《The City Of Paleton》 Prologue Paleton High Elizabeth Sorrel did not consider herself a bad person. Certainly not a good person, she felt, simply not bad. Then again, who in the world truly considered themselves bad? Even Hitler thought he was saving his country. Though, any statement that relied on a comparison to Hitler was admittedly not a strong one. Elizabeth sighed, turning her head so she could face Malcom. He sat on some student¡¯s desk, not bothering with a chair, as there was nobody else in the classroom. As always, his black olive skin was notably smooth and moisturized. His hair was closely cropped and styled so that no stray springy strand would pop out. Elegantly curved glasses, which no doubt cost a fortune, were currently tinted as the rays of the sun beat down on them. He had the trappings of quite the handsome man, she mused, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was a good 80-100 pounds overweight. Even then, if he put in the effort he could be quite the charmer, as he was naturally a likable person. Unlike Her. It was why he was always the go between for her little business ¡°Elizabeth, are you listening to me? ¡°Malcom spoke, exasperated. ¡°Of course I¡¯m listening, when am I ever not listening,¡° she snapped, frown taking hold of her face. She absolutely wasn¡¯t listening. Yet could you blame her. She had just spent the day settling small fires throughout the school. Apparently, the district administrator had somehow caught wind of her little black-market schemes and had been rabidly trying to track down just what it was she was selling. So far all they had managed to find was a fake I.D. that Bobby McManus had loudly proclaimed he had gotten from one of her employees. He hadn¡¯t been so bold to proclaim he had gotten it from her, as one didn¡¯t proclaim to get anything illegal from the daughter of the mayor. Especially, since they didn''t have any concrete evidence that linked her to it. Just the boy''s disreputable word. It was an open secret in Paleton High that Elizabeth Sorrel had her hand in every illicit activity that happened within the school. From the potheads selling weed to the photography students forging fake I.D. ''s, there wasn¡¯t a backroom deal that she didn¡¯t get her cut on. She even dealt in favors, as she could set up an amazing sweet sixteen where the entire football team would carry you on a literal throne, or arrange for a certain delinquent to pull the fire alarm during a Calculus exam. If you could pay her price of course. Yet, the principal had hardly seen fit to go after her for the past three and a half years she had attended Paleton high. For on one hand was the weight of her father¡¯s wrath, and on the other was the bitter fact that the school was better off for her having been there. She had gotten rid of the heroin dealers on campus, settled the petty disputes between the fledgling gangbangers, and had all together brought a certain amount of peace to the small city''s only high school. The fact that she did it by using less than legitimate means had grated on people¡¯s moral fibers. However, no one could find fault with her results. As a matter of fact most people looked forward to the day that she would take over her father¡¯s space as mayor of Paleton, including her father. And then came Bobby. It was one thing for every one to mutually ignore something that was in their periphery, another when some idiot decided to shout it from the rooftops. All because she had refused to give him a date with Helena Taylor. His infatuation with the buxom blonde was well known, as was his desire to ¡°fill those cheeks¡± as he put it. His demeanor towards Helena and his attitude towards women overall had made sure he would never come near Helena. Figuratively or literally. Elizabeth did not need to be some poor girl''s 13th reason. ¡°Alright, Miss ¡®I was listening,¡¯¡± Malcom spoke, bringing Elizabeth once again out of her thoughts, ¡°what do you want to do about Bobby then?¡± Elizabeth stared at Malcolm, as she tried to appraise what approach would best suit Bobby. ¡°What are my options again?¡± This time it was Malcom¡¯s turn to sigh. ¡­ Jacob Guerreros knew he was a terrible person. Jacob, Jack to his friends, was currently walking through the school¡¯s depressingly gray hallways to go confront some idiot that decided it was a good idea to get in the way of his girlfriend¡¯s business. He didn¡¯t particularly know why he was doing it. He also didn¡¯t particularly care. Jack hardly cared about anything to be honest. He was a C student whose only claim to notoriety was that he was relatively athletic. Oh, and he was one of his girlfriend¡¯s ¡°enforcers.