Just another day, that's what it was supposed to be. Another day of listening to a teacher ramble on in what amounted to gibberish for her and then waiting for her friend Hana to relay what was being said. It was a rough process and much of what was being said was clearly being lost in the translation. It was hard enough being the only Japanese girl in school. Sometimes in the hall between classes she could hear other students talking about her, not that she knew what they were saying but she recognised when some of them would say "Japanese girl" and she knew that meant her. It was impossible for her to know what they were saying and most conversations ended with both parties being confused and more than a little bit frustrated. The only person she could really rely on was Hana. They had only known each other for a few weeks but her help was invaluable. Many westerners were tall and Hana was no exception standing at 5'8" with long blonde hair and a body like a swimsuit model. Maki felt rather meek in comparison despite being physically fit she felt that she lacked some of the features that really made western women 'sexy'. Despite her looks and glamour Hana was a genuinely caring and bubbly person who would give her last pound to a stranger if they needed it more than she did.

Just another day with her friend. That was the thought that crossed her mind just before it happened. Everything went dark and she wasn't sure but she could have sworn that the teacher vanished right before her eyes. Maki, unsure of what to do, looked to Hana for help. ((Is this some kind of drill?)) She asked, knowing the answer. ((No. This is something else.)) The other students started talking as well but she couldn't pick out anything sensible from them. One thing she did understand was the tone of panic building in everyone's voice, which only made her more afraid of whatever was happening. She jumped at a hand being placed on her shoulder. ((Maki, it's me. Let's go see if we can find some other staff members.)) Maki nodded in response and immediately realised that if she couldn't make out Hana's face than Hana couldn't make out hers. ((Okay.))

After Hana spoke to some of the other students, who all seemed just as afraid as she was, they headed out into the corridor. Everything had fallen to darkness and they had only their phones to light the halls that now seemed to ooze a certain ominous atmosphere. Hana was exceptionally quiet as they inched their way down the halls, she was typically the loudest person in the room. This only served to make Maki more nervous. Students from other classes seemed as lost as they were so Hana led them towards the prinicipals office, if anyone knew what was going on it would be him. They reached the stairs and suddenly a demonic shriek rang out. Maki's heart skipped a beat and she jumped into Hana's arms like a fightened child. Hana, who seemed much more collected about the whole situation, turned off both of their phones and moved to the wall making them as small a target as possible should anything come roaming the hall. They stayed there for a moment and waited to see, or hear, if anything was close to them. Maki whispered as softly as she could. ((What was that sound?)) Hana was as lost for an explanation as Maki. ((I don't Know. Let's just keep moving.)) Maki didn't resist as Hana led the way. Here she was in a strange country with strange happenings all around. Who else could she rely on but the only person that could even understand what she was saying?

They finally made it to the principals office a short while later. Thankfully nothing else of note had happened. Hana didn't bother to knock as she entered the office. It had two parts to it. The first part of the office was clearly meant for the secretary although she was also nowhere to be found. There was no sign of any struggle or things being packed. It was as if she had simply vanished into thin air. Did that mean that she really did see her teacher vanish as well? Hana shined the light around and scanned the desk as if she was looking for something in particular. Neither of them found anything out of the ordinary. Forms and paperwork were left out on the secretary's desk. Hana picked one up and inspected it carefully. ((She didn't even finish filling out this form...)) Maki took a look as well, even with her poor knowledge of the english language she could tell that the pen stopped mid-stride. The circumstances only continued to become stranger and stranger. Hana opened the door to the Principal's main office and again no one was there. Had the entire staff gone missing? They looked around the office for clues. Maki felt especially useless since she couldn't read anything. She heard Hana talking to herself in English for a moment. ((Did you find something?)) Maki asked. ((No, I just thought it was strange that the Principal left his window open.)) Maki heard what she assumed was Hana closing the window and then coughing. Maki, concerned for her friend, walked over to her. ((Are you alright?))

Hana continued to cough for a moment then suddenly stood up straight. Maki let out a sigh of relief that the coughing stopped then Hana spoke up this time her voice was flat. ((You know what? I've just realised something; they're both right.)) Maki was confused. ((Who's right? About what?)) Hana wasn't making any sense but she continued to speak. ((You're just a spoiled little rice queen and I don't feel like babysitting you anymore...)) Where was this coming from? ((...All you do is latch on to me all day and berate me with stupid questions...)) Hana placed her hands on Maki's face. Maki was unsure of what to do and froze in place. ((...You don't belong in this country, you don't belong at this school, and you sure as hell don't belong in my house!))

Hana suddenly moved her hands down to Maki's throat and pushed her back against a cabinet with glass doors. The pressure was so great that Maki couldn't breathe. Behind her she could hear the glass giving way. Maki tried to release herself by striking Hana's elbows but she was already getting weak. Then the glass finally gave way and shattered. Shards of glass fell around her and she could feel some of them cutting into her. At this point Hana was hysterical and shouting things in English that she didn't understand. Desperately, Maki flailed around for anything to help her get out of this situation. Her hand landed on something heavy and solid. She grabbed hold and swung with everything she had landing sqaurely on Hana's head.

Finally, she was released from Hana's iron grip as she fell off of Maki, now gasping desperately for air. Hana started speaking again, more frantic than before. Maki tried to stand up but Hana was already back on top of her. This time Maki was able to catch Hana's arm and put her into an armbar. ((If you don't stop I'll... I'll break it!)) Hana thrashed about furiously, Maki couldn't believe what was happening. ((PLEASE STOP!)) Maki increased the pressure until she heard definitive cracking sounds as Hana cried out. Even after that she still didn't stop, Hana struggled to get up and tried once again to attack. Maki grabbed the object she used before and swung again. Hana landed on top of her with all of her weight, then nothing. The air grew still once again and she could feel a warm liquid running down her chest. The tears started to flow awnd Maki didn't know what to do. ((I'm sorry. Why didn't you stop? I'm so sorry.)) Maki pulled herself out from under Hana's body and sat up against a filing cabinet. What was going on? Why did she lash out like that? What was going on? She couldn't stand to stay in that room any longer so she stumbled out into the hall, every step she took made a resounding squish. She knew what it was but thinking about it mad her feel like she was going to puke. Instead she curled up against the far wall adjacent to the Principals office and let the tear flow.

Aria took the flashlight with a hesitant smile of her own. “Thank you. I don’t like the dark…” She whispered. As they walked through the halls she shined her flashlight everywhere, taking in the thick layer of dust that coated everything. “It wasn’t this dusty this morning, was it?” she asked Vanessa, carefully placing her feet lest her shoes skid out from under her. The sandals she wore were highly impractical. She cursed herself for having dressed up today, but then, she rather enjoyed dressing up and hadn’t had an excuse to for a while.

As they got to the front office, Aria felt like something was wrong. She shined her flashlight around the hall to see a girl curled up in a ball crying and… bleeding?

Aria dropped the flashlight, which made it turn off, and instantly lunged for it, seizing it in a death-grip and flipping it back on with trembling fingers. “Oh, my god…” she muttered. Walking closer to the girl, she shined her flashlight on the ground next to her. “Hey, are you alright?” she asked, kneeling down in the dust a couple feet away from the crying girl. “Let’s see where you’re bleeding from, okay?” The girl’s clothes were dark with blood… Hopefully it wasn’t all her own. “Hey, you’ll be okay.” And then she took a second look at the girl’s face and realized who it was. Maki, the girl from Japan, a celebrity, of sorts, unique in even such a big school as this one. Everyone knew she didn’t speak English all that well. Aria slowed her speech down, using simpler words to try to help the older girl understand. She cursed herself again, for not bothering to learn any useful language. “My… name… is… Aria. You…. Are…. Maki? I… Will… help… you.” She reached for Maki’s hands, intending to examine her for where she was bleeding from. She looked over her shoulder at Vanessa. “Vanessa, I think you’ve got better experience at bandaging people than I do.”

Vanessa followed the smaller girl without much trouble with her longer strides as well, though there wasn't much that she needed to keep up with. She stayed in behind Aria, where the light was less bright and didn't bother her sight as much though the shadows were growing as her eyes adjusted to the light that the flashlight gave off. "Too much light can damage the eyes ability to adjust to the dark." She commented, though it was normal for a child to be afraid of something as trivial and harmless as the dark and the shadows that lingered on the edges of the room. It was what was inside the darkness that one needed to be fearful of. She tucked the novel beneath her arm while she walked, the hardcover pinching her skin slightly under the sweater she wore, though as they walked the dust caught in it and she stopped to sneeze for several seconds. Unfortunately the girl was allergic to dust, as well as other substances similar to it.

