VI - Backstabbed
"I think it's time to take the guns away," said Schoffner. "And I know, I know, it sounds like a massive abuse of our power. But there are many reasons to do this now. First, we need to keep all guns away from Rebecca Rhonda's reach. She has somehow evaded us all this time and I'm thinking that it's because she's jumping from house to house. Chances are that she may have a firearm right now, but just in case she doesn't… well, there goes her tool of resistance. Second, we have to keep the election safe. It's certain that you will ruffle some feathers when you decide to concede. Your husband was willing to do it before— someone loyal to him may be willing to do it now. We can't risk Lori or— even worse— you being assassinated. Third, in the case that we find Becky and it turns out that Lori was indeed hiding her— we must prevent resistance. Because let's face it, she has friends who want her to be in power. Your life will be in danger if Lori's supporters become violent. They can smuggle weapons among each other— so just taking their guns won't be enough. We will have to take the guns from those who oppose her as well. And remember, they are capable of stealing weapons. They did it before when they were going after the cannibals. We took their weapons away, yet they were able to somehow get access to a firearm. My police force— aided by Orlando's police force— can secure the safety of our election tonight."
"You make a hell of an argument," said Melissa. "But will people be willing to sacrifice liberty for security?"
"They already have with these walls. And not to worry… this won't be permanent. It's only for tonight. I'll give them my word."
"Okay. You have my permission."
Schoffner was mildly surprised but hid her gleeful expression by showing Melissa a stern nod. She then walked out of her office.
"How'd it go?" asked Ravi.
"We're good to go," said Schoffner. "We'll visit every house and seize all firearms."
Ravi tried to be happy for Schoffner yet he couldn't help but feel anxious instead. How was the public going to react?
The hours followed with outrage, fear, and confusion as the police went house to house, looking for Becky and for firearms to seize.
"That belonged to my father! He passed it on to me!" shouted Patchy Drizzle. "Get your dirty meathooks away from my gun!"
"You'll get it back when we find Becky, I promise you," said Ravi.
"Since when were you our leader? I didn't know we took orders from someone like you."
"It's Melissa's orders," said Schoffner. "Leave my officers alone and let them do their job."
Patchy growled and stormed over to City Hall. Schoffner sighed as she followed him. Now, a couple police officers dressed in riot suits followed her.
"Where are you going?" exclaimed Schoffner.
"I'm going to talk to the damn good-for-nothing leader! Get Melissa's ass out here and have her explain why she's taking our guns away!"
Patchy tried to enter the building but the front doors were locked. He slammed the doors with his fist before the police dragged him away.
"This ain't right! Schoffner, you know this ain't right!"
Schoffner rolled her eyes as they took Patchy inside the police station. She then saw another resident making a commotion. It was Shannon— Luan and Benny's friend. She was standing in front of the door to her house, refusing to budge.
"As much as I advocate for gun control, this is not the way," said Shannon. "Such an immediate reaction to a woman persecuted by a fascist police force is a violation of our rights. I don't own any firearms. And the police know I don't own any firearms. Yet they want to come into my house— without permission— and they get to invade my privacy?"
"This won't take more than five minutes," growled one of the police officers.
"I don't care. I'm not moving."
"Fine. You asked for it."
Two police officers grabbed Shannon's arm and dragged her away from her door as she shouted. Then the other police officers entered her house as the residents watched in fear.
"Let go of me!" she exclaimed.
A police officer then stepped on one of Shannon's ankles, causing her to drop in pain.
"Guys, come on," said Schoffner. "Just detain her and go."
The police officer who stepped on Shannon then grabbed her arms and forced her up as she groaned in pain. He then handcuffed her and moved her to the police station while the other officers searched around her house— opening every drawer, every closet, entering every room, bathroom. One of the officers grabbed a ring that belonged to Shannon and pocketed it for herself before she walked out of the house.
"No signs of Becky," she said. "No firearms either."
"Alright, go on to the next house," said Schoffner.
The residents all chattered amongst each other. They all then began to make a line by the ballots that were stationed in two corners outside the City Hall building. Schoffner watched them before Ravi patted her shoulders softly.
"Don't you think we're going a bit too far with this?" asked Ravi.
"I'll do anything to stop Lori from becoming the leader," said Schoffner.
"Yeah, but… I think you're actually making more people support her. They think this is all ordered by Melissa."