¡± If you could call it that. He, once again, didn¡¯t particularly care. Most people didn¡¯t really understand why Lizzy and him were together, as their personalities were far from aligned. Jack was laid back to a fault, and Lizzy was so concerned with everyone else¡¯s business that she became the mini-crime boss of a shitty little school. Which irritated him to no end because she kept wrapping him up in her schemes, but in the end that¡¯s what love is, isn¡¯t? If setting up some racist trailer trash so your girlfriend can continue selling weed to high schoolers wasn¡¯t being a good boyfriend, he didn¡¯t know what was Jack rounded the corner, making his way to the school doors leading to the yard. Lizzy said Bobby McManus normally hung out around the benches near the basketball courts, and lo and behold there he was busy chatting with a petite little freshman. Judging by the way she was cringing away from him, Jack could guess the topic of the conversation. Jack began walking over to the duo, debating just how he should go about getting his own ass kicked. Elizabeth told him he needed to get Bobby angry enough to start spouting a bunch of that neo-nazi crap the little ass loved to preach before getting into a fist fight and losing. She tried to explain the reasoning behind it but Jack just waved her off. After all it was relatively simple. In the age of political correctness and forward thinking, who''d listen to a nazi? If word got out Bobby beat up a Mexican kid right after spouting a bunch of racist propaganda, then it didn''t matter just what the man had to say about anything. Even if Bobby was right about Elizabeth, publicly speaking the district administrator could never use the word of a known racist to justify going after her. See? Simple. Now all he had to do was figure out how to push Bobby over the edge. In theory this should be easy, Bobby was one of those guys who seemed habitually angry, but in practice this was going to be harder than he thought. Elizabeth had managed to get Bobby''s student file from one of the school''s clerks and gave him the rundown on Bobby''s academic past. Turns out neo-nazi''s are punctual. Bobby hadn''t missed a day of school in 4 years. On top of that he was a b-student who had only ever got into one fight in middle school. This was surprising considering Jack knew for a fact Bobby cheated on every test he could and had got into more after school brawls than everyone in their senior class excluding Jedidiah and Jack himself. Man was Paleton High shitty at keeping track of its kids. There wasn''t even an entry about that one time Bobby made Manuelo Rivera piss himself. Though admittedly watching the small freshman jump out of the window to avoid an ass-whipping was a sight to see . Jack was getting side-tracked. He shook his head trying to bring himself back to the present. He was spending too much time trying to figure things out. Bobby wasn''t an idiot, but he wasn''t exactly the smartest man in the world either. All Jack really had to do was push him for a bit and Bobby would respond in the only way he knew how. With a smile, Jack stepped out into the yard. ... The Void of Space The entity didn''t exist. Then it did. Space and time folded as a mad thing''s laugh tore through the empty void. A naked woman astride a bloody and broken horse-thing emerged from the endless darkness. The horse-things face was concave and bruised, with mush seeping out its eyes and the bottom half of its canine jaws was missing. It''s six legs broken in countless places, and yet it stood. Then it whinyed and the sound was the last gasp of life, a thing fleeting and transient, ever embracing death. Any human being that saw it would be stricken with terror, and any human being that saw the woman atop the horse-thing would be stricken with insanity. She looked every bit a human at first glance, though the edges around her seemed to fray and twist. As if they were trying to flee her presence. Yet the length of her was gorgeous: pale, slender legs, delicate fingers, soft and supple skin with hair like spun midnight, stars glittering in her mane. Then you saw her face and knew her for the monster she was. She had no nose, no eyebrows, no discernible human feature. Just six endless eyes full of death and misery and terror so impossibly deep, and teeth, to many to possibly fit upon her face for her maw was that of an abyss, and when gazed into saw flesh being torn from bone, knives cutting through skin, carrion birds peeling rotten flesh from the famined and the diseased. She was Death in all but name.