[In the last year, the number of attacks has increased drastically with a reported total toll of deaths of—]
"It keeps getting more and more dangerous to go outside…"
Large sceneries of destruction, barren streets filled with police tape and protests flashed on the TV screen as a woman worriedly stared.
[—However, with the rise of the counter-attack organization dubbed "Cain", the total damage has considerably been minimized.]
"Sheeelllyyy…Wake up already. We're gonna be late."
A woman called out, pouring a glass of orange juice and placing it near a plate of slightly overcooked eggs and bacon. She swiftly moved back to the cracked mirror stand fixing her hair before—
"…Right, right. I'm awake."
Shelly replied, getting up from the makeshift bed on the floor of the small apartment. He groaned, nearly stumbling back on the ground as he made his way to the bathroom. The apartment the two lived in was small, incredibly small. Everything was fitted in the same room with the bathroom being the only other "room", if you could even call it that.
"Made you some eggs, try to eat em quick if you're gonna shower!"
She buttoned up her shirt, glancing over the closed bathroom door. She seemed distressed, doing everything as quickly as she could. The grim TV news didn't make any of her situation better, the sounds of the heater working overtime revibrating in the room as Shelly began taking his shower.
[In…Less serious news, some districts within New Busan have been authorized to resume scholar activities. Teachers, Volunteers and students are currently preparing for a new semester.]
"…Yeah. I got this. Homeroom. I'm your new hello, my teacher's name— No. Fuck, what am I saying?"
Getting out of the bathroom, Shelly, now wearing his school uniform, would walk out. He briefly stared at the overwhelmed redhead as he sat down on the table, sipping on his orange juice before grabbing a fork and knife, digging into his breakfast.
"Skye, glad know you'll be my new hello."
A cheeky comment that left the redhead glaring at Shelly. Sighing before sitting down across from him on the tiny dinner table. Clearly, Shelly wasn't as stressed as she was, which made her think she was maybe overreacting.
"Ugh. You're just a student, what do you know about being…a teacher!"
Shelly grabbed a piece of bacon and took a bite of it.
"We've had to move 3 times in the past year due to attacks, just starting to think even going to school is pointless."
"It's—stressful. I know. But I'm sure with Cain around we'll be fine."
"You think they'll move their asses if we get attacked?"
Shelly pointed his piece of bacon towards Skye, raising an eyebrow.
"Mom would be—"
"Enough, Shelly. Finish your breakfast…I- I'll go get my jacket."
[This was NB News, now onto today's program!]
I — 7 days before judgement.
The dark cloudy skies slowly gaining a blue hue as morning dawned, the eerie silence of the usually bustling streets, the road blockades and police tapes restricting access to most parts of the district…As uncanny as it was, the inhabitants of New Busan weren't foreign to such sights. Shelly too, was used to this. As he stepped alongside Skye towards the train station, he wondered how much more time school would last— Not until his graduation, of course.
3 displacements in a single year, the highest it has ever been. He wondered how people still hoped, how people still had the will to keep pushing and keep society active. Shelly was inherently pessimistic, he, unlike most, had given up on the idea of a normal life without suffering from attacks.
The divine law, a set of rules set by only God knows who…Something you had to respect not to turn into a monster.
"Couldn't they just be crawling under a kid's bed instead of attacking whole districts…"
"…What?" Skye looked at him, genuinely confused.
He had just zoned out for the past 20 minutes and randomly spewed out something only a mental asylum patient would.
Arriving at the train station, Shelly and Skye would squeeze through strangers attempting to get to their designated stations. With all the rampant attacks and destructions, specific groups of people were assigned a train at a specific hour they could use. Students, teachers and other school workers were given that privilege, but only one train at an incredibly early hour.
Skye looked over to a group of students wearing the same uniform as Shelly, tapping his shoulder she'd gesture over to them.
"You should be with them, I'll look for the other teachers, stay safe, alright?"
"I'll see you in class."
"…Don't remind me of that."
Skye looked distraught, reminded once more of the daunting task that was being the new homeroom teacher. She turned and paced off, trying to find her colleagues. Shelly, chuckled.
Was being a minimum wage worker in a semi-apocalyptic world that stressful?
Nah.
Shelly walked over to a small group of students that appeared to be around his age, awkwardly standing near them they'd turn their heads over to him, until—
"Holy shit, Shelly?!"
A girl in uniform called out, her expression full of surprise. It looked like a weight had just been lifted out of her shoulders.
"It's actually him!" Another boy in uniform exclaimed, chuckling.
"Bastard, you weren't kidding last time." A taller boy—Wearing the same uniform smiled. The trio seemed reassured.
"Fuuucking shut up. It's like…way too early for this."
