The Walkers

chapter 1

"Wild, wild, wild horses, tell me,

where did they all go?

We used to run, used to run, used to run right here

And all I see is an empty road."

-World We Used To Know

I spent my English class writing parts of random songs because I'm really bored, and the other students are ruining the class, and it also looks like I'm writing very important things. But they're still annoying. Then people complain that I have grammar mistakes. it's not even my fault, it's impossible to learn the bloody grammar with this class.

I started to think about how much I want to meet a Walker in real life... To talk with the Walker about Walkers stuff, classes, weird hobbies, well, like a best friend. I never had a real friend who understood me and we knew each other really well. This Walker doesn't even exist on the map (as long as the Walker is not in my city).

Hopeless broken dreams...

The music that marked the end of the class started to play, and I left quickly, right after putting my headphones on, to escape reality for a second.

I went back home, making sure to check if there are Red Nexus soldiers in the area. clear. for now, at least. I never gave up on the possibility it's real, and the Red Nexus initials written in graffiti, and the new but stops that I swear look like where Walker #28300 was in their base in "Paradise", just increased my paranoia that they are here.

I got home, and after a lunch, which passed relatively peacefully, I went to my room to imagine my story, and sink into deep sadness because it's not real. and it also can't be real, not really possible. I created my escape reality without any chance to reach it or of it to be real. I'm stupid.

I spent the whole day like that, too lazy to do anything else except for this and read The Lord Of The Rings. Yes, I am in a state of severe lack of motivation, as it can be understood.

 Another day at school, how lovely. It's our last year until we choose majors or whatever it is - I don't care - so we have to make a special effort. It's gonna be so fun... absolutely not.

After the worst day of the week (two hours math, two hours English, and two hours physics) came the break, and with it the realization it's only 10 in the morning. Help. Me. I'm going to kill someone.

I talked with a few friends from class. Nothing special. Just a ton of homework and group projects like we don't have anything else to do in our lives. After so many projects, I'm not surprised I feel so tired in the last days.

The bloody school is wasting my youth. And I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

"So the exam in history is on Sunday right?" I asked in some panic. "Yup. If the teacher fails us again, I'm gonna kill her." Said one of them with a 95 average who got a 60 on the last history test like 90% of the class.

"Ok... Remind me why she failed you all?" I asked nervously. Sometimes going to the doctor is fun. Especially when it means to go to the doctor for half an hour, and spend the rest of the first two hours of school in a cafe with my mother while the class is doing a history test, and then my exam (test correction for who did the test) is really easy. then it's absolutely amazing.

"Because she didn't write to demonstrate, so we didn't demonstrate and she took it down because we didn't demonstrate. And because we didn't define it. It wasn't written in the test to define things. And they were so obvious." Said someone else, annoyed, who got the same in the test.

"Hey, think positive. if she fails us again you two can write another story." Said Mrs. average 99 in the certificate. I choked on a fit of laughter. "It's not funny." I muttered with a smile and went upstairs.

English class, again. I need to submit a book report for my birthday. Yeah, I never could have asked for a better surprise for my birthday. First I was given a math test (not just a test. A math test) on the day I celebrated two years since I joined the platform, now also exams on the day before and after my birthday and submitting a book report. Why do I feel like my life is one big karma?

I gave up on my failed attempts to concentrate in the second minute when my mind started to wonder about something with my birthday, but my mind reconnected itself when I heard what I've heard. Have they just violated the sanctity of - ?!

" - What are you talking about? Pineapple on pizza is the best!!" Shouted the boy I hated the most in the class. "No it's not! It doesn't taste good at all!" Shouted another boy. I was disgusted by the fact that 90% of the kids in the class agreed that pineapple with pizza is delicious. It violates the divine sanctity of pizza! This is what it is! Pineapples does not belong on pizza!

That's how I spent two hours having fun. Yes, it was fun. So fun. All the screams, fights and laughs. A real pleasure to my ears. It was so fun that I wanted to strangle a few students. As if physics would be more fun.

I dragged myself to physics class, on the other side of the school. Their noise made me dizzy. the teacher didn't let me out when I asked. Like it wasn't enough for me to hear pineapple and pizza in the same sentence, I also had to control myself to not throw on the annoying students a table to their brain, so that they would have something in their empty brains.

This class was fun. They are still screaming and all, but my classmate and I played eraser football - throwing the eraser with the pencil to each other's side, of course. First line and we were not caught because of the noise level. What problem do I have with the noise today...

oof. I wanna sleep... I tried to nap for a few minutes, but it was quite impossible when my classmate tried to stab me 4625 times with her pencil and I shook her in revenge. I got up to the teacher, who was waiting for silence. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't feel so good..." I asked quietly. she nodded.

I went out, put on some music, and walked to the other side of the school, again, to go to the bathroom. I washed my face about 8 times. Why the hell am I still tired? The water here is ice. I looked at the mirror. Why don't I have a mask? My hoodie is lonely here... I asked myself like an idiot.

I listened to Dead Girl while I was walking back to the class. I have never felt more connected to a song than now, I thought to myself ironically. How can I feel so bad and at the same time my brain is deteriorating to the IQ level of a pancake? I asked myself when I got excited about a bird flying in the sky, who knows why.

Dizzy (probably from the excitement of discovering that a bird can fly or something and probably also from the fatigue), I went upstairs and took off my headphones.

"Hey, is everything ok?" The teacher's voice was muffled, as if she was speaking from a long tunnel. "Yeah, sure. Did I miss something?" I stupidly asked, as usual trying to keep my balance. "No" I could barely hear her answer. I felt as if something had crawled into my head and kicked my brain, but I went to my chair.

My vision blurred, and the last thing I saw was the blue floor before it turned black.