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The woman that was not a woman gazed upon the starry sky she sat within, eyes glancing over a cosmos that seemed to shy away from her sight. She looked and looked until her eyes came upon a small planet of blue, green, and growing brown. She held it within her sight for a long while before turning to her side. ¡°What of this one brother,¡± the not-woman spoke to the void. Then at her side appeared a man of incomprehensible beauty and vigour, atop a steed of true elegance. The steed was whole where its counterpart was broken. The dog like jaw intact, and sturdy, and flowed seamlessly to the head which boasted a main of soft silk. It''s legs like smooth marble. Upon it sat a man every bit the not-woman''s counterpart, only instead of the skinny and seemingly frail body of the not-woman, was a man not out of place among the statues of ancient Greece. His body radiated warmth and tranquility with the void around him rushing towards his presence in a desperate embrace. His hair was as radiant as the sun. Only his face betrayed his inhumanity. For instead of the six eyes of endless terror, sat six eyes of endless warmth. Like a father''s proud stare, or a mother''s doting gaze; the eyes of a lover after a kiss, or a friend in the midst of joviality. His mouth was a baby''s laughter and a crowd¡¯s cheer. Endless soft words and forthwrite love. The beautiful man looked upon the planet the not-woman indicated, before frowning. ¡°There are lives here sister,¡± he spoke ¡°Yes, but no gods,¡± the sister replied. ¡°That is not true,¡± the beautiful man chided ¡°No gods worth anything,¡± the not-woman retorted. ¡°All life is worth something¡± the beautiful man reproached lovingly. ¡°No, it is worth less than dirt,¡± the mad not-woman laughed, full of scorn, before carrying on,¡°besides dearest brother it is the only planet near us that is both compatible and not protected by a powerful guardian.¡± ¡°Then perhaps we should search further out?¡± ¡°Any further and your precious planet would not survive the transition.¡± ¡°I cannot destroy a People sister.¡± ¡°You need not destroy anything, brother,¡± the not-woman lashed out, striking its brother across it''s chest leaving a deep gash which quickly faded to nothing, ¡°after all, I am the one carrying out the transition, lugging your little misshapen ball of fools throughout the Void. What is one more task in the face of that.¡± ¡°Even still the death of so many¡­ Perhaps our watcher can contribute?¡± ¡°That thing has no say in this.¡± ¡°It is it''s planet that we are discussing, we should at least give it a chance to voice an opinion,¡± the brother pleaded, gazing at his sister droopily. ¡°Hrm. Fine. Stop looking at me like that, you know I hate it,¡± The sister replied sounding grumpy and yet somewhat pleased at the light in the brother''s eyes upon hearing her response. ¡°Come out now child we wish no immediate harm, only to discuss,¡± the brother spoke, voice dripping of honey. Yet nothing happened. ¡°Come out now you misbegotten thing before I tear apart your very essence,¡± The not woman spoke, words ringing of promises owed and fulfilled. ¡°Easy sister, perhaps it is newer than we thought. It may not know how to manifest yet,¡± The brother spoke, quick to ease his sister''s ire, before turning back. ¡°It is okay, my sister will not harm you, not unless you attack. I''m going to help you manifest now, okay? Do not be alarmed.¡± Then the brother reached out and- The entity shook with unknown fright as the brother touched it, panic flooding it''s senses it squirmed trying to flee, afraid of the sudden and new sensation. The beautiful man kept saying calm words and tried to bring it into the world, yet the entity had never known touch, it had remained a silent observer for its entire existence, so this new sensation, no matter how pleasant, was causing it no small amount of internal peril. It kept squirming in the brother''s grasp growing more and more violent until finally the not-woman grew irritated. ¡°Enough¡± she bellowed before shoving her brother aside, wrapping the entity in its hands. The entity felt the power in her and knew her to be the stronger of the two. Much stronger. The not-woman ignored the entity''s renewed fear and tore it through the very fabric of space and time. Bringing the entity into the corporeal for the very first time in its comparably short existence. The entity hovered there for a while, a spherical blob of constantly shifting energy, scared and confused. ¡°You''re out now Thing, your power is your own. Now give yourself Shape.