The Oblivion

the killings

ARIANA COALERS HAD a tightening sick feeling in her stomach. She tried to look around the hall, but it was so crowded in the foyer, with students pressed together. They were all in lines of their classes, Year Twelve at one end and Year Seven in the other. Somewhere in the middle Ariana craned her head upwards to see the Next Generation soldiers in a row, with one on the head of each line. The NG soldiers' guns were all poised in their arms, crossed against the chest. The rifles made her gulp, and she backed away, forgetting that Brook was behind her. The whole line nearly toppled over, and the guard leading the line gave Ariana a filthy glare. Frequent, terrified chatter was everywhere, above the sound of the bells. People were talking to each other, burbling nonsense as if trying to escape the worries inside them. Ariana could see the young ones staring at the guns, unmoving. It was getting so hectic that Ariana was beginning to feel claustrophobic, and the fear in her gut was rising quickly. If the guards recognized her, they didn't do anything, which means that they weren't looking for Ariana, Brook or maybe Brian. So that left Cimber out, if she wasn't in the foyer. It was nearly impossible to tell with the amount of kids in the room and the loud voices that spread.

"Stop!" One of the guards bellowed above all the sounds. At first Ariana thought he was screaming at the students to get them to pipe down, but then she caught sight of a young man in Year seven or eight escaping all this madness and dashing to the door. At the sound of the guard he lunged to the handle.

But then the sound of gunfire filled the air, and nearly everyone in the lines jerked back from the sound impact. The boy was now out of Ariana's vision, with everyone struggling to see his limp body. Before Ariana could get her wits together and realize the boy was the one who got shot, screams interrupted the momentary eerie silence and the whole foyer got filled with insanity. It was pure craze. Madness. The students went wild, and the whole term of humanity got destroyed that very day. The animal inside the children got unleashed, and they went crazy, eyes filled with clear terror. Except for Brook and Ariana. They gripped each other, but other than that they didn't say a word. The people around them shoved, pulled hair and screeched, but nothing else happening.

All of a sudden, Ariana caught sight of the soldier in front of her line raise his gun to the ceiling, exactly on one of the alarms, and the sound of a bullet shooting out of a gun echoed through the school again. At this, everyone went silent. Even the fire alarms. Everything. So quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"Anyone who makes a sound will be shot like this man!" The guard roared, pointing his gun to the poor child that was sprawled on the ground, blood on his uniform, eyes blank and body motionless.

The peace was maintained for a few minutes, and every single person remained still. Everyone was so still that they hardly dared to breath. Ariana let this all sink in. This proved how much power the NG can have over fear. It's the way anyone gets power. To fear someone, that someone has the most control.

"He wasn't even a man," cried a brave voice.

Everyone looked around to see who had said such a thing, ever so softly.

"Who said that?" One of the NG soldiers hissed to the crowd.

"I did. And i'm not ashamed."

Everyone parted like magic to reveal who said it, staring at her at awe. Ariana was surprised to find herself behind the clean path of people, but mostly shocked at herself for saying that. Coming out of her unknown shell, she shouted, now loud and clear, "He wasn't a man. He was just a boy. An innocent boy who wanted to escape your insanity." Now Ariana let all the anger pour out of her, "and guess what, soldier? Thats what everyone here wants to do."