Quinn's Code 11: The Geek Hunter
Monday, March 6, 2006
Lawndale
Quinn Morgendorffer entered her sister, Daria's room. "Gosh, this room's more depressing than I remembered," she commented.
"I'm sorry, the maximum occupancy is one. Please exit through the front."
"Look, I know we don't usually get along, but please don't tell Mom and Dad they're looking for paintball volunteers."
"But I already sent out their invitations," Daria snarked.
Quinn recognised her sister's sarcasm, but she wanted to be sure. "You didn't right?"
"Relax, we work together for common goal; no mention of paintballing or volunteering from either one of us."
"Agreed."
"Later, after we've achieved this goal, we'll resume the age old hostilities that have made peace in this part of the house a seeming impossibility."
"Good plan," Quinn agreed.
Later, Quinn came down to breakfast with a copious amount of clips in her hair. Her mother, Helen, noticed the difference. "Quinn?" she asked.
"I can try something different," she said.
"Wouldn't that set off the metal detectors?"
"These are plastic clips, they only look metallic."
"I don't know why you have your hair like that to begin with..."
"All right, all right, the whole school's going on a paintballing field trip."
"Put away the red hot poker," Daria said.
"I figured I would try to avoid helmet hair!"
"You held out for a good ten seconds," Daria said.
"No."
"Daria, this trip would be very good for you. You'll get to know your schoolmates and your teachers. I smell recommendations for College."
"That's funny. All I smell is hair gel."
"Those letters can make the difference in getting into your first-choice school."
Jake entered the kitchen. "Jake, tell Daria..."
"Oh, I have to fix that loose floorboard all the way at the other end of the house," he said, and left.
"Actually, I should deal with those teachers directly."
"Mom, I think you've already demonstrated your involvement by pretending you're going out of town whenever Mr. O'Neill call about school review meetings," Daria siad.
"That man is just so... creepy. I don't suppose they need volunteers for this..."
"No!" Both sisters said at once.
"Oh, darn!"
Later, two Lawndale High buses were heading towards the paintball range.
Jane Lane noticed a sign advertising an attraction called 'The Great White Shark.' "'Only 20 miles to the Great White Shark.' You know, Sharks don't really eat humans. They usually just tear out a bite and swim away."
"Quite like Quinn's dates," Daria quipped.
'Not really,' Jennifer Burns thought.
"I mean, they often take a vital organ with them."
"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but it is not going to work," Daria said.
On the second bus, Sandi Griffin said, "So it's decided: no matter what happens, we won't shoot each other and mess up our outfits," She held out a copy of Waif magazine. "If I fire on a fellow Fashion Club member, may I wear brown pants with an elastic band for a whole week..."
Tori Jericho placed her hand on the magazine. "If I fire, I'll wear shiny taupe pantyhose."
Stacy Rowe did the same "Stonewashed jeans."
So did Tiffany Blum-Deckler "Glasses."
A few seats behind, Quinn overheard the Fashion Club. "Give me a break!" she said.
"Rather silly, isn't it?" her friend, Cindy Brolsma, commented.
"Certainly, I know Sandi still resents my popularity," Quinn said.
Their friend, Kristen Leung-Bell, was about to say something when Joey Green interuppted. "Quinn, don't worry about anyone hitting you. I'll protect you."
"Me too! I'll be your bodyguard! They'll have to kill me first," Jeffy Brown chimed in.
"Um, Okay..." Quinn interjected.
"I really want to take a bullet for you," Jamie White said.
"Oh dear..."
"They're paintballs, not bullets," Cindy said. She turned to Quinn. "There are some FPS tactics we can use..."
Back on the other bus... after it passed another sign advertising the 'Great White Shark'. "Come on! Let's ditch paintballing and go visit the Great White Shark. It'll be cool," Jane said.
"Maybe," Jennifer said.
"No, it won't. It'll be stupid, and we're already doing something stupid!" Daria objected.
"It would be our idea," Jennifer said.
"Not interested. There are plenty of tiny-brained pre-historic creatures right here."