¡± the not-woman spoke. The entity now only realised that it was alive, that it was conscious, and more than that, the two gods, for they could be nothing but those, had been talking to it the entire time. The entity had never been acknowledged before. It had never known or even thought that it could be. It had only watched earth and its surroundings, gaining knowledge from the denizens of the small planet. It did not know what it was. It did not know how to give itself shape. The not-woman stared at the thing for a moment before grunting, reaching out to the entity. The entity did not squirm this time for it knew the not-woman could snuff out its life, if she so desired. A feeling of inevitability weighed upon the entity''s being. Yet instead of death the not woman turned the entity''s attention inward. ¡°Our power is inherent to ourselves,¡± the not-woman spoke, ¡°it is endless and pure but unfeeling and unknowing. We give that power definition and in doing so give ourself personality, look within, little thing, learn of yourself, then with that learning give Definition.¡± The not-woman turned the entity''s attention within, laying bare the truth of its existence before removing her influence. The entity did not notice for it had become enraptured by itself. The entity had been born with the collapsing of the star that birthed Earth''s solar system. It knew nothing but the sun''s plasma and the flaming rocks. Until life bloomed. The entity was there when the first cell, though it had not yet earned that name, had been formed. It watched as life blossomed on the small planet, ever growing, ever changing, giving rise to the current rulers of this little ball of mud. Humanity. The entity watched as the first true human discovered fire. Watched as it went on to become leader of its tribe, before being cast down by another more daring than he. It watched as they banned together to fight against the dark and its ever hungry beasts, learning of spears and clubs to master their adversaries. It watched as they learned. As they grew. As they spread. All across the planet they traveled, in tribes along rivers and valleys, claiming the land for themselves and learning the ways of violence to protect it. It watched as they built kingdoms and empires. Watched as those kingdoms and empires fell, allowing new ones to take their place. They built castles and cities, crafted guns and art, sailed across the world warring against and loving each other. They preached of peace, prosperity, and acceptance. They killed and brutalized each other in the streets, fighting over ideology and resources. They crafted miracles to prolong life. They crafted terrors to end them. They were as hypocritical as they always were. And the entity loved them. The entity looked within and knew itself. So it looked without and gave itself shape. It was not one face the entity dawned, but hundreds of billions. Faces currently worn by others, faces worn by those long ago, young and old, man and woman, the entire sum of humanity reflected in a creature beyond their reach. Oh but they will try, the entity thought. For if it knew nothing else about humanity, it was that they always sought more, sought greater. They are fools, it thought, trying to fly towards the sun. It would most likely end in tragedy. Oh, but the brilliance. The brilliance of that dreadful flight. ¡°Interesting,¡± the not-woman spoke, bringing the entity out of its thoughts, ¡°you have more talent than I thought.¡± ¡°Yes it would seem so. Hm. An ever-shifting form. Reflection of those whom you love. Do you see now sister we cannot destroy this planet. For what kind abominations would we be should we destroy a people that inspired such beautiful form,¡± the beautiful man spoke admiringly. Yet the sister did not respond, only gazing at the entity. The entity realized then that the not-woman was waiting for its response. ¡° I cannot allow you to destroy them. They have so much more to learn,¡± The entity spoke. The not-woman looked at the entity for a long time, before gazing at her brother, and finally looking at the little ball of blue, green, and ever growing brown. Then the not-woman smiled a vicious and ugly smile. ¡°Very well then, I will not kill your precious pets. However, my brother, my dear stupid, ugly, idiot of a brother, has allowed his creations to fabricate their own doom. As such he has begged me to save them, along with those pathetic little debris he calls his pantheon. And as the smart, beautiful, and loving sister that I am, I am but beholden to his pitiful cries. As such,¡± the not-woman spoke leaning forward with a menace, ¡°I give compromise, those most deadly of things. Instead of replacing your pets with my brothers, I shall take the remnants of my brother''s planet and fuse them with yours, allowing for both to fit.