Under the tides

Chopper fov

"...And when it ends,
It never ends,
It descends,
Into the centre of the earth.
Wish this curse
Could be lifted,
Sometimes the world makes me feel like I never existed,
And I existed
When she was laughing..."
~Tom Rosenthal (One of those things.)

Ce'Nedra's POV:

I've never cried this much before, or at least never in this way. Tears leave a steady trail of wet down my cheeks, curving around every contour and dimple smoothly, tight against my skin. But I don't feel sad, I guess this is shock.

I press a hand against my collarbone, trying to root myself by feeling something constant. I was born with these bones, I'm going to die with these bones, I'm going to die right here. I take a deep breath, slowly opening my eyes to take in what is around me, the fuzzy objects sharpen and focus into sight. I can feel my heart roll when I see everyone screaming and frantically taking hold of anyone they could.

People are really simple, we all need and want the same things, more or less. We have all seen the same moon, the blind have heard about it. We all need people, and lastly, fear is one of the most dangerous emotions we have.

Kids between the ages of 13-14 are scrambling,violently trying to fend for themselves, disregarding other lives as they yell and try to escape,too frightened to understand that there is no where to go. Hair getting caught in fingers and skin under pre-teen nails. The butterflies I had in my stomach about today have turned into hornets.

A little ways away from me Gina and Janae have pressed themselves against the inner left wall of the bus, they look like they are trying to to get somewhere, but where? Are they not wanting to believe that we have no saviour either?

"Gina! Janae!" I call, pushing my voice so hard I have to lean forward and come up for air, I need my voice to be heard above all of the crying and anguish. Gina turns her head, her dark, ebony locks still wet from the rain we had to endure, her deep brown eyes light up when seeing me.

"C'mon!" She yells, holding Janae closer to her side. "Trentin has a plan!" She then returns to her trek towards our male classmate, I take a deep breath, I'm going to have to become one of the people who climbs over others to get to all of my friends. Bodies of the kids who have passed out are laid out like a tapestry of limbs and torsos, taking up all of the free space for one to walk freely.

Janae's POV:

Gina and I make it over to Trentin, along with the rest of the gang. Cole is helping Emma stay afoot by propping her arm over his shoulder and keeping a steady hand on her waist. Kater is beside them, holding a quiet expression on his features. Rowan has made her way to Gina and I, urgently running her hands over our shoulders and Arms, checking for any wounds or bumps. She asks us if we alright, to which we nod a yes, but we all know that everyone in this bus is screwed.

Aiden and Neha are next to each other. Aiden, having his arms in a tight fold over his chest. Neha makes a B-line for Cen.Cen, who just arrived to listen to Trentin's Plan. Ce'Nedra sighs, embracing Neha.
"Alright," Trenton says, clearing his throat in a quick grunt, then returning to his sentence.
"We are getting out, and jumping in the closest car. Go for high ground, and camp this out." He finishes, raising his eyebrows like he wasn't sure if this would work either.
I draw my head backwards, squinting in curiosity. Cole scoffs, adjusting his grip on Emma, the tall boy rolls his eyes and tilts his head to the side.

"None of us know how to drive, you doughnut." He says. Emma nods slowly, in agreement with Cole, then adds her own input.
"And how are we supposed to get in a car? Wouldn't it be locked?" Everyone hums, taking in their points. With each moment that passes I can feel the weight of the next hit drawing closer.

"How are we supposed to get out of this car?" Rowan says,putting a hand on my shoulder,looking past me to glance at everyone else.
"This is a Bus." Aiden chips in. Rowan gives him a pained expression,
"My bad." She says.

I look around for the exits, the escape hatches that were usually above our heads are now under our heads, not much help there.

The emergency doors on the window side of the seats are, ironic enough, above our heads.  Kids are covering up the large exit at the back of the bus.

"What about the way we came in? The bus driver can open the door!" Neha says, turning away from her hug with Cen.
"He won't be much help." Trentin mumbles coldly. In all of this chaos I hadn't yet looked at the front of the bus, I turn my attention to the drivers seat, having to tilt my head upwards-

...

The driver hangs limp and upside down from his seat, the only thing suspending him in the air was his seat belt, that tightly lay across his lap and left shoulder.
"Dead?" Rowan whispers to me, removing her hand and pressing it against her chest.
"Yeah." I respond, looking away from the corpse.

Gina's POV:

All of a sudden this bus feels a lot smaller, being this close to a dead man. I've always been one for gore, I'm into that stuff. Show me a man getting cut in half, force me to watch the weird side of YouTube. I will swan dive head first into the deep web, I promise you.

But only sitting a few feet away from blue-ish grey skin and the oily sheen of decay that layers his eyes like a second skin, makes me want to run out of my own body. My fight or flight instincts flicker within my rib cage like a coughing lighter.
"We break a window." I say sternly, meeting everyone's shocked eyes with my own.
"But then everyone else in here would die!?"
Emma says, the words falling out as she thinks of them. They were all thinking them.
Not all of us could flee from a shattered window in time, once the window is busted and the wave comes but with brute force, the buss will surely fill with water, drowning those left inside. I know everyone in this bus. I've met some of their parents, heard their social studies presentations and read their "what happened over winter break." Memoirs.
"We don't have much of a choice." Trentin says. From his tone it seems like he has decided on our escape.
"How are we gonna break it?" Kater says, speaking up.
"Like this bitch." Zack says, I didn't even know he was here. The thin brunette rolls up his sleeves and spits in his hands, power walking to the window.
"Za-" Cole inquires but is hushed quickly.
"Be quiet babe." Zack interrupts.

We all watch quietly as Zack plants his hands on the window frame. With a deep breath and his eyes closed in a prayer to what ever higher power there may be, blinking them open he slams his head against the window. The resilient glass holds strong while Zack falls backward, he's out cold.

"What the fuck Zack." Aiden whispers under his breath.

Authors note: no one is dead yet. It's kinda rushed bc Emma wanted this published. honestly I forgot about this entirely.
For those reading this story who are not in my group of friends, this is just a joke novel. Every character is in fact a real person I care about. (So please stop private messaging me about who you want to see fuck.) we are kiddos. Amen. Lots of you have been saying that Trentin is your favourite character, Trentin Irl is most likely flattered. Emma is also a popular character. She's married, sorry.

Dear my friends, 🅱ey guys.