When the buses go the paintballing place the Morgendorffer sisters got a surprise. "Surprise!" Helen and Jake said as their daughters got off the buses.
"Ah!" Quinn said as she ran off with her friends right behind her.
"What are they doing here?" Jane asked.
'This has to be embarrassing,' Jennifer thought as she moved toward Daria.
"I guess tormenting me in the privacy of my own home wasn't enough," Daria said.
"Daria, isn't this great? I called your mother about the school review meeting, but she was going out of town that night and asked if we were looking for paintball volunteers! I only wish that more parents cared enough to take such an active role in their child's education," Timothy O'Neill said.
"Me too!" Jake said.
"Yes..." Helen said.
Daria turned to her friends. "If we walk fast, we can see the Great White Shark by ten."
"...We also have an exact replica of 'Nam's infamous POW prison, the Hanoi Hilton, special rates for weddngs."
Sandi raised her hand "Colonel, or whatever, where's the ladies room?"
"Oh, there are 'comfort stations' but they're really well camoflagued." Jim pointed to Jake. "Hey you! Come here!"
"Me?" Jake asked.
"Watch this!" Jim said as he pushed Jake into a hole in the ground.
"Ah!"
"Jake!" Helen called out.
"Isn't it great? A whole labyrinth of underground tunnels. You could get lost down there for days."
The students separated into two teams. "So, seize this opportunity to say 'private Yong Person, reporting, sir or madam, ready, willing and able to learn the true meaning of teamwork," Mr. O'Neill said.
"Let's go team!"
"That's it, Brittany! Who else on team red wants to say something before we begin?"
"To understand the disruptive nature of war upon society, first we must understand it's shattering impact upon individuals. I realize it's foolish of me to assume that any member Team Blue knows what physical pain feels like outside of a paper cut!" Anthony DeMartino said.
"Yeah, what a bunch of... ah!" Jake dropped to the ground as DeMartino pointed his gun at him.
"Sorry, false alarm!"
"That's OK."
"Now, the object of the game is to shoot to kill."
"Excuse me, isn't the object of the game to capture the enemy's flag?" Daria asked.
"Whatever. Move out!"
"Now, before we go out on the battlefield, would anyone like to share their feelings?" Mr. O'Neill asked.
Ms. Barch fired her gun behind Mr. O'Neill, causing him to run off, sobbing. "Now that Mr. O'Neill has predictably deserted us in our prime, I will take command."
"Excuse me, Ms. Barch? Since they can't see us very well because of the terrain, we can split up and they won't know where we are; then we can attack them from their sides, drive them out to the one side they think is safe, and then set up an ambush so we can capture them all at once! Probably be a good idea to set up an observation post on the high ground so we can watch them without them seeing us," Brittany suggested.
Everyone looked at her, surprised by her knowledge of tactics.
"What?" Brittany asked, confused by their surprise.
"That's very good, Brittany," Ms. Barch praised.
"OK, team, let's go." As the team moved out she noticed that Jane remained behind. "Come on, Jane."
"I'm more of a mercenary type. You know, lone wolf working on their own type of thing," she said, wanting to leave the group and find Daria. 'I hope you're nearby, Amiga,' she thought. She didn't want to wander around the paintball range any longer than she needed to.
"Good idea, Jane. If plan A fails, you can come in on a rescue mission."
Jane sighed. 'You can get someone else to do that!' she thought.
"You will, right?"
"Sure, Brittany."
Soon, the paintball game was on.
"Now," Sandi Griffin said to her Fashion Club. "Let's find that Geek and cover her with paint!"
"Is that such a good idea, Sandi?" Tori Jericho asked. She was concerned that Sandi would go too far. 'She's already resentful of her popularity!'
"She'll be embarrassed, and bruised, but otherwise unharmed," Sandi said, placing emphasis on the last word.
"So you say, Sandi, but I know that you don't like her being popular. Get over it!" Tori said. 'I hope she'll change her mind. I know it's not likely, but, still...'
Sandi just glared at Tori before saying, "Let's go."
