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Chapter 4: From Eden
Something was wrong. The atmosphere surrounding the school was tense and on edge. The normal loud and cluttered hall ways were virtually empty, students deciding to seek refuge in their classrooms instead . Even the teachers were silent in their teaching, and it was creeping Clary out. Every one of her nerves was on high alert waiting for something to happen, and when it did no one was prepared for the severity of the situation. It was about 1:15 when the sirens sounded, signalling that all students and staff had to report to the grand hall. The siren was only sounded when there was a state of emergency and Clary had never heard it in the five years she had been attending School 01110000. The all filed silently into the hall filling up the empty seats. Clary looked for her brothers over the bobbing mass of heads and soon spotted Jon's white head in the crowd making eye contact with him. She mouthed what's going on? He simply shrugged his shoulders in response, ever the helpful the brother. She saw Simon and Izzy walking over both taking a seat on either side of me, Simon put his hand in mine and gave me a small smile.
Clary looked up to the stage at the front of the hall, there was a huge screen dominating most the space emitting a soft green glow and letting of a quiet buzzing noise, two men dressed in suits of to the side. Her forehead started to break out in a cold sweat, her hands clammy and twitching nervously. Like everyone else in the hall she was anxious to see what was about to happen. Suddenly the screen flicked to life, a face appearing on the previously blank canvas. It was a face that haunted many nightmares, it was face that promoted fear; it was the face of her father. She froze momentarily; Simon must have felt it because he gently squeezed her hand. In that moment it was if everyone in the country was holding their breath waiting for something to happen.
Valentine Morgenstern wore a crisp black suit and tie, his white hair slicked back on his scalp, his black eyes piercing through the souls of those watching. Frown lines were etched into his once youthful and handsome face. His mouth set in a hard line until it opened to speak the words that everyone was waiting to hear.
"As you all know, the surface of our planet was deemed 'unliveable', a state it was put in by the human race. We fought war after war after war, and for what? A little bit more land on a planet that is tormented by disease and plague. But despite the odds we survived, because that is the only thing we know how to do, survive. It is wired into our every move, survival. And because of that drive to live we are today. Now one hundred years later things have changed. We no longer depend on the earth to survive because we are stronger, braver fiercer and tougher. And as he grew stronger so did mother Earth." He paused as if he was contemplating what he was about to say. Clary could almost see the gears turning in her father's head, questioning what to do next. His jaw set as he appeared to make a decision. "Our teams of biologists have deemed the Earth no longer terminal. It appears the radioactivity no longer plagues the ground and the diseases long gone. Myself along with the other standing members of your government have decided that an expedition will be launched to venture out to the Earth's surface and report back on its condition. It will be dangerous and the journey shall be a long one. Twenty of you aged sixteen to twenty will be hand chosen to take this trip." This finally broke the damn of silence that had befallen the school for so long, students cried out shouts of accusation whilst same whooped with excitement bickering amongst themselves about who would be picked. The booming voice of Valentine started to talk over the chatting students "Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want because the alternative is to scary to think about, sometimes we do them because we are forced to and sometimes we do it out of the love we feel for another. This is not one of those times. I stand here before you today to do this not for yourselves or for your friends or family but for your country. Because in this time of need your country needs you now more than ever. I ask you to be brave, to be courageous and to do your Nation proud."
No sooner had it begun it had ended, the screen went black and the constant chattering started again, the school returned back to normal. Clary stood up ready to leave with the rest of her class trying to quickly catch Jon's attention again before she left. She spotted him in the same place as before but this time he seemed to be frozen in place. His eyes were fixed on something across the room. She felt her heart begin to race as she slowly swivelled her body around to see what had caused him such shock, and she was afraid at what she would see. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight in front of her. There in the middle of the hall was Sebastien; his body was folded in upon itself both hands were thrust into his black hair gripping the hairs so tightly that his knuckles had gone blue and she was surprised he hadn't pulled any strands out. She marvelled at the contrast between the white of his hands and the darkness of his hair before she quickly snapped out of her dream and rushed towards him, kneeling down beside his shaking body. His body was rocking back and forth, and his hands were shaking violently. She noticed that he was mumbling profanities to himself saying the same thing over and over again, "God help us, God help us, God help them". She looked up at Jon for help and saw that he was still frozen in place, his normally happy face drained of all emotion and colour, his lips tinged with blue. He looked like he was about to be sick, or pass out, or both.
She put her hand of Sebastien's back and tried to calm her brother down by saying soothing words of encouragement. But nothing was waking him out of the nightmare he was trapped in.
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