The day was a nightmare. A complete and utter nightmare. It had begun quietly, and ended in an act of domestic terrorism and a near hostage crisis at an elementary school. And it had begun so well...
Officer Barnes and I did not go straight into a patrol, as we were assigned to do some paperwork to fill out the written reports for the past few weeks' quiet patrols. It was slow going and tough to do, especially with my larger fingers and using a pen designed for much smaller human fingers. I did manage, but it took me time to do the work. And that is why Officer Barnes and I were at the station still at 8 AM.
Officer Barnes finished before me and and went to converse politely with Officer Jenkins at the front desk while I finished. As I finally finished I stood up and turned to file the paperwork I had completed. As I did so, movement caught the corner of my eye. It was a relatively large vehicle rumbling across the street in a straight line for the station's front doors.
"GET DOWN!" I hollered and dove at both Officer Barnes and Jenkins, the paperwork forgotten.
I took both to the ground and managed to roll them underneath the front desk counter just as the vehicle slammed into station's front doors. The lightweight doors shattered and bent, and then broke inward, barely slowing down the vehicle. It wasn't until it hit the brick wall on the other side of the entryway that the vehicle finally ran out of momentum.
"What the..." Officer Barnes cursed.
"What is..." Officer Jenkins gasped at the same time.
I had no time to answer as the vehicle then suddenly exploded in a ball of fire, like a roadside bomb in Iraq or Afghanistan. Packed with explosives and full of gasoline, the explosion was powerful. It blew a twelve foot tall by thirty foot hole in the front of the station. Electrical wiring, papers, and pieces of wood caught fire, and the front desk was physically pushed back eight feet, pushing Officer Jenkins, Officer Barnes, and myself, using my larger size and strength as a living shield against the wall closer to the hallway that lead to Officer Howard's office and the inside workings of the station.
And after that, the sound of rubble falling on the counter above me and on the rest of the inside of the station was clearly audible. And shortly after that is when I managed to push the counter and a good portion of the fallen brick and plaster wall off of us. It was then that I saw just how bad the attack was at the station... and we then reacted to what was going on in the short term.
Officer Howard came out of his office and tried to check on us, though things weren't good otherwise. Only five officers were in the front area when it happened. Officer Barnes, Officer Jenkins, the dispatch officer, the town's DARE officer, and myself. The dispatch officer had been completely decapitated by a piece of flying metal from the exploding vehicle. The DARE officer had just headed out the door and was pinned against the brick wall when the vehicle exploded. I didn't try to guess the cause of death. He could have been incinerated by the fire of the explosion. Parts of the vehicle might have gone through him when the vehicle exploded. He might have been crushed by debris. He might have even been crushed by the van hitting him.
And Officer Howard didn't escape things unscathed either. While the explosion didn't do much to structural damage to his office area, the shock-wave from the explosion did carry through. He had gotten up to see what had made the big crashing noise when the vehicle blew up. The shock-wave hand knocked a filing cabinet in his office down, which crushed his ankle. He had passed out from the pain when I had finished the report on who was still alive among those in the front area of the station.
And as he was laid down and the daytime shift officers that were on patrol and even a night shift officer came rushing in, I faintly heard gunshots coming from the general direction of the school. It had to be a more powerful weapon then a handgun in order for the sound to carry to the station, but with my ears, I could hear it. And that was how I pieced things together. I didn't just automatically have a hunch that the culprit was trying to distract us from something else. No police officer was ever trained to come to such a conclusion without some good evidence to back it up. A General on a battlefield MIGHT be expected to expect such a thing, but not a civilian police officer. Thankfully, I had good hearing and the sound of gunshots was enough evidence to give a guess that someone wanted us distracted... or at least that something else was very wrong.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Arriving at the school did not make things any better. A pair of wire cutters tied to wooden poles and wrapped in rubber lay on the ground beneath a power pole going to the northern section of the building. Around them were all of the power cables, cut. Whoever had done all of this had cut the electrical power to the school, and probably to several of the houses around it, insuring that no one in the school could do anything other then lock their inside doors manually and go into a sort of lock-down, which was a standard procedure if someone managed to get into a school. The aim was generally to keep him isolated in the hallways away from the kids.
