12 Town Sieged!
Two weeks have already passed since Ato and his friends went to Quiet lake to catch the Dotted Pulahan.
The town of Quiet Lake had seen more strangers than usual since days ago. There was also a group of scientists, composed of foreigners and locals, in the lake to conduct research.
It was Thursday noon. Ato and his classmates were eating their lunch on their favorite spots – the branches of a mango tree. They each have an assigned branch to climb and suit themselves.
But today, Mik-mik didn't came. They were waiting for him wondering. Minutes after, Mik-mik came sobbing. They asked them what happened and he said that Janoy and his gang took his viand.
His viand that day was really his favorite. They were three pieces of tocino. He recalled how happy he was and his mother while cooking them. His mother said that she'll give him three pieces because it means "I love you" then his mother kissed him in his smooth rounded cheek.
Because his family was not really rich, tocino was already a luxury for them and they rarely have this special viand – usually, only during the day his father receives his fifteen-day salary. Mik-mik weeped all the more when he was reminded of how his father worked very hard in order to buy tocino.
Mik-mik beg Janoy to return the tocino. But Janoy ate all of them. Then he pushed Mik-mik and even his rice was thrown. Then the bullies ran.
Ato was furious after hearing Mik's story. His heart was pumping with anger. But he remembered how big and strong Janoy was and his friends.
The thing is, all students in Quiet lake were afraid of Janoy since he appeared unusually strong and tough. Even the teachers noticed this rare physical disposition of Janoy.
There were grades five and six students who were athletic. The basketball team were strong kids and some were taller than Janoy while the grade six taekwondo team's skills were already advanced.
But believe it or not, all of them were afraid of Janoy. At first, some of them fought him but they were all beaten up and left crying.
Janoy didn't played any sport, hence, his teachers wonder whether it's just because of his genes that he possessed such a physical quality. Although, Janoy was only a grade six student, his strength is like that of an athletic third year high school.
In terms of running, he's faster than the average kids but not too fast. Some grade six soccer players were a bit faster than him. But it was because he never had a training in running and he rarely run at all.
His teachers often persuade him to join a sport but they were frustrated since all that Janoy wanted to do was bully other students.
Yet Ato still wanted to do something. At the moment, the best that the three can do was to share their lunch to Mik-mik.
Ato was a peaceful kid and has a high level of tolerance when he was personally offended or bullied. He was cheerful, playful, and carefree.
However, when he saw his friends or other kids who were weak or disadvantaged being bullied, he quickly got emotional and displayed courage. He was impulsive when he saw others being oppressed. He had a strong sense of justice – a rare quality that he inherited from his father.
During the afternoon, the kids were very happy for they were dismissed earlier. The time was 2: 35 p.m. Something happened that bothered the teachers and the principal called for an emergency meeting.
More than half of the students returned to their homes but some, including Ato and his friends remained to play in the center field. As usual, they're playing their favorite game – Siato.
While they were playing, Janoy and his gang came to them and they teased Mik-mik.
"Thanks a lot, Mik, those were really really delicious tocinos... nom, nom, nom," Janoy said loudly to Mik-mik. His companions laughed.
Janoy noticed Ato became furious. He knew that Ato was the leader of their group. He knew too that Ato was popular in their school and this was what made him hate Ato more.
He wanted to create a quarrel between him and Ato. But he wanted to make it sure that it was Ato who will initiate.
"Tomorrow, Mik, bring me three more tocinos!" Janoy said laughing and his friends laughed harder too.
"Thanks in advance!" Janoy added. His friends laughed all the more. Janoy was observing Ato. But Ato didn't do anything.
Biboy, the most affable among them, told the others to return playing and ignore the sixth-graders. Janoy was annoyed when Ato and his friends returned playing and ignored them.
He wanted to provoke them more but he can't think yet of a good way to tease them. Moments after, his annoyance grew since the kids were starting to enjoy back their game.
One of Janoy's companions recognized Mik-mik's slippers. When playing, some kids were taking off their slippers because they feel more comfortable with being barefooted and also thought that they're having an advantage when running.
Janoy took the slippers and threw it away and then they laughed. Seeing what Janoy did, Ato told Mik-mik to get his slippers. Ato's team was the batter that time. And Ato was holding both the sticks.
He purposely did this to allow Mik-mik to be ahead of them so that he will not be left behind in the running. Being the smallest, he's the slowest to run among the four.
Ato told Biboy and Goryo to prepare to run. Mik-mik took his other slipper and ran ahead to get the other. Then Ato pretended to continue playing. Janoy and his gang were satisfied with what they did and walked away.
When Janoy and his companions were around twenty meters away, Ato struck the short stick with the long one. The short stick hit Janoy in the back of his head and Ato and his friends ran as fast as they could and were laughing.
But the sixth-graders pursued them and have no intention of letting them go. Ato and his friends ran at the back of their school. And when they realized that Janoy and gang were determined to get them, they ran further to the woods.
They've reached more than four-hundred meters already but Janoy's group were still pursuing them. They ran more towards the right direction and hid. Janoy's group searched but cannot find them anymore.
-
Minutes after they left their school, something really really horrible happened. Group of armed men attacked their school!
As soon as the armed men entered the school, they've killed the guard and shot some kids. Everybody panicked and ran in all directions.
The attackers, there were more than forty of them, were shouting, ordering everybody to stop and drop in the ground. They pursued those kids who ran to escape and shot those who were already far.