Shaking her head she shook her head again, silently continuing her trek onward, following the girl as the two looked around without much sound other than the echoing of their shoes on the tiles flooring. As the girl slid on the floor Vanessa reached out and touched her shoulder to balance her, but pulled her hand away as soon as she could, remaining distant and out of reach fore her dislike of human touch or contact outside of the quiet Cecil. Her eyes followed the line of the wall, looking toward the office that they were walking toward before they went to storage or the infirmary. She tiled her head when she thought she heard something though for the time it was irrelevant and she didn't care much to seek it out; not until Aria ran forward toward a girl curled up in a ball on the floor near the wall across from the office.

Instead of waiting for Aria to have a panic attack of her own, Vanessa stepped forward and looked down at the girl who lay as if ignorant of the world. It was the foreign exchange student as well, though from the beginning of the bruising around her neck she could tell she had been in at least a little bit of a fight. "There should be a first aide kit in the office and a cabinet with it. Bring whatever you find there." She said kneeling next to the girl on the floor, setting her satchel aside with the novel so neither would get blood on them. "We can get her clothes later, I have extras in my locker." Reaching into her backpack, Vanessa handed her a cloth bag from her satchel - on she normally used for books from the library - and gestured for Aria to go while her other hand pulled a second flashlight out of her pocket.

She turned it so that the light was facing the wall, illuminating the area enough that Maki would be able to see her though not enough to bother the doctor in training own eyesight. "Maki." She looked at the girl, setting her hands on her own lap, making sure that the girl could see them so that she didn't come across as threatening. Concentrating she sifted through her mental notes of all the languages she had ever heard or learned, looking for the right words. Her Japanese was simple at best, but better than what most students would care enough to learn. Learning languages was a good thing for a doctor to learn, for cases like this when the patient didn't speak English. (("I am Vanessa. I want to help you. Can you show me where you are hurt?")) She asked the girl, lowering her hood so that the girl could see her face, though the scar around her neck hid the bandages that were still there for the week before.

@Midori@RomanAria

"Cecil," the boy returned as Val introduced herself and she realised, with a tinge of amusement that he was avoiding her eye, "Uh, I'm sorry you had to see that." Rather than say anything, she simply shrugged, in a nonchalant gesture.

"That kid is a dictator. Someone should tell him he needs to listen to other people before we wind up with a real problem. There is a line between tyranny and leadership, and he doesn't see it. Anyway, there aren't any ranks right now, so I'll listen to you if you listen to me. Deal?"

And as he spoke, Valerie nearly burst out laughing.

"Don't worry," she reassured him, with a grin, using this as an excuse to push away the nerves that had been dancing at the forefront of her mind ever since the lights had blacked out and the freaky events had started happening "I wasn't planning on bossing you about. You seem okay - if a little intimidating -" she murmured the last phrase more to herself than the him but her smile didn't falter "but I just want to get on with the job at hand, with as little fuss as possible. So mutual respect sounds great. And, yeah....nice to meet you."

She ignored the chill that had snaked its way down her spine, when he mentioned that there wasn't ranks...right now. It was a point - how long would this weirdness last?

She shook his outstretched hand, anxiously as she kept pace with him walking down the corridor; the darkness was still relentless and it felt odd to see somewhere - typically, glaring under fluorescent lighting and sprawling with students - so familiar in such an unbelievable, eerie situation. She was tense, on edge, anticipating another banshee wailing or another explosion at every second that ticked by and the fact that it remained as silent as the grave was quite frankly unnerving. When she reached the end, she picked a random direction and tried to look like she knew what she was doing by not hesitating, as she swivelled on her heel to walk right. She had vague image of layout of the school shimmering in her memories and she figured that the boiler and stores in the basement might be the most promising option to finding something that could be useful.

“There’s some freaky stuff going on - I wonder if it's just here...” she commented as she continued to squint through the darkness that still felt as thick and threatening as ever. Her phone battery was draining fast and she hoped it would hold up for a little while longer; at least until an external light source was discovered, "And I'm guessing we should try the lower levels - what do you think?"

She rubbed her forehead as a headache threatened at her temples. She pegged it down to stress and confusion, and massaged her temples as she walked, keeping a wary eye on the other guy.

@tancuras

Cecil stumbled and swayed with Val's tight turns, tripping over his feet trying to stay at her side. He was too occupied fighting sullenness in the new human connection he was making - a craft he was never skilled in - to even consider what their next move was, until Val spoke again.

"And I'm guessing we should try the lower levels," she finished, trying to find something in the abounding shadow. "What do you think?"

Cecil stopped, prompting Val to turn and face him. "It's probably locked. Custodian's office might have the keys, if it's not locked as well." He put his hand under his chin and frowned in thought. He remembered passing the custodian's office many times. The door was wood, shoddy-looking, and always rattled, not like the heavy steel basement door near the first-floor bathrooms. "Nevermind. We can probably kick it down, if we need." Cecil looked up at Val and chuckled before he could help himself. "Don't worry. I'll take the fall for that if we get in shit, I don't care."

Turning back to the hallway before them, he tried to determine where they were in the campus. He decided that they were lucky enough to be on the right path, and walked ahead, watching for any landmarks he could identify that told them they were near the custodian's office in the glow of Val's phone.

@Andromeda

Something landed on Jack's arm. He tried to flick his limb and get it to leave but it stayed. It was heavy too. He moved his arm again, but this time it shook back. These fucking pests. Just everywhere. He slapped the thing. It felt like him. Rubbery, oily. Skinny. He looked at his arm. A hand. Arm. Robyn's arm. Words began forming as they bounced around his ear canal. "Huh? Yeah, no, I'm fine. How are you? I just saw your mother back there, in the window," Jack said, sniggering and then howling with laughter. And then he was clear again. "Oh my God, what did I just say?" Jack could hear the excessively loud noise coming from the auditorium. He hadn't just made a joke about his best friends dead parents, had he? He had. "No, no, no no no nononononono Robyn, I... I don't know what that was, I... that wasn't me..." Jack stammered. What do you say after laughing about your friends murdered family? You don't say anything. There's not much to say but stammer your apology out. He stared at Robyn. His eyes glazed over and he couldn't tell what was on her face. Disgust, sadness, shame, anger, humiliation. All of them.

A Southern drawl woke him from his stupor. He looked out of the windows at the halo of light then back at the girl. Then back at the halo of light. Jack opened the door for Braden. Braden was a Grease Monkey that Jack had always gotten along well with. A technical minded guy who enjoyed the simple task of taking things apart and putting it back together, better. Something Jack could appreciate. Robyn had stepped further away from him, enough so that it was noticeable there was some discord among the two who were normally joined at the hip. "Things are, well, happening. I guess that's the only way to put it at the moment. Things are happening," Jack said, a weary tone in his voice. This day had gone down quickly. Today wasn't good. Today was, by all accounts, pretty bad.

As Jack looked around the auditorium he couldn't see Aria. She must still be doing whatever she was doing. Vanessa too. She wanted to talk to me. Jack stepped over to the front of the seats where a boy was trying desperately to settle people down. Jack patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks bud, I'll take over from here," he said. The kid scampered away gratefully. Jack stood in front of the mass of excited kids. They kept yammering. Jack slumped his shoulders and leaned on the back of a chair, arms crossed. His eyes drooped. And then it was suddenly quiet. Jack saw that the class leaders were living up to their roles. They found their defacto leader had taken the stage and that now was a pretty good time to get the low-down. Boy, was Jack going to ruin their day even more. He pushed himself off the chair and let his hands hang at his sides. “First of all, glad you could make it. Everyone besides a handful I have sanctioned are here in this hall. Think of this as a roll call, essentially. Now as you may have realised, a few things have gone amiss as of late,” Jack said. The audience stayed quiet. Wow. Tough crowd. “Firstly, there has been some... celestial miscalculation?” Jack said, looking at the Nerds. They cautiously looked at each other before one of them - Ro was his name, Jack thought - shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Close enough. "This 'miscalculation' has resulted in a total solar eclipse that has somehow caused a boat load of unhealthy things to happen. That being, primarily, that all the teachers, and possibly some students have disappeared. My guess is that they were watching the eclipse and poof, gone. Don't know why, so don't ask. It is also pitch black. This auditorium is being lit up by your mobile phones currently, a highly finite resource if ever there was one. They don't have very good battery life in most cases, so quite soon we may be going back to the dark unless we find some alternatives." The students were not happy by this news, and shouts started to break out from the crowds. Something was thrown as it landed with a thump and then a splatter a few feet away, but it was too dark to see what it was and the trajectory it took.

