Previously,
"This..."
Presently
Violet let out a dramatic gasp as she saw the contents on Alcryst's phone. Aqua and I just gaped at the phone, the words looked alien. "It reads, Warning! The Apocalypse of skulls has occurred. Please stay in the safety of shelter. In all capital letters..." I stared at the all-red words while reading them out loud. Realization hit me like a thousand-pound sledgehammer. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE?" Violet gasped dramatically again. "No you doofus, we're stuck in a Apocalypse." Alcryst pointed out shaking his head. "So we are going to die," Violet replied, slightly annoyed. "Yeah Vi, we are stuck in a Apocalypse where death is prominent." I rolled my eyes. "Guys now's not the time to be quarrelling amongst ourselves. Let's find a place to hide first." Aqua interrupted. We all nodded our heads, agreeing to what Aqua just said. "So what do we do now?" I asked getting serious. "Good question... We wait I guess." Aqua replied quietly."Seriously? Are you kidding me? This is your 'Grand Plan'?" Violet shoved Aqua making him stumble and fall. "Aqua!" I cried out reaching out my hand to try to catch him only to miss and he crashed onto the floor."Violet! What the fuck? He's on our side!" Alcryst scolded. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry for Violet's behavior." I apologized frantically while helping him up. "I'm not." I heard Violet pout like a child. I chose to ignore her little comment. "Don't worry. I'll be fine, I think." Aqua tried reassuring me. "But your arm is bleeding." I pointed out. Aqua looked at his now grazed hand, blood droplets forming at his fingertips. "Let me help you clean that up." I offered. He nodded gratefully at my offer. "Thanks..." Aqua muttered once we were far from Violet." No problem! Count this as a thanks for saving me. Twice." I grinned. He chuckled softly at my lame joke, I smiled a little too."Isn't it terrifying to just live a normal life and suddenly get stuck in an apocalypse?" I asked. Aqua looked at me weirdly. "Define terrifying." He replied steadily still holding a tissue I passed him to his wound as we walked to the medical room. "Crazy, chaotic, and scary." I looked away, I wondered whether everyone was okay. Sensing my discomfort, Aqua awkwardly patted my back comforting me." If that's how you define terrifying, I agree with all my heart." He said, voice trailing off a little. The rest of our walk to the medical room was silent. When we were there, I swiftly cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. Aqua looked at his arm before looking at me, gratefully smiling. "Let's head back," I said gesturing to the hallway. He nodded before we both made our way back to where Violet and Alcryst were.
10.30p.m.
Upon reaching where Violet and Alcryst were, they had panicked facial expressions. They were very scared and worried about something. "Thank God you two are back. Do you know how much you missed for 30 minutes?" Alcryst lectured.
Aqua POV
Wait... We were away for 30 minutes? Whoops. I stared at Yuki before the duo before us sheepishly.
"So. They are going to release flame bombs in our area." Violet broke the silence with terrible news ."WHAT?!" Both Yuki and Aqua exclaimed shocked and confused at once. "12 midnight, today." Alcryst said solemnly. "Where do we hide." Yuki instantly asked composing herself. Everyone quietly thought. "First, why are they setting off flame bombs. More importantly, who is 'they'?" Aqua asked. " They are setting off flame bombs cause apparently while we were busy, they did a check and didn't see us. They set up protective barriers and blocked the exit for the skulls to kill them off completely... At least in this area. 'They' refers to the government." Alcryst replied, still thinking about a escape plan.
"I've got it! The bomb shelter!" Yuki announced smacking her hand to her forehead. "Oh! Your right!" Violet added eyes lighting up brightly. "The what now?" Both boys struck the girls dumbfounded facial expressions. "The training facility?" Violet hinted. "THAT'S A BOMB SHELTER?!!!" Alcryst asked, full of shock. The girls nodded, slightly giggling that the boys didn't know about the training facility.
"We don't have much time left. Let's gather supplies for estimated 3 days since it's a flame bomb and not an atomic one." Alcryst broke the giggling making everyone focused on the main mission. To survive.
