My new early written novel, tittled "Zero Survivors". What is your opinion? Please no shit talk. The image has nothing to do with the novel. I had to?

[Demosiac]

It was a freezing night. They went into the bus impatiently as they were thinking of home. A bunch of high school students on a field trip returning home due to a sudden weather change. It was hell for them.

Whiny kids sulking filled the atmosphere, a situation worse than the weather for a certain someone. She was staring out the window wearing an earphone, playing metal songs like a strong person she thought she is.

Trying to remove the disappointment she thought nothing. Thinking about it will make it seem important, she thought.

It was a field trip for the whole class. The trip that was supposed to end with bitterness. Where you were supposed to be sad for adulthood and life will separate each other into the unknown. But she didn’t, she thought the trip was supposed to be joyful. And finding disappointment in the trip, she managed to convince herself. It didn’t matter.

She began drowsing, her head bump here and there like a child she is. Eventually, she fell asleep.

The bus was humming, it’s engine vibrating through the whole carriage. The smooth ride, the chatter, the ambient, everything was perfect. She woke up, and with flutter in her eyes she looked to the window.

A morning light. Dawn of a new day. Her heart was at peace, still as water, but her face, still like a statue. It was supposed to be joyful, she thought. It was supposed to be merry. She was reminded of the trip. She sighed and turned to her watch. 21:07.

She was confused. She opened her phone. 21:08.

Her heart took a pace. She turned again to the window. The light was blazing like a true sunrise. She took her phone, opened the camera and zoomed in.

Smoke. Lots of them.

Her eyes widened. It couldn’t be, that‘s impossible, she thought. It can’t be war, there was no warning. What then? Anarchy? Whatever she was thinking she had to make sure her family was safe. She quickly swiped the contacts and called.

The phone rang, and rang. No answer.

She opened the dial and phoned 911, but the server was overloaded. She went silent. She looked to the right and saw her friends, all sleeping silently, peacefully. She took a breath and rest again. Until she realized what she hadn’t thought, a fire. Maybe it’s just a fire spreading. But what about the call? How did 911 went offline? She thought. She rest again without resolving her thought and went back to sleep.

She was a sleeper, even when one shouldn’t be able to. Sleeping was a hobby of hers, and no one can stop her.

The bus was driving towards an intersection until they saw military personnel everywhere. A soldier was closing in and the driver opened it’s window.

“What’s happening here?”

“An immediate order was given, follow the designated road and do not stop until you’re in another military base.”

The driver was hesitant but the soldier made it clear. Follow the order.

The driver followed the road. It was only about two minutes until their teacher woke up. She was fluttering, the tire was swelling in her eyes. The road was dark, no moon light, no sun, no stars. She looked at the time. 23:47.

“Where are we going?”

The driver was a bit surprised and took a glimpse towards her. “Oh, you’re awake.”

The driver sighed, “I don’t know, there were soldiers around and told me to go to the nearest safe camp.”

“And where would that be?”

He raised his shoulders, “I don’t know. Follow the road they said.”

The teacher saw a confusion and unknowing from the driver. His eyebrows were showing a concern look. She thought he was taking them somewhere, but maybe he was also being taken with them. She opened her phone. No GPS, no internet, no phone calls, no message. Nothing. It’s as if the world was cut off from them.

The road was surrounded with forests. You couldn’t see whether it was a forest or just trees. It was too dark. Only the headlights were shining, and the inner lamps.

The girl woke up and saw her teacher. She stood and walk slowly as she still doze from her sleep. She found her teacher was sitting there, biting her nails while the driver was holding the wheels tightly.

She opened her mouth but looked at the front. It was pitch black, with only the headlights shining and the road reflecting the light with an arrow on it. She was dumbfounded. She turned to her left, looking for the blazing fire. There was none. It was long gone.

“Where are we going?” she asked while taking off her earphone.

Both the teacher and the driver was surprised. The teacher turned to her and shook her head with a concern look. “We don’t know Anna.”

The driver sighed and said with quite a loud voice, “safe camp, military safe camp.”

She was about to ask why, but she remembered the blazing fire. Maybe it has something to do with that. She changed the question, “do you know why?”

The driver shook his head, but kept driving. Anna sighed while putting back on her earphone, “well I hope you know what you’re doing. You better not doze off. I don’t want to die yet.”

She sat beside the teacher and rest again.

The driver chuckled, “what a lovely student you have there.”

The teacher laughed, “well you’ll get frustrated if you knew what it was like.”

“It’s like the teachers kept saying the same thing. Are you sure you’re not a robot?”

She smiled, “well maybe some of us has to.”

The driver became cheerless, he wasn’t happy hearing it. He remembered a member of his family. Once a young hard working boy who’s just began life. Now he’s done. Life was too hard, he couldn’t keep up. Was he to blame for not keeping up? Or was the system to blame?

Life has to keep going. And he left it at that. The bus was driving smoothly as usual, nothing was different until the wind felt heavy. It was getting harder to breathe. Anna woke up immediately, noticing a smell. The smell was stink and strong. Nothing was ever like it.

