Shootout in B-Entryway

Relaxing at the Quincy House Grille Tuesday night a few hours after a skirmish with a member of the Untouchables, two members of MI6, Andrew J. Gartland ’04 and Brian T. Cantwell ’04, describe the events of last Saturday, their most exhilarating day yet in their battle against their rival group, the Untouchables.

The excitement began at about 6 p.m., the students say, when they snuck through Quincy basement from D-entryway toward B-entryway, where they were met with a barrage of fire.

The members of the Untouchables had somehow anticipated their attack. In an attempt to escape the standoff in the basement, MI6 fled to an A-entryway room where the members of the Public Privates, another team, lived.

“Public Privates’ room connects to B-entryway,” says Gartland. “Going in that way would allow us to attack the Untouchables from the top.”

As MI6 entered B-entryway, they tried to surprise the Untouchables with a bird’s eye view attack from the top of the stairs. But the yellow darts did not find their targets, the students remember, instead bouncing weakly off the hallway door the Untouchables were hiding behind.

So they turned to a different plan of attack.

“We knew our only chance at getting them was to sneak into the hallway and try shooting at them” Gartland says.

When that did not work, Cantwell says, their frustration with the Untouchables increased.

“We requested that they come out into the courtyard and play the game it was meant to be played, but they didn’t want to battle” Cantwell says.

Peace Was A Thing of The ’70s

That Saturday, the pressure of the game continued late into the night.

Around 8:30 p.m., members of MI6 prepared to go to dinner in Central Square for their blockmate’s birthday. As Cantwell and Gartland prepared to leave, they say they packed their guns into a shoulder bag.

“It was kind of sad, but we had to be careful, so we put our guns in a shoulder bag and carried it with us, just in case we might need it later on in the evening” Cantwell says.

After returning from dinner, the students remember, they got ready to head to the ’80s Dance in Leverett around midnight.