The sky was blue and fresh, the chatter and small talk being murmers in the background as the gaurds of the gate would greet the students walking inside.
Miltard Academy, a prestigious institution with a high school acceptance rate of 30% globally. The best you can get in this world. The year? 2500. There wasn't anything to say, at least, that's what Scarlet thought as she herself also stepped through the gate.
She wasn't exactly smart, however she still managed to pass the enterance exam last year... So why not take the shot at trying to graduate here?
"Scarlet! Good morning, Ms. Doom and Gloom." A voice rang out from behind her, one she knew all too well. It was gentle sure, but she knew all too well that wasn't the intention.
"Good morning, Sir Perfect." Scarlet turned on her heel, shifting her weight to one leg as she stared at the person who decided to call out to her. To her "surprise", she came face to Martin Miltard Jr., son of the principal of the good and gracious Eden they called the Miltard academy.
He was annoyingly stunning. Pure white hair- ablinism, and along with those disturbingly blood red eyes. It was if he was an alternative vampire. Perfect grades, a perfect example to those who would want to achive the highest quality of success.
"It would be nice if he burned," Scarlet murmured underneath her breath, "stupid bastard is full of himself..." She took a step closer, meeting his gaze as confident as she could manage.
"If you're just going to annoy me, then you should be ready for it to get serious." Scarlet threatened, lifting her hand and extending her pointer finger to harshly jab his chest.
"Now that's just rude, Scarlet. You pain me so." He laughed, swatting Scarlet's hand away like it meant nothing at all. "Seriously, you're cute when you're angry. Like a little dog... and I'd love to see you bark." Martin spat out, still keeping that smug smirk on his face.
"You aren't man enough to do so. Even if you did, I would surely bite." Scarlet replied in a hushed whisper, stepping back once she caught sight of the stares coming from all around.
"What was I thinking letting him get the better of me out in the open...?" Scarlet internally cursed her lack of spatial awareness.
"Prick." Scarlet spat, flipping him off before she turned away towards the direction of the academy.
"Like usual. Rotten bastard thinks he can just toy with me...!" Scarlet's inner thoughts raged as she swung open one of the doors, stepping into the pristine school and exhaling the breath she was holding in.
"No matter what. I'll make him sorry for thinking I'll lay down and take it." Scarlet smirked to herself, turning the corridor and walking off to her class for today.
Down the hallways, they were cold and yet they were also distantly familiar. She recalls how she struggled navigating on the first day of freshman year, and then it was where she came face to face Martin...
"Story for another time." Scarlet quickly shook her head, now standing infront of the door to her first period class. She placed her hand on the knob, twisting it and pushing it open. It was there she was met with familiar faces of those worn by her fellow peers.
"Scarlet! How are you this morning?" A cheerful voice rang through the air of the classroom, and a boy was rapidly approaching Scarlet.
"Oh... Good morning, Marcus." Scarlet spoke with a small amount of formality.
Marcus Hilton, a boy of Mexcian descent. From what Scarlet can understand, he was flown in after achieving his scholarship. The guys blue eyes are like the most beautiful sapphire stones. She understood how he was popular among their grade, thanks to his charisma.
Scarlet began walking over, patting his shoulder with her hand before walking over to sit down.
"You seem agitated." A female pointed out, glancing over away from the open window towards Scarlet as she twirled a strand of her blonde hair inbetween two of her slender fingers.
Gertrude Stunner, a student in the same situation as Marcus. Flown in from Germany or Dutchland. Scarlet didn't really pry for details.
Although, despite her being blonde, she's far from dumb. Infact, she's been scoring high above the average the last time Scarlet checked.
"Of course. You'd be agitated as well if mister perfect started picking fights." Scarlet sighed, strutting over to her seat and plopping down on the smooth wooden surface.
"Ah... Him? Don't worry too much about Martin. He's stuck up- I bet it's because he's always had a silver spoon up his ass." A rough voice spoke- and as Scarlet looked to the side she saw Yukimura, legs kicked up on the desk in irritation at the mere mention of Martin's name.
Yukimura Takasuki, same as Gertrude and Marcus- forgein. However, he's lived in Hannes Delta since birth.
"Well, good morning to you too..." Scarlet murmured, leaning back in her chair as the soft dings of the morning bell began drumming through the school.
"Alright class- settle down. We will now began our Geometry lecture for today." The pristine voice of our teacher echoed through the now empty room. "All set? Good." He mused, the room beginning to fade into a deep silence as he began roll call.
— — — 💥
In the middle of the day, around 12 PM, Scarlet and Gertrude were currently eating lunch among those in the cafeteria.
"So, Marcus dipped for a chance to get a spot in the swimming team?" Scarlet questioned, lifting her brow as she poked at the mandarin oranges on her plate. "Good for him." She mused, impressed with his.
"Whatever makes him happy, I suppose..." Gertrude spoke, taking a bite of her spaghetti.
"I still don't understand why you thought I was the best person to befriend." Scarlet spoke, the corner of her lips turning into a small frown as she tried to understand the other female.
"I suppose. Think of it as an act of kindness." Gertrude replied, taking the last bites of her spaghetti as she lifted herself from her seat. "I'm off to the gardening club, alright? Don't be long." Gertrude turned away, walking off in the tray dumping location.
"Yeah, yeah..." Scarlet murmured, watching as Gertrude left the cafeteria. As she continued to poke at her food.
