Chapter 1: Amnesiac
...Where am I?
I jolted awake to find myself sprawled out on the pavement, just staring up at the nighttime clouds.
...I can't remember a thing.
I sat up and looked all around me, searching for any kind of clue that might be able to tell me where I am.
To my left, I saw an asphalt path illuminated by several tall lamp posts. There were also drinking fountains nearby, along with several large planters strewn about the path. To my right, I saw several tall-ish buildings. They looked almost like office buildings, there were so many windows. In front of me were stairs that led down to some kind of football stadium below.
It appeared that I was in some sort of... school?
...Was was I wearing? I looked down at myself to see that I was wearing some kind of school uniform. It was pretty generic, with black pants, a black crewneck jacket, and a white polo shirt underneath.
That confirmed it, I guess. I was at some kind of school facility.
"You up yet?"
I was startled by a voice nearby.
I turned around and saw... a girl. Crouched behind a large bush in front of me, I saw a girl in a school uniform aiming a rather large gun at something off in the distance.
"Who...?" What was this girl doing with... was that a sniper rifle?
"Welcome," she said as she turned around and grinned at me, "to the Not-Yet-Dead Battlefront."
The girl had aqua-colored eyes, and short dark hair that reached just down to her shoulders, decorated with a green ribbon tied to a single lock of hair. She was also wearing a school uniform, but hers wasn't quite as generic as mine was. She had on a white long-sleeved shirt with a blue collar, and a blue pleated skirt that reached about mid-thigh, just above the black thigh-highs that she was wearing. She also wore black loafers and had a dark pink ribbon tied around her collar.
"Hey, I know this is kind of sudden," she said as she returned her attention to the gun, "but could you join up with us?"
"Huh? Join up?"
"Well, since you're here, that means you must be dead, right?" She said all this as if it was normal.
"What?" Who was this girl? And what did she mean, 'dead'? That was impossible... right?
"I'm sorry," I stammered. "I don't really know what's going on."
"This is the afterlife," she stated very matter-of-factly. "You'll get obliterated if you don't fight."
"Obliterated?" I asked. "By who?"
"I guess by Him," she said in a bored tone. "God, I mean."
I'm so confused. "What do you want me to join, exactly?" I asked
"Not-Yet-Dead Battlefront," she showed me a badge on her sleeve. "Our name kinda changes a lot."
She shifted her hold on the gun a bit before continuing. "It started out as 'Underworld Battlefront', but 'Underworld Battlefront' kinda sounds like we've accepted that we're dead, y'know? So we changed it. And we've been changing names ever since. Right now, it's 'Not-Yet-Dead Battlefront'. Before, it was 'I-Feel-Dead Battlefront'."
The girl chuckled. "People sure didn't like that one. THAT name lasted about a day."
She paused for a moment and I seized the opportunity to ask the one question that was on my mind.
"Is that... A real gun?" I asked.
"Why does everyone always ask that?" The girl sighed. "Look. You're going to need to become a LOT more flexible. Accept things as they are."
"Accept things?" I asked. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Fight," she said seriously.
"Fight what?"
"That." She pointed at something off in the distance.
I looked toward where she was pointing, and I saw a girl standing in the middle of the football stadium, all by herself.
That was it.
"That's Not-Yet-Dead Battlefront's enemy, Angel." The girl next to me glared down toward the football field with absolute hatred in her blue-green eyes.
"Hm. Kinda wanting to change our name again," she said without turning her attention from 'Angel'. "You got any ideas?"
This girl was crazy! Was she really going to shoot that other girl down there?
Her dead-serious expression confirmed it.
I think she was.
"Hey," I suggested nervously, trying to choose my words carefully, "how about I go down there?"
"WHAT?" The girl turned from her gun and screamed at me, her hair, ribbon and all, flying with anger. "Why? WHY would you go down there? That doesn't make ANY sense! What made you say that? Are you an idiot or WHAT? Go die!"