¡± ¡°Sister that would be chaos for my-¡± ¡°That would kill many of my-¡± Both the entity and the beautiful man spoke at the same before stopping to look at one another. ¡°Hush now you idiots, you seem to think you have a say in the matter. You don''t. I am tired of lugging this ball of mud around the universe and wish to give the little thing a chance. Thus my comprise. Thus my decision, and my decision will be abided. For neither of you has the wits, will, or power stop me,¡± the not-woman paused for a moment before turning back to the entity. ¡°However, I will give the little thing a chance to give her pets a boon before the merge to better let them survive the turmoil. Looking at the wretches now, it is likely that the creatures of my brother''s planet would decimate them in the chaos of the merge. Yet do it quickly, Little Godling, for it will take me but a few moments to prepare,¡± the not-woman finished, throwing the entity a small ball of pure power and turning her attention towards her task. The entity held the power in its hand, mind racing between awe of the shapeless thing the not-woman gifted it and frantically recalling upon billions of years of observation and knowledge in search of a way to save its loved ones. The entity then looked to the earth gazing through eight billion eyes, thinking with eight billion minds, trying to find a way for humanity to survive. Then it saw a young girl, in her room, playing a game where she hacked apart a series of faceless monsters. In a stroke of brilliance the entity set to working, power being called to it as if it was always there. The entity did not fully understand what it was doing or how it was doing it. Only that it could and it needed to. Bridging the gap between its thoughts and reality, it created a system, similar to its own emergence. A way to give humanity definition on its own terms, a way for it to grow, to change to learn, to- ¡°Oh cool,¡± the girl in her room spoke, ¡°I leveled up.¡± The entity smiled. Chapter One Tomb of Emperor Khiz-ik/Paleton High School Jack woke up to complete darkness. His head hurt, and for some reason his entire body felt heavier. Struggling to remember what happened Jack got up to his feet. One moment he was calling out to Bobby, and the next he was here, wherever here was. He couldn''t see anything in the darkness, so he pulled out his phone and turned it on. The screen''s brightness was enough for him to see he was in a cave next to a black stone wall. He switched on the flashlight of his phone and a beam of visibility shot through the dark, revealing a large cavern that his phone couldn''t see into. Jack swung it around, trying to find anything that might indicate just where the hell he was. As he did so, he began to move away from the wall deeper into the cavern. He got about fifty feet in when he began to spot shapes in the dark. "What the fuck?" He came upon what looked like nests of bones and broken egg shells. He stopped to examine them, letting out a sigh of relief as he discovered they weren''t human. They look like bird bones, he thought, as he shined his light on a skull with a long curved beak. He kept pushing forward despite the growing sense of unease. He was never one to sit and wait to be rescued, so as he kept moving forward he tried to think about how he ended up here. His current theory was that an earthquake, they were due a big one in California, somehow sent the school tumbling down into a cavern. He didn''t really believe it though. The cave is too stable, he thought. There would be more debris, or rocks, or anything, but as he ventured through the non-human bones there didn''t seem to be any sign of an earthquake large enough to sink a school. Just smooth black stone. Something was wrong. As if to justify the thought, he began to hear multiple crunching noises. Uncertainty hit him as he marched forward, a part of him screaming to turn around and run. Yet, it was too late. Jack stopped walking as he stared at the scene in-front of him. Just at the edge of his light was a reptilian looking monster the size of a large man. It was hunched over something, it''s jaws deep in the thing''s chest. It took Jack a moment for him to realize it was a human. Jesus that''s Bobby, he thought, staring in awe at the sight of Bobby McManus getting his heart torn out of his chest, as the lizard snapped its head up and looked at Jack. They stood there for a moment as the two regarded each other. Jack looked at the creature noticing it had no eyes, just a smooth black carapace over its head. Despite this, Jack knew for certain the creature could see him. The lizard dropped Bobby''s