Tori sighed. She thought she saw a look of sympathy from Stacy, but it was momentary.
Brittany led Jane through some bushes... Someone got in a lucky shot and hit Jane in the shoulder. "Ow! Those paintball thingy's hurt."
"Oh no! You're hit. You're out of the game."
"Damn it! Oh, well." She threw aside her gun and walked away.
"Poor kid. She never had a chance," Brittany said. 'Now someone else will have to rescue us,' she thought.
Daria was walking through the woods, carrying her paintgun in a way that indicated that she expected an opponent to come out of the bushes at any time. 'Somebody in a movie once said. "Hell is the possibility of sanity." This is what this place feels like. Hell. I hate it already. Some damn tour, Grandma.'
Helen appeared and pointed her gun at Daria. Daria surrendered. Helen was annoyed. "Daria, you could at least try!"
"I can't shoot my own mother, not with paint anyway."'
"I'm out here, giving my all. Why can't you for once..." She was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. "Morgendorffer! Oh hi, Eric! ...Yes, I'm out here in the woods; can you believe it?" She dashed off as paintballs came in her direction.
Then Daria got hit and dropped her gun. "Ow!"
"Sorry," Jane said as she and Jennifer walked up.
"Let's get this over with!" Daria said. She walked off, leaving the paint gun where it had fallen.
"Sure, let's go," Jane said, with a smirk.
"Are you sure?" Jennifer asked.
"Yes. It would be better than here," Daria said.
Quinn, Kristen and Cindy located the Fashion Club. They were in a small clearing. "OK, you know what to do," Cindy said.
Stacy heard something in the bushes. She gave out a yelp of fright.
"Sta-cy!" Sandi admonished.
"Eep! Someone's out there!"
"Of course someone's out there; just try not to give out, like, our position, by yelping!" Sandi said, her voice hard.
"Sorry!"
"Someone is there," Tori said. Paintballs came fying out of the bushes. Tori ducked behind a tree and fired back.
Sandi thought for a moment. "Tiffany, go investigate," she said.
"Mee-e?"
"Yes."
"Su-re," Tiffany went to investigate.
So, Tiffany was taken by surprise when Kristen fired upon her. "Hey! I just bought this stuff!" she said.
"No, it's 'I just bought it'!" Kristen said, while shaking her head. "Game over!" She added, with a smirk.
"Yes, what do I do now?"
"Stay here," Kristen said as she sent a txt to Cindy.
"Su-ure."
Cindy heard the incoming text sound and knew that Kristen had taken out Tiffany. She signalled to Quinn.
"Tiffany was taken out," Tori said to Sandi.
"I know that, Tor-ri!" Sandi snapped.
"You sent her out, knowing that someone was there..." Tori said in a slightly accusatory tone.
"So what! Tiffany was always slow, we're like, better off without her," Sandi said, her hands on her hips.
Tori stepped forwards, so that her face was almost in Sandi's. "Who are you going to sacrifice next?"
Sandi didn't answer.
'I'm sure it's Stacy. I think she's starting to like arguing with me,' Tori thought. She turned her attention back to the surrounding woods. She was sure that it was Quinn and her two friends out there. 'Of course, it is!'
Quinn saw Cindy's signal. She moved forwards.
Tori saw Quinn emerge from the undergrowth. "There you are," she said. She fired, but Quinn dodged.
Quinn fired back; Tori dodged by falling to the ground, and rolling back, towards Stacy. "Sandi!" she called.
'I have you now...' Sandi thought. "Ah ha! Geekendorffer!" She gloated. She signalled Stacy and Tori.
Tori stood back up, and all three remaining Fashion Club members opened fire, but Quinn had retreated back into cover.
"We weren't quick enough," Sandi said. She turned. "Stacy, go after her!"
"S-sure, Sandi," Stacy said, although she was sure that Sandi was setting her up. She moved forward, toward where Quinn had dashed back into the bushes. As she passed Tori, the latter girl gave her a look of apology. 'It's not your fault, Tori,' she thought.