Shelly groaned, looking over to the three of them. Their school uniform was rather simple, white buttoned up t shirt black pants and black shoes. For the girls, the pants were replaced by a long skirt that reached their ankles. Each student wore a tag on their chest with their full name, student ID and status.
"What's with the attitude? We also woke up early."
[Yura Dings | #38108 | Class-1]
"We kinda thought you died, ya know? Worried sick!"
[Bolin Wang | #38106 | Class-1]
"Fuuuuck no you weren't!"
[Noel B. | #38109 | Class-1]
"If we get attacked again, I think I'll let myself get killed, this is getting real tiring."
[Shelly | #38107 | Class-1]
"They're talking about moving us to a different district already. It'll be a miracle if we stay in the same school for more than a week…"
"Fricking hope not…There's always that small chance they'll put us in different schools. I don't want that!"
"What are you, 8?"
Talking to one another, their train would arrive. Glancing around, Shelly looked for Skye only to find her boarding in another wagon of the same train. At least she got on. But, he felt uneasy. The four students alongside a myriad of different students would get in the train as it departed. The group would sit together as they began speaking to one another.
"Yura, shut your ears! …Boys talk."
"What the fuck? Hell no! I wanna hear It all."
"Fuck that. I'm not doing any boys talk."
"Ruaaah…You guys are boring, surely Shelly—"
"No."
"—He's just a bit shy. But, cmon…We've got a ton of new students."
"Oh my god I just realized where this is going."
"It's chill! We'll talk about dudes too!"
"…?"
"…We're gonna talk about dudes for Yura! I'm not gay!"
"—What? No. I don't care about your preferences, I'm looking at…that guy over there."
Bolin raised an eyebrow as he slowly turned his head around but was quickly stopped by Yura. Noel looked back at Bolin.
"Don't move your head yet, idiot."
"I don't get it, stopped him from looking to not draw attention to us but, what guy?"
Shelly glanced to the others and raised an eyebrow.
"Him, all the way over there, leaning on the doors."
Slowly, all four of them would (not so) discreetly look over, a man wearing a full black outfit with a long coat that totally stood out leaned against the doors of the train, not paying attention to the group of students.
"Uhhh He's from that err! …Organisation thingy."
"Cain."
"Ya that one."
"Know what they'd be doing here Noel?"
"Can't say for sure. But, if we think logically, probably for protection."
"Like any of them can protect us."
Shelly scoffed, looking back through the windows.
—When travelling by bus, train, car, or even plane, people tend to look through the windows. Either by boredom or just because they feel more comfortable staring at the outside rather than awkwardly having a stare off with a stranger. Depending on the method of transport, sometimes the outside view can be pretty, ugly, weird or even interesting.
For New Busan, It was more ugly than pretty. Not because it's a big city, but because destruction riddled the outside. Buildings actively on fire, destroyed buildings that looked straight out of an apocalyptic movie and active ambulances driving around at full speed so early in the morning.
Devils never rest, and they certainly won't let their victims do so either.
"Shelly are you…still worked over Hana's—"
"Stop. Don't even finish your sentence Yura. Don't."
Yura extended her hand to place it on his shoulder but retracted it. A look of worry on her face, before she simply leaned on her seat. An awkward silence filled the room. No one really knew what to say.
--------
The sounds of a sliding door could be heard throughout the room as a nervous looking woman entered the room. She'd walk awkwardly to the front, standing in front of a large crowd of students.
"Good morning class. I—I'm…Ms. Skye, I'll be your new home teacher. I truly hope we'll get to spend a good year together."
"We'll be lucky if we even get to the end of the week!"
A student exclaimed.
"Yeah, presentations are useless, Miss ski whatever you said."
Another student said, scrolling through their phones.
"Geez, did the class get infected by the Shelly virus?"
"Fuck you man."
"I'm just playing, relax."
Bolin chuckled, looking down as his third L of the day dawned upon him. It truly was a cruel world he lived in.
"N-Now. I understand that you may be frustrated—Perhaps even scared. But, as you may have heard, Sinners of the Cain organization will put extra effort into minimizing devil attacks!"
"Full on devil? Not even a sin?"
"Eh—Well…"
"Skye looks nervous. Is she okay?"
Yura asked, glancing over to Shelly.
"Just her usual anxiety. She's improved but the minute someone questions her she starts bugging like a search engine without Wi-Fi."
"Well? I'm waiting? Hellooo? Ms?"
The sounds of multiple students talking resonated within the class as Skye's breathing began accelerating. She couldn't respond to any of the students questions, their concern valid, but Skye perhaps wasn't as ready as she thought she was.