There was also a large truck parked on the lawn of the school not far from where the wire cutters were. A few feet behind it, a black family car with government plates, and I mean FEDERAL government plates was parked fairly neatly nearby.
"Jeez, someone stole from the feds," Officer Barnes commented as he pulled to a stop behind the federal issued car.
"Must have been where the terrorist got the C4, or whatever he used to blow up the van," I commented.
"No, more then likely that was fertilizer," Officer Barnes answered, "It may take a little more work, but it's cheaper then C4, and won't trip as many alarm bells with Federal agencies."
I nodded moved with Officer Barnes toward the front door. A couple of other officers began to move around toward one of the back entrances. The hope was that the guy was lost or kept out of a classroom and could be pinned down in a hallway and talked into giving himself up.
Moving around to the front found that things were even worse. Laying alone and slumped against the front steps to the school was a man in a black and white business suit and tie. He was bleeding from a shotgun wound to the abdomen and I could see Officer Barnes shudder as he saw the man. What surprised me was who he was. He was the man that had invited Molly and I to eat during Leon's trial, while he was still Leona, against the people that wanted the Animatrix Serum on the market. His face was undamaged by the shot he had taken.
An elderly man was slowly and nervously approaching the body as well.
"Please step back, sir," one of the officers behind Officer Barnes and I directed, "he might still be alive, and if he isn't, we don't know where his partner is. You could be in danger..."
"This guy wasn't a partner," the elderly man answered, glancing at me nervously, "he tried to catch the shooter, himself."
"A vigilante," Officer Barnes grumbled.
"You saw what happened?" I asked.
"Yeah," the man said nervously, "my power went out. I checked my circuit breaker... nothing... I went out to see what it was and saw through a window this guy, dressed in all sorts of armor... had a World War II combat helmet on and all sorts of gear carrying a shotgun and advancing toward the school."
"The shooter," one of the other officers acknowledged, to which the elderly man nodded.
"Then all of a sudden this suit guy comes running behind him," the elderly man answered, "demanded the armored guy surrender and put his hands up and everything. When the armored guy turned and fired a warning shot into the grass at the suited guy's feet, the suited guy pulled out a gun of his own... shot the armored guy at almost point blank range in the head... or at least it would have been his head if he wasn't wearing a helmet. The armored guy then shot him again with the shotgun he had and went into the school. I heard more shots following... but lately all is quiet."
That made me nervous. The shooter went into the school and more shots were fired. And now things were quiet. Either the guy had done what he wanted and had hostages or had escaped.
"The suited guy fell and sorta crawled to here," the elderly man continued, "and began tossing stuff into the storm drain... one was the gun, the other looked like cards... maybe even his wallet."
"Hey, I think I see the gun," a different officer with us spoke, "still in the storm drain."
I turned to the other officers, "see what you can do to get whatever you can out of there. We need to know who he is and why he felt it necessary to try and apprehend a heavily armed gunman. Officer Barnes and I will go into the school."
"Yes, sir," the other officers answered and began to escort the elderly man away. If the shooter was still alive and knew that we had arrived, he might be angry enough to force a confrontation. Our witness couldn't be where he could be hurt, and the paramedics that had followed us in the ambulance wouldn't even consider entering the school until everything was clear, or someone was in extremely dire straights but could still be saved.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The inside of the school didn't look any better. The school's office was right by the front doors and I again could smell "death" in the area. The school's secretary had had her head blown away and lay on the floor of the office with a large blood splattering on the wall behind her.
"My God..." Officer Barnes cursed, drawing his weapon.
"Hello..." a faint voice called from the principal's office.
Someone was still alive in all this gore. Officer Barnes and I were quick to respond and we both moved into the main office area, ignoring the murdered secretary for the moment. The door to the office area, which normally locked automatically was open. Likely a result of the power being cut to the school. We made it to the principal's office and found Mrs. Fitzpatrick slumped against a wall and clutching at her arm. There were also small wounds to her shoulder and one side of her face.
