+-+ Day One of Preparation +-+
I woke up to see the bed above me moving. I sit up, yawn, stretch, the normal stuff to do when you wake up. I take a look around and see 30 bunk beds lined up against one wall, and another 30 on the other side. Not all of the beds are occupied because we don't have 120 males to use them all. The boys and girls were separated after the Choosing ceremony and we all said goodbye to our parents.
I saw legs swing down from the top bunk and a boy jumping down from up top.
"Why didn't you use the ladder?" I ask Jett.
"Not much fun." He says.
"Okay then." I say as I lay back down onto the bed.
"We have to get up and get dressed. We are going to the school to learn about the ground." He says, and he sounds kind of excited about it.
"Why do you sound excited about learning what could possibly kill us on the ground?" I groan while sitting back up again.
"Because. It just seems interesting to me." He shrugs.
I get up out of the bed and turn to see two lockers on the wall. One has my name on it, and the other has Jett's name. I open the locker with my name on it and find some of my clothes in there.
"I wonder when they put these in here." I think out loud.
"Maybe they got the parents to bring in the clothing when we were having dinner?" Jett replied.
I shrug my shoulders and started to get changed. I pull on a white shirt, black skinny jeans and a dark blue hoodie. I wait for Jett to finish getting changed and we walk out of the 'dorm' and head towards to dining hall. Once we enter the hall, I see Amelia and Jessica sitting on one side of the table with another girl and two boys on the other. I recognize one of the boys. His name is Uriah Knowles. Jessica looks up from talking with the others and waves us over.
"This is Uriah," Uriah smiles, "Asher" the guy called Asher gives us a small wave, "and Zoe." who I'm guessing is the girl who stands up and hugs both me and Jett. "They want to make new friends who could help them survive on the ground."
"I'm Bastien and this is Jett." I say going to sit down next to Zoe and Jett sits next to Amelia on the other side.
"I was talking to them about what they wanted to do once they were on the ground." Jessica says to me.
"We want to join a Clan, but we aren't too sure which one. I know that I do not want to try to go for the Snake Clan. No freaking way am I going anywhere near that group. But we can't decide what Clan to join. Lion or Wolf?" Zoe says turning to me.
"Well Jessica, Amelia, Jett and I aren't going to join a clan yet. Once we are down there, we are getting our supplies and leaving." I say. I can see that Zoe, Uriah and Asher all have a look of confusion on their faces.
"Wouldn't you normally join a Clan first and then go off on your own? Just so that you have time to adjust to living down on the ground?" says Uriah.
"Yeah, normally, but we want to start off on our own. We don't want to get caught up in any of their wars. Once the fighting between the Clans has died down then we might join a Clan if we feel like we are up to it." I can see that Zoe is starting to realize that with the wars going on on the ground, that it would be safer to stay away from them.
"Actually, that might be a good idea guys." Zoe says to Uriah and Asher. Uriah gives them both a look and they huddle into a small group. They obviously don't want us to hear what they are talking about. Even though they are obviously talking about whether they should join a Clan or no. After a few minutes of talking between themselves they all look at us.
"Do you guys mind if we stick with you when we get sent down? Just for a bit then we can leave you be." Zoe asks us.
"Of course! You guys can be with us for as you want. It would be nice to be stuck with people other than these three." Jess says and she nods her head in our direction.
"Hey! We aren't that bad." Amelia pouts.
"Yeah you are." I say winking at Jess.
"Thanks guys. This actually means a lot." Zoe says just before we hear the three bells.
~+~
Could all of the Chosen and the volunteers please make their way to the school to have your first out of two classes of knowledge on the ground. Thank you.
~+~
We quickly finished our breakfast and started making our way to the school. We didn't make contact with anyone who wasn't Chosen or a volunteer. They must have been keeping them away from us.
When we enter the classroom, and it is massive. I guess that it has to be big because it has to hold over 200 people. We go to try to find seven seats together and we find some near the front. We are waiting and talking quietly between ourselves when we hear the sound of someone tapping on a microphone. We all stop talking and look up at the middle aged man who's standing behind the microphone.
"Hello. Is this working? Can you hear me at the back?" Says the man who's on stage and we can hear a few faint yeah's, yup's and yes'.
"Okay good. Well my name is Mr White. I have taught the Chosen and the volunteers how to survive on the ground once before so please bear with me if I get something wrong. You do not need to take this class but it is recommended. If you wish to leave now, you may." We hear a bit of shuffling and I turn around and try to see who's leaving. I can see that most of the volunteers are leaving. They must have already been on the ground. But everyone else stays. When the last person leaves and the door closes, he starts speaking again.