She paused for a moment and seemed to calm down. "That's something we say here since nobody dies here," she said lightly. "What do you think? Funny?"
"Well, not so much..." I said before I remembered that it wasn't such a good idea to insult somebody with a gun, especially if they're this crazy. "But what do I know?" I added on quickly.
"Um... I think I'll have better luck talking with someone who's not some kind of high school sniper," I said cautiously as I started to get up.
The girl stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I'm on your side!" she said angrily. "A little trust here, okay?"
I tried to think about how to answer that when suddenly a voice from behind us shouted, "Hey, Alexis!"
I turned and saw a boy about mine and the girl's age with wild red hair running toward us. He, too, carried some kind of machine gun.
Huh. So this girl's name was Alexis.
"How goes the recruitment of the newbie?" He nodded toward me when he finally made it over to where Alexis and I stood. He had dark, indigo-colored eyes and bright red hair that stuck up in several places. He wore black high-tops in place of the black dress shoes that I was wearing. He also wore black slacks and a red t-shirt under a long-sleeved white polo shirt, rolled up to his elbows. "We'll get him no matter what is takes to join our cause and then we'll..."
He stopped when he realized that Alexis had covered her face with her hands and was shaking her head to herself, muttering the word "idiot" under her breath.
"... What?" he said after some time.
Alexis suddenly snapped open her eyes, which were now burning with anger. "Josh!" She yelled as she slapped the boy in the face. Huh. So this guy here was Josh.
Josh's dark eyes started to water as he rubbed new the hand-shaped mark on his face.
"I'm going down there," I said as I started to walk down the steps to the football field. Anything to get away from those crazy terrorists.
As I was walking down the steps, I heard Alexis yelling to herself, "What the heck just HAPPENED? I used to be such a good recruiter!" followed by a string of cuss words.
Ugh... None of this makes any sense. Those two were nuts.
When I finally made it down to the football field where the "Angel" was I could get a better look at her.
She wore a white collared shirt tied with a gold ribbon at the collar underneath a tan jacket, and a black pleated skirt that went down to about her knees. She was also wearing white knee-high socks, and brown loafers, with a blue barrette in her hair. She had hair so blonde that it almost looked white. Almost angelic. Huh.
"Excuse me," I said as I walked up to her, trying to be polite.
She turned to look at me with amber-colored eyes. She was quite small, her head just barely came up to my shoulder.
"There are these kids up there that are trying to take a shot at you," I told her as I jerked a thumb in Alexis and Josh's direction. "They think you're some kind of angel." Not the best way to start a conversation, but...
She tilted her head. "But I'm not any kind of angel," she said in a soft voice. "I'm the student body president." Her voice was soft and angelic, like the soft tinkling of bells.
I paused for a moment after being dazed by her melodic voice before snapping myself back to reality.
"I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I fell for this..." I sighed to myself. "Why did I listen to them? I don't even know who I am." Wouldn't that be interesting? Hello, I seem to have woken up in some strange high school with absolutely no idea of who or where I am. Sounded like I was having a hangover or something.
"I should just go to the hospital," I muttered as I started to walk away.
"There aren't any hospitals," the girl said softly, causing me to freeze.
I turned to look at her. "What? How come?"
"Because nobody gets sick here," she said emotionlessly.
"Why not?"
"Because everyone is dead."
I searched her expression for any hint that she might be kidding.
I found none.
But surely she must be joking.
"Oh, I get it," I said irritatedly. "You're in on this too, aren't you? What is WRONG with you people? And my amnesia, are you responsible for that, too?"
"Amnesia is quite common here," the girl said without any expression. "People who were killed in any kind of accident often hurt their heads."
"Then prove it!" I heard myself getting louder with every word. "Prove that I can't die because I already..."
I stopped, because now the girl was slowly walking towards me.
"Hand-sonic," she said cryptically, and a sword suddenly grew out of her sleeve, as if materializing out of thin air.
The last thing I remembered was her thrusting the blade towards my chest.
