There are no eyes here in this valley of dying stars...in this hollow valley...this broken jaw of our lost kingdoms.
Silence never sounded any sweeter ten minutes after the initial shot was fired. Thousands of dollars in bullets were sprayed and wasted among the two feuding sides, all over one briefcase.
The "shot heard 'round the world" was fired by Bumble Hough, an officer from the East Coast who had seen her fair share of gangbangers and scum throughout her long career in the force.
As her bullet left the chamber, a donut flew from the hands of Jacob.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know!" responded Pück, who was in the backseat of their police cruiser trying his best to get his spilled coffee off his uniform. "We better go out there and help her, though!"
Pück and Jacob kicked open the left side doors of the police vehicle in order to escape the constant bullets whizzing past their heads. Once secured behind cover, they pulled out their pistols and got to work firing at the "organized" thugs in the parking lot across the street.
Suddenly, the crackling of a radio transceiver seemed like the voice of God amidst the chaos. "Pück? Jacob?! Are you still there?!? We got backup on way, over!" It was Koska Ker, the "recently transferred from Russia" espionage expert at the police station. She was the one Jacob always had an eye on. Perhaps a little too much eye, but she didn't mind, he was better than the ones in the Old Country.
Bumble was running low on ammunition, and there weren't any reinforcements in sight, except for the two officers she left in the vehicle. All hope seemed to be lost...
...until Lewb, a master marksman, shot one of the drug buyers with a clean headshot from across the street. All hell broke loose as the Mafia rushed to grab their money. Pück and Jacob jumped from behind the police vehicle to seize the opportunity.
And the opportunity was seized. By a Mafia.
During Lewb's distracting shot, Bumble felt it was time to push forward and left her cover behind a wall. As this occurred, Dr. Bees took notice and fired off a single bullet, a bullet that would change the course of the city of Salem forever.
A bullet that killed a Cop, and began the war that destroyed one of the sides involved that day.
----
For the first Skool of Salem elimination challenge, Bumble and Swimy competed in a best-of-five Ghost game where they had an unlimited amount of time to give their answer. Tensions ran high as the two constantly outdid the other back to back. After an hour and a half of stressful wordplay, the eliminated player was decided.
Both contestants were tied going into the fourth round, meaning that the fifth round was the one that would decide it all. Who will be the one who takes the bullet that begins the end of the world?
With one press of the "L" button, Bumble completely devastated Swimy's odds of a response.
----
"SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
It took only a minute for the Mafia to leave the scene with the briefcase of cash and for full police backup to get to the scene. Everything seemed to move in a blur, as if the world had gone off its axis. And for the hero who saved Bumble, it appeared their world had ceased to exist.
Lewb threw down his sniper rifle and ran across the street yelling, ignoring the Mafia who were clearly more interested in their wealth than the lives they ended. Pück gasped and immediately felt guilt for not taking the bullet himself. He pondered destiny...was Bumble meant to take the bullet, or was Jacob meant for death on this gruesome day? This is why he never really went to church.
Bumble held Jacob in her arms, bawling for someone to call an ambulance, but Jacob did not appear bothered at all. In fact, he seemed content with what he had just done.
Lewb grabbed Jacob's face and slapped it multiple times to keep him focused on reality. They never taught him how to handle a situation like this in police academy, so he went with his gut. Oh God...the bullet almost hit his gut. Lewb slapped himself to stay focused.
"Guys......," Jacob moaned, barely concentrating on anything. "Get...Get her..."
Bumble and Lewb exchanged blank glances as they struggled to figure out his cryptic message. However, Pück had the cure once he reached the group and immediately pulled out his radio transceiver. "Koksa? Koska?!?"
"Koksa is not here at the mo---" Koksa ran over to her desk that was currently occupied by an intern and grabbed the radio. "DA? WHAT HAPPEN? IS EVERYONE OK? I HEA---"
"Koksa...Jacob has something to say to you...he's not going to make it..."
Koksa went dead silent and awaited to hear the last words of the man she only thought of slightly, but in this moment encompassed her full attention. Like an artist, his message truly reached her because of his death.
"Koksa........I love you."
Immediately after uttering his final thoughts, Jacob spit out a pint of blood, and lost consciousness. An ambulance would not be able to save him...he was at peace.
"Those bastards..." Bumble mumbled under her breath. "We. Will. Find. Them."
The others let the words settle in, and silently nodded their heads. Jacob seemed to be in agreement, as if he were a part of a seance.
----
Thank you, Swimy, for being a part of Skool of Salem. I believe being eliminated first in a gameshow is the worst feeling second to being second place, but it had to be someone. You were a strong competitor in the challenge from the time you had, but your time has come.
I hope that you follow in the weeks to come by, as you are not truly eliminated when you are eliminated. More on that later. :- )
There will be an interview with Zach up tomorrow, and the Challenge 1 post will be posted on Monday at midnight. Until then, I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and I'll see you soon. Thanks for helping us with making sure the first week went smoothly.
-Matt
