FLY BOY - Completed

Prologue

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Prologue

Raised as an army brat, sixteen-year-old River Reynolds had gone to a number of different military schools, but never one as posh as Braxton Hall Academy. It was the top co-ed school in the Northern Region. Normally she would be thrilled to be accepted there, but nothing was normal about her present circumstances. She had spent her first day moving her few belongings into her new room, which was by far the nicest dorm room she had ever stayed in. For the first time she didn't have to share it with anyone either.

Her second day she wrote her entrance placement tests; the results of which determined she would be skipping another grade, a feat almost unheard of at Braxton Hall. A feat for which she held mixed feelings. The way River saw it - she would have three strikes against her going in. Yes her studies would be more challenging, but she would be placed with students that were two years older than her, making it that much harder to fit in. Secondly classes had already been in session for two months. This meant she would be joining classes midterm, making an already awkward situation that much more uncomfortable. Then finally she would be completely alone for the first time in her life.

She had learned to be strong three years ago after the death of her mother. Her mom had succumbed to the deadly X virus after a long, hard-fought battle. River was luckier than most though. She still had her father. Unfortunately he was a high ranking officer in the air force and because of that, was away a lot of the time. Still they had kept in contact daily by telephone calls and text messages, right up until his plane went missing in combat just a little over a month ago.

News of her acceptance to Braxton Hall had fallen on uncaring ears. She instead lived in a constant state of anxiousness, always waiting and hoping to hear news of her father. Even the stares from the other students as she was introduced, could not provoke a response. She just quietly made her way to her assigned desk and quickly pretended to listen to the lesson being taught by each new teacher. By lunch time she was exhausted from all the pretence. The last couple of days were catching up with her and taking a toll. All she wanted to do was sneak off to her new single dorm room, crawl into her bed and slip off into a dreamland where she could be with her mother and father. But, students were not allowed in the dorm rooms during the school day, so instead she headed to the school cafeteria and joined the line for food.

Her appetite had disappeared along with her ability to concentrate, so she chose some soup and crackers and a bottled water and then looked around for an empty table to sit at. Braxton Hall was the largest military school in the Northern Region but since the virus hit, it's numbers like all other schools had dwindled to less than half what they once were. The twelve hundred students remaining were divided into their years at lunch time. The Freshmen ate first followed by Sophomores, then juniors and finally the seniors. This meant there were about three hundred seniors all eating lunch at the same time. Because the numbers were way down, there were lots of empty lunch tables. River picked out a table off in the back corner and started to make her way over to it.

Just before she made it to the table she was hit from behind by what felt like a Mac truck. It seemed almost like slow motion as she watched her chicken noodle soup roll out of the bowl and cover her head in warm yellow noodles. At the same time she was knocked to the ground. She was in shock, not just from the instant-soup-bath, but also from the force of the impact. She rolled from her hands and knees, over onto her bottom and sat up. Looking around, she realized the Mac truck had actually been a tall, rather muscular looking guy, who was sprawled out beside her, proudly displaying a football he had just caught by holding it up high in the air.