The Assassination High: Twelve
[WP] In a school for assassins and mercenaries, you're a beloved lunch lady. You ruefully realize that you're the only person nearly everyone trusts. Then you get framed for placing hemlock in an administrator's meal. The school board rushes to fire you, throwing the academy into turmoil.
*****
The scream was bone-chilling. It was at that moment that it dawned on me - the naivety we approached this mission with, and how we overlooked a lot of basic things while formulating a plan that seemed foolproof. We technically did not have a Plan B, because we did not think of the possibility that plan A would fail.
Nina looked at me. "You go there, Viper, and I will hold him down, so check up on Amanda!"
I ran off in the direction of the Electricals and Power Block. The widespread blackouts could only have been controlled from there, and that was why part of our plan was to have Amanda wait there for Krane who was surely going to come there to turn off the lights.
So what happened to make Amanda scream? How the hell had a simple plan gone wrong?
The path from the shore to the Electricals block was through a forest area that was rarely dense. I had to approach as quickly as I could without alerting the potential enemy of my presence. When I approached the clearing, I assessed the scene before me.
Amanda was in a knife fight with Krane apparently, both of them taking bold swipes at each other. She was bleeding from her right knuckle, but Krane had a knife stuck in his left arm. I whipped out my gin and raised it, aiming for Krane's legs before I noticed it.
There was someone else in the vicinity; someone who had done a good job of concealing themselves so far. If not for the intent to kill which permeated the air, I wouldn't have been aware of their presence. But, nothing was said of a third person. We did not factor that in at all, and now I was in danger.
Because this person was behind me, above in the trees to my right.
I ducked in time and avoided a knife that whizzed right past my face, my eye-catching the glint of the moonlight bouncing off it.
"Costly miss, you b@stard. I know where you are," I said, shooting as I turned. The person had narrowly avoided that, jumping down and running towards me. In the split second, I had frozen due to shock at their speed, my enemy had closed the gap between us.
The only problem? It was close-range. I couldn't miss it.
I fired two shots, one of which hit my attacker squarely in the shoulder. However, she - we was close enough for me to confirm the gender of my attacker - managed to punch me in the jaw, sending me crashing out of the clearing and into the open ground.
Amanda and Krane had heard the shots, because they had stopped fighting and were now staring at me trying to get up and the woman who had just come out of the bushes, clutching her shoulder, a snarl on her face.
A soon as I saw her, it all made sense. Karina Hantz, the Hunting Instructor. The one who provided the bread knife that was used to kill Inosuike and Caprice, and one of Krane's closest associates on the island. Of course, she was in cahoots with him, we were stupid to have overlooked that possibility all this while.
"So Karina, you're the third assailant, huh?"
Karina grimaced, fixing her eyes in a deathly stare with me before turning to Amanda. "Nothing personal, but my loyalty to Krane supersedes abt affiliation I have with you whatsoever. We were never really friends, to begin with, but I owe Krane a lot."
"So you're willing to be an accessory to the murder of innocent students just for some stupid loyalty to a bast*rd like Krane?" I asked.
Karina sniggered. "Innocent? They're being groomed in this facility to go out there and kill people. They're not innocent, no one is, and I don't think you're in any place to question my actions now, are you? You're just as culpable, seeing as you're working for-"
"I understand you now," I said, getting up. "You're operating on your moral compass, and I'm operating on mine. So you must understand me when I say no hard feelings, but I must kill you, just because you're my enemy."
My gun had fallen somewhere in the bushes, so I was unarmed. Karina was injured, and she had a knife in her hand, so she was still at an advantage in this faceoff.
"We're going for her first!" Krane said, dashing towards me. He was much closer to me than Amanda was, so he was going to hit me. Or Karina would. I was cornered.
And then the shots rang out.
Krane dropped to the ground screaming in pain as his things turned red with blood. Amanda stood, the gun in her hand aimed at him.
My gun.
"You threw it when she punched you. Krane didn't notice when I grabbed it," she said, before nodding to remind me of Karina's approach.
But Karina's movements had lost their composure after seeing Krane shot, and she was open, I avoided her punch and punched her in her injured shoulder, eliciting a scream from her, before disarming her and stabbing her in the other shoulder.
I drank in the screams as Amanda shot her in both legs.
It was over.
*****
To Be Continued.
One more episode?