"Let's start now shall we. As you can all see on the desks in front of you, there is a small book. In this small book is all of the berries and roots that you will be able to eat. When you are sent down, you will be equipped with a backpack that will have enough food for you for two days. Along with other supplies like a sleeping bag, a water bottle, ammunition, flint and steel and rope. If you want to add anything to your bag, come and speak to me after this and we can see if it is suitable to put in your bag.
"The books are yours. You may do what you want with them. You can write notes, you can throw them out, I don't care. You are able to take these books with you. They are small enough to fit in your pocket and you can put it in your bag once you have it. Please take them and read through it tonight or sometime before you go to the ground. Trust me. It will help.
"When you are on the ground, you need to be extremely careful. Every animal on the ground is now out for human blood. If a species survived the radiation, then it has been mutated to hunt humans. You will be given weapons when you land on the ground but with guns, you can run out of ammo fast. So we will put more ammo in your bag for whatever gun you choose. I would suggest that you keep a knife or a sword or something in your hand at all times and I would also suggest that you do not go alone at anytime because you have no idea when someone or something can attack you.
"Now let's start talking about the animals. From what's know, panthers, rhinoceros', wolves, lions, rabbits, bees, birds, cockroaches, monkeys and even some people have been affected by the radiation and have been mutated to kill humans. You need to be careful of these animals, the rest of the animals that were on Earth when the nuclear war was finished are all extinct. The most dangerous are the panthers and the rhinoceros'. There are around eight hundred thousand spread around the world most of them are in what used to be the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. We don't know how they all got there but since we went onto the Ark, the radiation has made them stronger and faster. If you do encounter any of the animals, do not move. They all seem to like to chase their prey so if you start running they will run after you. If they start walking towards you, back away slowly, if they start running at you, you may as well run. If you happen to have a gun on you, aim for in between the eyes. It will drop any animal.
"This year we have decided to teach you about the Clans. You may know about the Clans but it's still mandatory for me to teach you. So the largest Clan is the Lion Clan. The Lion Clan is a Clan where anyone can join, but you have to take care of yourself and when it comes to fighting with another Clan, you always back your Clan members. The Wolf Clan is the most powerful Clan. It may not be the biggest but the Wolf Clan only accepts the fastest and strongest. That's why it's the most powerful. The Snake Clan is the second most powerful, but the only reason why it's more powerful than the Lion Clan is because they like to play dirty. They are a cruel Clan and I'm sure there are quite a few people who want to get into this Clan. So this concludes our first lesson about knowledge of the ground. Again if you want to see me about getting something maybe from home that you want in your bags, come now. Everyone else, you are free to go for the rest of the day." Mr White concludes.
The room is filled with chatter and a group of people go to the front while the rest of us leave. I look at my watch and it shows that it is 12:38 pm. Time for lunch I guess.
"Do you guys want to go to lunch?" I ask the others.
There are a chorus of yes' and yup's, so we all went to the dining hall to eat. We get our lunch and sit down at the same table as we sat at for breakfast.
"So guys. Who wants to study the book of berries and roots that we got?" Jett asks us. There were a few mumbles from everyone saying excuses as to why they cant study.
"I'll study with you." My sister says with a smile.
"Cool. D-do you want to go to the library?" Jett asks Amelia and she nods, so they both pick up their trays and walk out of the Dining Hall.
"I wonder if those two have a connection?" Zoe says once they were out of earshot.
"I think they do." Jess says with an excited smile. I can see the glint in her eyes and I know she is already planning on how to get them together.
"Guys, once we are on the ground, there may not be time for relationships." I say
"Pfft. Bastien, there is always time for a relationship." Jess says while giving a side look at Zoe and she is nodding her head in response. I hear the other two boys scoffing.
"What?" Jess says in a stern voice.
"Nothing..." Uriah says as he looks down and starts playing with his food.
"That's what I thought." I hear Jess mutter under her breath.
I was just about to speak when we hear the three bells ringing.
~+~
Attention all Chosen and volunteers. You will not have an afternoon class today so you are free to wander, but there are guards at every way back to your friends and families. Thank you.
~+~
"Why don't we all go for a walk around?" I suggest.
"Sure, let's go." Jess says.
"Um. Asher and I might go and study the booklet." Uriah says and Asher nods in response.
"Can I come and study with you guys?" Zoe asks them and Uriah says yes.
"Actually, that's probably the best thing to do right now, sorry Bastien." Jess says with a sorry look on her face.
"Yeah. Okay, let's go." I say
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
A/N: Heyo... Hope you like this chapter. It took me a long time to write this seeing as I don't actually have much spare time. I really want to write this book but it's quite hard to find the motivation to actually write it, even though this is probably the longest time I have ever spent on writing a book and stayed with it. Anyways, thanks for reading! :)
-FlatMatesForLife