School Wars: The Great Pumpkin Caper

Chapter Three

Cannon rushed over towards Calvin, his light illuminating the wet ground in front of him. The shadowy figure was gone, but he dashed over to help Calvin, cautious of more darts headed his way. Cannon crouched next to Calvin and plucked the darts from his skin, tossing them aside as he bandaged Calvin up. The military police were checking the school grounds as Cannon had ordered, but he knew they wouldn't find anything. The perimeter of the school was well secured and he was certain that Jenna and her accomplice were hiding somewhere in the school. Cannon shook Calvin, who blinked his eyes groggily.

"Hey," Calvin groaned, rolling onto his side.

"Yeah, you got shot a couple of times. You can go to bed early. My men will take over guard duty," Cannon said.

"Thanks, Captain,"

"Roger," Cannon said, standing up and giving a return order into his radio.

Cannon marched into the Cafeteria followed by a handful of military police. They checked under the tables, behind the columns and buffet carts and inside all the boxes stacked by the bay doors. Jenna was nowhere to be seen. Cannon's men reported similar stories from across the school. Cannon had no choice but to tell Adam what had happened. He contemplated telling the Principal first to delay waking Adam up, but the Principal was always furious when his sleep was disturbed, and only ever wanted to be woken up for when he needed to go to a "School Board Meeting" before an impending battle. Cannon took off his wet uniform jacket and laid it across a chair to dry before walking slowly down the hall towards Adam's new bunk in the main school building. It had armored walls and a 24-hour guard, the same as Luke's. Cannon wasn't normally the jealous kind, but he felt that the commander of the Home Guard deserved the same privileges. Adam approached Adam's door and waved an ID card at the soldier guarding the door.

"What happened sir?" the girl said nervously, clutching her rifle.

"Jenna escaped, and now she and someone who helped break her out are hiding somewhere in the school. I need to tell General Adam so that he can prepare a search unit," Cannon explained, sliding the card through a pin pad and entering his code. 

The door clicked and Cannon opened it to see a large apartment with a small kitchen, living room with two gaming consoles and a separate office and bedroom. He snorted in disgust before knocking on Adam's bedroom door. There was a brief silence before heavy footsteps dashed across the floor and the door flew open. Adam stamped his boot which had been used to kick open the door and pointed a pistol at Cannon's face. Cannon backed up against the wall and showed he had nothing in his hands.

"Whoa there Adam, don't shoot me," Cannon said softly.

"I had a nightmare someone was trying to kill me and take my position as General. I've been paranoid ever since Chambers tried to bombed by bunk last month," Adam explained, slipping the pistol casually into his holster.

"I see. Well, I woke you up because there was a breach in the prison. My men are searching the school, but Calvin and Julian were already injured,"

"Who are they? Probably low ranking, I wouldn't know them,"

Cannon rolled his eyes and began to walk out of Adam's apartment. Adam slipped a helmet onto his head and pulled on his uniform pants and combat boots. He grabbed his rifle, which lay on the couch in the living room. Adam opened his door and the guard stood at attention.

"Make sure no one gets in. I feel like this could be a diversion," Adam ordered to his guard, slipping his helmet on.

Cannon rolled his eyes and led Adam to the Council Room. Binders and half-empty glasses were strewn across the table, and bottles of anti-stress pills made their conspicuous appearances. Some of the council members were already showing up, taking their seats and filling cups of hot chocolate. 

"What's going on?" asked Luke as he sat in his chair at the head of the table.

"There's been a breach in the defenses. A robed suspect, most likely a girl, age ten and tall, got past the guards and used a laser cutter to take out the window and door-lock of Jenna's cell. She used a bladed weapon to severely injure Private Julian, who was on high-security cell duty tonight. Private Calvin saw the glow of the laser cutter and rushed in from his position as Hall Guard, where he entered Jenna's damaged cell and fired out onto the training grounds at the two escapees. He missed all his shots before carrying Julian to the Nurse's Office and returning to the chase outside where he was shot. He is currently asleep in his bunk. My soldiers and I have cleared the training grounds, and the perimeter security systems and guards are all on high alert, but the escapees have vanished, which means they're hiding somewhere in the school," Cannon plopped down into an office chair.

"Your men probably couldn't find them," Adam said, reclining with his hands behind his head, "My Special Operations unit will be prepared for a hunt in the morning."

"With all due respect sir, I think that we can safely say that they are not in any area that my men have checked. My guards are the best at what they do,"

"Then why did you lose the Military Challenge?" Adam pointed out, "I need to interview Calvin and Julian immediately, bring them to the Council Room,"

"I don't think we can do that Adam, Julian is barely alive from his stab wounds and Calvin is asleep after a long night of guard duty, as well as getting shot multiple times,"

"Call me sir," Adam growled.

Luke stepped in to break up the fight.

"Adam, Cannon, stop! We can't be fighting during a crisis like this. Adam, I can wake up Calvin but don't you think it might be too far to bring Julian here? He needs to heal. I'll have a combined force of Adam's operators and Cannon's home guards prepared in the morning, and they'll sweep the school until then, the school is on full lockdown. The gate is to remain locked and the guards will be on high alert," Luke ordered.

Everyone nodded grudgingly and a young cadet went off to wake Calvin.