"Secondly, some of us were heavily affected by a shriek heard earlier. In my case, it psychologically and emotionally ruined me for a few minutes. I have no idea if the same effect will happen again, but I do, unfortunately, know what caused it. As do just under 4000 of us here," Jack said, his steely voice echoing through the now silent chamber. Something in his speech caught their attention anyway. "When collecting the remaining students, we passed by a window and found the source of the cry. It was definitely a... creature thing of some sort. Two legs, human-ish face, no eyes, big fat lumps on its back. It looked very dead to me. I do not know if they are, I do not know what they are, I do not know what they are capable of. My best advice at this moment would be to not fucking antagonise them," Jack spat the last three words out. Students squirmed in their chairs. The headteacher never gave these kinds of speeches. "They may be able to smash windows or break down doors or even get through walls. This school was built to withstand war, but I don't know the situation we're in right now. We could be at war and those are the resultant victims of a nuclear attack, or this could be something else entirely. We do not know." Soft weeping came from somewhere in the room. The fact that this wasn't a bad dream and that something very real had happened was forcing its way into the brains of everyone, like a vicious worm burrowing into the depths of your mind. None were too amused that there were no answers to be found. "And to pile onto our news already, I have had a glimpse of the outside. There's a thick grey shroud hanging out there. Very dense. Maximum viewing distance is maybe four feet, possibly closer to three-and-a-bit. Not sure how infrared fares with it though," Jack said. Most of the people sitting in the room were booing or crying now. Their reactions did not help the situation. "Just because we do not know what is going on does not mean we aren't going to find out. We have possibilities. We have routes to travel. We have scientific leads that can divulge information. We have some of the best kids in the country in this school, that's why we have the school capable of withstanding anything bar an asteroid, and fewer other do. We are valuable. We have the ability to figure out what is happening and to sort it out. I don't want to sound dramatic, but we may be alone."

"However, we need structure. No, not goddamn school again," Jack retorted to a call from the dark asking if school would be starting up again. Jack thought for a moment, recalling all the pop culture he had consumed over the years and tried to find a perfect analogy. He was stuck between a choice of Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead, neither particularly stellar examples. Maybe too fittingly, Metro 2033 came to mind. So settling for something less detrimental to the overall well-being of the students psyche, he settled on The Maze Runner. "Has everyone read or seen The Maze Runner? Or know what it's about? Well in the book, they don't know where they are or what they're supposed to do, but they manage to pull their resources and skills together to create a community that works. And that's what we need to do. We need to create a community. One that runs efficiently, can handle breakdowns, can hold the weight of 5000 of us. So from now on, I'll be setting some standard rules. One's that keep you alive."



"I also want to start building our community together, effective immediately. Grease Monkeys, meet me down here. Any scientists who do not already have a position elsewhere meet me down here and split up into your respective fields; Physics, Chemistry, Biology. Mathematics, come down here and put yourself with the Physicists. Everyone else, find Robyn Capuche at the entrance and once I'm finished discussing here I can talk you through what's going on," Jack said. The students then got up and did what they had to, quietly, quickly, and orderly. Why did the principle have so much getting us to do that? It's not like I'm that much of a smooth-talker, but damn, they're actually doing it. As the students swarmed and dissipated among the various masses, he watched as his groups formed before him. "Alright, welcome guys. Here's what's going to happen."

"Firstly; Biology, Chemistry, and Physics students will all combine to form one group. I'm gonna call you guys the Nerds because I always have. Sue me for laziness, I don't care. You're main goal is to figure out what is going on. Take what you want, take what you need. You have direct access to the supplies. But firstly, lights. Here's where you come in my Monkeys. Monkeys and Physics Nerds are going to go down to the basement and have a look at the grid. Scope it out and fix what went wrong. Lights are now our number one priority. Phones only last so long, and once it goes dark things are going to get intense and scary," Jack said. He swung his flashlight over the crowd and saw Braden in there. "Braden, when you're done there come find me, I want your help in rigging something up if we're going to go outside," Jack ordered. He walked past Braden and out a hand on his shoulder. He leaned in close to the Southern boys ear. "It's good to have someone sane here. People are going to shit real fast. You notice anything, you let me know," Jack said softly. He walked through the throng of people and headed towards the enormous group from where Robyn's voice echoed.

Jack pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the centre. "If you're standing here, it's because your prime subject isn't science, mathematics, or auto shop. And that's fine. We have a place to build and support here. You won't be wasted. I don't know what Robyn's just told you," Jack said, nodding towards the pretty girl standing beside him, "but we will be living here. A good friend of mine suggested re purposing the gym halls, which I think is a mighty fine idea. So I'm gonna leave you in the capable hands of Robyn, and she'll get you guys sorted out." Jack gently took a hold of Robyn's arm as she made her way to leave. He couldn't see her face in the gooey black, but as Jack moved closer the light from his mobile illuminated her face. "Look, Robyn, I really am sorry. I really really am. I don't know what it was, but I wasn't thinking straight. Everything was fuzzy, like it was a dream, like I wasn't awake. It's the shock and exhaustion," Jack explained despite him not agreeing with his answer. He didn't think it was entirely the shock and exhaustion, but he felt like he wasn't the same after the encounters with the monstrosities outside. He didn't feel himself. He didn't feel like helping a crying kid. He didn't care if that loner in the corner would be a loner forever, dying in their one-bedroom flat at 46 with no-one to cry at their funeral. Jack didn't feel like Jack, Jack felt like a badly recreated copy of himself that got bashed up in production.

She didn’t know how to the respond. As soon as he made that comment, she dropped her hand from his arm. How could someone be so… so insensitive?! She saw immediately on his face as soon as he had realized what he just said and he began to apologize and stammer. She didn’t make a comment. Instead, she just glared at the ground, forcing herself to calm down and not to punch the bastard right in the nose. Right then Braden walked over and she stepped away from Jack, still looking toward the ground. She couldn’t believe him. After all of that, after all that she had been through, he would have the nerve to make that comment?!

Jack and Braden begin walking into the auditorium. She followed, much to her resentment, but she stayed farther back. She hung out back by the entrance and listened as he calmed people down. He described the eclipse and then described the shriek. He then also began to describe a humanoid monster. That must have been the monster that those students running passed her had been talking about. He then began to talk about structure. Robyn stood up. They couldn’t leave the school, especially with those things out there. Robyn shifted slightly, walking forward a little bit to hear better. Jack began describing Maze Runner and began giving rules before starting to talk about building a community.

He then told people to find her and she stood up straighter. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, yelling, “Yo! Over here you non-nerds!” People began to swarm about her and she noticed that Jack was talking to the Nerds. People began chattering around her and she snapped, “Everyone shut up!” This surprised everyone because normally she was very nice. But this was a time of crisis and there was not time to be nice. “Alright, listen up you weaklings. There is no fucking way that we will be able to leave the school. So, we need to set up a camp inside the school.” Some student asked if that was the same as living here. “Yes!” she snapped. “We will be living here. Now be quiet.” Robyn saw Jack walk over and he just repeated what she just said. She stared at the ground, glaring at it again. He told them to go repurpose the gym hallways and use them as a camp, which was a great idea, even if Jack said it.

Once he was done, she began herding people toward the door. Jack grabbed her arm quickly and she whipped around, looking at him carefully. “Look, Robyn, I really am sorry. I really really am. I don't know what it was, but I wasn't thinking straight. Everything was fuzzy, like it was a dream, like I wasn't awake. It's the shock and exhaustion,” he stated, looking at her sorrowfully. She frowned and looked away from him. She knew he was lying. She could tell something was up, but that comment… It just hurt. She shrugged her arm out of his shoulder.

“Whatever,” she said uncaringly and began herding people out the door again. She got all of her helpers out into the main area and called out, “Alright! I want twenty of you guys to run around and grab whatever materials you can find. Clothing, drapes, blankets, anything. Meet us back at the gym. We can use those for warmth during the night.” Twenty people took off toward the classrooms. “I want another ten of you to scavenge for medical supplies. Raid classrooms, the trainer’s office, anywhere you can get any.” Ten of the students nodded and ran off. “The rest of you, we need to find a sustainable food source and some drinkable water.”

“How are we going to live here if we don’t have good food?!” one of the students cried. Robyn paused, thinking for a minute. She then looked back up.

“The greenhouse. We can probably use the green house to grow some food if we need it. The cafeteria is still stocked and I’m sure the teachers have stashes of food around here somewhere. I want at least fifty of you looking.” Another fifty took off. “The rest of you, come with me down to the gym. We need to start setting up camp.” She took off down the hallway, listening to the sound of the pounding feet back behind her. They entered the gym hallway and immediately, students separated, getting into lockers for extra clothing, towels, anything that could be used to survive.

“Break apart some of the wood tables,” she yelled. “We can use the wood for fires in the gym if necessary.” The students nodded and a bunch of boys began jumping on the tables, splintering them to fragments of wood. This was surprising how many of them were taking her orders. Honestly, she liked the feeling. She smiled calmly, looking around at everyone. She liked being in charge. She turned back toward the doors and looked out them, looking out at the darkness. Something was… off. She tipped her head to the side and she noticed a fuzzy, humanoid shape take place. Suddenly, it flashed into her parents’ killer and a voice shouted in her mind, You’ll be mine! You have always been mine!

