Retribution's Reconstruction

Chapter 1: The End

 

Life. What an astounding word. It dances in front of us all, playing cruel and evil games.  Well, the most cruel jokes were played on the world, changing life as we know it. It was a normal December day in the small town of Omaha, or at least it was to me.  At 7:00 A.M. I woke up and looked at my room.  It was, of course, an awful mess for discarded paper plates, clothes, blankets, and books lay strewn about on the floor.  I paid no mind to it, no matter how many times my mother told me to clean the pig sty up. I left my room then to continue my morning duties before heading off to school. My bum of a best friend had missed the bus yet again, and so she had called and asked for a ride to school along with me, thus we travelled to school together in awkward silence until we finally arrived.  Omaha High School tried its best to look pretty, but despite the best of efforts it was a prison of concrete and metal. Chemistry was in full-swing when I finally walked into my classroom, and of course I was singled out as everyone stared at me while I walked to my desk.  After sitting down I pulled a notebook and pen from my ever present shoulder bag.  Mr. Allen continued to drone on incessantly about covalently bonded atoms.

Halfway through class, the intercom urgently sounded.  The woman on the intercom told the high school students to evacuate into the hallway and stay there until further notice.  I, of course, stood with my best friends; Leticia, Blake, Lexi, Gabi, Jo, Autumn, Britne, and Taylor.  We all were curious as to what was going on.  Then emergency sirens began to blare in the distance.  Teachers and other staff members tried to direct the students, but they began to riot. The sirens were panicking everyone too much to be able to control them. Yet even in the middle of the chaotic mass of students, I managed to spot that the gymnasium doors were open.

“Come on, guys this way!”  I yelled at my friends.  All my friends followed, too frantic to object. All of us exited the hallway and crammed into the storage space under the bleachers. “Shut the door!” I yelled, and as soon as Blake closed it, an explosive boom shook the earth.  The shock threw us all back into the concrete wall and we blacked out.

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I was the first to awaken from the shock induced slumber.  Sitting up I looked into the dim light and saw my friends lying unconscious.  Leticia was the closest to me, looking fragile and small as she lay there.  I pushed my shoulder bag aside and proceeded to shake her.

“Leticia...Leticia...please wake up,”  I said as I shook her.  Soon she stirred in her artificial slumber, so I began to shake her even more violently.  Leticia finally rolled over to face me, her big, brown eyes shining in the dim light.

“C-corey.....wha-,” she started as she rubbed her eyes, “what happened?”  I shrugged and shook my head, giving a clear sign of ignorance.  Leticia sat up, pushing her blonde hair out of her face, and adjusted her blue hoodie.

I then woke Autumn from her sleep.  She didn’t even speak, just sat up and yawned, then beginning to awaken the others.  Soon enough, all of us were up, and most importantly alive and uninjured. At first we were all frantic with curiosity and fear, constantly speaking over each other and asking questions.

“Hey, shut the hell up!”

We all turned and looked at Blake.  He stood angrily tall in front of the door we had used to enter the storage room.  He looked as masculine as possible with broad shoulders and tall height, though his face killed the look, being sort of round, as did his bowl haircut.  “Guys, something big happened and we need to devise a plan.”

“Yeah,”  Lexi and Jo both said unanimously. A moment of silence befell us, then Gabi spoke.  She stood tall and proud as she proposed her idea.