"It is," said Schoffner. "Don't worry. Lori isn't going to win. The most important thing here is to make sure the weapons are out of Becky's reach. That's what's important here."
Schoffner then walked away, leaving Ravi feeling conflicted. He hated the feeling of his morals being messed around with. It was just too stressful and tiring.
The red van and blue car were parked at a small parking lot in a store close to a factory. Lori looked up at the factory before looking at Luna.
"Yeah, I think it's got potential," said Luna.
Lori led her group inside the factory. Vines could be seen hanging from the ceiling. There were many power tools lying around as well as empty boxes of bullets. Chairs, neon vests, and hard hats were lying around, though they were covered in moss. The group then found the stairs.
Lori opened the door as she arrived at the highest floor— the fifth floor. Behind her was Luna, holding her M110 rifle. The other group members entered the fifth floor, keeping their steps slow and easy. Lori then shuddered as she witnessed a grotesque sight.
There was a corpse, whose head was pressed by a manual machine press. Whose head was still being pressed. Red blood could be seen on its clothing and its neck while its body remained kneeling in front of the machine. Another body could be seen slumped back against the wall with brain matter splattered behind its head. The body was holding a shotgun in its hand while its jaw was completely blown off. There was a body next to it, tied to a chair, with its hands tied to the armrests. Its face was looking downwards while a pair of jumper cables could be seen inside a small plastic tub on its bare feet filled with water. A gash could be seen where its left eyeball should be. More bodies could be seen lying around on the floor, all their heads showing bullet holes. And all the bodies were still fresh.
"Damn, who did all this?" asked JuJu.
"Bodies haven't gone cold yet," said Lynn.
Jackie then stepped out onto the stairs and vomited down into the first floor. Fiona rubbed her back as Jackie continued to cough and gag.
"Why is she here again?" asked Bruna.
"She knows how to pick locks," said Lori. "She learned it from one of my sisters."
"Oh. I know how to pick locks too. Learned it as a teenager."
"That would've been helpful to know."
"Really? You know I was first arrested at 14 for B and E? A former gang member isn't someone you'd think to know how to pick locks?"
"You're… right."
"Poor girl. Probably her first time seeing something like this. Good luck wiping this image away."
Jackie groaned as she sat on the steps. Luan groaned as she covered her nose, becoming overwhelmed by the foul smell filling up the floor. Benny gulped as he knelt down towards one of the bodies and lifted a note from their pocket. The note was stained with blood, but was still easy to read.
"What's it say?" Clyde asked Benny.
"Zheng, the captive is no use. He claims that he's from an area called The Rapids. Supposedly, it's a community all the way out in Grand Rapids. But we both know it's just an abandoned military base. There's nothing special there. There never was. Either the captive is unbreakable or just plain deluded. It don't matter anyways. He's not with Darius. By the time you read this note, the captive is dead."
While Benny was reading the note, Luna was looking at each of the bodies on the floor. She noticed that some of them were wearing masks, some stained with blood— blood that didn't belong to a human. But there were no roamers around— dead or alive. She then noticed one of the survivors wearing a yellow face mask. She knelt down and removed the mask, noticing a large X-scar placed on his left eye. The scar was old, however. That, along with the burn scar across the neck. Luna felt she had seen this person before.
"So, they're all Laborers," said Benny. "Except that poor fella over there."
"Not this one," said Luna. "This guy was a member of the X-Tribe. I know because I've seen him before… when Woodrow had me in that cell in Baltimore."
"He's not the only one wearing a mask," said Clyde, pointing at a few other bodies. "These guys also have a mask on."
Luna removed their masks and noticed the same scars on their faces. And their masks were covered in roamer blood.
"What are the cannibals doing here?" asked Luna. "Did they do all this? Or were they and the Laborers part of the same team?"
"Darius was the name of a group leader that chased me and Lynn down, along with some others," said Lori. "And this was like over a year ago. What's his name doing here?"
"Is it the same Darius?" asked Lynn.
"I don't know. But the Darius that hunted us mentioned a Zheng. Nothing is making sense anymore."
"Shit, it looks like they got wiped out by a whole gang," said JuJu.
"The ones who have masks have them covered in roamer blood," said Luna. "It's a Yellowjacket thing to do, but none of them are wearing their signature yellow raincoats. And these people were X-Tribe. But the X-Tribe never covered themselves in roamer blood. I have no idea what to make of this."