heart and growled out what could have been awful Russian. Then, like out of a horror movie, at least thirty other obsidian lizard monsters emerged from the dark to stare at Jack. Each one holding some manner of human body part. One of them, Jack noticed, was holding the head of the freshman girl Bobby was hitting on. Poor girl went from creepy rapist to giant man-eating lizard, Jack thought, a half-laugh, half-sob making its way from his throat. Jack stood what could have been an hour, though was probably only a few seconds, as the lizards did a weird staring without eyes and growling thing. Until, finally, he spoke to the crowd. "Welp, if you creepy fucks are gonna eat me, you''re gonna half to earn it." Jack said, before turning around and dead sprinting in the opposite direction of the murderous lizards. The lizards looked around at each other for a few seconds before erupting in a cacophony of screeches, swiftly giving chase into the dark. ... "We should really move away from the windows Elizabeth," Malcolm said for what was probably the tenth time, eyeing the man-sized birds circling the sky above, and just like the other nine times she ignored him. She was too busy looking out of the classroom window, at the changed landscape of her city. Paleton''s only high school was situated on the west side of the city near its edge, and currently fused into the side side of a mountain. The south side of Paleton was the residential district, where Paleton''s middle and upper-class residents lived, and was currently mixed in with a forest. The mix of red and orange treetops lending the houses a rather autumn-esque look. It seemed that the south side wasn''t hit to bad by whatever this was. That was good considering Elizabeth''s family live there. The relief was short lived as what seemed to be a dragon emerged from one of the forested areas and proceeded to burn down several houses in quick succession. Elizabeth had to smother a well of panic at the sight. She could do nothing to help her family by panicking in a mountain miles away from them. She had to remain level headed. With great effort she tore her eyes away from the south and examined the rest of the town. It seemed both the south and west side of the city were separated from the rest by an emerald-tinted river, with the north and center of the city on the other side. The east side was completely cut off from the rest, as the green river split: one path going south cutting it off from the residential districts, and the other heading north into a gorge that separated the east side from downtown and the northern farmlands. Elizabeth examined the east-side, already seeing fires in the distance. It came as no surprise as the few factories Paleton had left were situated out east. Along with all the resident''s who couldn''t afford housing in either downtown or the south side of the city. The Gravel, as most of the inhabitants liked to refer to the area as due to the gravel roadways, had always been the home of inequity for the town. Before the sixties it was the only area in the city that allowed for colored people to live in them, the rest of the city being subjected to redlining. Though the practices that led to the area being segregated were demolished, the area remained a hotbed of crime and poverty. The city''s relatively few gangs make their home there. The area seemed to be roughly the same, the only difference being patches of areas filled with white. The distance wouldn''t let her make out anything more. She turned her eyes towards downtown. The city center seemed to suffer from the same patches of white, along with an influx of small hills that caused the tall buildings of downtown to lean dangerously to one side or the other. None more so than Loci-tech tower, the thirty story tower leaning precariously to the east. The tower was going to fall down sooner or later, she only hoped the occupants evacuated before it did. The sight of the Loci-tower''s imminent demise filled Elizabeth with mixed feelings. While Loci-tech''s recent rise in the tech market brought about a much needed rejuvenation to Paleton''s economy, said rejuvenated economy was only benefiting landowners. As the area around Loci-tower became worth more, so too did the homes, as many individuals straddling the line between the middle and lower classes were forced to move into The Gravel. Those that didn''t either moved out of the city or became homeless. Gentrification on her mind, Elizabeth moved her eyes north to Paleton''s farmland. She was relieved to find that unlike the rest of the city, there were no towers about to fall, no fires raging, and no dragons burning down homes. Though, her eyes did travel farther north, past the farmland, towards the state penitentiary. She could just barely see it in the horizon, another possible problem waiting to rear its head. That along with the mental hospital to the far east, next to the gorge, just north of the hospital. Many of the more unstable prisoners got bussed down to the facility. Though with any luck the prison guards and security for both facilities will be able to handle the inmates.