It wasn't long until Scarlet had left the cafeteria as well, walking through the darkened hallway as the sunlight through the large windows barely beamed through.
As if time had frozen, in that moment.
As Scarlet was a meer foot from the end of the dark hallway, the windows had exploded open, the glass flying everywhere.
*Wham!*
The force of the blow flung Scarlet against the wall, the blow causing blood to splurge out of her mouth. She heaved, breathing heavily.
"What... the fuck...?" She gasped, glancing upwards.
Her worst mistake.
"Burning...?" Scarlet thought, the pain not registering until she saw the blood pooling on the floor. When she reached up to touch her face, she glanced down at the floor. The glass showed her all. Including the left side of her face burning up in an unforgiving flame.
"AHKG!" Scarlet cried out in pain, the smell of blood and burning flesh flooding her sense of smell. From there, the piercing cries of her screams began to echo in the dark hallway.
Scarlet knew it, once it finally registered in her senses. It was agony- pure and unrivaled. She felt as if her face was melting... skin falling off like it was made of goop and onto the once clean tiled floor.
It was accurate at the very least, her left eye feeling as if it was going to explode in her skull from the sheer heat. Almost like she was halfway dipped in a volcano as it was beginning erruption.
As if through some miracle, she was able to stand- even by a tiny bit. She limped over to the now broken window, the life fading from her eyes as she looked out towards the horizon.
"There's no way." She whispered, seeing the barren wasteland that once was the feild of the academy.
The grass withered away, and the trees were either uprooted or decaying. It looked like a wasteland, and she was now living in it.
Without wasting any time, Scarlet limped out of the hallway, leaning against the wall for support. It was dark- the lights most likely exploded.
It wasn't long until she reached the main hallways, and she was horrified- seeing the amount of deaths against the wall or those lifelessly slumped against the windows. It was bloody- and it stunk up the area.
Scarlet limped through- her vision flickering every now and then from the pain of having glass in her leg. She couldn't help but feel sorry for those she trampled over a just to reach the end of the corridor.
"I wonder if those three are okay." Scarlet whispered, the realization setting deep within her as she began to pick up the pace.
"Yukimura's the closest... I'll check on him first." She halted in front of a classroom, weakly opening the door.
"Yukimura...?" She spoke quietly, then yelped when she was quickly tackled by the male she was looking for.
"What happened to you...?" Scarlet asked, gasping as she saw his appearance, which seemed normal, until she saw his hands. His nails had changed. They were talon like. That's what Scarlet could say for certainty.
"Can't explain, but I could ask the same for you." He spoke quickly, picking up Scarlet over his shoulder and beginning to run.
"Why are you running...?" She asked, unable to cover her eye as her face was still burning up in flame.
It wasn't until Scarlet turned around that she had understood. They were being chased by their deceased fellow classmates, and Scarlet recognized some of them as ones she trampled over in the hallway.
"Is it the end of the world or something...?" Scarlet thought, her vision beginning to flicker once again.
"Don't fall asleep." Yukimura smacked her back, knowing the possibility of death was probably hot on Scarlet's tail.
"You're still burning, and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's from whatever caused the windows to explode so violently. I wouldn't be surprised if you're gonna die even if we escape from here." Yukimura breathed out, jumping over a few corpses until we reached the school's front doors.
"You wouldn't be wrong. The pain is numbed, but I can still feel the heat. Plus... my blood is getting all over your back." Scarlet managed to say, flinching slightly when she was shifted to be held in his arms.
"That's disgusting, y'know. Should have told me that earlier rather than letting it drip all over me." He spoke in a slightly grossed out voice, running passed the dead bodies outside.
"I like to think we're definitely gonna die at some point anyways. Your uniform is the least of your concerns." Scarlet whispered scarcastically, turning her head and seeing a bunch of other students gathered outside.
"Wait. Let me cover this up." Yukimura spoke, backing up and ripping off his sleeve- using it to cover up her burn. "Thankfully the fire went out while I was running." He pressed a bit of pressure on the area.
After Yukimura tended to Scarlet, they began walking out of the gate. Terrified expressions, crying, screaming. It was all there. Fear and hopelesmess was prevalent as the two approached the group of survivors.
"Scarlet!" Two voices called out to her, and she saw Gertrude and Marcus.
Marcus looked different- one of his eyes having a black sclera with the pupil being a lighter blue. Along with a scar, and Scarlet knew it wasn't from a burn like hers.
"Gertrude... you look... greener." Scarlet murmured, seeing the plants growing out of her blonde hair- and from her arms and legs.
"Yeah. It's... nice, if you look at it from a different perspective." Gertrude breathed out, reaching over and gently touching the soaked bloody fabric covering her eye. "Are you okay...? You're covering your eye and there's glass all up in your legs!" Gertrude asked, staring into her eye.
"It's a long story." Yukimura interjected, glancing over his shoulder to see the horde trying to push themselves through the doors.
"We should run. All of us." He spoke firmly, beginning to sprint. Gertrude and Marcus got the hint- dashing off and following suit.
It wasn't long until the rest of the terrified students followed along as well, fumbling and nearly trampling over themselves or others.
From there, Scarlet blacked out- the only things being heard before exhaustion consumed her was the sounds of feet hitting the now rough ground. Along with screams of those who couldn't keep up.
—
"Those who are exposed to death will soon normalize the sensation of losing a loved one."