She gasped and jerked back away from the windows, her head slamming against the wall. She saw stares and immediately felt dizzy, falling to the ground. She braced herself against the ground as a few of the students ran over to help her. She kept getting asked if she was alright. She nodded, shoving them off. “I’m fine,” she snapped. “Get back to work.” They all nodded and took off for jobs, right as the people with the cloths were coming back. They had found a surprising amount of cloths, though she later learned that they managed to break into the theatre department and shredded a bunch of the capes. She looked back toward the windows. As long as those things stayed out, they would be fine…

But what if they got in?

Aria nodded, walking quickly into the front office. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she collected the first-aid kit and a bottle of antiseptic spray, a mostly full bottle of Tylenol, an unopened one of Ibuprofen, some kids’ allergy medicine, some anti-anxiety meds, and a host of other things. She returned at the trot to hand the things to Vanessa. “I’m going to go find the papers and then head to the auditorium. I think they’ll need me to help organize kids. If I don’t hear from you before the last groups are deployed I will send a few seniors to come find you two.” She headed back into the office. Again she shivered at the vague sense of… fear… that she found in the room.

She took a stack of papers off the secretary’s desk, as luck would have it, the attendance sheets for the entire school for first period. She folded them up and tucked them into her backpack, and walked further into the office. The place was giving her the creeps… she needed to get out as soon as possible. She stepped into the principal’s office and heard a crunch under her shoe as she stepped on a piece of glass. And then her light found the body, cut up and bleeding from the glass and a dent in her head where the skull had collapsed.

She gasped and stumbled back, to slam into the door. The door was closed behind her. But she hadn’t shut it behind herself…. Frantically she yanked on the knob, but it had locked, or so it seemed. Just for a second she heard a demonic cackle, and her flashlight switched off, and she was left alone in the room with the corpse and the pitch-darkness outside.

Frantically Aria tried to turn the flashlight back on, to no avail. With trembling hands she fished her phone out of her cardigan pocket, flipping it open for a tiny bit of light. Instantly she wished she hadn’t.

In the window. A…. thing. That was all it could be described as. From the blue light of her phone she couldn’t tell what color it was, but it was twisted, with too many broken limbs and warped appendages and a tortured, human face staring at her with sightless eyes. Too scared to scream, Aria inched back against the wall. Her foot twisted on something fleshy; for an instant she looked down, realizing she had stepped on the hand of the dead girl. She gagged, and then when she looked up at the window the creature wasn’t there.

Because it was in the room with her. She heard its’ demonic, guttural laugh as it crept closer, inching on twisted arms and legs that grated and clicked like broken bones were bouncing around inside. And then a hand grabbed her ankle, the hand of the dead girl, and in the corner of her vision she saw the creature pounce.

She cowered, fearing for her death, but then there was nothing... There was no creature, the door was open. But the body was real enough. Practically sobbing from terror, Aria scooted across the floor to kneel next to the body. She rolled the figure over, noting the floppy limbs. She had to have just died, then. And then all thoughts went out the window as she realized who it was. Hana, Maki’s interpreter… Oh god. OH GOD. She’d met Hana before… she didn’t seem like the kind to get in a fight. But neither did Maki, and both girls were cut up pretty badly.
Clapping both hands over her mouth, scrambling to her feet, skidding on the hard floor, she sprang to the window and opened it and threw up outside. But as she caught her breath, huge gulping breaths of stuffy, sour air, a lightning bolt of pain lanced through her head and her body, and suddenly voices sprang into her head, laughing, cackling, then shouting at her, hate-filled and bitter.
You don’t deserve to live! They only pretend to care about you because they feel bad for you. You’re too smart for your own good. They fear you and hate you. You’re not one of them, you’re just an extra. Forever an afterthought.
“You’re like a kitten. Defenseless, stupid, too fragile. And whenever anyone gets attached to you they get hurt trying to protect you!” Jack’s voice all but roared in her head.
“Don’t you get it, Aria? I don’t like you. I never have.” Connor spoke, and she could just see him, his hair standing on end like it always did when he was angry.
“I wish you would just die so that you wouldn’t be always following us around like a little lost puppy, making all of us look bad!” Adam added, the mirror-image of his twin.
“Just go away.” Aria said it out loud. Barely managing to control herself, she forced herself back in through the window and slammed it shut. Then she lay on the floor, feeling the voices in her head fading, and also the pain.

“My god, what was that?” she whispered to herself as she finally regained enough control of her muscles to stand. Her flashlight was dead, having hit the ground hard. She only had her cell-phone.

She fled the room, only taking a second look at Hana’s body. “I’ll send someone to come bury you, Hana. You won’t be forgotten.” She said. She took the second doorway out of the office, a door that put her around a corner from the spectacle of Vanessa and Maki. She had to run further then, but she didn’t want to have to pass the girls.

She tasted blood at the back of her throat and reached her hand up to find that she had a nosebleed. Aria used her sleeve to wipe most of it off as she jogged, her sandals slapping on the floor, trying to put as much distance between herself and the office as was possible. The voices of her friends randomly spoke in her head, telling her how worthless she was, how she deserved to die.
An instant before she ran into the auditorium, she realized that she couldn’t tell Jack where anyone could hear or it would cause a pandemonium. So she yanked a red pen and a tattered Latin essay out of her backpack and started writing by the light of her phone.
“There is a dead girl in the office. Hana, I’m not sure of her last name. Maki Fujita’s foreign-exchange sibling. Maki is cut up by broken glass (from a cabinet in the office?) and very scared and crying over some evil thing she did. Vanessa is tending her right outside the principal’s office Hana’s in the office. Her skull was caved in and she was also cut up by broken glass. When I was there in the office I saw a… thing. A nightmare creature. It made me hallucinate or something. I stuck my head out the window because I had to throw up from… finding a body… and the air out there is kind of sour and heavy. I took a few breaths and then it felt like someone electrocuted me and there were voices clamoring in my head and I just couldn’t think…” In the light of the phone the blood on her hands from herself and from Maki was the same color as the ink she had just written with.

She forced the thought out of her head, scrubbed at her nose (Starting the bleeding again, unfortunately) and headed into the auditorium. First she sought out Robyn, having gotten in there just in time to hear her mention fires on the gym floor. “Robyn, not a good idea!” she hissed, rising onto tiptoe to speak in the girl’s ear, while also trying to keep her face out of the light of the phones. “No fires in the gym, on the wood floor. And don’t have them look for supplies in the office. You’ve got to trust me on that, don’t you dare let them look in the principal’s office. Please.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she brushed them away angrily. “I have to go report to Jack, but just… Don’t let them go into the office, whatever you do.”

Then she hurried over towards Jack’s voice, pushing through the crowd of much taller people. “Jack, I got the papers!” she forced nonchalance into her voice, though her bloody face and arms and tear-streaked face would probably scare everyone anyway. “And something else.” She passed him the paper and her phone, hoping he could read the scribbles of her shaking hands.
”You deserve to die, Aria. You’re weak and you’re stupid and you don’t deserve to live, not in this school, not where it’s survival of the fittest.” The Jack in her head said.
Tears spilled onto her cheeks. “How—How can I help…? I know…” she swallowed hard. “I know you think I’m not capable of doing anything, that you think I’m like a kitten, stupid and weak and a liability. But I’d like to help however I can, for the sake of all these kids...” She clamped her mouth shut but couldn’t stop the sob from escaping her. She wiped at her nose (Still unsure why it was bleeding so much) and looked up slowly at Jack, waiting for him to laugh or dismiss her like the Jack in her mind would.

The door to the custodian's quarters was exactly as Cecil remembered it - a flimsy piece of old wood, rocky in its hinges and hardly a barrier at all - with one exception. It was already open. Small splinters of wood had been scattered around the doorframe. Cecil motioned Val to bring her light down to the floor as he examined them, twisting several of the pieces between his fingers in contemplation.

Their journey had been mostly silent, a mix of anxiety and awkwardness barring conversation beyond the occasional "I think it's this way", and that only made the halls seem to stretch even further. The main building of the campus was quite large, spanning multiple city blocks, a building meant to educate the youth of a densely populated city. The pair had passed several voices as they headed west through one of the school's main corridors. Some belonged to younger students, lost in the dark and separated from their friends. Val stopped to offer them gentle words and instructions to find the central auditorium, wherein Jack had told the student body to congregate. Many others belonged to teenage couples exchanging lustful bodily contact in the protection of the darkness. Val gave a half-supressed chuckle at those, and Cecil could only afford to shake his head to hide the blush that rose on his cheeks when, while trying to emulate Val's usual kindness, he had thrown the door to one of the lounges open on two half-naked fourteen-year-olds. They had made a quick departure from that part of the school, Val's snickering haunting him every brisk step of the way.