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Examination of the city complete Elizabeth finally heeded Malcolm''s complaints and moved away from the windows towards the classroom''s interior, where the school''s wood and plaster walls blended into black stone. Before Elizabeth examined the city she had spent ten minutes going over their classrooms'' weird fusion, before deciding there were better things to be doing. The implications of the fact that the stone walls blended seamlessly into the school''s interior being the only notable thing about them. Whatever, or whoever, changed their world did so with such skill that she couldn''t find a single flaw. It put a hamper on the idea that this could be some computer simulation. If it was a simulation, it was indistinguishable from reality. Though the idea that there was some entity out there capable of such earthly revisions wasn''t any more appealing. "What are we going to do Elizabeth," Malcolm asked with fear in his voice. It occurred to Elizabeth that the only reason he wasn''t panicking was because she remained calm. He thought she had a plan. It was endearing that he thought she would have a plan for the literal apocalypse. Well... she did. Just not this kind of apocalypse. Her plans were for a nuclear winter or governmental collapse. Even then they were only rough outlines, done for humour, and not full blown plans. Though now that she thought about it, she could probably borrow from them and ad-lib the rest. "Go through the backpacks. Find things that are immediately useful: food, water, weapons. One of these idiots might have a knife. If not we''ll break a leg chair and use that. Put those on the teachers desk. Knock off all the other crap on it. We don''t need to get things mixed up. Next, get secondary items: phones, chargers, batteries, medical supplies, flashlights, hand sanitizer, anything else you could foresee us needing in the future. Grab a desk and put it next to the teachers if you need more room." Elizabeth moved as she spoke gathering backpacks as Malcolm shoved all the teacher''s belongings off their desk. The two then went through the class''s belongings: finding two bags of chips, ten pieces of candy, a soda, rum in a soda can, several bottles of water, a few sandwiches, and a switch knife one of the kids from The Gravel had hidden in their backpack. Unsurprisingly, There were no phones besides Elizabeth''s and Malcolm''s, most of the schools teens carried them on their persons at all time. Yet, they did find several boxes of band aids, a couple bottles of hand sanitizer, several boxes of tampons and pads, a lighter, and a bunch of sewing equipment. "Who had the needle and thread?" Elizabeth asked "I''m pretty sure that was Sarah, the quiet chick with the pikachu backpack and anime pins," Malcolm responded. "Right, she was the one who wanted us to get them a katana," Elizabeth spoke with distaste. That job had been particularly irritating. They had wanted the sword modeled after some anime she couldn''t remember. Something about a black swordsman? "No, that was Ethan. Sarah wanted us to get her a bunch of cosplay material." "Ugh, that was even more annoying then the god-damned sword. Why did she need several gallons of adhesive anyway?" "She and her friends had wanted to build some of the monsters from an anime Called Digi-mon. I recall the finished products were pretty awesome," Malcolm responded. "What the hell is Digi-mon?" Elizabeth asked, in an attempt to distract her friend. It seemed to work as he immediately began regaling her about the wonder that was Digi-mon: Digital Monsters. That was good because it saved her from having to keep him calm while she thought about what to do next. They had a negligible amount of food and water, and considering how far they were from town, it was unlikely they were going to make it to the city without becoming starved and dehydrated. Plus, they had no idea if the cave tunnels that connected the classroom deeper into the mountain even led to anything remotely close to an exit. Her cursory examination of the dark halls giving her nothing to go on. Add this to the fact that they didn''t even know if there were any other students