The Loud House - Wild Card

Chapter 3 - Hostages

Lynn could hear the shots grow louder as they grew closer. She and George pulled up next to the cruisers already there, exiting the car and drawing their sidearms as they ducked in cover. "How many?" Shouted George to one of the Officers.

"Six that we've seen," the Officer shouted back. "But there could be more of them inside.

"Hostages?"

"Inside!" Said the Officer, nodding towards the bank.

Lynn felt the cruiser shake as several rounds fired from the enemy collided with the chassis. After three years on the force, she had never been involved in a shootout before. Royal Woods was a safe town, and she rarely had to draw her weapon for any reason. Her heart was pounding. Make a wrong move, move too quickly or too late, and it could be her last. Peeking out over the cruiser, she found her opening: one of the perpetrators was hiding behind one of the bank pillars, but was exposed from her angle. Lifting her gun, she fired and pegged him in the leg, causing him to drop to the ground in a screaming heap. One of his comrades must have noticed as he ran to his aid, but was hit by one of the other officers, dropping like a doornail.

The remaining perpetrators seemed to lose their nerve seeing their comrades taken down, and began to back up into the bank. Lynn knew that if they holed themselves up in the bank they could use the employees and customers as leverage for their escape, and may start killing them in the process.

Thinking quickly, spotting an alleyway between the bank and the building next door. Luan used to work at this bank while she was making her way through college, and Lynn knew that there was a utility door in the back that was mostly used by janitors and maintenance workers. If she could get through there, she might be able to flank them and draw them out. Without a word, she took off towards the alley way.

"Loud, what are you doing?" Shouted George, but Lynn ignored him, running at full speed towards the alleyway. Once reaching it, she found what she was looking for: the utility door. It was locked, but she had learned a thing or two from her sister Leni, pulling a bobby pin from her hair and using it to quickly pick the lock. She quietly opened the door and entered the bank. Hiding behind the entry way that led into the lobby, she could make out three perpetrators. Two of them were at the windows and door of the bank, firing and attempting to keep the police outside at bay, while another one was watching over the hostages. This made only five perps, and the officers outside said there were six. Which meant that she had to be extra careful, as the last one could be hiding or inside the vault. She only had one shot at this and had to make it count.

She looked around and saw a fire extinguisher on the wall closest to the bank robbers. Steadying her firearm, she shot a round into the extinguisher, causing it to explode as the pressurized repellant spewed from the opening. The criminal closest to it yelped as he was hit with the shrapnel, while the others coughed and tried to clear their eyes as the room became clouded with the repellant. Lynn seized her chance and ran out from her cover, pegging both perpetrators as they stumbled through the haze. Once the repellant cleared, she began to check the hostages as she heard the sound of a gun click behind her.

"No sudden movements, now," said a voice in her ear. She slowly put down her gun and raised her hands, looking behind her. The final perpetrator, who she assumed was the leader of the group, was holding an AK-47 directly at her while holding the bank manager, his arm around his neck. The man was wearing a black suit with a white tie and overcoat, his face obstructed by a mask that was black on one side and white on the other, with a white decorative spade on the cheek of the black side of the mask, and a black diamond on the white side.

"You were unexpected," said the man. "I didn't think you would be the one to respond. But I'm very glad you did."

"Let him go," Said Lynn.

"I don't think so," Said the man, looking at his hostage. "Should have called in sick today, right, my friend? Talk about bad luck!" He let out a shrill cackle that sent a chill down Lynn's spine.

"You don't have to hurt him," Said Lynn. "You can have the money, just let him go."

"I have a better idea," said the man. He threw the duffle bag on the floor in front of Lynn, who looked at it in confusion. She noticed a strange odor coming from the bag, one that she was trying to place before the perpetrator lit up a lighter and tossed it onto the bag, causing it to quickly ignite. Lynn yelped and stumbled backwards as the flames began to spread across the floor.

"Deck the Halls with gasoline," said the man in a sing-songy voice. "Light a match and see it clean." His cackle returned as the flames began to spread. Lynn coughed and tried to find her gun, but the hostages began to panic as they began to stampede out of the building. The man continued to stand there as the fire grew, and Lynn wondered why the sprinkler system didn't enable with the smoke, but then realized he may have disabled it.

"Watch the building burn to embers," The man continued to sing, laughing along to the tune. "What a Christmas to remember!" He let out a final cackle as he exited the building with the bank manager. Lynn could still see some of the employees and customers stuck behind the fire. Thinking quickly, she found the manual override to the fire alarm system, enabling the sprinklers and the fire alarm. As the fire began to die, Lynn seized her chance and helped guide the other hostages out to safety.

Once all the hostages had been rescued, Lynn ran back to the front of the bank to see if the other officers were able to apprehend the leader with the bank manager, but what she found shocked her: a helicopter hovered over the steps of the bank, lowering a ladder. The wind was causing the snow and debris to fly everywhere, restricting the police field of view. Lynn could see the leader pointing his gun at the bank manager, forcing him to climb the ladder. Once he was up part of the way, the man stepped on the ladder himself. He glanced back at Lynn as she ran towards him. He fired his gun at her feet, causing her to come to a sudden halt. As the chopper lifted higher into the air, he reached into his coat and pulled out what looked to be a small playing card, tossing it towards her. It hit the ground next to Lynn with a loud clang that surprised Lynn, seeing it stick out of the cement from its corner. Upon handling it, she noticed that it was a razor blade. As the chopper drifted away into the distance, she looked at the card in her hand. The card was modeled after a casino playing card, but instead had these words plastered on it: Wild Card.

"Loud!" Shouted George as he ran up to her. "That was the stupidest thing you could have done! What possessed you to go in there without backup?! You could have gotten killed!"

Lynn didn't answer, still staring at the place in the sky where the chopper disappeared and then back at the card in her hand. She had a band feeling that she would be seeing more of this . . . Wild Card, sometime very soon.