Cecil brought his attention back to the door after the fresh memory made his cheeks hot once again. There was no clue to point at the perpetrators of the vandalism, but Cecil only hoped that they were not still nearby.

"I guess someone had the same idea," Cecil said. "Let's see if we can get what we came for."

The interior of the office was revealed to be a spacious room with a large desk, tool bench, several shelves, a glass cabinet and another door opposite the first, this one made of sturdier stuff and effectively locked shut. Cecil quickly snatched a small black device connected to a circular strap.

"Head lamp, huh?" he said to himself, sliding the lamp over his brow. He clicked a small dial on the side and a brilliant ray erupted from his forehead, illuminating the dark corners of the room.

Several objects caught his eye, then, reflecting the light of the lamp from the floor beneath the cabinet. More fragments, this time made of glass. Approaching the cabinet made its contents apparent: keys, each hanging from its own labelled peg. Many were missing, and Cecil noted "KIT 1", "MED 1" and "BAS 1" were among them.

"Kitchen keys, medical keys, and basement keys are gone," Cecil said, turning to Val. They could have been in the custodian's pocket, but the shattered glass painted a different picture. "I guess someone took them." He turned back to the vacant key rack once again. Another key, one still present, caught his eye, and he slipped it into his pocket quietly. "At least we know where to look for them."

She lay there for what seemed like an eternity before someone found her. Both of them were female but she didn't recognize their voices, they were strangers. They seemed concerned for her at least, which was something of a relief. Hana's voice still echoed in her head. She couldn't believe what had happened. Hana was always good to her and then suddenly she just goes crazy. ((She wouldn't stop.)) Maki mumbled under her breath. One of the girls went into the office. She was going to find her. The body. Maki knew that Hana was dead. She had felt the life drain from her body when she fell. How could she tell them what happened? What would they think? People in this country were so different she couldn't possibly anticipate their reaction. Would they throw her out?

The second girl snapped her out of her own thoughts. Was she speaking Japanese? She was! Her name was Vanessa and she apparently wanted to tend to her wounds. Maki looked her in the eyes. ((Hana, she wouldn't stop. I didn't mean to do it but she wouldn't stop!)) She had to let them know that it was self-defence. She had to understand that Maki was only trying to protect herself. ((She just kept coming at me!)) Maki was starting to get a little frantic now. ((I would never hurt anyone, really!)) Maki tried to stand up but her entire body felt weak. She must have lost more blood than she thought. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder. She moved her hand to feel what it was only to find a small shard in her arm. There were several other cuts on her arms and a few on her face. ((It hurts!)) She hadn't realised that she was so badly hurt before. ((Here and here.)) She pointed to her forehead which had a cut above her left eye and her left arm that had a gash in herw forearm. The cuts felt deep and the more she thought about it the more she noticed the pain. Maki relaxed her body against the wall. ((I... I think I killed her...)) Maki wasn't sure how much Vanessa could understand but she was confessing more for herself than anything. ((...That's not true... I know I killed her...)) Whatever happened to her now was up to these strangers. She didn't have the will or the strength to protest, she only knew that she was tired. It was sinking in that this wasn't some sort of nightmare, this was reality and it was horrible. ((She was a good person.)) Speaking was difficult so she decided to let Vanessa do whatever it was she was going to do.

@ViolentViolet

"Nevermind. We can probably kick it down, if we need. Don't worry. I'll take the fall for that if we get in shit, I don't care."
Val laughed, again. She couldn't help it. She knew she was laughing more than was adequate or appropriate in such a grave, sombre situation but she honestly couldn't help it. It was her instinctual way of dealing with anything that provoked intense emotion and she knew, if she stopped finding everything funny, that she would end up bursting into tears and breaking down in front of all her classmates. Not a great way to commandeer respect, she thought soberly.

"Kicking down doors just happens to be my all-time favourite pastime," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm; she'd never really gotten into trouble before but she somehow didn't feel like advertising the fact and simply shrugged "But no fear - I highly doubt that anyone will be particularly concerned with a busted door considering what's happening outside. And if they do...well, getting reprimanded is my second favourite pastime. Custodian's Office, it is, then."

They continued on and Val tried to suppress the shivers that kept racking her body. Whereas the shaking had originally seemed sourced from the confused panic of the apparent apocalypse, now it seemed that the cold was affecting her more than she'd first thought. This part of the school was eerily quiet and the echo of their footsteps seemed exceptionally loud in comparison, inviting anything prowling within a 100 yard radius towards them. She quickly pushed that thought out of her head. It just so happened that they did find somethings - but they happened to be more terrified children and...excited teens, than anything else. With a laugh, she sent all of them to the auditorium, settling nicely into the 'helpful' role.

In the Custodian's Office, it was clear that someone had been there before them - by the state of both the door and the smashed cabinet. Val side-stepped the broken glass littering the floor to stand by Cecil as he surveyed the selection of keys. They all seemed to have already been taken and she grimaced.

"Well let's hope this is the work of some well-meaning student rather than a saboteur..." she said carefully, blinking in the light of Cecil's newly discovered head torch, but she suspected her optimism was a little naïve in this situation.

"At least we know where to look for them."

She didn't say anything, striding over to the desk and taking a seat on the edge to catch her breath. She was still shivering violently as it seemed the temperature only dropped the further they advanced in the school. Sighing, she rifled through the books on the desk, which were sparse and uninteresting. It seemed as if everything in the present universe was conspiring to both bore and terrify her.

"So where to next, boss?" she asked with a mocking salute, though her jokey grin was a little forced.

Somewhere between Val's satirical humour and her acquiescence to his leadership - he was not sure which, and not willing to admit the latter - Cecil realized he was enjoying her company more than expected. And as much as he hated to admit, he hoped she was finding comfort in his stoic façade, though in actuality his stoicism was only willful ignorance. He gave her a small, rigid smile.

Indeed, the screams earlier, combined with the haunting and dreary atmosphere, had scared him. It felt like a horror movie, with the exception that horror movies never phased him; they were only movies, and not strange and unnatural calamities occurring quite literally in your back yard.

He hastily brought his mental shield back up. This is nothing. Just some weird coincidence and a long-ass eclipse. Focus on the task at hand.

"The main caf is nearby," Cecil said. Cafeteria 1 was the largest by far, and held the biggest portion of the food stores. "We can check it out. It's probably some preteens hoping for a snack."

A consistent shuffling sound suddenly donned in his ears, and Cecil noticed to his remorse that Val was trembling. He cursed inwardly at being so dense as to not notice it earlier. His first thought made him take off his jacket. It was thin - more meant to break the wind than anything else - but it held his body heat, and at least had sleeves, not like the girl's t-shirt.

"Here," he said, holding the coat out. He noticed disdainfully that he, as usual, couldn't meet Val's eyes. "I, uh...I just thought...I'm fine, guys generate more heat...might be a bit big, though..."

@Andromeda

Vanessa couldn't understand the majority of what the girl was saying to her as she struggled to sit up, nearly falling over and passing out in the process though she made it to a sitting position with her back pressed against the cold wall of the hallway. The two were alone, save for the dust while they waited for Aria to return with the bag she'd given her for medical supplies; it hadn't been long enough yet to worry. The senior lifted the headphones over her head and lay them on the ground next to her as to retain the mobility in her neck as she could look at the injuries more fully in the damp light of the flashlight she'd kept for herself. Reaching out she took the girls arm in one hand while using the other to motion her to lean forward a little so she could get a good look at her forehead. All that she had really caught from her mindless babbling had been something about Hana and her being sorry, whatever she had meant by that.

(("I read better than I speak Japanese."))

The loner had left that unsaid until she was finished, where one of her hands searched inside of her bag for a notebook and pen before setting it on the floor next to her. She had just set down the notebook when she heard a crash from inside the office and a small squeak of a scream followed by the sound of a bag falling on the floor. Her eyes widened and the girl who hated everyone stood without question, her eyes flashing a shocking silver in the darkness while she turned away from her.

(("I'll be back."))

Vanessa didn't spare another glance for the Japanese girl as she turned away and headed across the hallway into the office. She flicked her wrist and popped the blade from the the handle of her knife and she set to walking inside of the shadows office. Her eyes adjusted fairly quickly to the darkness, her gaze skipping over what she saw in their. A layer of dust across the floor, the broken glass and the open window where the stale breeze blew through. She thought she'd heard a window slam shut while she was in the hallway. With her sight dampened only slightly she could smell the subtle changes in the air from this mornings perfume and flowers to this. She lifted her nose to the air, breathing it in as the taste of metal and salt touched her tongue. She could smell death in the office and knew something was off.She was often one to follow her instincts and act on the primary urges that had saved her life more than once in situations where she wouldn't endanger another human being - the selfless person she is.

