Thursday night, heading back to Sunshine Valley, Scott and Agent Dan stopped by an open plain to camp up for the night with no nearby motels. They setted up their tent that was already in the car and started cooking up some canned chili Dan bought.
After seeing up both Agent Dan and his own tent, Scott gets out of the tent and approaches Dan cooking the chili.
"We were really lucky that there was a tent in the car the FBI headquarters put in here. I was worried that we would have to sleep in the car and get carjacked at some point." Dan stirred the chili.
"Would it even matter? Someone would probably break the window and still steal our car." Scott sat next to Dan.
"As long as there is nothing valuable in the car. And hey, we are literally in the middle of nowhere. I mean there is a rare chance that the car will get stolen anyways."
"Right." Scott smelled the chili.
Finished cooking the chili, Dan poured onto a styrofoam bowl for both him and Scott.
They ate with hopes of getting back to the town as quickly as possible.
"Hey Dan, can I ask you something?" Scott eating his chili.
"What's up?"
"Before we head back, can we see Vanessa? I really want to see her before we have to deal with the military."
"Unfortunately, we can't. She's currently in a transition to a mental institution. During this process, the institution isn't allowed to have any visitors until she is under stable conditions."
"What do you mean? I thought she is in stable condition."
"She isn't though, although the hospital was able to drain all those drugs, she mentality might still be unstable, so until then, it isn't safe for you to see her."
"I see. She did try to crash the car, while I was driving." Scott awkwardly ate his chili.
"However, are we able to stop by Mikey's Milkshakes? I wanted to check something out."
"I mean it is outside of the border that the military are patrolling in. Sure. But why?"
"You'll see." Scott finished eating his chili.
"I'mma go brush my teeth." Scott ran back to the car to get minty fresh.
"Sure kid. Remember. We sleep around 9 pm. We need to get up early if we want to head back to Sunshine Valley." Dan reminded Scott.
On his own, Dan looked at the fire as well as ruminating about what he witnessed back in John's mansion.
Reaching his pocket, Dan looks at the VHS tape, remembering what he witnessed from John.
"Why? Why commit a mass shooting in a school? They were kids."
Then, Dan thought about this. "My question is even though this was filmed in 1989, how do you still look like a teenager, you should be in your 50s by now."
"Also, how were you able to obtain a Soviet machine gun? I thought many Russian weapons back then were restricted from entering the United States."
"And how was she able to split her head open like that? No human being is able to do that?"
With many questions, Dan just finished up his chili, extinguished the campfire and headed to bed.
The next day, Scott and Dan both headed back on the road once again. The trip was brutal when they went through traffic, some bumpy roads, and worst of all, the sun still not showing up ever since the military came to town. The mood for most people on the road were just depressing with some smoking in the car, while others wouldn't even dare to turn on the radio with the radio just being pure static. There were even moments where cars were beeping even though they knew that the traffic wasn't going anywhere.
Until the afternoon, they were able to escape the traffic and head back to the road. However, the traffic had wasted most of the gas in the car.
Passing by Des Moines, Dan's car had a problem. They were running out of gas.
"Hey Scott, we have to stop by a gas station, the three hour traffic had drained a lot of gas.
"Are you sure we aren't able to try to find a nearby gas station out of the town? I feel like I don't belong here." Scott is hiding.
"Look kid, nothing is going to happen. Just let me stop by that gas station and let me fill up some gas." Dan headed to the nearest gas pump.
"Sure." Scott took off his jacket, trying to cover himself.
"What are you doing Scott?"
"What does it look like?"
"Don't do that. Kid, take a walk around the streets. I'm sick and tired of you being so pussy about being in this town."
"Fine." Scott got out of the car and walked around his old neighborhood of Des Moines.
Looking around the town that he grew up in, he still remembers the day that he was exiled from the town that he grew up in. Although the town was quiet, Scott has still the perspective of people booing him on with people throwing trash at him and his mother's car, spraypainting their grass, and constantly harassing them until they had no choice but to leave.
Approaching the house that they used to live in, it was a lot different. The building seemed to be burnt down with Scott's guess that once they left the town, the residents decided to burn down the town, so nothing about Scott's former residency remains.
Walking towards the house, Scott touched the burned wood on front of his porch.
"I caused this. Did I?" Scott thought to himself.
Suddenly, Scott heard a familiar voice.
Looking to the right, it was the captain of the Varsity baseball team for Frederick College Prep. He was walking with his friends as well.
Having no choice, Scott hid behind the burnt walls of the broken house. "What is he doing here?" Scott thought to himself.
While drinking a slurpee, the Captain and his friends all looked at the burnt down house.
"Hey guys, check it out." The Captain and his friends looked at the house.
"What is it, Fowler?"
"Isn't that the house that the whole neighborhood decided to break in and burn down?" Felder looked at the house.