Shelly looked like he was about to get up until the doors were slammed open. A tall student with a buzz cut and a stern expression entered the room, he had a patch on his arm with an apple symbol on it.
"Will all of you shut the fuck up?"
The students all looked over to him shelly sighing as he looked through the window, leaning on his chair. Bolin immediately grabbed his phone to record, but was promptly stopped by Yura.
"You aren't forced to come here. Icarus has a ton of open jobs for useless motherfuckers like you."
[Noel B. | #38109 | Class-1]
"Hey—Who the fuck are you?"
"Don't—"
"Nah nah. You're talking a lil too loud for me."
The angered student stood up and looked at Noel, whom still had his stern expression on his face.
"Think because your student council that I—No, we give a shit?"
"It's just you, big man. Settle down and know your place."
The student chuckled and got closer to Noel, provoking him.
"Fuck. You."
"Ivan Agapov, student ID 32386. Sit the fuck down."
"What if I don't? Gonna expel me? Won't change shit. We'll get displaced anyways."
"If you don't comply, by article 38B I'll be authorized to use force—Lethal if needed to neutralize potential threats."
Ivan raised his fist and swung at Noel's chin, but his fist was caught as Noel kicked his calf, prompting the student to groan and stumble back. Noel immediately tightened his grip on Ivan and pulled him back, punching him in the solar plexus as the hit winded him out.
Ivan fell down to the ground, clutching his chest as Noel looked at the rest of the class. Some seemed shocked, others seemed to take pleasure in the little bit of action they had. Yura seemed to cheer on, mimicking his moves from her chair.
"I understand all of you may be scared, distressed. Whatever you may feel, we can't afford not to respect rules AND each other's. Who knows, maybe that same teacher you let your frustrations out on will be the one to save you when and IF a devil attack does happen."
"How are we supposed to trust her? Look at her, she looks like shes about to vomit just from our talking!"
"It…hurts…man." Ivan held his chest; both his pride and body were hurt today.
"Are you any better? Can a person not feel scared? Unfortunately, not a lot of competent people are alive or can work to help us build a safer future. Ms. Skye is just a competent but has a few issues. If you can't look past that and respect her, then good luck finding anyone else."
Noel extended a handout to Ivan, the blonde man grabbing it as he sighed.
"The second strike wasn't necessary dawg…"
"Don't act like I didn't warn you, big man."
Ivan groaned as he walked towards the exit of the class.
"Teach…Sorry for my outburst. I'll be careful from now on, yeah?"
"Of course I- I don't take any offense or anything. I…"
Skye looked over to Shelly, he looked back and nodded. She took a deep breath as she seemed to recollect her thoughts. And Ivan was dragged back to his seat by Noel.
"Where are you going?"
"…To the infirmary?"
"You'll be aight. You strong right?"
"Dropped that mature act real fast, huh Noel?"
He sat back down, hand on his chest as he breathed out. Noel looked over to the teacher, then back at the classroom. He appeared to be about to say something but was quickly cut by Skye herself.
"—I want what's best for all of you. I know, it seems scary to have a teacher like me on your side but…I'll do my best to keep all of you safe and be a good teacher. I just ask patience—No. Not even that. I just—Want trust. It'll take time to adapt, to feel comfortable with this new environment, but I'm trying my hardest. So, please place your trust in me, class…And—Let's show these devils how much we can still strive!"
She exclaimed until her very last breath, inhaling immediately after as she stared at the class, an embarrassed expression painted on her face as she walked to her desk awkwardly. She expected the worst, but the class instead clapped. Whether they were inspired, impressed or making fun of her didn't matter. Each student clapped like they had just listened to a standing ovation, of course exaggerating everything as a large group of dumb teenagers would.
Noel walked back to his seat and sat down.
"Am I the asshole. I, 17(M) threatened my teacher and almost got beat up…"
Bolin leaned over to Ivan and whispered, a sly smirk on his face.
"This isn't reddit, get the fuck away from me."
"Shit, with the sudden clapping you'd think it is!"
Bolin chuckled, leaning back in his chair as he went back to texting on his phone.
"—Okay class. Onto the introduction…It's mandatory, so bear with me if you've already heard this before!"
--------
"Waitwaitwaitwait…"
"What? Something wrong with my story?"
Sitting down as he poked the fire with a stick, Shelly looked over to a blonde woman with very prominent horns.
"Nonono, Just, what's reddit?"
"You literally don't have a phone, why do you wanna know?"
"…Because???"
"I don't care???"
…Silence grew louder as he put his hands closer to the fire.
"We've still got 9 hours to kill. Just, continue your story, 'kay?"
"Alright then…"
7 days before judgement. | :ABEL