The young woman turned a corner and walked through a doorway to where the bag had been dropped and found the source of the smell she had followed here. The body a girl who she could only assume was 'Hana' though she'd never met her before today where she lay face up with her eyes wide open and a cavern carved into her skull with a good amount of brain matter and blood had gathered on the floor. She would have died instantly and not felt even an ounce of pain that she would have had she lived through the hit that would have left her as a living corpse until her family decided to let her go - unfortunately the equipment wouldn't have worked anyway. She knelt beside the body and rolled up her sleeves before reaching over to close the girls eye lids. "The Dead should watch their Judge, not the Living." She said quietly to herself as she picked the bag off the ground and stepped over the body to go toward the cabinet that still had some other various medications inside of it. There were several rolls of bandages and she piled them in the bag as well before going around to the next room and looked around.

It was the principals office, where she had only been a few times before in the even that she had been found bleeding or had a panic attack though she didn't often stay very long whatever the reason. It was fairly empty, with plain walls and a desk bare save for a pile of scattered pages and a few pens though they looked as if they had not been in use prior. She saw rows of keys lined up on eon of the walls and picked them off, thinking that they might come in use at one point of another over the next few days. Her own keys hung from her jeans pocket. She went over to the window and closed it, keeping out whatever it was that had been giving her a bad feeling and instead of waiting for it to come back she left the room back to the main office area. Aria was no where to be seen.

Walking back out of the room she knew that she was leaving bloody tracks on the tiles floors though it didn't seem to bother her much as she set the bag down and pulled her sweater off as well to leave her standing in her black jeans - already spotted with blood - and her tank top while she tied the grey around her waist. The skin revealed almost glowed in the dark is so was pale, with blue and purple and black veins spider-webbed across the pale surface as the chill began to set in. sitting down in front of the Japanese girl she didn't waste time in using a cloth she'd found to wipe off what she could of the blood from the worst of her injuries and stopped the bleeding without the use of a bandage. If they didn't get water though they could get infected and ultimately cause death. Standing up she straightened her shirt and gestured for the girl to stand and follow her.

(("Time to go."))

---

Vanessa led the way back to the auditorium, her satchel over one shoulder and the case she had found to carry the medicine in her other hand while she walked silently, not really talking or paying much attention though when they finally made it she came across Jack talking to all the students though there wasn't much left apparently ad he soon left the stage to meet with a group of students. Vanessa waved Maki to find someone she knew or wait, either way it didn't matter much to the girl while she waited for Jack to leave the room. She stood, alone, on the other side of the wall with her arms crossed and the little light showing the silvery liens that crossed her skin and mixed with deeper, darker and fresher red and black scabbed cuts along her arms. There were bandages wrapped around her own forearms, spotted with blood that had clearly soaked through though she didn't look to be in any real pain. Her face was expressionless, her posture uncaring though her eyes, regardless of the shadows cast upon her, had grown dark and angry without much sign as to why.

She didn't move at all, instead waited until he had fully left the auditorium and had a chance to see her waiting with the box and her bag with her. The Japanese girls blood spotted her jaw as well and the dead girls still dripped from the soles of her shoes, footprints bloody and dark and wet from all the way down the hall. She remembered the fury on her face and the fear in the eyes of the dead though she had no clue what could have caused it and it would take a fair amount of coaxing to get it out of the girl though it was best if one of the psychology students did the talking to her while she or anyone else who knew Japanese translated for them. With the way that James whispered in her ear she knew that it was only a matter of time until she hurt someone instead of helped them.

She had to tell him she wouldn't be staying with the group.

@Midori@The Scotsman

"Things are happening," Braden echoed as Jack drew closer to the center of the auditorium, "I guess that's one way of putting it." He listened intently to Jacks speech and caught on everything that had unfurled. Solar eclipse, monsters, thick fog. Wow; either this is one helluva horror movie, or we up shit's creek without a paddle and hole in the canoe floor. "At least I'm not the only one hearing those loud-ass banshees, those bastards," Braden mumbled to himself.

Ah, structure. That sounds like a good idea. And he even made a pop culture reference? Man, Jack should run for office. Then Jack implemented some rules to help govern the school. Hm, I wonder how long before some idiot(s) decided to test the bounds of those rules. . . 5 minutes, 10 tops.

While Jack was giving this speech, Braden couldn't help but feel Jack was overstating the skills the student's possessed. Yes, some of the students were gifted, but none were actual scientists, electricians, or doomsday preppers. They, including Braden, were all still kids or budding adults and most knew little of life beyond school, home, and parties. Braden knew bonds, limits, and intelligence would be tested here, and wondered if the students had what it took to survive. Damn, he hoped so.

Braden then heard Jack start splitting people up into their respective school cliches. He marched over to the Grease Monkey area and listened to Jack talk about the power grid. "We'll see what we can do, and we'll try not to get electrocuted, though no promises. Oh, and is this a bad time to play School's Out by Alice Cooper?" Braden replied as Jack practically gave him command of the auto-shoppers.

"Whatever."

No, whatever to you, bitch, Jack thought. He couldn't explain what was going on with himself, because he didn't know. He was guessing, trying to repair the situation between him and Robyn as he knew how. Grovelling like a dumb dog. Not anymore. He was sick of it. He had a job to do. As he swiveled on his heels to meet the repair crew, Jack was interrupted by Aria. She was a mess. "Woah, what the hell's going on? Did someone hit you? Did someone fucking hit you, Aria?" he queried, anger bubbling up like soup forgotten on the stove. He took the papers from her and flicked through the stack, barely taking his eyes off the blubbering, bleeding girl standing before him. Jack was getting confused, and her next statement about being a kitten was making things worse. The irritation was building into animosity. "Goddammit Aria, who said this to you? Never before have I said that. God fucking dammit, is someone giving you hassle? Look, listen, I've never said that. You're my friend, so why would I talk shit behind your back? I wouldn't do that, and you know it," he said, calming himself from 'nuclear shutdown' to 'damn, stepped in mud again'. "I'm going down to the grid with Braden soon, just gonna finish clearing this place up first. Come with me? I'll need someone to read the instruction manual for the screwdriver for me," Jack joked, forcing a smile out of the snot-smeared face of the little girl. He grinned along with her and then he looked down at the note Aria had scrawled down for him. ...dead girl... ...nightmare creature... Jack shut his eyes. He hadn't read any note. There wasn't a note. Maybe he would find it after he was done with the lights.

Jack stood up and ran his hands through his hair. Playing with his hair hurt, like it had been in place so long that it was cemented like in that position and when it moved it ripped chunks out of his scalp, but it was the sort of pain you couldn't stop. It hurt but it was refreshing. Jack rubbed his temples, feeling the blood rushing through the vein on the left of his forehead. It pulsed viciously when a headache was forming, and now it was pumping like the heart of a man in chase. Agonisingly, he opened his eyes. Despite how dark it was, it was still too bright. And there, like an awkward ghost, stood Vanessa. Jack signed for her to come talk to him. The patchy red bandages on her arms told him that she enjoyed the same refreshing pain Jack did, just on vastly different scales. Vanessa told him that she was leaving the group. Jack laughed internally. Where the fuck would she go? She was stuck in here with the rest of us, and she couldn't do anything about it. "Really? You're going to leave us? And where are you going? Why are you going? Let's be honest here. You're going to stay in the building with us, not really leaving at all but actually just being a disadvantage to everyone. We need people to pull their weight. That doesn't include lazing about. Do you know what you're going to do if you leave? Because food is for those who earn their keep, and keep this school running. Are you intending on secluding yourself from everyone or still popping along and seeing us during visiting hours?" Jack asked. Rule #5 was disintegrating before his eyes. He couldn't have a student simply upping and leaving the group, wandering around the enormous school, not doing anything in particular. It was counter-productive. Once they realised they can complain their way out of the work, they would. After that everything would crumble. Jack shook his head angrily, like he was trying to get those itchy grains of sand out of his hair. "Come back when you have a plan, I'm busy the now," he ordered. Why people just didn't do what they had to, he didn't know.

The boy sighed. Before today, Jack would've considered himself a man. He could fix a car, he handled his money, he could do DIY stuff around the house if need be, and he could go out and drink like a man. But today humbled him. He no longer felt like he was ready for the world, not this new, unexplored world. The sad fact was, Jack only felt comfortable in a world pioneered by his ancestors. When the prospect of writing the book of Earth 2.0 crossed his mind, he was worried he would not be able to put pen to paper. He was scared that he would keep everyone in the stages of cave paintings. No evolution if no-one lead the revolution.

