This Chapter is written by Hecatenna…
"Maya? Are you going to school today? It's the first day…" Mom sounds so pathetic I know I have to lie. Again. I nod with what I hope is a convincing smile and start to walk out of the door. "Here, take this bread in case you get hungry. Do you have your water bottle?" I nod again and stuff the food into my backpack. Hopefully I can make it to my hangout before the wannabe warriors decide to practice all the blows they learned over the summer on me.
Skipping school is supposed to be fun. Well, at least it is for first timers. People like me, who are in danger of repeating the school year, don't feel the same rush of freedom. It's something old, sneaking up to the Wall. The wall surrounds the city, and it's pretty high up, perfect for me to relax on. My bow is lying next to me, an early birthday present from my father, who happens to be M.I.A. He went mining for some diamonds one day, because he said he had a reliable vein that always produced some ore. Of course, we all know how that probably turned out.
I lean my back against the stone tower, which watches all the mobs if they come near our walls. Some kids are walking to school below me, and I recognize a few of them. I perk up and squint at them. I'm not spying, I'm being observant. There's a difference.
There's Hazel, the kind of shy girl, then there are the kids that think they're big hotshot warriors, practicing with wooden swords and getting iron ones for their birthdays. Sighing, I'm about to lean against the wall and try to get some sleep when I notice a new girl. There's something that makes her look different then all the other people, something wild. I try to ignore it and get some sleep, the sun warming my skin. I close my eyes, but an unpleasant jolt of hunger makes me eat my loaf of bread. Since I'm awake now I decide to draw a sketch for a painting I'm planning, a picture of a creeper walking towards someone saying 'I just wanna hug you'. It's kind of cliché, so after staring at the picture for a few minutes I add a blocky spiral thing on the arm of the guy. I can't remember what- oh, that's a swastika. What is a swastika exactly?
I'm not sure how I remembered that, but whatever. I work on the sketch for a few more minutes when a shout interrupts my work. I look down, and to my horror it's my vice principal. She screams some more stuff, and it take a while before I catch her words. Something about truancy… and missing school. And the death video. I roll my eyes and jump down from the wall. It's a science actually. You have to jump to the tree a few feet, and then hop down the branches. If you do that correctly you land on the ground, and hopefully don't die. A couple of times I've landed wrong and my heart tattoos started disappearing. I didn't show anyone, of course, because if I did everyone would think that not only was I stupid in school, but I had no self-preservation instincts. Wearing long sleeve shirts got really annoying after a few days, I consider myself lucky that they filled in so quickly.
As soon as I land on the ground the Mrs. Porgis grips my arm and starts screeching about skipping summer school as well. Well, crap. I'm sooooo sorry I missed Mining 101, and Hunting Basics. At least she hasn't noticed the bow strapped to my back… and the quiver of arrows. Well, I guess the backpack kind of covers it. It's kind of a waste of time to pretend to be sorry, so I let her propel me into the school, and ignore the snickers as she forces me into a chair. I'm almost positive that I'm redoing last year, which was why I tried to skip today. I'm slouching in my chair when the movie starts. This is the first time I've seen it, so I lean forward with bated breath as the guy starts to tap the gold vein. A growling sound starts to fill the room, and all of a sudden it's too close to reality. This could be what happened to my dad.
All the kids look a little green, but none of them look as upset as me. I stand up, and all heads swivel to me for a second. They turn away, but the vice principle's eyes are glued to me. I try to keep my head down and slip out of the room. The growling get's louder, and when she's temporarily distracted I shuffle out of the door and head to the bathrooms. It's pathetic, really, but I lean down against a stall and take some deep breaths. Some announcement over the loudspeakers gets spoken, but I'm not really paying attention. A rush of students floods through the hallway, but they ignore me in the bathroom. After a few minutes of silence I decide to check what they're doing. I mean, the movie must be over, right?
I head out of the bathroom, when another announcement gets blasted.
"All citizens please note that all the bunkers are full. We can't take any more. If you are still in your house or on the streets barricade all doors and fight off the mobs if you can." I panic. Oh crap. I should have been paying attention- the mobs must have breached the city. No. This isn't happening. Yeah, it kind of is, my mind whispers. The school isn't the safest place to be, most people keep swords in their homes to defend themselves. Okay, find a home.
The familiar sound of growling fills my ears. Panic grips my body, and I peek out of the bathroom. It's a zombie, heading towards me. Suddenly a rush of adrenaline charges through me. I race to the bathroom window and open it as quietly as I can. Checking behind me shoulder, I climb onto the window ledge and swing onto the one below me. I keep on doing this, until a arrow whizzes past my shoulder and imbeds itself in the stone. Okay. Jump then.
My feet hit the ground and I try to roll to get rid of the impact. It doesn't work, an a heart disappears from my arm. Fear starts to roll in my stomach, and I sprint up the street, looking for a empty home. Most of them have lights on, but one is dark. I try to kick the door open. It stays shut, so I curse before slamming my shoulder into it. This does nothing, so I try the windows. There's one on the second story that's open, so I take a running leap and boost myself onto the ledge above the door. Then I swing myself up onto the second story window.
I try not be obviously clumsy as I slip inside the window and close if softly behind me. The house is mostly dark, so I stumble around a bit before reaching what looks like a master bedroom. Now I just need to find a chest… a soft scuttling noise behind me makes me freeze. I slowly turn around to find a baby cave spider staring at me. Oh crap. Then footsteps start to sound up the stairs. I watch, wide eyed as a girl walks into the room, carrying a iron sword that I really hope is borrowed.
I'm dead already.