"This doesn't feel right," said Clyde. "Laborer, Yellowjackets, X-Tribe, Darius— and now we got this one guy from this 'Rapids' community that we never heard about? I don't have a good feeling about this. Maybe we should leave."
"I agree," said Benny. "We don't know what we're heading into. Something sinister is going on and I don't like it."
"Plus, I'm confused as hell," said Miguel. "I don't know what the heck you guys are talking about, but it doesn't sound nice."
"Just relax," said Lori. "We'll get to the bottom of it, but only once we understand what's going on. Luna, is this a good vantage point? Luna?"
Luna snapped back into reality and looked at Lori.
"Huh?" asked Luna.
"Think you can set up here?"
"Oh, nope. I'd rather go somewhere else. It stinks in here."
Lori nodded. She walked out of the floor as the rest of the group followed. Luna stayed behind for a few seconds, trying to make sense of what happened on this floor. But she couldn't figure it out.
More hours passed by as people voted in the ballots that were set up in front of the City Hall building. People were gathering on the steps of City Hall while writing on their cardboard and paper signs.
Finn looked around, worried about the large police presence. He then felt someone tap his shoulder with a finger. He turned around and saw his twin sister.
"Hey, nerd," said Quinn.
"Ugh, what are you doing here, dork?" groaned Finn.
"I was going to ask you the same thing. You're actually voting?"
"I waited eighteen years to vote. So, yes, I'm voting."
"I waited ten minutes longer than you and yet I don't care."
"Aren't you supposed to be watching Tucker?"
Quinn's eyes then shot open.
"Oh, crap! I forgot!"
"You forgot?" gasped Finn. "You left him alone in the house? What the— go home!"
"Sike, I'm just playing around. Don't get your undies in a twist."
"He's… not alone?"
"Nope. Al's watching him."
"Nice try. I just saw him a minute ago. He's not home."
"What do you mean he's not home?"
"I mean… he's not home… dweeb."
Quinn quickly ran back home as Finn looked surprised. He then turned around to see people lifting up their signs while they shouted.
"Stop stomping on our liberties!" shouted Spencer.
"It's, like, a violation of our rights!" shouted Ruby.
"Vote Melissa and her gang of police out!" yelled Steve.
The police then approached Steve, who was starting to march too close to the ballots.
"Hey, back away!" yelled one of the cops.
"I'm just protesting!" said Steve. "I have the right to do that!"
"Not on City Hall grounds. People are voting here! Everyone who is protesting must leave. You have no permission to protest!"
"Why not?" shouted Girl Jordan.
"You are interfering with the election process!" yelled another cop. "You have to leave now!"
"Well, you gotta force us, because we ain't leaving," said Steve.
The police then grabbed his arms. Steve started resisting before one of the cops grabbed his baton and smacked him in the face. The voters gasped, including Finn, as they all watched the officers surround the protestors. Finn began to feel his heart race again.
The officer then smacked Steve again before kicking him. Steve yelled as the cops dragged him down the steps, injuring him more.
"What are you doing?" yelled Girl Jordan.
The police continued to move the rest of the protesters away from City Hall as they started shouting. Schoffner walked up the steps, ignoring the shouts before Sam jogged up to her.
"Detective!" exclaimed Sam. "This is wrong. You gotta stop this."
"No," said Schoffner. "They're interfering. Now back away before they arrest you too for protesting."
Sam stepped away from Schoffner as she watched the police arrest a wounded Steve, Spencer, Ruby, Girl Jordan, and a couple other protesters. She wondered how the lawful Schoffner could be so indifferent to their outcry.
Schoffner entered the City Hall building followed by Ravi.
"What the hell was that out there?" asked Ravi.
"Uncooperative residents," said Schoffner, walking to Melissa's office.
"Not only are you sabotaging Melissa's chances to win— what you're enabling is wrong. We can't let this be an example of how we pursue justice."
"The protestors don't know justice if it hit them in the face."
"What's going on with you? This isn't the partner I know."
"I'm not your partner. I'm your superior. I give you orders and you don't question them. And as a friend… I'm asking you to trust me on this."
"I don't think I can."
"Here's an order then. Make sure no one else gathers outside. Only those who are voting are allowed outside City Hall."
Schoffner then left Ravi where he stood. He walked back out while Schoffner entered Melissa's office. Inside, she saw Melissa, Jane, and Mandee.
