Don't worry," said Lori. "Becky is alright. She's just waiting for what's about to happen."

"What's about to happen?"

"Lori, I killed Beatrice," said Luan. "I stopped the fireworks."

"Thank you, Luan," smiled Lori softly.

"Lori, what's about to happen?" asked Clancy.

Schoffner began to walk towards Oscar as she looked at Ravi.

"Get your handcuffs out," said Schoffner. "Oscar Breckenridge, you are under—"

"I don't think so," said Clancy. "Somebody… clear things up, now."

"It's okay, Schoffner," said Lori. "I'll present the evidence."

"Evidence for what?"

"Evidence that Oscar and Calvin and his crew committed multiple crimes, as well as the coverups of these crimes."

Simon handed his backpack over to Lori. She reached through the backpack and took out pictures, papers, and other documents. Lori then lifted a Polaroid picture high into the air.

"This is a picture of Oscar's safe," stated Lori as she started handing the picture to Clancy and Ravi before holding up more pictures. "It held multiple documents, including a map of the Farmlands, coordinates that led to the Hunnicutt Farm, and the names of the victims that were killed there."

A crowd of residents, now gathered around the entrance, collectively gasped and muttered among each other.

"Calvin, Beatrice, Guillermo, Nora, and Moose all killed people inside the barn and cannibalized them. The man standing over there, Oscar Breckenridge, ordered them to do so. Everyone in this list was ordered to be executed… and they were. Then, during the supply-run in DairyLand, Moose was ordered by Calvin to capture all the supply-runners and lock them into a truck where they would be sent to a new slaughterhouse— the Royal Woods Elementary School. When Officer Schoffner went to investigate, Oscar ordered Guillermo to kill her. He attempted to kill her, but failed to do so. Oscar also ordered Calvin to kill me after I was exiled. But he failed to do so."

Lori placed the Glock pistol in between her waist and the back of her shorts.

"I'm not gonna sugarcoat things. They were gonna kill us… so we killed them. Calvin…"

Lori looked around the crowd, her voice now radiating confidence.

"Beatrice…"

Luan looked back at her house, seeing Benny, Lana, and Lily all looking down from the second floor windows.

"Guillermo…"

Carol looked to her side before noticing that Becky was not standing next to her. She then turned around and saw Will standing next to her, asking her if she was all right.

"Nora…"

Ronnie Anne leaned her head against Lincoln's shoulders as he looked down, feeling his hands trembling.

"Moose…"

Simon looked at Maria, who shook her head, letting him know that Tim and Luna hadn't returned yet.

"...they're all dead. They will no longer terrorize our community and people that want to come inside our walls. We were able to stop them because we know how to stop people like them. We have— before. And the story doesn't end with them. Rogue soldiers, gangs, marauders, murderers… they're literally all over the place beyond these walls. They want what we have because they will do anything to survive. But we don't punish those who will do what it takes for us to survive. We punish those who relish in the things they do… those who do unnecessarily cruel things and make the world a worse place… those who kill, rape, steal, terrorize… and those who put the lives of our people in danger."

Miguel and Fiona looked at each other, nodding their heads. Whitney held Roger tightly as she looked at the woman she could hardly recognize. Stella and Chandler reflected upon her words. Girl Jordan and Boy Jordan glanced at each other, confused as to whether to agree with her or not. Sully and Mazzy looked past her and tried to see if their friends were back. Spencer and Ruby shrugged at each other.

"I know that you want to believe that we can still be who we were before the outbreak. But if we want to survive together… then everyone here has to become who my family and I are now— people who would fight to keep their home and their family safe. This place and others like it are a luxury that we can't afford to lose. Like I said, it won't stop with these cannibals. The roamers, the enemies, they're gonna keep going after us, and it's up to us whether we can defend ourselves or not. That's why we, as the people of Royal Woods, cannot deal with incompetent leaders like Oscar. And when such leaders are willing to kill their own people and put the lives of everyone inside the walls in danger simply to stay in power, then I believe there is only one way to deal with them. The only way to ensure we don't lose any more people we love."

Oscar began to breathe heavily as he began to see red. He grabbed his gun and shoved Schoffner out of the way.

"But it's not up to—"

"I'll be damned if I let you take this place away from me! You will not!"

Lori gasped as she reached for her pistol. Oscar aimed his pistol at her.

"You will n—!"

A gunshot went off. And another one. And one more.

Lori aimed her gun at Oscar's body as it fell. But her fingers weren't on the trigger yet. He looked up and looked at who was behind him. Smoke flowed out of Clancy's pistol before he lowered his gun.

Schoffner and Ravi remained speechless while many of the onlookers from the crowd were shocked. Melissa was petrified as she let out a distressed gasp. Even Carol was caught off-guard. But not Lori. She looked down at Oscar, seeing him still moving. He slowly raised his hand as he tried to crawl forward, gasping for air as blood poured from his wounds.

"Oh my god…" whispered Ravi.

Lori looked up at Clancy. Their eyes locked on tight before Lori gave him one order.

"Finish him off," said Lori.

Clancy nodded and aimed his pistol at the back of Oscar's skull. He then pressed the trigger, executing Oscar on the spot.

Lori stared at the corpse with grave eyes. She saw the cartridge rolling around the asphalt. She closed her eyes softly and took a deep breath before turning around, getting ready to talk to Melissa. However, she noticed that the gate was open. It was a whole group that was standing outside, all stunned by what just happened.

One by one, she looked at their faces. A pair of twins. An old woman and a younger one. Lynn. JuJu. Tim. Luna. Sam. Hana. Haley. Jace.

Lori couldn't help but smile softly as she stared at the group in front of her. Then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Lori?"

Lori turned to the source of the noise and saw her grandfather walking up to the front of the group. He was now standing directly in front of her. Her smile quickly faded and her eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat. Lori and Albert locked eye contact.

.

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End Credit Song

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane