OVERPOPULAS

Chapter 13

I'm beginning to see how Eric views the world more and more everyday. Not to say I completely understand or agree with him entirely, but enough to at least comprehend it. This whole world is weird, like how my dad even makes money. He works at a market, which is government owned. The only way to make money is to work for the government. Private businesses and large corporations were usually owned by the government and never by just one person. If you did run a business, then you would be in a lot of trouble.

People who were caught running a business were usually executed or at the very least, imprisoned for the rest of their lives. School was even weirder to comprehend.

A bus, which is obviously government owned, picked you up and drove you to the school. The bus will be guarded by many soldiers and the driver was tested thoroughly to ensure he didn't crash. In the schools they taught the usual subjects math, science, history, and other extracurricular activities and such. The one class that stands out the most is the self-defense or as many students called it, fight class.

Think of this class like a gym class, close to something like that. But, in this class you were taught how to use a knife, a gun, and what to do if you were attacked and had no weapon on you.

Cars were usually used as a sign of defense. Mainly, the cars windows were so shaded, that you couldn't see who was inside the car. So, driving a car was a safe bet. Because people weren't randomly shooting at a car or blowing it up because if the car had a child inside, they were to be executed. So, barely anybody takes the chance to do it. Though, that hasn't stopped anybody from completely committing to it.

My head was thinking through all of this that I, yet again, forgot that class started in 3 minutes and I was only half way there. Realizing this, I picked my pace up from a walk, to a full on sprint. Running through the sewers, I ended up at the ladder and quickly climbed up. Lifting the sewer grate, I made it to the surface. I put the grate back on and proceeded to the entrance of the building.

The same guy from yesterday, or who i thought was the guy from yesterday, it's hard to tell with their masks and voice being hidden and indistinguishable from one another. Stopped me, and scanned my face with what looked like a scanner.

"Alright, you're good." The guy said, he opened the door to the pitch black room again. I walked inside and the guy slammed the door behind me. Even though it seemed like the second day, I was already getting used to this.

It wasn't long before the lights flashed back on. It didn't blind me that badly last time. I saw everybody sitting the way they sat yesterday. Fred in the corner, Ian and Penny standing together, Slinca over by the painting, but Jesse was just sitting on the floor in the middle of the room.

Then the thought came to me. "I should ask Slinca about what happened yesterday." So I went towards her and this time she noticed me right away.

"Good, you're back. Was afraid I killed ya back there." She said,

"Nope, still alive and kicking." I said, jokingly.

"Look, I was meaning to stay until you got back up but." Slinca paused. "It was getting dark and I didn't want to be out that late. You get it."

"Yeah, yeah I get it. It's fine, it's not that big of a deal. I got over it pretty quick."

"Heh, you sure you don't have any fractures in your skull?"

"No, it doesn't hurt, so I guess that's a sign."

Slinca sighed a sigh of relief. "Whew, that's good. Didn't want to seriously injure you on the first day."

A little bit of awkward silence lingered in the air for a little longer than should've. Then, I broke the silence with the question I've been meaning to ask.

"What was with you being so angry when I hit you yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" She responded.

"Well, when I hit you in your lower hip, you seemed very angry. Like, the angriest I've ever seen you."

"Oh." Slinca looked down, and fiddled around with her thumbs. "Well, I was just in a bad mood."

"Really?" I responded back.

"Yeah, that was all."

I'm not sure if I really believe her. It seemed to me like it was more of a personal reason, than just being in a bad mood. I was gonna let it go, but for some reason I decided to pursue more and ask her.

"Are you sure that is all?" I asked.

"Yeah." She responded, looking back at the painting on the wall.

"You sure there's not an injury down there that I hit?" She jolted up, like she was surprised. "Because if it was something like that, then you can tell me. I should apologize if I hit a sore spot."

She was now looking opposite me. I'm pretty sure I was right, because she hasn't denied it and she isn't acting like that's not the case. Maybe I shouldn't have questioned her further.

"Well you're right." She said, "There is an injury down there."

She turned around and faced her right side of her body, she then lifted her shirt up to show me the injury. It wasn't an injury, more of a scar that was there. It was about a foot long around her waist. I couldn't keep the stupid expression off my face, as i gawked at the scar.

"This was the place where my sister stabbed me." Slinca said, putting down her shirt to cover the scar. "She was on a drug binge when she came into our home. She was seriously involved in gangs and drugs. One day she lost her shit and went on a rampage. She stabbed me and my mom. She stabbed my mom to death."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, no wonder Slinca never mentioned anything about her family. God, I just wish she told me sooner.

"I had to put my sister down myself. I grabbed my dad's gun and shot her in the head." Slinca said this coldly while staring at the painting. "I remember the lifeless eyes in her face as she hit the floor. After that it was only me and my dad."

"God, Slinca I'm so sorry. I-I-" I got interrupted by the loud voice of Yurinami.

"Hello everybody, glad to see everybody back!" Yurinami shouted, walking out from the stage. "Today is gonna be an exciting lesson for everyone!"

I wanted to say something to Slinca, but I guess now's not a good time. I'll wait until class is over. I really shouldn't have asked for more. I didn't want her to remember a very traumatic memory. I need to make it up for her somehow.

"Today, we are going to learn the importance of ranged combat!"