"You wanted me?" asked Schoffner.
"Yes," said Melissa. "What's going on outside?"
"People are protesting by harassing the voters."
"That's not what I'm seeing. I'm seeing a whole different picture."
"They are interfering with our investigations. They're on the border of rioting— and it's distracting my officers from their job."
"Your officers?"
"And Orlando's. Your son's officers and mine's."
"You told me this was not going to happen. And now that it has, you're allowing your officers to respond with excessive force. This brutality must stop."
"Understood."
Schoffner walked out of the office. Jane then began to walk out of the office as well before Melissa called out to her.
"Where are you going?" asked Melissa.
"I'm going to take pictures," said Jane. "This is important for historical reasons."
"Don't."
"With all due respect… I need to capture even the ugly side of history. That's why I'm here."
"They're gonna break your camera."
"The film will be safe."
"But you won't be able to take more pictures. And trust me— you're going to want to take pictures of what I have planned."
Jane nodded.
Schoffner exited the City Hall building as she approached the police officers pushing angry voters away from the steps. The voters were defending the protesters, though they were risking getting arrested themselves as well.
"Hey, guys," said Schoffner. "Don't hurt 'em unless you have to. Just arrest them and go."
The angry voters then backed away as the police officers nodded. They got their handcuffs out, intimidating those who dared to say something about the show of brutality earlier. The angry voters all got quiet.
Ravi then leaned close to Schoffner.
"Detective… all the guns have been confiscated," he whispered.
Schoffner smiled.
Crosshairs from a sniper scope pointed at the cars parked in front of the mall. A few of them were armored, armed with heavy machine guns. One of the armored vehicles had a flag flying on its trunk, showing an anarchy symbol. The sniper scope then aimed at a teenage girl, zipping around the cars while keeping herself low. She then made it outside the parking lot and ran down the street towards the building that Luna was on.
"Lynn's coming back," said Luna.
"Let's go see what she found," said Lori.
The two sisters got off the roof and joined the rest of the group on the ground floor of the building. They then walked outside the building, meeting Lynn under an oversized tree and next to a tight alleyway. She removed her ski mask and placed half of it inside her right pocket.
"There's nobody in there," said Lynn. "It's like they all fled."
"Maybe we got the wrong base," said Fiona.
"Nah, there was stuff in there. Guns, ammo, water, medical supplies. It's definitely their base, but no one's in there."
"Maybe it's an outpost," said Bruna. "It looks like a base, but it's not really their base. Would make sense too. I don't see myself living in a mall."
"Maybe…" said Lori.
"I didn't see any beds," said Lynn. "I hate to say it but the Piranha may be right."
"Don't call me that," sighed Bruna.
"Sorry."
"Something sinister is definitely going on," said Benny, looking around. "I don't like this at all. I think we should head back home."
"No, not yet," said Lori.
Benny looked at the alley where he noticed a small movement. He then realized that the alley was darkened by the shade from the oversized tree. He quickly looked up.
"We should stay here and make sense of what's—"
"Lori—!" gasped Benny as he lunged towards her, tackling her to the ground.
The branches from the tree rustled as a survivor dropped down, narrowly missing Lori with her sword. Benny tried taking out his sword before the survivor kicked him back into the ground. She then swung her sword at Luan instead, who was able to take out her katana in time to block the attacker's strike. The survivor then knelt and kicked Luan's leg, dropping her to the ground. She then saw a couple survivors raising their guns. She quickly jumped back, her yellow raincoat disappearing behind Lori and Benny before she lifted Benny up to his knees, placing the blade of her sword against his neck.
"Shoot and I kill this kid," said the Yellowjacket.
Benny panted as he slowly picked up his sword from the ground. He then looked at his group. The survivors were all aiming their guns at the Yellowjackets, except Clyde, who was looking around, making sure the group weren't being ambushed by more survivors.
"Let him go!" exclaimed Luan. "We only came here to ask questions."
"We don't forgive Laborers."
Benny looked at Lynn and nodded before he lifted his sword up rapidly, pushed it against the Yellowjacket's sword, and ducked. The Yellowjacket tried to slice Benny's neck, but his sword was resisting her own sword. She then heard a loud gunshot before being struck by a bullet in her left shoulder.
"Gotcha!" laughed Lynn.
Lori sighed in relief as she stood up. Benny stood up as well, placing a hand on his chest to soothe his racing heart.
