Alyssa's Sins

9. The Pluh Cult's Retaliation

Sep 29, 2009. 3:30pm, after school, Alyssa was contemplating going out to celebrate her hard-fought victory, when an unkempt classmate hurriedly approached Alyssa. It was a shock - Alyssa genuinely thought this middle school was extremely prestigious and upper-class. Perhaps for most students, but not for this one.

Unknown student in distress: "Alyssa! The Pluh Cult is trying to find me! I... defected from their ranks! My god they are going to catch me!"

Alyssa, with a skeptical look: "So you claim to be a defector. Do you have any proof of that? How can I tell you are not simply spying on me?"

Unknown student, in an offended tone: "Alyssa! I'm not a spy! Here!"

He took off his backpack and showed Alyssa an assortment of things, ranging from his badges from the Pluh Cult to scribbled notes detailing a planned series of conflicts called the Pluh's Battle. These planned conflicts were informally called the "Fall Offensive", perhaps because it is autumn already. 

Alyssa: "Oooh, interesting. I see you used to be one of the leaders there, and I have seen a badge that was the same as yours from one of the middle-ranking leaders."

Unknown student: "Yes, I was directed to help execute Operation Olsenberg! It is the first one of a series of attacks! I'm Ahmed a former middle rank leader of the Pluh Cult!"

Alyssa: "Damn you do know about the Fall Offensive! When will it start?"

Ahmed: "October 1st! I..."

Just then he was interrupted by a loud bang nearby. It unsettled Alyssa, who was skeptical if Operation Olsenberg would start on October 1st. Immediately after the bang, someone screamed "START OPERATION OLSENBERG", startling Alyssa. She knew she had to leave, as she could be implicated in "hiding" a defector, and potentially beaten for it if they were sadistic. Thus she sneakily tiptoed her way out of the classroom and into the hallways, while checking if there are any Pluh Cult members every so often. Ahmed, being on his tiptoes, followed her

The only problem is that she still needed to tiptoe down two floors, into a hallway and to the right to exit the school. Considering how many tiptoe sounds Alyssa heard, she knew there were quite a few Pluh Cult members roaming around. She also heard some voices of a debate practice, where some Pluh Cult members who've joined the debate team would attempt to fight off the liberalisation of this school.

She tiptoed down to the ground floor without being seen, thankfully. It was a little relief - at least she came within 25 meters of escaping the school. But she heard voices to her right that seemed to be where some people were chatting. She didn't know if they were teachers or Pluh Cult members, but what was certain was her being ready to make a run for it if necessary.

She would've run if not for the Pluh Cult member on the playground, scanning to see if there are any threats or spies around. Thus she went down on her knees to crawl out of the school without making any noise. But just before Ahmed could crawl down behind the fence in time, the Pluh Cult member shouted "SPY" and some Pluh Cult members rushed down to investigate. At this point, it was survival mode - nothing mattered more. 

She grabbed Ahmed's backpack and made a dash for it - it was only 25 meters before the escape. All she needed was five or six seconds to make a run for it. The exit became clear as the brightest day ever, for her. With the adrenaline rushing through her body, it wasn't even difficult... the time flew like a flash, even though a Pluh Cult member was 1 meter away from grabbing her. Whew! That was very close! She barely made it out... though Ahmed wasn't so lucky - he was grabbed just before he could exit the school. Perhaps the Pluh Cult member who intended to grab Alyssa realised he was a bit too far from her and thus decided to grab Ahmed.