"Hello," she said weakly, "You come to finish me off, Bill...?"
"This is Officer Frederick Barnes and George Wayne, Columbia Falls Police Department," Officer Barnes knelt by her, "are you alright, ma'am? What happened?"
"He's gone nuts," Mrs. Fitzpatrick said weakly, "he shot poor Lexi dead for saying he had no business on school property... which he didn't. Shot at me when I reached the door..."
Officer Barnes began to look at her wounds.
"These don't look too bad," he spoke, "can you walk?"
"I think so," Mrs. Fitzpatrick replied.
"Come on, help me help her up," Officer Barnes instructed and we both bent over and pulled her carefully to her feet.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick visibly winced as we got her to her feet, but she managed.
"Who did this?" I asked.
"It was the former principal," Mrs. Fitzpatrick spoke, "I could recognize his voice... he's gone nuts. He shot poor Lexi."
"He's not a good shot," Officer Barnes told her, "as it would appear he was also coming after you... it appears that he's been using buck-shot and had you at practically point blank range..."
"Not the only target," Mrs. Fitzpatrick winced as we began to usher her out toward the front steps, "went after... Molly... went after your wife, Mr. Wayne..."
I was gone. Leaving Officer Barnes to escort Mrs. Fitzpatrick out where she could be escorted to the ambulance and ignoring his calls for me to wait, I rushed as quickly as I could through the halls to get to where Molly had showed me where "her" room was. The shooter was the ex-principal and he was going after my wife. The love of my life... and I was determined to get to him.
I ended up dropping to all fours in my pursuit in order to gain more speed, and I half expected to find Molly dead and murdered in her room in front of the students who loved her. But everything in my mind revolved around one thing... to make the shooter pay. I doubted I'd be able to keep myself from mauling him in the most brutal way possible if I found him alive... and if he was still armed, I'd likely join my wife, whom I got the sinking feeling was dead already.
I arrived at Molly's room quickly and found a different scene then I had expected. Molly was alive and looked fairly well, though I caught the scent of burnt fur. There was a discarded taser weapon laying on the floor along with a shotgun, two automatic pistols, one hunting knife, and a large pile of torn clothing. Like it had been ripped off at the seems. Some of the articles of clothing had claw marks in them as well.
Laying face down was a lone human male in black spandex and with various little wraps and specialized clips to hold knives on his person. He wasn't moving and had two gunshot wounds to the chest. It was then that I noticed that the handguns were laying on the floor near two twin boys, who appeared to have been shot or at least wounded. The rest of the classroom was empty, but a window was open, its screen kicked out.
"Molly!" I called to her and rushed to Molly.
"George!" Molly answered and turned to face me.
I pulled her into a tight hug and began to nuzzle her as hard as I could.
"I was afraid you were dead," I said quickly, nervousness and relief easily detectable in my voice, "I was afraid you were dead."
"It was the ex-principal," Molly nuzzled me back.
"We know," I answered.
"He barged right in, threatened me," Molly continued, "then threatened the children. I tried to take him... to protect them, but he hit me with a taser line."
That confirmed what I could see when I came in.
"He then focused on me while the kids seemed to be escaping out the window," Molly finished, "except for Timothy and Patrick, who were the last two."
Molly then turned her head and pointed at the twin brothers with the nose of her muzzle. The two boys were seated and leaning against the heater for the room. I didn't know which twin was who, but both had minor gunshot wounds. One had a glancing wound on the left shoulder while the other a wound to the flesh of his right leg. Both boys had their hands over the wounds, as if to put pressure on them, but they both seemed to be doing alright.
"He then snapped and went Timothy and Patrick and shot at them with handguns," Molly added.
"And a poor shot," I told her, "luckily."
"I tackled him in response," Molly answered, "he forgot about me to shoot too little boys..."