The Yellowjacket moaned in pain as she leaned back against the tree, clutching her left shoulder with her hands. She moved her lower face mask down to her neck and panted as she tried to get some air. She then heard someone cock a revolver. She looked up and saw Lori aiming her revolver at her.
"You have some explaining to do," said Lori.
Becky looked into the mirror as the water from the faucet ran. She looked at the reflection of her green eyes as she mumbled to herself. She then saw Whitney standing in the entranceway to the bathroom.
"You okay in there, Becky?" asked Whitney.
"Peachy," said Becky.
Becky turned off the faucet water and walked out of the bathroom. She then walked into the living room while Whitney followed her.
"Roger has been gone for quite a while," said Becky.
"Yeah," said Whitney.
"Where is he?"
"Waiting in line to vote, maybe."
"Aren't you gonna vote?"
"Yeah."
"When does voting end?"
Whitney walked to the kitchen, grabbing a small cracker from a plastic jar. She placed it in her mouth and shrugged.
"You don't wanna vote at the last minute, right?" asked Becky.
"I'm gonna vote. Just… later."
"You don't know where Roger is, right?"
"Not really."
"Are you worried for him?"
"He'll be okay. I don't have to babysit him."
"But you're babysitting me, right?"
Whitney continued to eat her crackers. She looked at the floor, not making any eye contact with Becky.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" asked Becky.
"I trust you."
"Why are you here with me? Who's making you watch me? Carol?"
"No one. It's my house. I like it here. You don't have to be alone all the time."
Whitney and Becky then heard a knock on the door.
"Oh, that must be Roger. If you want to be alone… I can leave you alone."
Whitney then walked towards the door, not looking at Becky once. Becky then sighed before pulling out a Px4 pistol— Jace's sidearm. She aimed it at Whitney, who continued to walk towards the door.
"Stop," said Becky.
Whitney paused. She turned around and gasped softly, her breaths now becoming shaky.
"W-What are you doing?" asked Whitney.
The knock on the door was heard again. Whitney shuddered.
"W-Who is it?" she asked.
"It's Roger. I forgot my keys."
"J-Just a moment! I'll be there!"
Whitney looked at Becky while fearing for her life.
"He didn't forget them," said Becky, moving her finger towards the trigger. "Who convinced you to sell out?"
"B-Becky…"
Becky marched towards Whitney before shoving her pistol in her forehead, getting a fearful yelp out of her. Whitney raised her hands as sweat drenched her face. Then, Becky heard the hammer of a gun click behind her.
"Why?" whispered Becky. "You realize that Lori won't become the leader if you give me up?"
"Yeah," said Albert. "That's why we're doing this. Now, drop your weapon."
"The old man with blood on his hand. I thought you, out of all people, would understand me the most."
"Yeah? Shows you don't understand me either."
Becky lowered her pistol and tossed it into the couch. She then turned around and faced Albert as she raised her hands. Her look seemed arrogant with a hint of anger.
"Go on, kid," said Albert, looking at Whitney. "Open the door."
Whitney jogged towards the door and opened it before stepping outside. Many police officers in riot gear swarmed inside the house, all aiming their guns at Becky. Albert then placed his weapon back into his sheath as he looked at Schoffner, who marched into the house.
"I see why they call you and your peers the Greatest Generation," said Schoffner.
"I'm a baby boomer," said Albert.
"My apologies. You did upstanding work, Al."
"Snitch," muttered Becky.
"Ah, how could I have forgotten to re-introduce myself?"
Schoffner walked up to Becky and faced her.
"Hi. I'm Detective Schoffner. You may have known me as a simple officer under the command of a detective, but then that detective was murdered."
"Just get this over with," said Becky.
"If you say so. You don't know how long I've been waiting to do this."
Schoffner walked behind Becky and grabbed her arms before handcuffing her wrists behind her back.
"Rebecca Rhonda. You are under arrest for the murder of Detective Plesko. Let's go."
"What, no Miranda rights?"
"No."
Schoffner exited the house with Becky followed by her police officers. Becky then looked at Whitney.
"You're gonna regret this," said Becky.
"Shut the hell up," said Schoffner. "Keep on walking."
Whitney was now filled with concern as Roger hugged her close to him. Her breath shuddered softly as a tear came out of her eye.
"Oh, shit," whispered Schoffner, looking at the crowd forming around City Hall in the distance. "Is she conceding now?"
