Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 25: Day VI (Game Night)

CHAPTER 25: DAY VI (GAME NIGHT)

Georgetown

Washington, DC

Oakwood Apartments

December 23rd, 2015

2000 hours

Jawa POV

Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Well, guess what? It happened today.

A massive snowstorm came out of nowhere at 0600, blanketing DC once more in snow and ice. From what Alexander gathered, it was so bad that the DC National Guard was mobilized to assist the local police and fire departments in helping deal with the ramifications of the blizzard.

Thanks to the wave of red, blue, and green sweeping through the town (as well as the snowstorm coming to a halt around 1200), the tide was turned, and the streets were clear by 1400. Still, we didn't leave the apartment, paranoia ruling our hearts and minds.

Still, the day wasn't a total bust. As it turns out, my younger classmates still hadn't finished all of their homework, so Chip, myself and—surprisingly—Erica proceeded to tutor them for much of the day. Chip even—much to the amusement of Cyrus (again, a surprise)—ran them through a CQB (close-quarters battle) drill to teach them the basics. After some politeness, he got the adults to act as OpFor (opposing force) as we cleared the rooms of the apartment with finger guns and sound effects.

It was extremely stupid, in retrospect, but I will say that everyone seemed more relaxed and spirits were high, so Chip's bright idea actually worked!

Our spirits were so high, the whole group ended up making dinner together, following the instructions of Alexander and Catherine. We cooked and ate Italian food (the entree being something called "chicken cacciatore"), courtesy of the Hales' time in Italy.

"Let me be perfectly clear," Chip began as we once again sat in the living room. "One does not simply beat good fried chicken. However... I will admit that this came pretty doggone close!"

"That's the beauty of Italians, Chip," Alexander replied with a grin. "They do love their food. You screw it up, though, and every Mafioso and nonna in existence will have your head."

"Roger that, sir."

"Will there be any danger of us losing power?" Mike suddenly asked.

"No, I don't think so," Zoe replied after checking her phone. "No storms on any radar, at least. Why?"

"Remember the Company Christmas Games?"

"Oh, yeah! Jawa, what's the score?"

"Well," I recalled, pulling out my notes on my phone. "At this time, Ben and Erica have -1, while everyone else has +1."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Ben exclaimed. "How do Erica and I have negative scores?!?"

"Not gonna lie, that's about how I reacted when I discovered that there were numbers less than zero," Chip muttered, eliciting giggles from Zoe.

"Well... Cyrus caught you two while the rest of us successfully evaded him!" Mike smugly explained, as if he (and the rest of us, to be fair) didn't just flat-out abandon the game and go outside the set borders.

"Yeah, yeah," Erica grumbled, evidently peeved by her score. Her competitive side was showing. "Fine, then how can we get a positive score?"

"That's what I'm here for!" Mike declared dramatically. "We shall now engage in a tournament of wits, treachery, and destruction!"