"Yuki and Aqua, go find food supplies. Violet and I will find daily necessities. We'll meet back here at 11.15 p.m. we have 40 minutes left. Let's go!" Alcryst planned in the blink of an eye. We nodded before heading to find materials.
Aqua and Yuki situation
"Let's head to the cafeteria. There should be food and water there." Yuki said making a turn to the cafeteria, Aqua close behind nodded. "Dammit! The kitchen door is locked." Yuki grumbled. "Allow me." Aqua offered, taking out paperclips and swiftly picking the lock. "Do you always just have those on you?" Yuki asked feeling impressed after Aqua opened the door. "You never know when you'll need them." Aqua shrugged with a grin. The duo slowly opened the door, weapons in hand. Aqua was holding his loaded revolver while Yuki held her dagger defensively before opening the door that creaked loudly .
Alcryst and Violet situation
"Let's head to our dorms first. Get clothing." Violet suggested. "Good idea." Alcryst praised. The duo headed to their respective dorm rooms which was right across each other. After a while, the had foraged almost all their clothes into a sack before meeting each other outside again. "Where to now?" Violet asked. "What about the medical room for sleeping bags, medicine, plasters and flashlights?" This time it was Alcryst's suggestion.
The duo did a quick time check before moving to the medical room."Tch... Locked door." Alcryst told Violet, defeated. "Stand back." Violet sighed. Alcryst obliged, knowing Violet, she was going to smash the door.
Aqua and Yuki situation
"There's absolutely no one." Aqua whispered lowering his gun slightly but not putting it away completely. Yuki imitated him, still weary of her surroundings. Yuki flipped the switch of the lights."Shit. No electricity." Yuki told Aqua, switching on her phone's light. Aqua gave a nod as a thanks. The duo continues onwards looking around for the food cabinet. "There it is!" Yuki smirked pointing to the cabinet labeled 'Dried and Canned Food' "Not bad." Aqua complimented.
They quickly opened the cabinet that was old and paint was peeling off to (gratefully) see a big hoard of food supplies that could last them a whole week at least. They packed the food into their rucksacks. "Now for water..." Yuki started. "I can help with that." Aqua said putting his supply of food into the ground. He closed his eyes and stood still while power surged through his veins, he was emmiting a faint dark blue glow when suddenly, a thin trail of water flowed continuously from one direction. Aqua opened his eyes and followed the trail while gesturing for Yuki to do so as well. "SO COOL!" Yuki thought before following Aqua.
Violet and Alcryst situation
"Hyah!" Violet's shrill voice rung through the empty hallways as she whipped out the axe that was always attached to a strap on her back and smashed through the thick glass door, but to no avail, only leaving a small crack. " Vi... We can use the combo attack that coach is always telling us.' Alcryst pointed out. "Right." Violet smiled. Violet kept her axe before she took out her flame- proofed gauntlet. A wave of red flames erupted, engulfing the gauntlet. Violet let out a strong and quick punch, making the entire glass door explode in orange flames. Violet swiftly turned around, dodging the arrow shot by Alcryst. The arrow was glowing light blue, infused with Alcryst's frost powers. Violet and Alcryst dodged aside before the door cracked, shards shattering around the floor leaving a entrance for the duo.
*Note: The sudden change of temperature causes internal stress to be exerted on the glass, leading to the door cracking.
The pair gave a quick high five and entered the room. "Time check... It's 10.50p.m. we still have time." Alcryst announced, checking his watch.
Aqua and Yuki situation
"There's a cabinet full of water bottles!" Yuki gasped, flashing her phone's light in front of her. Aqua smiled as they both started filling their sacks with supplies once again. Feeling contented, the pair decided to start heading to the classroom where they previously were as it was already 11.00p.m. and it was quite far away.