The crowd chattered amongst each other, wondering why the police closed off the ballots. Katherine Mulligan was carrying a large radio inside her backpack while holding the radio microphone close to her face. She was waiting for someone to appear while talking to the microphone. Then, the moment came.
Mandee opened the door and allowed Melissa to come out of the building— something she rarely did in the daytime. Jane followed behind her, taking pictures of the crowd with her Polaroid camera. She then quickly walked down the stairs, blushing softly as she tried to escape the audience's attention as fast as she could. She then turned around and joined the audience before lifting her camera up and taking more pictures, this time with none of the attention on her. All the attention was now on Melissa.
"People of Royal Woods… today is a historic day. I was going to wait until Mrs. Loud returned from her trip, but the brutality displayed earlier today forced me to change plans. I can see some of you are angry, so I'm going to make this quick— I'm going straight to the point. The abuse of power, the use of excessive force to seize weapons in the pursuit of a resident accused of a crime and to prevent protestors from demonstrating peacefully… it's all examples of a leadership that I'm responsible for. Five months ago, I thought perhaps I would soon be able to lead you all throughout tough times, but when the tough times came, I couldn't lead effectively."
Schoffner and the police officers arrived at City Hall. Schoffner couldn't see a way around the crowd, so she decided to take Becky up the wheelchair ramp.
"That's why, effective immediately, I am conceding my position as leader to Lori Loud, the new leader of the Royal Woods Community!"
Members of the crowd began to chatter happily while some looked indifferent. Melissa smiled before seeing Schoffner approach her. She then saw Becky in front of the detective, surprising her.
"Not so fast," said Schoffner.
The police officers began to push their way through the crowd as they gathered up the stairs. Schoffner stood in front of Melissa while holding Becky's arms.
"You said that you would not give up your position if Lori was hiding Rebecca. Well, guess what? Lori hid Rebecca! And some of our residents were nearly made to pay the price when she…"
Schoffner lifted the Px4 pistol high into the air for the crowd to see. Becky growled softly as she felt Schoffner pressing her arms hard.
"...used this to threaten them! Someone in this community handed this to her! Lori's judgment was to trust this criminal. And what this criminal did was almost murder other residents. We can't trust Lori's judgment for anything! She is the kind of person to let her friends do whatever they want! Her friends are dangerous!"
"What's going on?" whispered Will.
"I don't know," said Quinn. "I don't really feel comfortable though."
"Without a stable authoritative source to follow, this place will collapse! Melissa and Lori are not the solution."
Two police officers surrounded Melissa. She looked up at them in resentment.
"Forget anything Melissa said. This place is now under lockdown. The police will maintain order. You have any questions at all— you come to me. That'll be all."
The crowds exploded into clamor as the officers escorted Melissa back inside City Hall. Katherine walked up the stairs, trying to get Schoffner to answer some of her questions, but the officers guarding the stairs prevented her from going farther up. Schoffner grabbed Becky and left City Hall from the wheelchair ramp, ignoring the outrage. The police in riot gear escorted the two to the police station, using their shields to prevent the crowd from approaching them.
"Not what you expected, huh?" Schoffner said to Becky.
Becky appeared angrier as Schoffner led her inside the police station, where she was greeted by smirking rookie cops. She then felt Schoffner grab her head and force her to look at Plesko's former office— now Schoffner's office.
"Looks familiar?" asked Schoffner.
"I saved your life," said Becky.
"And I'll forever be grateful for that. But that doesn't make things right. You'll face time for your actions."
Schoffner then moved Becky along the police station, now moving her to the jail center.
Becky looked at the cells she was passing by. Patchy, Girl Jordan, Shannon, Steve, Spencer, Ruby, and others filled up the cells. She then saw her parents inside a cell together. The handcuffs behind her were unlocked. She was then shoved into the cell before Schoffner closed the cell and locked it.
"One last family reunion," said Schoffner. "Then, you two will be talking to your little girl with iron bars between you guys."
Schoffner walked away.
Becky looked down at the floor, not able to keep eye contact with neither of her parents. Clancy frowned in defeat while Ms. Carmichael teared up in regret.
"Becky…" said Clancy. "Your mother and I… we're sorry for not listening to you. About that night… I deeply regret trying to lecture you…"
Becky heard the door between the jail center and the police station shut.
"Where's the walkie?" asked Becky, still not looking at her father in the eyes.
