Unexpected Should Be Expected

Chapter 30: The Truth is Out

A while later, the bus arrived at his stop and he walked home.

Ramal kicked his shoes off and flopped onto his bed, feeling exhausted from the day.

The weight of everything—Max's number, Mr. Calloway's number, and the reactions from everyone—was starting to sink in.

He reached for his phone, an impulse driving him to check Instagram.

As soon as the app opened, the flood of posts hit him.

The first few posts were from people making wild speculations about the numbers, some saying they thought it was just a glitch, others acting like it was a trend.

But as he scrolled further, the tone started to change.

The comments were filled with outrage.

People were now piecing together the truth about the numbers.

The words "number" and "kill count" was everywhere, and it was becoming the dominant topic.

Some influencers had posted with the number displayed above their heads, and the backlash was immediate.

People were bashing celebrities and influencers with higher numbers, calling them "murderers."

One post that caught Ramal's eye was from a popular rapper, whose number was a 3.

The comments were relentless—people speculating about his past, calling him out for every shady thing he'd ever done.

However, others defended him, saying it wasn't fair to judge without knowing their full situation.

"You can't just assume someone's a cold killer because of a number," one comment read. "People have histories you don't know about."

Then there were the more confused posts—people wondering why this was even happening.

"What the hell is going on with these numbers?" someone asked, their comment getting a lot of likes. "Are we supposed to be scared of people with numbers now? What does it all even mean?"

Ramal could feel the tension rising just from reading the posts.

It wasn't just his world that was getting flipped upside down—it was the whole world.

People were in chaos trying to figure out how to react to this new information.

His phone buzzed with notifications—group chats, people tagging him, and direct messages.

Everyone was talking about it, discussing theories, and pointing fingers.

Ramal sighed, locking his phone for a moment.

He wasn't ready for this.

Even though his number was 0, seeing the weight of what that number could mean for others was enough to make anyone uneasy.

It felt like a countdown, not just for him, but for everyone.

This was just the beginning.

With a deep breath, he tossed his phone on the bed beside him and closed his eyes for a second, trying to block out the noise.

But all he could think of was the chaos it was causing and what would happen next.

Ramal's phone buzzed again, it was a FaceTime call from The Hooligans group chat.

He stared at the screen for a second, taking a deep breath before answering.

Elijah's face popped up first, his expression serious, almost like he'd been waiting for Ramal to join.