“What is this smell?” She closed her nose.

“What smell?” The teacher turned.

The driver also glimpse at her, and turned back to the road. Just seconds after they crossed a man. He was walking slowly beside the road. His face was angry. The driver pulled over and jumped off. He went closer to about ten feet.

“Hello, you need a ride?” The driver asked.

The man kept staring angrily as if the driver killed his wife. The driver asked for the second time. No changes. The driver then said good bye and turned his back, walking towards the bus. The man swiftly grabbed him by the back and threw him backwards.

The man walked towards the bus. He was about to enter but the teacher kicked him in the head, concussing him for a second. It was enough time to shut the door.

The man turned towards the teacher and walked. He bumped into the door as if he didn’t know there was glass. He looked at the glass and punched it, cracking it. He hit it furiously twice, thrice and until the forth it shattered.

The teacher was there, ready to stomp him with her heel. She forcefully with her might and fear drilled her heel into his head. It knocked him backwards, killing him.

His head was leaking. It was a fake heels after all. Wrong materials one might guessed. The driver walked towards the bus passing the body and went into his driver seat.

No one said anything and they began driving again. The driver though, he had something to say.

“Hey,” he called them.

“What?” Anna replied.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Yeah, for what?” The teacher continued.

“The soldier told me to kept going. Sorry I stopped.”

Anna became mad at him. Why would he do that? Why? And what the heck was that? Thoughts were running around, but it was all a shallow questions. She remembered the man’s eyes. It was blank. Or was it? She couldn’t remember.

Why would anyone hit other people like that, especially for no reason? Mental illness? Why weren’t he caught after all this time then? Recent brain damage? Nah, no way natural accident would cause such disorder. It’d be too specific. Or was it?

If it indeed were man caused, how? Bacteria? Virus? Or x-ray? Radiation? Gamma beam? Nuclear? Nuclear leak? There’d be warning.

But there was a question she hadn’t answer. Would she really take an answer from a single subject? No, that’d be foolish. But still, the thought kept running through her head. Why? How?

They were sleeping on the bus as the driver had kept awake for twenty-two hours. It was tiring. And he was the only one awoke at them time. There was no stopping it. The driver fell asleep on the wheel and let the bus drove uncontrollably. The bus went fast and didn’t turn on a turning point. The bus hit the railings and were barely able to get back on track, unstably. Half of the students woke up, Anna didn’t. They were scared.

One of the boys ran and grabbed the wheel, stabling it. But it was too late. The bus was already hopping from left to right too hard. And next minutes after, it crashed. The bus was rolling, breaking the windows and it’s shell. All the kids who didn’t use the seat belt were dead. Which was two thirds of them from twenty one students.

The driver was dead, the teacher was dead. Anna didn’t, along with four boys and three others. Fortunately for them it was morning. Anna was awoke when the bus began shaking, but she was too tired. She did manage to safe herself, the shattered glass ripping, slicing, or wedged into her body, was something she couldn’t think of.

The bus was side ways on the road. She dropped her body and went outside, walking while being crippled due to the pain. She was never fond of pain, almost never experienced it. But she handled it.

She wanted to approach the bus again to make sure her friends were still okay. Knowing that it’s in front of her, a broken bus rolled. How could her friends be okay? She turned to the bottom of the car where the engines and other parts were supposed to be.

There were leakage, forming a pool. She ran away as fast as she could leaving her possibly all dead friends behind. She ran non hesitantly. She went a distance and turned. There was a guy, running closer. It was one of her friends. He was calling her.

“Anna. What the hell!” He shouted from the distance.

Anna was confused. Why would he say that? What did I do? Anna was able to see his mouth when they were closer. He was about to say something until the bus behind him exploded.

The heat brushed her face and pushed the guy on top of her. She was in pain. I shouldn’t have stopped, she thought as she covered her face in pain. It was a mild pain, no burnt, only a tremendous hot sensation.

He was on top of her, holding her back head in pain. They both felt pain they never felt before. The guy was the class president. Not that class rank matter anyway. Both of them were close, but was only as friend. They were both aching in pains for minutes.

The guy was able to stand up while holding the pain which was fading. He looked at her, her face was annoyed. She was irritated by herself. She shouldn’t have turned back. He gave her a lift, standing her up. Her face was cute like a child in pain, but he wasn’t able to smile. The pain was still there.

They were walking, following the road the bus was in.

“Where are we going?” The guy asked.

“Military camp James.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The soldier ordered us to.”

“What soldier, and how do you know this is the path?”

“Because he told us to follow the road.”

He went in front of her and look at her. “But you’re okay right?”

She looked at him in the eyes, she was confused. “Haven’t I told you I’m okay? Why do you keep asking me?”

Why does he keep asking me, she thought. She was sulking a bit, but military vehicles were coming. They were surrounded. It was a convoy, there was a large truck carrying something.

Twenty soldiers were surrounding them. All nose were pointing at them, fire to attack in a moment notice.

--End for now.

[CheerGirl38139]

you have potential kid

[Demosiac]

finally, you comment. Thank you. You read it all?