History of the Trap: June Dreams Part 3

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different his relationship with Morgan is.  We meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E.students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time. May involves grizzly murders of staff that remain unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide to schedule more activities for the students to become involved with, including sports,  a TV variety show, and the beginnings of the tunnel project. Lance realizes that Ginny has chosen Artie, and finds himself moving closer to the studious, pretty Lisa Carlton.

3

The greatest withdrawal shock probably came from cigarettes.  At least it was the one I noticed the most.  Some students that were alcoholic (or very close to being that way) had some very hard shakes early on.  Probably many early on in the infirmary were because of suffering withdrawals.  There may have been a few who were withdrawing from heavier drugs - I just wasn't familiar enough with it to know.  Thinking about it, it did make me wonder what Jerry Mack was going through early on.  He was sick a lot the first month or so.  Maybe he was addicted to something and we, his supposed friends, were just completely in the dark about it.

The lack of cigarettes didn't just make people sick, however.  It made them desperate, and mean.  And they didn't seem to be getting better about over time.  Some whom I had not seen smoke in several weeks were still irritable and jumpy.

But cigarettes did not completely disappear in an instant.  You would see one everyone once in a while, or smell it on someone's breath.  Where did they come from?  We had a black marketeer in our midst.  The amazing David Izzner, small in stature but a giant in capitalistic ingenuity, he was a stuffy redhead who had held three part time jobs and was bringing stuff to sell at school. David was a senior, who came to school in his own van, a Ford Econoline Super Van, and it was apparently filled with cigarette cartons that day the trap began. Before all the cars were destroyed for parts to build the tunnel, he had either run out or moved everything to someplace else.

I'm not quite sure what David got in trade for all this.  Money was not meaningful, unless he was catching what limited amounts there were in the hopes it would be useful when the trap finally ended.  I think he took food rations, or even items of clothing and jewelry.  I was told he had a particular interest in raw potatoes and apples, and Tom Bodell told me he though David may be building a still somewhere.  I didn't see how that was possible.  How could something like that not be discovered?  How could David operate without either being caught or robbed?

On the student front, David seemed to be spending time with some interesting allies, including the Three Hoodlums.  One of the rougher football players, Jack Kessler, seemed to be always near David.  They were two students who were definitely not friends before the Trap, but now constant companions.  They didn't interact much, but they were almost always together now, Jack hanging slightly back and eyeing everyone that interacted with David.

But that didn't explain how administration hadn't busted David's game up. I hadn't talked to my Dad about it - I was suspected of being a snitch enough without doing that.  I'm sure it was a particular focus for my Dad, as whatever David was doing was not causing any visible problems, and was probably helping some not go into full withdrawal.  I suspected that perhaps David was getting some help from someone administration, at least in helping David have a safe place to hide his contraband.

Now, as the two month mark was getting closer, the incidents of suspected smoking seemed to be dwindling.  David's supplies must be running thin.  Some were starting to get quite antsy.  Just yesterday, Jack had to pick up and remove a trembling Harry Roust before he could assault David.

This led Lisa and me to a foolish impulse.  Lisa, now working in the infirmary, saw the continued effects of withdrawal, and wondered if we could get to the bottom of where David Izzner was hiding his contraband.  So we decided to follow David and Jack, late into the evening, and see if we could run across his hiding place.

They went down to the wing that held the auditorium, a semi-circular corridor that held the auditorium in the center, a great theater with seats arching around for a two thirds circle.  But David and Jack were not headed to the auditorium.  They were going down the corridor to the right.  And the end would be the band room.  Before that was the office of the band director, Mr. Harvey Black.

Some were sleeping in the band room, but that is not where they went.  David gently knocked on the band director's door.  Lisa gave out a little gasp, as she was a flute player in the band.  Jack looked our way, and we quickly blended into a small cubby spot along the auditorium wall.  We heard the door of Mr. Black's office open.

"Are we tapped out know, Harvey?" asked David, "Things are getting dicey out there!"

"One pack left.  That's it," answered Mr. Black.

"We'll be all right if we got the vodka and wine ready to go.  How are we coming on that?" asked David.

"Let's not discuss this out here.  Come in," said Mr. Black.  His tone sounded more stressed and anxious than what I was familiar with.  He was usually very confident and commanding with the band, bordering on arrogant.

Then we heard Jack Kissler.  "You go on ahead.  I'm gonna check something out."

We heard the door close, and footsteps approaching where we were.

It was too late to leave.  Too late to run.  He had turned the corner and saw us in the cubby.  We were kissing intimately, my hand underneath Lisa's shirt.

Jack looked at us, bemused.  "Well, if ain't Marty Martian and Lisa Four-Eyes!  Making out like you were real people!  You see anybody else?  You hear anything else?"

I acted confused, dazed, like somebody pulled away from another world.  Lisa was shivering, hopefully a reaction Jack would see as something else.  "Hear anything?  What do you mean?  Lisa and I have been, kind of, you know..."

"Stop!" said Jack.  "I know what you two were doing and I don't want to hear about it, or even think about it.  Just both of you get the hell out of here, and find someplace to swap spit!"

"Okay...sorry," I hesitantly replied.  I grabbed Lisa's hand, inexplicably bowed to Jack, and then we both made our way out of the auditorium corridor.

So Mt. Black was working with David Izzner, and the cigarettes were almost gone.  And they were very close to re-introducing alcohol to our trapped little world.  This was big stuff, important information.

But what do we do with it?