Braden was with the Grease Monkeys, probably discussing what they may need, how they should proceed, and anything else that was important. Jack slipped into the shadows outside of the halo of the group. Braden could run his crew well. They listened attentively, recognising a seasoned Shopper when they spoke. Orders were handed out to prepare something or another, or collect overalls. The Monkeys listened and left to get what they had to. "Glad I made the right decision, buddy," Jack said, stepping into the glow of the phone screen. "I want to come with you, down to the grid. If I deal with any more stupid up here I might actually jump from the roof. I'm gonna bring Aria too. Something happened, so she's... I dunno, whatever, right now, but she's clever so I figured it wouldn't hurt. I've been down there before so I know the lay of the land, but I seriously need out of here. But how many Monkeys do you think we have? Because I have a little something I want to make, and I'm going to need your best," Jack explained, wondering whether now would be a good time to tell the Head Monkey what he planned to create. It was now or after. Now would allow Braden time to tell Jack he was being dumb and that it couldn't be done, but he didn't want to preoccupy the guy. After would only make the Monkeys feel overwhelmed. They weren't lazy people, far from it, but two large tasks straight after each other? That was how people got tired of their leader and deposed them. Jack settled for telling him now. "Listen, I want to build some heavy-armour transport. There's a scrapyard about a half-mile down the hill and they're bound to have some four-wheelers, maybe even an old bus. If not there's a bus depot a little further away. But I want some heavy duty transport that can survive an attack if necessary and have the specs to be able to carry stuff. We can't hole ourselves up forever, we'll need to venture out for food and supplies. And if those things are as strong as they are awful, then we're fucked twelve ways from sundown. Do you think your boys can handle it?" Jack asked tentatively. It was a tall order, to say the least. They had repaired cars before, practically rebuilt them, but this was something else. It would require refitting a big-ass vehicle for the appropriate tasks, super-pimping the engine and everything to go with that, and then adding onto the vehicle itself to ensure its safety, counter-balancing everything to make sure the project didn't go tits up when they were out, isolated. "What do you say, bud? You up for a challenge?"

"The main caf is nearby. We can check it out. It's probably some preteens hoping for a snack."

"Probably," she replied with a quick, amused shrug "Sounds a good plan to me - I think we should" but she trailed off, frowning in confusion when she saw him slide out of his jacket. What was he doing? It was freezing in here - evidenced by the gooseflesh breaking out over her bare arms - so maybe the weird goings on had messed with his body temperature. She slipped off the desk, worriedly, her own pale hand an icy white as she held up her phone, to survey the situation

"Here. I, uh...I just thought...I'm fine, guys generate more heat...might be a bit big, though..."

When she realised he was offering it out to her - and not about to break into insanity - she blushed at misinterpreting his intentions and accepted it, shyly, trying to conceal her own apprehension. She considered insisting he keep it as his own shirt didn't look particularly substantial but, for some reason, the protest died on her lips and she merely swung it around her shoulders and slid her arms into. The sleeves were way too long, dangling past her fingertips and it wasn't the warmest of garments, but it did help and the shivering subsided. She glanced down at herself; it looked comically out of place and she grinned at it.

"Um, thanks," she said, with a genuine smile and when silence broke out, she walked forward and slapped his arm playfully with one of the jacket's sleeve ends in a bid to bring humour to the situation "Well, I guess - I'm glad - you aren't as intimidating as you appear to be."

She walked past him, hoping he hadn't seen her face redden slightly as let her hair swing over her face. She wasn't accustomed to kindness - her five elder siblings were all determined, driven people and whereas it had resulted in dazzling, big-money jobs, she would certainly not describe any of them as generous. As the youngest, she tended to be the most easy going of the six of them but that often meant getting last choice. To have someone else put her health first - even in such a humble action as offering her a jacket - warmed her, as much as the actual material. She sauntered to doorway, where the door lay in splintered, wooden fragments on the floor and glanced back at Cecil, phone still held high to light the way, still beaming.

"The cafeteria it is, then - no time like the present" she announced as brightly as she could muster, her voice echoing in the gloom and her footsteps distorted by the crunching of glass beneath her shoes from the shattered cabinet "It's probably already been ransacked but we might as well do a quick inventory whilst we're in the area. This office gives me the creeps..."

She gave it one last, searching look and headed out in the direction of the cafeteria, beckoning for Cecil to follow. As soon as she stepped out of the safety of the room - as if such a word could be applied to anything, in this current scenario - she felt her ease drain, as though she'd stepped into no-man's land from the security of a trench. She found herself instantly glancing back for the reassurance she'd found in Cecil's outwardly imperturbable demeanour, to make sure he was following. It was a ridiculous fear - of course, he was following; Jack had ordered them to stick together and besides, she had his jacket - but irrational fears can't always be dispelled by logic.

"I hate this not knowing," she burbled to Cecil, quite aware she was rambling but past caring, at this current point in time "This freak eclipse - or whatever they're guessing it is - I mean, why here? Why now? It's so bizarre. It makes me wonder whether any of this was planned by some government or some divine force, or aliens, or...or maybe I'm just reading too deeply into this. I guess the dark just makes me philosophical."

She laughed, aware of how ludicrous she sounded.

"Sorry, sorry; ignore me," she rushed to tag the words onto the end of her speech "I have a tendancy to overthink things. Perks of being into maths, I guess. What's your subject speciality? Somehow, you don't strike me as a science geek..."

Intimidating, Cecil thought in reaction to Val's admittance. I guess I can see how. Introversion, coupled with a tendency to grimace, and bursts of anger would not do well to make a tall man like himself seem approachable. Though he had managed to make a better impression so far, apparently.

He looked at the jacket's sleeves, abundantly too long on the girl's smaller frame. That's what I was supposed to do, right? He couldn't help but feel that Val might only be humouring him, biting back ridicule only for the fact that they were alone together in a dark room. He hated his paranoia, and the lack of confidence in his own character. He thought he had been getting better, overcoming his social vulnerabilities, but every time he was challenged he found himself still lacking. He had never found the key to building human connections, not the way so many other people did.

"This office gives me the creeps," Val said, finishing the statement that snapped Cecil out of his thoughts. She moved into the hall and waved a hand, and he followed her out, tilting the light on his forehead to light up the floor instead of blinding any who might look at him. "I hate this not knowing. This freak eclipse - or whatever they're guessing it is - I mean, why here? Why now? It's so bizarre. It makes me wonder whether any of this was planned by some government or some divine force, or aliens, or...or maybe I'm just reading too deeply into this. I guess the dark just makes me philosophical."

At the end of it all, Val let out a laugh; a pleasant sound, like a cozy fire on a windy winter night."Sorry, sorry; ignore me. I have a tendency to overthink things. Perks of being into maths, I guess. What's your subject speciality? Somehow, you don't strike me as a science geek..."

"I, uh, changed a lightbulb last weekend...that's science, right?" Cecil answered as they moved further down the campus' main corridor, toward the cafeteria. "I dunno. I'm not big into school. I'm already twenty and I'm still finishing twelfth grade. They say I don't apply myself, but I don't see the point. I just want to get my diploma and go."

Cecil noticed a glow, then, a faint blue spot further down the wide hall. He figured it was around the same spot as the entrance to the caf. Bingo. We'll get our keys from these kids and we'll be on our way.

He said as much to Val, and then continued. "Anyway, I don't mind shop class. But I really like running, and climbing. Track and field, that sort of thing. I've never competed but I always look forward to phys-ed." When he said the words, he really felt the weight of his underachievement. I really haven't done anything, yet...

They were closing the distance on the cafeteria doors when laughter rang out from beyond. Harsh, ridiculing laughter. Then a bang and crackle as something broke, something hard and heavy. Cecil rolled his eyes. Fucking kids. Then, something else touched his senses. A scent, a familiar sickly-sweet aroma.

Together, the pair rounded the corner into the cafeteria. The scent was more intense, and the light from Cecil's lamp was filled with drifting clouds of white smoke. The room was as dark as any, large windows revealing a featureless black sky. Dozens of long tables filled its length, and a series of bars blocked the window that led to the kitchen. The rafters ran across the ceiling twenty feet above them, barely visible in the ambient light cast by seven glowing smartphones.

"Who the fuck is that?"

Cecil was not sure which of the shadowy silhouettes spoke, but he knew the owner of the voice. Cameron was arguably the most well-known student in the school, probably due to the fact that he spent several months in prison and was a known thief and ringleader of many violently-prone individuals. He struggled in all of his classes, and, like Cecil, was three years behind. They had known each other in middle school, acquaintances if not friends, but that was before street reality forced them to change. And for Cameron, the change was not a positive one.

The silhouettes started advancing on them then, some spewing threatening noises and warning them to leave. Cecil only waited until a phone was shoved in his face, and his own lamp revealed Cameron's dark-featured face.

"Oh, it's just Cec!" Cameron laughed, and the others turned on their heels, stalking away with disappointment heavy on their shoulders. "What's up, Cec? Wanna smoke up with us?"

Cecil shook his head and waved away the small roll Cameron offered. "I'm good."

"The fuck is wrong with you, man?" Cameron shoved the joint back into his pocket.