"Yeah. What about it? Isn't that the time where last year after the Smiths left, we decided to burn down the house because of the pain their son has been through with us?"
"Yeah. I get it. Scott's a piece of shit."
Behind the wall, Scott cried hearing those words.
"But for some reason, I don't think he did it intentionally."
Scott tilted his head up.
"I never mentioned it to you guys, but I sometimes peep on Scott's mumbling while he's practicing and it's somewhat sad. He would always put his anger on hitting the balls coming from the pitching machine and I would sometimes see that he hit the ball so hard that he would dent the baseball coming at him."
"But what about him beating you up with a baseball bat?"
"Actually, I think it was my fault. I was just pissed off that our baseball team had been dwindling because of Scott's reputation and the only teammates we were recruiting were fifteen year olds. Luckily, the doctor said I wasn't severely bruised, but just a chipped tooth in the back of my teeth. I can just get an implant easily since my Mom is a dentist and my Dad is a Biomedical Engineer."
Fowler finished his slurpee.
"Honestly, I think the town takes his exile a bit too far. Most people here including you guys don't understand, but deep down, he's still a great guy. He was just lost since he was very insecure about the world and with only a mother to raise him, it might be tough for him to grow. But in the end, I think wherever he is, he'll succeed out there."
Fowler threw the slurpee cup at the burnt bushes,
"But what can I say? It is up to Scott to choose who he is. He can either become a greater person or be fixated with this situation." Fowler walked away from Scott's old house.
"What does he mean by that?" Scott slowly walked out of his old house.
Walking back to the gas station. Agent Dan had already got the gas filled up and reloaded some snacks from chips to energy drinks to beef jerky.
"Alright Scott. Are you ready to get back on the road?"
"Sure." Scott hopped into the car.
Driving down the road, a couple hours to Sunshine Valley, Scott looked at the cornfield as they drove by them.
In his mind, Scott couldn't stop thinking about what his old captain told him. It felt as if he already forgot about the incident, or that back then, he did something wrong that he fully acknowledged what he did.
In the end, Scott couldn't figure out why captain Fowler wanted to wish Scott well. Was it because he was going to make fun of him? Or was it because he genuinely meant it.
Suddenly, Scott and Dan were passing by the milkshake shop, the same shop that he first went to with Ashley.
"Dan, Stop the car." Scott shook Agent Dan's driving arm.
"Why?"
"Just….stop the car near that restaurant over there." Scott pointed at the milkshake shop.
Stopping on the side of the empty highway, Scott and Dan both went into the restaurant where Scott saw a familiar face.
"Welcome to - well speak of the devil! Isn't it Scott Smith!" Mikey remembers Scott.
"Hey Mikey. Sorry I couldn't come to the shop. I was busy with midterms and trying to graduate."
"No worries kid, business is pretty slow in the winter since nobody likes cold foods during that time."
"Yeah, so can I head out the back door? You know what I'm here for."
"Yeah." Mikey is starting to have a weary face.
Mikey guided Scott and Dan towards the back of the restaurant. There, it showed the grave of Ashley after she was killed. The grave had two sticks in a cross form, her motorcycle helmet on the right and the motorcycle steering wheel being on the left
"I'll leave you both alone for the time being." Mikey went back into the restaurant after handing Scott a bowl of Ashley's favorite ice cream.
"Hey Ashley, sorry I wasn't able to meet you. Things are really complicated in town at the moment. We are currently under lockdown because of John. Although you were avenged for your death, John is out there causing chaos wherever he is. He's most likely coming back to this town and getting revenge on us. Please stay safe in Heaven. This will be a mess." Scott put a bowl of ice cream in front of her grave and went back into the shop and headed out of the restaurant.
"Is this the Ashley girl that you keep mentioning to me about?" Dan questions Scott.
"Yes, during winter break, I had time to build a grave for Ashley. I really didn't have much to offer her besides the broken parts from her motorcycle and her motorcycle helmet that she told me to hold onto. Even though she is dead, I sometimes see her in my dreams."
"In your dreams?"
"Yeah, Ashley would try to lend me advice whenever I'm in trouble. She's the reason why I managed to survive from John and his friends for nearly the whole school year."
"I see."
"So yeah, the reason I'm alive now is because of her and I appreciate what she taught me. She taught me that there are second chances, building relationships, and a better understanding of myself."
"Does she mean that much to you?"
"Yes. Yes she did."
As they head back on the road, Agent Dan tends to approach the cargo container that he mostly resides in after being sent to Iowa.
"Alright Scott, if we are going back and getting to the other side of the military, we must be prepared for the worst." Agent Dan opened the cargo container.
"I thought the FBI confiscated this so-called house." Scott looked around the cargo as if he never got to see the place in a long time.
"Coming from US officials, this cargo is nothing but a bubblegum wrapper. They probably didn't give a shit about it and just left it here, knowing that the place will probably be forgotten." Agent Dan refilling his bullets on his glock pistol magazine.
