The Impossible War

Prologue

This wasn't suppose to happen. There shouldn't have been war. We're too young to start a war. No one knew what to do except to fight and survive. It was either that or risk getting killed. It was multiple wars in one; nerds against athletes, sport against sport, school against school. High schoolers in war. This is not how it's suppose to be.

Friends turned on each other. The staff had left a couple of days after the wars had started. Each clan, as they called themselves, had their own emblem. Without a marking of identification, you were considered a threat. The nerd logo had a brain with school mascot behind it and was the colors of the the school. The athletes had something that represented their sport on it with their mascot and school colors.

The only times the students would fight as a school was when another school tried to invade to gain more territory. Every clan had a section that they'd defend from the other clans. Dancers, cheerleaders and athletes had their own section that was divided into three parts. The athletes had the larger section because it was divided into separate areas for each sport. They tended to stay near their fields or courts of play. Dancers took the auditorium while cheer kept close to football.

The nerds took to the classrooms. Mathletes overtook the math classrooms, bookworms went to the library, and scientist went for the labs. The Fine Arts people sheltered those who had no place but never left for home. No one remembers why or even how the war had started but people stayed wanting to see how it would all end.

Everyone had somewhere to go, even those who didn't belong anywhere, except those who belonged everywhere. Known as The Outsiders, they were the nerds and the athletes, some multisport athletes, dancers and cheerleaders. No one wanted them, not even the Artists, because they could "easily turn on anyone" and join another group. It was the same situation for those who transferred schools within the area, for this was a war only known in Forksford, Montana, USA. Five different schools were at war; Jaunty High, Forksford High, Montusko High, Panskin High, and Goldsburg High, and no one really knows why anymore.

The kids stopped caring after a while. All they cared about was survival and victory. Some counted how many have died from their clan, how many others they've killed and how many days since the war started. Teenagers were killing each other. What was the meaning behind all this, why didn't anyone bother to try to end anything? Why had the staff of the schools left and allow this to happen? These were the frequent questions of many. Many who never had an answer so they just kept fighting. Some who couldn't handle the war anymore and no hope of anyone to welcome them home committed suicide.

The Outsiders were usually the ones who gave the bodies of the fallen back to their clans. No one else had the guts to do it. Since the Outsiders were already looked down upon, harassed, abused and were considered as untrustworthy, they might as well do the work that no one else would. They took the insults and attacks because they didn't care anymore. Retaliation would get them nowhere. So they stuck to the outskirts of the school and made camp there. That's how life was now. Day after day, battle after battle. Nothing changed.