History of the Trap: July Nightmares Part 1

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. 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.  Lance and Lisa stumble on to a drug ring being led by David Izzner and the band teacher, Mr. Black.  Later, the Guidance Counselor, Mr. Joe Oliver, is found dead, his office ransacked for cigarettes and other contraband.  June ends with Lance having a horrible dream involving dragons that might be part fantasy and part future,is drawing to a close.  

Chapter 6

July Nightmares

I wish I could tell you more scientific and technical details about what we did to survive and the escape attempts that were made.  But I'm afraid I lack Tom Bodell's engineering skills, or David Yankovich's incredible scientific prowess.  So I'm sorry, Doctor Duncan, but I can't relate clearly how some of the things we tried to do were done.

At the beginning of July, the underground tunneling was in full swing.  A direction and method had been established.  With the tools at our disposal, and the hardness of the ground, fraught with stone and granite, it was tremendously slow going.  But at least the effort was under way.

At the end of each day, Tom Bodell would emerge tired and irritated, having spent the day battling David Yankovich over the right methods to use.  Tom was interested in practical results, not David's theoretical yammerings.  Sue Boschman would cozy up to Tom and try to get him to relax.  She had cooled over her conspiratorial rhetoric, at least with Tom, as he had little interest in the how and why of being trapped, and just into the common sense effort to getting out.

Jim Kurrash would emerge dirty and exhausted, having participated in some of the direct excavation.  After a well deserved shower, he would spend the time playing cards with Mary Estill and whoever else wanted to join them.  When the game was done, they would just hold hands and sit quietly.

One of our friends, who had drifted away for awhile, Randy Sherman, was back with us occasionally.  He was ruggedly handsome, or so I was told, with a craggy chin, dusty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.  He was mostly hanging with the girl friend he had at the time of the trap, Annie Pepper ( the cute blonde cheerleader, whom I had been in one or two plays with), but they had recently broken up, so Randy had wandered back to us more.

Randy was involved with efforts led by Mr. Cairn, the physics teacher and Mr., King, the shop teacher, along with several students including the very bright freshman, Larry Weisman.  They were attempting to build a rocket to see if the could launch it up and over the electric barrier.   There was some speculation as to how high the electrified barrier went up, as some had claimed to see birds fly past the barrier and then back in again.  Like I said, how they were going to pull this off was beyond my understanding.

The most recent meetings I had attended as Student Council Rep did not help clear up as to how all these efforts were being accomplished.  Our count continued to creep down, from 1,167 at the beginning of June, to now 1,139.  Many of these were known, thanks to our improved counting procedures.  The murder of Mr. Joe Oliver was the most notorious, but we also lost three more due to accidents, and as many as five who no longer had the medicines they needed.  It seemed awful, but it would pale in comparison as to what was to come.