"The keys were gone and I came to get them back," Cecil said, cutting the topic short. "We're gonna try and get the lights back on."

Cameron laughed again. "Why would you do that? We got the run of the school right now. Come on, chill with us and eat all the food you want. I'm sure as fuck not going outside, so we better take control of the rations, yeah?"

Cecil's heart skipped a beat. Control the rations? He had never considered a long-term solution. If this was some kind of terrorist attack, they could be trapped inside for days. And if Cameron had all the food...

"Oh, don't worry, man. We'll share. As long as they suck our cocks!" The rest of the hyenas laughed alongside Cameron. "Yeah, maybe you can cook for us, yeah? We want some fucking chicken nuggets. Just got into the kitchen before you came in." Cameron pointed over his shoulder, and Cecil was suddenly aware of a large hole smashed through the dividing wall between the caf and kitchen, a sledgehammer leaning nearby that was probably once stored in the custodian's office.

Cecil knew that, in that moment, rash action would not help but to escalate things. He had to think. "Well, if we stayed here, we could definitely control all of the food..." He stopped, turning back to Val, the girl whose kindness he had appreciated so much in the moments before then. "And that's definitely not going to work." He kept his eyes on his companion, seeking input, a solution he didn't have. He felt the hostility mounting behind him, challenging eyes burning into the back of his head. What do we do now?

Braden watched Jack get in a frenzy towards Aria, then again, few people couldn't hear the yelling. Jack quickly cooled off though, and Braden let out a sigh. Don't lose your cool just yet, friend. Something tells me life's gonna get worse. Braden returned his attention to his own group and gave them orders to grab tools, lights, and rubber gloves from the shop. Braden wasn't the smartest guy when it came to wires and building electrics, so he gauged his groups knowledge. A few had previous experience helping fathers or contractors do a bit of wiring. and such, but no one was an expert. Those that knew more than others were put in charge of the task and were told to report to Braden of any updates. Braden would of course go down there, but he didn't want to mess with things if he didn't full understand them.

By the time he was finished issuing order, Jack was by his side. Bring Aria, Braden wondered, not sure what good she'll do. As long as she doesn't get in the way, I guess. He must wan't to look out for her. Jack then told him about his idea for transportation. "An armored bus?" Braden pondered aloud. He thought about all the work that would have to go into it. Braden finally settled on an answer, "Jack, we're definitely up for the challenge. However, I wouldn't be your friend or a leader if I didn't point out the problems. We don't know what those monsters are, how powerful they are, or how many of them are out there. We also don't know if that fog has any ill side-effects. Having said that, I believe my monkeys and I are up for it, but on one condition; I"m apart of the group that retrieves the bus. I ain't having my folks go out there while I stay in relative safety."

Braden wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders and smiled, "We'll get shit done." He then pulled him in closer and whispered, " And if you need someone to chat with or vent, I got your back." Braden released him and returned to his group to make final preparations for the journey below.

The woman stepped forward when beckoned toward Jack though she could tell already it was a horrible time for him since taking on the role of leader and having to figure everything out himself. He was stressed clearly, and the girl had to force the smirk from her lips before she spoke to him at all. "I won't be staying with the group." She said to him without waiting for him to ask what it was that she had meant to say to him. Her eyes found his and she had to overwhelming urge to take him aside again, to torment him as well as speak with him though watching him struggle beneath the weight of what he had brought upon himself would be much more satisfactory when it came down to it. "I'll help still, with the injured and cooking, but being in such close proximity of so many others will end in Death and that is exactly what those things want." The young woman waited for his response, the words coming in a harsh quarry of ridicule and instead of standing there and taking it she reached forward and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt to pull him down to her level without warning. She would have spoken first though the look in his eyes gave him away as to what was happening to him and she saw how he was fighting against what it was that was happening to him. She would have hit him too though any violence could wait until later to see if it was necessary to stop his current path from continuing. Instead she leaned toward him and whispered in his ear the same way that James did to her.

"Come find me when the monster becomes too much."

As soon as she was finished, having felt her lips brush against his cheek while she spoke to him, she let go of his shirt and stepped away from him again, toward the door of the auditorium where she stopped and stood, waiting until enough people where looking at her. She hated being watched by so many pairs of eyes, but as far as she knew she was the only one that had any real and valuable knowledge of how to heal the human body or anatomy at all. "Anyone injured go to the infirmary! I'll tend to you there!" Having spoken she listened to her voice echoing in the great chamber for a moment before turning on her heel and walking back outside of the auditorium into the hallway where her things were waiting for her to pick them up again. She was tense, as if ready to pounce on the next person to snap at her and the way she knew people were staring at the scars and cuts that laced across her skin in intricate lines that she wouldn't be able to hide for much longer regardless.

She picked up her satchel and flung it over her shoulder where it landed and weighed heavily on her shoulder while it bashed painfully against her hip for the time while she lifted the case in her hand as well and walked away without another word. With the pain came a slightly different walk, her attitudes were changing as well with her swaying her hips while she walked and a lack of confidence had become a deadly eyes and predatory walk. Even with her shoes on her steps were nearly silent and evenly paced with the shadows falling over her easily. She had been to the infirmary herself several times before though and she knew where it was for the most part. Maybe she would run into Cecil at some point against today, of course he may end up hurting him if she did see him anyway.

At the infirmary she walked inside and and closed to door behind her and walked until she fell over on one of the bed and lay still with her bag beside her and her eyes staring at the ceiling again. It was quiet here and it allowed her to keep the beast silent and dormant as well. All she had to do was wait for others to come to her and she was sure that there wouldn't be too many especially.

"Hello? Can anyone tell me why the fuck I can't see?" Cordelia, aka CC, had been in the human A&P lab when the sudden darkness happened. She was the only one in there at the time, studying blood smears and the interaction of cells with certain medications she would place on the slides. With her headphones playing music loud enough to have drowned out any noise in the hallways, and her eyes clearly focused on the microscope, CC hadn't even noticed the room turning black until she was ready to test a new slide. Her head popped up to retrieve a new slide on the table next to her- only to reveal no light coming from anywhere except the battery operated microscope sitting in front of her. Cordelia had made her way across the lab, toward the door that lead into the hallway- bumping into chairs and table edges, hoping not to spill any hazardous medications and had opened and left out for testing.

"I guess that would be a no.. Is anyone there? I don't know what is happening. Dear god please don't let me be the only one here." Her hands felt along the walls as she made her way toward the auditorium down the science hall. She felt that if there was a mass gathering, that was where it would be. Cordelia pushed her way down the dark hallway, but felt an open door to a classroom and decided to ask and see if anyone was in there confused like she was. Cordelia walked in and started feeling her way around. She wished now she hadn't left her cell phone at home this morning in a rush to get to school. Suddenly CC felt a presence in the room, but something didn't feel normal- like it wasn't a student in the room with her.

"H-hello? Are you okay? Can you help me? I don't understand what's going on." Cordelia walked toward where she felt the presence coming from. "Corey, Corey, corey.." There was only one person who called her that- "Dad? Is that you?" Cordelia stopped in her tracks. She had not seen her father since elementary school when she was finally brave enough to stop the abuse that he put her through. "Corey, you little worthless piece of shit, do you honestly think anyone would want to help you? No one could handle your stupidity. You're as dumb as your mother. She deserved her beatings..And so do you. The sudden feeling of a fist colliding hard with her abdomen made CC screech and try to flee, only to be shoved, fall on the floor, and be drug backward by her foot back to whatever this being was that was acting out her worst nightmares. The fist collided with the side of her face and CC felt blood pool in her mouth. She kicked and swatted toward the direction of the fists, but never collided with anything stable.

CC paused for a moment, lying flat on her back on the cold floor. It was gone.. She was okay.. Then the whirling sound of a fist cutting through the air made CC go into fight-or-flight mode. She leaned up and pushed herself to her feet only for the fist to collide with her right temple. Her body collapsed to the ground. CC couldn't tell if she blacked out- or if she was just laying in the darkness, but the next time she moved to stand the being was gone.

Cordelia quickly stood up and ran frantically down the hallway toward the gym. The metallic taste of blood made her spit as she neared what should be the auditorium doors. The sound of voices made her heart lurch at the possibility she was alone and going crazy. CC walked into the large space to find students working on a task they had been obviously given, But by who? Who was in charge? Where were the teachers? CC walked slowly, she could now feel the swelling of her right eye and the blood washing into her mouth from a gash across the corner of her mouth. She looked around, trying to find someone familiar, but only recognizing a few voices- one being Jack. They had a few classes together a couple years ago- she always thought he was hilarious while everyone else found his sudden outbursts annoying. CC walked through the crowd of students, trying to asses what was going on, and why they were tearing apart tables. She needed to find whomever was giving the students their orders, maybe they could tell her more about what has happened.