"Very predictable!" Cindy muttered.
Quinn nodded. They both trained their paint guns on her as she came closer.
"You're gon-na shoot Stacy?" Tiffany asked Kristen.
"Not yet," Kristen answered. 'Almost there!'
Stacy approached the bushes. Kristen sent another txt to Cindy.
Quinn and Cindy heard the 'incoming text' sound, and moved to intercept Stacy as she entered the bushes. They fired. Stacy was splattered.
"Oh!" She said. She collapsed to the ground and started crying.
"We need to do something," Quinn said.
"Tiffany can comfort her, while we deal with the other two," Cindy said.
"Sure," Quinn said.
Cindy sent a txt to Kristen.
Kristen read the text message. She turned to Tiffany. "There's a slight change of plan."
"O-oh?"
"Stacy's crying. You need to comfort her while we confront Sandi."
"Su-ure."
A quarter minute later, Kristen and Tiffany came up to the other three. Stacy had stopped crying, but she still looked miserable. "Sta-cy?"
"Why would Sandi do this to me? Why?"
Tiffany just stood there, without a word. But she did place a hand on her arm and gave a small smile. That seemed to comfort Stacy a little.
"Right, we have Sandi and Tori to deal with," Quinn said.
"Go ahead!" Stacy said.
"Are you sure?" Quinn asked.
"Yes!"
Sandi could hear them talking, but couldn't make out the words. She turned to Tori while keeping an eye on the spot where Stacy had entered the bushes. "They're about to attack. Do I have you at my back?"
"That is your plan? We go back to back?" Tori asked, dubiously. It seemed that she didn't trust Sandi.
"Yes," Sandi answered. 'I have no other idea!' she thought.
"I have a few other ideas, but I'll go with yours," Tori said. She approached Sandi. They adopted a fighting stance, back to back. Sandi briefly wondered what Tori's ideas were but then focused on the task at hand...
Kristen had returned to her original position, while Cindy moved in the other direction. They waited for Quinn to make her move...
Quinn breathed deeply. 'Deep breath. One. Two. Three.' She breathed deeply again. "Here we go!" she said, quietly, eyeing Sandi through the foliage.
She had waited for half a minute. "Come on, Geekendorffer! I know you're there!" Sandi said, trying to egg her on.
"Sandi!" Tori hissed. Sandi was giving away her position. 'You are going about this all wrong!'
"I'm ready!"
Quinn emerged from the foliage.
Sandi saw Quinn emerge from the foliage. She smiled. "Prepare for pain, Geekendorffer!" She pulled the trigger...
Several things happened at once...
Tori saw something that Sandi wasn't noticing. "Sandi!" She said in an annoyed tone.
Unknown to Sandi, Cindy and Kristen had emerged from the bushes, having already aimed their paintguns at her torso.
'She's focused on Quinn,' Kristen thought. She opened fire. So did Cindy.
As she called out Sandi's name, Tori twisted round in Cindy's direction, but she fell down before she could aim at her. Therefore, she was in Cindy and Kristen's crossfire!
Thump! Thump! Both paintballs hit come. Then another two. Sandi winced at the pain. But Quinn was in her sights, so she ignored it.
Quinn saw that Sandi was still gunning for her (so to speak), so she dashed back into the bushes as quickly as possible.
Tori saw that Sandi was still going for Quinn. "Sandi! No!" She stood up, and ran to intercept Sandi.
Tori, Cindy and Kristen all tackled Sandi at the same time. Sandi fell down, Tori falling on her lower body, Kristen, and then Cindy on her upper body. "Oof!" Tori felt both the other two on either side of her.
Quinn, Tiffany and Stacy looked at the scene. It looked like Sandi was still struggling.
"Oh no!" Stacy said.
"Be ready to run," Quinn said.
Stacy nodded.
"Sandi! Face it, you've lost!" Kristen said with a grunt!
"No! I will defeat that Geekendorffer!" Sandi said as she squirmed.
"Her name is Morgendorffer. Show some respect!" Cindy said.
"No!"