alive in the school, and this was becoming a rather bleak picture. On the one hand if they found other students they would have to split their rather small food supply, decreasing their chances of survival, and on the other was the disconcerting fact that they might be the only people in the enter mountain. Which, try as she might, she couldn''t spin in her own head as a good thing. It would mean either the students were killed or they were taken by whatever force reshaped the world. Shouting from the corridors took her out of her thoughts. Her head snapped towards the door, the sounds getting steadily closer. She whipped around, grabbed one of the chairs and put it beneath the door. Running back, she grabbed the switch knife off the table, pulling Malcolm behind her as she spun to face the door. Judging from the sounds whoever was yelling was too close for them to flee the classroom. Should they exit, they would surely be spotted. "Be quiet, they might pass us by," Elizabeth said, suddenly furious at herself for not barricading the door. She saw the winged monstrosities outside the window. She knew there were things outside that were less than likely to be friendly to humans. She would have to make sure Malcolm made it. She would not have him die because of her stupidity. "What if they are friendly?" Malcolm whispered. Elizabeth didn''t respond. The yelling was getting closer. She could make out what seemed to be a stream of curse words, followed by inhuman yipping. Whatever was happening didn''t sound like anything she wished to be a part of. "We stay quiet," she whispered. "But what if-" "We. Stay. Quiet." Malcolm frowned, but obeyed, his fear overriding his more altruistic instincts. Despite her reticence to getting involved, it seemed she was going to be forced to anyway. The sounds were right outside now, and somebody was trying to open the door. There were screams to get the door open, followed by somebody yelling they were trying, and then another yell to move. The door burst open, the chair keeping it shut breaking beneath the force of the blow. Elizabeth was about to dash forward to stab the individual before stopping at the sight of him. "Oh shit, Elizabeth?" Jedidiah said from between the doorway, a smile on his lips, "Good to see you-" He didn''t finish as he was shoved inside by a tall woman, who quickly followed him in, dragging along a shorter man dressed like a nineties gang-banger stereotype, overly large saggy jeans and all. The woman threw the gang banger inside before spinning to slam the door shut. The door itself couldn''t shut completely as the top hinge of the door was broken from it being forced open. Tiny black hands speared through the cracks holding small black daggers, which lashed out at the tall woman holding the door shut. They couldn''t penetrate deep, but they were swinging wildly, slicing the woman''s legs and arms in the process. "FUCKING HELP!" She shouted. Elizabeth spun around grabbing the rum and lighter, as Jedidiah ran forward to help close the door. Elizabeth rushed toward the door and began to pour the rum across the black arms sprouting from the doorway. A few of the arms began to swing her way, one of which cut her hand. Elizabeth grunted in pain before starting the lighter and began to light as many of the arms with alcohol on them on fire as she could, the knives slicing her hand as she did so. Some arms caught on fire quickly and spread to the hand owner''s body. While others caught on fire for a moment before the fire dispersed. Either way Elizabeth got the desired outcome as most of the black arms receded, their inhuman yells of pain resonating in the outside hall. As more arms were pulled away, Jedidiah and the tall woman, who Elizabeth saw was Catherine Barnes, an athlete and former friend, managed to slam the door shut, severing a few of the small arms in the process. With the entryway closed, Elizabeth, Malcolm, and the gang banger began to drag the teacher''s desk in front of the door, as Catherine and Jedidiah held it shut against the enraged owners of the tiny black arms. Desk in place, they began stacking tables and chairs on top of it. When nothing else could fit, the students stood round the doorway tense waiting for the monsters to break through the barricade and attack them. Yet, try as they might the weird yipping creatures couldn''t break their way through the door. Eventually, the students began to relax as the yipping grew quieter with every passing moment, until finally there was nothing but silence. Suddenly exhausted, Elizabeth turned to face her peers. "Is everyone-" Elizabeth stopped as in front of her face floated a blue screen.