Then the armed men rounded up the teachers and the students in the covered court and ruthlessly shot several teachers and some students.
It was truly a shocking massacre! No one would have ever thought that anything close to this can happen in the Quiet Lake town.
The teachers and specially the children were screaming and wailing. It was, for all of them, their first time to see people, especially kids, killed by guns!
Other places in the town, especially the urban area were attacked even before the school attack was made. The three adjacent towns were also under sieged.
Many people have died. The towns' police were also killed. Most of the kids from these four remote and supposedly peaceful towns were students of Quiet Lake Elementary School.
Apparently, Ato and Janoy and their friends were spared because of the siato stick that Ato used to hit Janoy's head! They've left running the school just barely minutes before the brutal attack! If it was not a supernatural intervention, then it must have been a mind-boggling luck.
One of Janoy's companions suggested that they return now to their classroom to get their bags and go home. The others agreed.
But after about a hundred meters of walk, Janoy got bored, and acting irresponsibly, decided to go home immediately.
He really didn't care about his belongings. He wanted to be home quickly to eat food since he's hungry already and because their ref had more delicious food than the canteen in their school.
Janoy's four companions agreed at once. They're always like that in front of Janoy. Janoy was the richest among them. And he's good at bribing others to make them loyal to him.
His four loyalists were not really that bad. Only Janoy was. But they were cowards. They go where the strong side is. They do this to protect themselves from being bullied and so they tolerate and often imitate Janoy's bullying behavior and even flatter him.
Ato and his friends were also now returning to school to get their bags. Unlike Janoy, they're worried to lose their belongings. Their parents will certainly scold them.
When they were near their school, they run to enter the school's premises. But two dead bodies of students stopped them! They were shocked at what they saw. Their bodies trembled and froze. Biboy and Mik-mik vomited upon seeing the blood. Their knees lost their strength and they all fell to the ground.
Now they're all crying. But their cry also helped them to bring them back to their senses. It eased their shock. A couple of minutes after, they've heard gunshots! These alerted them about the dangerous situation in their school.
They cautiously sneaked into their school. And lo, they found more dead bodies and hear two more gunshots! They're thinking now of only one thing. Run away as fast as they can from their school!
Ato said that at his signal, they all must run. He gave the signal and the four scrammed! They ran with all their might and without looking back. They ran towards the direction nearest to their homes.
If not for the dead bodies they've encountered, they too would have been surely caught! Apparently, even the dead conspired to save them.
After they've reached over three-hundred meters, they paused to rest. Their breathings were deep and fast. Just two minutes after, they decided to run again.
But after several steps, they were startled by three them. Ato and his friends froze and their mouths opened. The men were armed! Before they can think of evading, two of them saw the kids and shouted at them!
The kids were once again in state of shock. Their bodies quivered. One of the three rushed towards them and pointed his rifle at them. He grabbed Goryo and ordered them to walk towards their vehicle.
Those previous occasions that they've been extremely lucky, none of them mattered now. A thousand exceedingly unlikely coincidences amount to nothing if they only end up to a final bad luck!
These men has just stopped in the place because their vehicle malfunctioned. They were heading towards the school. One of the three was under the chasis fixing the vehicle.
The kids were crying and begging the man to let them go! But he ruthlessly dragged them.
"What should we do with these kids? Should we bring them to the school?" he asked.
"No, we don't have a need of them. There were many kids there. Better dispatch them now," the other replied.
"AAATOOO!! I don't want to die! Mik-mik howled.
The man under the vehicle paused from what he's doing after hearing Mik-mik's scream. After a couple of seconds, he resumed working.
The man grabbed Mik-mik's arm and dragged him away. He ordered the others to follow. He grabbed Mik-mik intending to shoot him first because his the loudest and most annoying.
"Ato, Ato...! Mik-mik screamed louder. The man forcefully dragged him.
"MIK-MIKKKK! Ato screamed sobbing. He knew that the man will shoot Mik-mik first.
"WAAHHHH!!!" All that Biboy and Goryo can do was wail!
"WAIT!" the man under the vehicle said with a loud voice."Let me do it!" he added as he get out and stood up.
"Just continue with your work," said the other man. "We need to go to the school as soon as possible!" he added.
"Don't worry. It's done already. When I'm done with these kids, we can go. I'm just new to this group and I wanted to prove my loyalty to the Boss," he added.
"Whatever. Just make it quick," the man replied.
The man who voluntered took Mik-mik away from the other man. He dragged Mik-mik, and the three kids followed.
The man brought them at the other side of the bushes, which was over thirty meters away from the vehicle. They're not visible to the two men. But the two didn't really cared to look.
Four gunshots echoed. Then the man came out and headed back to the vehicle.
"Hey!" the leader snapped at him. He tossed his machete and the latter caught it. "Cut the arm of the noisy one. I'd like to see whether they're really dead."
The man's eyes widened. He was shocked at the order. The machete in his hand quivered.
"Just kidding... hahaha!" the leader laughed. "Let's go," he said.
The man seated at the driver seat, started the engine and rushed the vehicle away. When they're more than one-hundred meters ahead, he stopped the car.
"Sorry, I forgot something. Just a while please," the driver said and he proceeded swiftly under the vehicle and quickly tightened two screws.
A while back when he voluntered to shot the kids, he knew that he was not yet finished. So, he's quickly finishing it now, after which he returned to the driver seat. He started the vehicle, and they rolled away.