Cindy called out to Quinn. "Quinn, run, go! We may not hold her for much longer."
Quinn heard Cindy's direction. "Sure. I'll catch you later! Bye!" She gave a Stacy an apologetic look and ran off.
Sandi heard Quinn run off. She stopped struggling. "Oh! Get off me! She's gotten away!" she said with tears.
"How are we to know that you aren't going to follow her?" Kristen asked.
"I don't know where she's gone! You can take my paint gun!"
Kristen looked to Cindy, and Tori. They nodded and got off Sandi. Tori seized the paint gun from her grasp. She pointed in the direction opposite to where Quinn had gone. "Go!"
Sandi ran off. In tears. "I may have lost today, Le-ung-Bell and Brolsma! But I will be triumphant!" She said just before disappearing into the bushes.
"Well, there's that crisis averted," Tori said. She brandished both paint guns at Kristen and Cindy. "But there is still a friendly competition here."
"Wait!" Kristen said.
"Yes?" Tori asked.
"Wait until we're back in the bushes, right?" Cindy asked.
"Sure," Tori said.
Kristen and Cindy retreated.
Soon, they engaged in the paintball game again, unworried about the threat that Sandi might have posed to Quinn. Soon, it began to rain...
Sandi as she ran off, fell into one of the underground tunnels...
Daria, Jane and Jennifer, rather soaked, arrived at the Great White Shark.
"We're here to see the Great White Shark."
"Oh, it's a beauty aint it," the lady behind the counter said.
The three teens looked at the exhibit. "That's it?" Jennifer asked.
"It's a tooth," Daria stated.
"You wouldn't say, 'it's a tooth,' if you know the legend of Great White," the lady, Jordana, said.
"...Until Great White was captured two months ago, he terrorised the eastern seaboard, chomping on tourists and spitting them out like bad red wine."
"Excellent," Jane said.
"I'd say she has watched Jaws too many times," Jennifer whispered to Daria.
Daria nodded.
"What was that?" Jordana asked.
"Nothing," Jennifer said, loud enough for Jordana to hear.
Jordana continued. "It was the peak of tourist season, when a mangled body washed up on shore, scaring the beachcombers..."
Back at the paintball range. Cindy and Kristen found Quinn at the Hanoi Hilton. "So, what happened with Tori?" she asked.
"We got her," Cindy said with a slightly triumphant tone.
"Gamer Chicks; 1. Fashion Club; 0!" Quinn said with a giggle.
"...Of course, the mayor claimed that the chewed-up bodies were the victims of a propeller, but the people knew better..."
Daria had had enough. "Excuse me, but isn't this the plot of Jaws?"
"No, no! This is completely different. That's when they called in the great white shark hunter. That's when they called in... me."
Meanwhile, Helen and Ms. Li were talking. "I'm glad to see you take such an interest in your daughters, Mrs. Morgendorffer."
"Well, it isn't easy raising two teenagers all by yourself... With Jake."
"Of course, I'd like to think the school environment also plays a pivotal role."
"Absolutely. Although it would be nice if the students got a little more encouragement. Maybe bright kids like Daria and Quinn would have a better attitude and better focus respectively."
Ms, Li laughed.
"Did I say something funny?" Helen asked.
"With all due respect, I can't think of a prison that could create an attitude like your older daughter's much less a school. No, I always assumed that came from interaction with her parents, or lack of it."
That riled Helen up. "Oh, so you draw a distinction between prison and school. Because from what I've heard, you run the one pretty much like the other."
Ms. Li was angered in turn. "I don't have to listen to this!"
"No, you don't!" Helen shot back.
"And by the way, you look fifty!" Li said she left the tent.
When the rain stopped, Daria, Jane and Jennifer left the 'Great White Shark' exhibit, without Jordana noticing...
They arrived back at the buses in time. But Sandi didn't.
As the School Bus's pulled out, Sandi ran out shouting. "Nooooooo!" She fell down in a puddle of mud. As she looked at one of the buses, she saw Tori and Stacy turn away from her in the back seat...