Violet and Alcryst situation
The pair saw a dark room upon entering the medical room. Violet formed a ball of flames as it instantly lit up the room. The two looked around and gathered all they needed before noticing the time. "11.05p.m. We have to hurry." Alcryst declared. Therefore, the two dashed toward the classroom.
"Whew... Just in time." Violet and Alcryst were both huffing as they were tired from the long run. "Good. Let's go." Yuki said as they had reached before the other party had. The group started to make their way to the bomb shelter, lugging the heavy bags they had.
At the Training Facility AKA The Bomb Shelter.
" What's the password?" Alcryst asked. "0907. The password corresponds to the date." Yuki told. The heavy door let out a beep sound before opening. The group entered and shut the door behind them, locking it tightly.
"What do we do now?" Violet asked. "We wait." Alcryst replied, something was troubling him and they all knew what it was.
Yuki dragged Aqua and Violet to a corner far from Alcryst." Do you guys have Alcryst's birthday gift on you?" Yuki asked, voice lowering to a whisper. The other two nodded before Yuki let out a small sigh." It's a pity we can't celebrate Alcryst's 16 birthday properly." She admitted. The other two nodded in full agreement.
" Guys! What are you talking about? It's 11.59 p.m. already!" Alcryst shouted from across the room. The trio headed to where Alcryst was before they looked at his phone's timer."10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!" The four counted down full of anxiety."Happy Birthday Al! You're officially 16!" The trio announced not caring about the noises from exploding bombs as the shelter muted most of the noise while taking Alcryst completely by surprise. "You guys... You remembered!" He said tearing up a little. " You idiot! How can we forget our best friend's birthday?" Violet comforted hugging Alcryst in a bone breaking hug before shortly getting joined by Yuki and surprisingly, even the always serious Aqua. The three passed Alcryst their gifts. While he opened them gratefully. From Aqua, he got a book about mastering bowmanship. From Violet, he got a new, sleek and cool looking bow.
And finally, from Yuki, he got a small pendant which could be opened up, inside contained a photograph that was taken during the previous summer festival during the fireworks display. It was one of the best memories that Violet, Yuki and Alcryst had ever shared. "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart." Alcryst thanked tearing up even more. There was a lingering warmth that filled Alcryst's whole body, making him smile despite the chaos around him. It was like there was never an apocalypse or a rain of bombs at all. " Hey! The government gave Al a gift too! Bombs." Violet joked making everyone burst out laughing. The room was filled with smiles and laughter until 1.00 a.m. when everyone was tired and decided to sleep at last. The 3 days in the Bomb Shelter flew by very fast and soon, the group left and started heading out after packing leftovers.
"Whew... Fresh air at last." Violet sighed filled with relief. "Bigger problem... Where do we go from here?" Alcryst asked, cutting the short lived happiness. Everyone looked at each other, they had never thought about that before. "Even bigger problem, this place is in ruins and there might be a chance of some skulls left." Violet argued a valid statement. "Biggest problem yet... That boy there, he... he looks younger than us and he's surrounded by skulls!" Yuki pointed to the direction of the boy. Everyone turned to the place where Yuki's finger was pointed to. "We have to save him!" Alcryst said, breaking out into a sprint before the other trio followed. Skillfully, Alcryst shot arrows at the legs of the skulls while Aqua used his other weapon, a spear infused with the pressure of water, smashing into opponents with a big impact, similarly to Violet, her axe infused with fire burnt opponents before smashing them. Yuki however, didn't have a weapon infused with a element... Hopefully not yet. Yuki was using her double daggers, talentedly slashing the remaining skulls. When they were finished, they approached the boy." What's your name? And are you okay?" Violet asked, concerned. "Y... Yeah I'm okay. Thank you... Oh right! My name is..."
It's me again! You have come to the end of this episode. I really hope you have enjoyed this part. I have put a lot of effort into this despite not having a lot of time. But, who is the Mysterious boy? Who is he? Although the group has survived the bomb attack, they may suffer from even worse ordeals. Continue reading to find out what happens next to the group! Will the mystery boy be a new addition to the original group?
To be continued...