"So what's the plan? How are we able to head back into the town? We tried once last week and those soldiers just pointed their rifles at us."
"We're going to infiltrate it. If they won't allow us in, we'll force ourselves in."
"With what? That small pistol of yours?"
"I don't know if you are talking about my federal service gun or if it was a dick joke, but I have a plan." Agent Dan filled a duffel bag full of the remaining bullet proof vest, his remaining pistol magazine, and many FBI gadgets that Dan has never got to touch yet.
"First, we got to walk to the town."
"Walk?"
After leaving the cargo, Scott and Dan ran into the woods and walked twenty minutes towards Sunshine Valley, while struggling to see in the woods as the day was starting to get dark from the sun setting to the moon coming up.
Twenty minutes later, they were near the borders of Sunshine High while they remained hidden in the woods.
"Alright, so I have a plan. The military always delivers fresh weapons, body armor, and MREs to the site they marked in the town. I was thinking that we can try sneaking onto their truck and blend in with the other trucks, so the border patrol doesn't see anything suspicious."
"Even if we take one of their trucks, I think they would still suspect us as they would want identification."
"Trust me kid. I worked in the FBI for a couple of years and stuff like this is pretty much normal to me."
[Follow my lead]
As one of the trucks was heading towards the border of the town, two soldiers, fully geared including their gloves, googles, and green face mask, were minding their own business waiting in a big line with the truck in front and behind them.
Suddenly, they both heard gun shots that came from the woods.
"What was that?"
"It was probably hunters. Just ignore it."
"What if they aren't though?" The soldier in the driving seat got off the truck while carrying his rifle.
"Hey!" The other soldier on the passenger seat also followed him.
Both walking into the woods, they were looking around their surroundings to see where the gun shots came from.
As they went deeper and deeper into the woods, they would use their flashlight on the rifle to see better in the dark. The trees were getting taller and taller until.
They both suddenly flashed their light at dark figures that would jump them and leave both of them unconscious in the woods.
"Alright Scott, this is our chance." Agent Dan got off the soldier's body and took away his clothes, armor and rifle with Scott following him.
Heading out of the woods, Scott and Dan were now disguised as soldiers while trying to pretend as if they were the original ones.
"Hey you! What the hell's your problem!" The military police speed walked towards them.
"You are making the others wait in line! What were you two doing in the woods?!"
"Sorry sir. We heard gunshots and thought that the terrorist was hiding in the woods. But it was just hunters." Agent Dan, imitating a soldier's voice.
"I don't give a shit! You guys are holding up the line! Now get both of your asses in that truck!" The military police left both of them as he controls the traffic.
"Alright Scott, he didn't notice. Let's move." Agent Dan and Scott both ran towards the truck.
"As they were reaching the borders of Sunshine Valley, they had to undergo a security check from another military police officer in charge of the border. However, after just seeing their covered faces, it was enough to reach the other side. As a result, they finally reached Sunshine Valley. However, it was more horrifying than expected.
Every corner of the town was covered in military cars, tanks, and soldiers walking around the street and searching each home to find the terrorist in charge of the plane crash.
"Oh my God." Scott looked at the town.
"I can't believe this. All for one person? All because John didn't get his way?" Agent Dan gripped on the steering wheel.
"That bastard!" Scott gripped his fist.
"So Dan, what's the plan now?"
"For me, I'll try finding an abandoned house to settle in. I'll be taking the truck's supplies and mines to get ready for the worst. I know those guys in the woods will probably wake up soon and will try to find us. In the meantime, go home. Your mom is worried sick about you. See hasn't seen you in a week and is probably sensitive to this situation since not only did her husband leave, but you've been gone for so long."
"Alright." Scott got off the truck.
"One more thing. Do I still get paid?" Scott said.
"Depends on whether this situation gets better or not." Agent Dan said.
After sticking the middle finger towards Dan, Scott walked back towards his home while Dan drove off.
Scott was prepared to open the door. However, he realizes that he needed to fit in the role as a soldier. With no choice he rang the door bell.
"Who is it?" Mrs. Smith opened the door.
Suddenly,
[Scott Pointed His Rifle at His Mom]
"What is the meaning of this?" Mrs. Smith panicked.
With the gun in his hands, Scott forced his Mom to head back inside the house and used his foot to close the door.
"Close the curtains." Scott forced his Mom to close the curtains while pointing his rifle at her.
"There. What do you want from me? I already lost my husband and son. If you want to shoot me, shoot me. I have nothing else to lose!" Mrs. Smith in tears felt that it was the end of her.
However, Scott stopped pointing his gun and instead dropped it to the floor.
He slowly took off his helmet, then his googles, and finally, his mask.
"Mom. It's me." Scott said in a pure voice.
"Scott?" Mrs. Smith had hope in her voice.