Chapter 14: Back Home

It was eerily silent in the classroom. Things hadn't been as they were before. Happiness was certainly gone, trust was certainly dead, and security mangled, yet as silent as it was, the attention of the students couldn't have been more off.

All of the windows had been shut tight, large blocks of steel boarding the classroom shut of anything from the outside world. Time lingered by slowly at the Academy ,now made the most infamous and notorious building in the country. Most students had been pulled from the school immediately by their parents, but the loyal ones…the ones that gave the Sailor Soldiers purpose stayed behind.

Even many teachers abandoned their jobs ever since that day, it was just too much to handle for many people at that point and in consideration of their own families, left.

Ironically, this was the classroom that Cole had last been before everything brewed. When Matt had his vision here, he couldn't even imagine what was to come, how a legacy was about to begin and how destruction and chaos was not so far away as he once thought. How could he possibly know that as soon as he would leave the safety of this building that the first to die would in just mere hours.

Among the 5 students was one familiar face, Christie, Cole's unofficial girlfriend who stole his heart years before the Sirix attacks. A frown stretched across her face, scribbling tiny circles on her paper. Like her, the other students seemed miserable as well, except for one.

A tall built male sat in his seat, his school jacket tied around his neck by the sleeves, with life still in his eyes which were very rare these past few days. He glanced at his teacher impatiently, just waiting for the ideal moment to open his mouth. The silence was obviously getting to him.

The teacher, Ms. Hunter, who was Cole's teacher as well, continued to mumble quietly, she had obviously gotten no sleep and was wired on coffee, and wrote on the board randomly. She was aware as the others were that there really wasn't anything to teach, she was even instructed by her superiors just to keep the students busy enough to get their minds off the nation and soon to be global crisis. It really was not working very well.

Although the young man was not really listening to the lesson either, he was paying attention slightly, there was a phrase he was waiting for that would ease this urge to say something.

Ms. Hunter finally put the chalk down bringing the male's full attention to her. "Okay. Any questions before we start?"

The male's hand shot up quickly.

"Yes, Duke?", Ms. Hunter asked unenthusiastically.

Rising from his seat, "Do you believe Cole Collingsworth was a traitor?", he asked casually.

The students seemed to wake from the daze at the name. Ms. Hunter stood frozen, frustration in her eyes.

"Do not say his name in this classroom, young man.", she threatened firmly. "Or you could find yourself in severe trouble."

"Why cant I say his name?", Duke protested. The classroom gasping at his boldness towards his teacher. "You used to say his name all of the time, he was a top student here."

"Do not press me, Mr. McPherson.", she snapped. "Take your seat."

"You take yours!", Duke blurted out loud. This was too bold even for him. "I asked you a question.", he quivered. "Now answer it, please."

"You have seen the film footage, he killed slightly over one hundred people in that explosion.", she rebutted. "The government believes without a doubt that he is responsible for every single one of them, do you not trust the authorities of law?"

"The Government is comprised of idiots!", Christie defied, rising from her seat as well. "Cole would never do that--the Sailor Soldiers would never do that! When will you stupid people realize that they have saved our lives for years. Why would they turn bad now?"

"Exactly! Even my father agrees! The Sailor Soldiers saved him when his car almost exploded the day Matthew Holloman was killed!", Duke exclaimed.

A thin redheaded young male arose from his chair as well. "Yeah! They saved my sister a few years ago when a weird girl tried to shoot her with this big gun!"

"And one of them saved my grandpa when he was in a collapsing building almost 7 years ago!", a muscular black-haired male said, rising from his seat with the others.

"They saved my whole family when our train went off track and almost collided with another train!", the final student said, joining the others. He was almost 6 and a half feet tall with beautiful green eyes and short brown hair.

"They made us all feel safe!", Duke said "And yet we treat them like they are common filth!"

"Cole is the sweetest person I know!", Christie reiterated "I know in my heart that he would do anything in his power to save all of us! Not hurt us!", she said passionately.

"QUIET!", Ms. Hunter roared. "Every one of you take your damn seats now!"

But none of them did, they stood proudly of what they believed in and no one would take that away.

"You cannot stop us, Ms. Hunter. We all know we are right and the government is wrong! The Sailor Soldiers are our friends, not foes!", Duke said. "You don't control our opinions!"

The door burst open with 10 SWAT team men swarmed into the classroom, armed and serious. The men quickly grabbed the students, cuffing their arms, guns to their backs.

"Who are you!?", Duke yelled, struggling against the uniformed men.

"We are the S.W.A.T team, and you 5 are possible threats!", one said.

"This is ridiculous! How could you hear anything in this classroom!?" Christie yelled. The cuffs were making her arms red.

"There are cameras all over this campus, little girl. This entire country is on red alert from possible terrorism by the Sailor Soldiers, we have every right to take you into custody for conspiracy."

"You have no proof!", Christie defied. "There is no law that gives you the right to arrest us!"

"Under the new Star Alliance code, effective today unanimously by congress and the house of Representatives, we can take any person of any age who may be conspiring and or promoting the Sailor Soldiers, can be taken into custody."

The green eyed male struggled free of the officers. "We are not criminals! You have gotten everything wrong! The Sailor Soldiers are good, honest--"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, another officer shot a tranquilizer dart directly into his neck, causing him to collapse into one of the SWAT officers grasp.

Suddenly more officers burst through the steel blocks over the windows. The group of students were all carried away into the roaring helicopters waiting right outside.

"THIS IS A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!", Christie yelled loudly over the helicopter that she was shoved into. "LONG LIVE THE SAILOR SOLDIERS!"

With a jolt of an armored door, the helicopter was shot and hovered up into the sky, taking all of the students with it. Even Ms. Hunter began to shake back in the classroom. The propellers sliced through the sky until it looked like just a tiny black to her.

"No one is safe anymore, are they?", she said quietly to herself, packing all of her things in a box.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cole and the others continued to walk in their Police Officer disguises out of the crater and onto empty desolate land that a forest once rested on. Cole heard a faint yell above him , the voice sounded so familiar.

"Matt?", he asked quietly.

"Yes, Cole?", he responded.

"Did you hear something just right now?", he asked with great concern.

Matt stared at him puzzled. "No. Why?"

Cole was tempted to look back and just paused for a moment. He felt a tiny tear forming in his right eye and his breath became short, with every ounce of courage within him he just looked forward and no where else.

"No reason.", he replied.