"Rebecca…" sniffled Ms. Carmichael, "your father is trying to talk to you."
"It's okay. Becky, if you're still mad at me that's okay. But I do want us to talk. That's all I want."
Becky then looked at her father's eyes.
"It's okay, Dad. I'm not mad at you. In fact… I'm grateful for what you did. You killed Oscar."
Becky then hugged her father, who bit his lips, feeling uncomfortable hearing what returned him to his daughter's good graces. Becky then turned towards her mother.
"Thank you for not giving me up," said Becky. "You tried… you resisted those in power… and I'm glad you did that."
"Of course," said Ms. Carmichael. "Anything for you."
Clancy then grabbed the walkie-talkie from under his pillow. He then handed it to Becky.
"I didn't hear anything from this…" said Clancy. "I was starting to think you really meant it when you said you didn't want to talk to me again."
"I'm sorry, Dad…" said Becky, grabbing the walkie-talkie. "But this wasn't meant for communication. At least… not between you and me."
"With who then?"
"Where are all the Laborers?" asked Lori, shoving the barrel of the Python against the Yellowjacket's brunette head.
"You… you guys aren't Laborers?" panted the Yellowjacket.
"Why would you think that?" asked Lynn.
"Your vehicles… they—"
"Oh, right. Damn it, you're observant."
"W-Wait, hold on," said Clyde. "If you thought we were Laborers… then why'd you try to kill us?"
"Are you friends with them or something? D-Do you not know of the horrible things they did...?"
"Umm, we do know," said Miguel. "Do you know of the horrible things they did?"
"There you go…. That's why I was trying to kill you guys. But, clearly… I was mistaken. You guys aren't Laborers. My bad."
"Aren't the Yellowjackets and the Laborers supposed to be like… allied together?" asked Fiona.
"Suzumebachi. We're Suzumebachi."
"No offense, but it's kinda hard to pronounce."
"I'm not Japanese... and I can pronounce it fine."
"Oh, sorry then, I just don't care to remember it."
"Whatever…. Who told you we were allied with those monsters?"
Fiona looked at Lori. Lori then raised a hand, wanting to change the topic.
"So your group and the Laborers aren't allies?" asked Lori.
"Duh… seems to me… like someone bullshitted you guys."
"What are you doing here then?"
"Spying on the Laborers. It's vital… for my people's survival."
"Spying, huh? So what was that mess we saw at the factory earlier? Looked like Yellowjackets and Laborers all massacred together. Care to explain what you saw?"
"I only saw the aftermath. I don't know which group did that… but those guys weren't Suzumebachi. Suzumebachi always wear yellow raincoats. Some of them were Suzumebachi… and some of them were cannibals that our leader… encountered long ago. They joined and formed a larger group. They call themselves… Vultures. That's who Zheng allied himself with. Zheng's the leader of—"
"Yeah, we heard of him," said Lori. "The Vultures…? I never heard of them."
"Are you people from communities?"
"Yeah," said Jackie. "We're from—"
Lori shushed her. The Yellowjacket looked at them with a concerned expression.
"If you don't want to tell me… that's fine. Just know… that Zheng and his people are going to a community called Royal Woods. All his people. The Vultures will soon follow."
"Why?" asked Lori. "What does he want with Royal Woods?"
"It's more about what she wants— the leader of the Vultures."
The wheels turned rapidly while the engines roared. A large convoy of armored vehicles, some mounted with machine guns, were driving fast on a road headed for Royal Woods. The armored vehicles were covered with graffiti of anarchy symbols.
In one of the vehicles, Zheng was sitting on the passenger seat while Monica— another Laborer that Lori's group encountered— drove the vehicle. Zheng was holding a walkie-talkie in his hands as he watched the trees pass by from the window. He then heard the walkie-talkie crackle. He looked at Monica, who nodded. He chuckled before he pressed the button on the walkie-talkie.
"This leader…" said Lori, feeling her heart pump nervously, "...she got a name?"
The Yellowjacket continued to press against her bleeding shoulder, groaning in pain. But at this moment, she had a feeling that Lori already knew. All Lori was waiting for was for the Yellowjacket to confirm it.
"Becky."
The walkie-talkie crackled inside the jail cell, arousing the suspicion of the other prisoners, including Clancy and Ms. Carmichael. Becky, however, smiled, knowing her plan was now commencing.
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End Credit Song
insane - gnash