"They'll be fine as soon as the EMTs arrive," I nuzzled Molly again.
"I tore his armor off," Molly continued to explain, "and I held him to the ceiling... but he drew a knife... Timothy and Patrick... they shot him with his own guns."
That explained the handgun wounds to his chest and the fact that the handguns were closer to the boys then to the fallen shooter. I finally released Molly and glanced at this.
"Why did he switch to handguns?" I asked Molly, "Mrs. Fitzpatrick told us he was here for her and you and came in with a shotgun... why didn't he shoot you with it?"
The question didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but it was still valid. Had Williams shot Molly at close range with the shotgun, especially while using buck-shot, Molly wouldn't have been killed out right, but she would have been mortally wounded and thrown back, and that was assuming it was only a shot to the body. The handguns, while powerful, would have only staggered Molly a little in an all out attack, and she would have still done damage to the man if she was so inclined before succumbing to her wounds... It then raised another question in my mind.
If Bill Williams was there to kill Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Molly, why didn't he shoot Molly to begin with, even if only with a pistol? Why did he feel he had to threaten her students as well? Why the taser? Maybe some sort of mental torture or something along those lines. Though, with Williams dead, I don't think I'd get an answer.
"He ran out of shotgun shells," came Officer Barnes' voice from behind me as he finally caught up. He was holding the discarded shotgun, "apparently, your unknown guy took more ammunition then this lunatic intended to use. He fired two shots at him, one the secretary, and at least one at Mrs. Fitzpatrick and ran out of ammunition. So not only a lousy shot, but stupid besides."
"The unknown man is here?" Molly asked.
"Apparently showed up to play hero," I nodded, "got himself gut-shot and bled to death."
Molly sighed as the EMTs finally arrived. They moved around us to Timothy and Patrick. Molly followed her gaze to their actions as they began treating the boys.
"Will they be alright?" Molly asked nervously.
"They'll be okay, ma'am," one answered, "as the officers said, this guy appears to be a lousy shot. It'll take them a little while to heal, but they'll be fine..."
"They're not in danger of bleeding to death are they?" Molly asked.
"No," the EMT answered, "one is only a glancing hit off the shoulder. Nothing serious. May need a few stitches, but he'll be fine."
"The other's hit is more serious, but he was lucky," the other EMT added, "the bullet missed the major arteries and veins. He should do well until we can get him to Kalispell."
Molly slowly hugged me again, "Thank goodness."
The answer was a relief to me as well. Both that the boys would live and that no emergency transfusion was needed. And that was a good thing. The transfusion that Megan received from Molly was because there were no known compatible donors. And that was plausible. Megan's blood type could have come from a grandparent that had died or from her father who was unavailable. However, if Patrick and Timothy shared a blood type and theirs matched Molly's as well, it would mean that there were two compatible donors that were human for Megan to receive blood from. Now, I didn't think children were accepted as blood donors, but the way Beauregard's laws had been written, that didn't matter... according to them, if there was a compatible human donor present, they had be considered BEFORE Molly could even apply, regardless of age.
Now, those laws were no longer on the books and had been repealed, but during the incident with the Mountain Lion, they were and potential compatible human donors would have been seized on by the principal, the super intendant, and the few city council members that had outright agreed with Beauregard at the time as a sign that Molly and I were looking to create the race war that Beauregard had ranted about.
And in the end, things worked out relatively well for the two boys. And Molly was still alive. I hugged her again as one of the officers that went around the other way came in.
"We've found the rest of the class, sirs," he spoke, "they're all huddled in the playground equipment looking shaken."
Molly looked to seeing the EMTs placing Timothy on one of the boards they had brought with them.
"We'll be okay," Timothy said weakly.
"We luv you, tiger-lady," Patrick added.
"Can I check on the other students?" Molly asked the officer.
"Go ahead," I urged, and then turned to the officer, "don't take her through the office. Go the back way."
The officer nodded and lead Molly out. I meanwhile sighed and hoped for a some real positive response to what had quickly become a nightmare of a day.