Cayden's Crusade

The Yankees

"This is your classroom", my guide told me. Well, he was my guide since I have been following him after I came out of the Career Assessment room.

"Why do we have a classroom? " I asked. 

" Someone will answer your questions so please go inside", he instructed. He closed the door when I was already inside.

The room was spacious. Para lang usual na classroom namin. May board sa unahan at teacher's desk. There were 20 chairs and all of them were taken except the last one at the right. They were all looking at me so I immediately went to the vacant seat and sat down.

"Finally, we are complete", a voice said. "Since this is your first day, I will answer all your questions, if I can answer them. But before that, let's get to know each other first".
He went to the board and wrote

Name:
Age:
Hometown:

"We will start from you, the last one",  he said pointing at me. "Introduce yourself!"

Tumayo ako. "I am Cayden, 17 years old from District 1, Oaks".

The man stared at me for a while before pointing to the girl beside me. "You, red hair."

"Alouette, 17 from District 4, Circu".

"You mean from the Circumference?

"Yes,  sir. "

The Circumference is part nearest to the boundary of the dome. My father hated this place since according to him,  Circu, no matter which district is a haven of criminals. If it is true, I wonder how she survived that place.

The girl next to her stood up "Zinnia, 16, from District 1, Circu."

" Holden, 19 years old,  from District 2, Acacia."

"Myron, 18, from District 2, Rivers. "

" Cassius, 18, District 3, Tulips",  said the boy who was seated in front of me.

Everyone stood up one by one introducing themselves. There was Clovis,  Barin,  Knox, the last 2 of the girls which are Naila and Chava, Asher, Vin, Dash, Nereus, Laszlo, Milo,  Jackson, Harlan and Brick.

When everyone is done introducing, the man in front said, "I guess it's my turn to introduce now. I am Samuel, that's Sir or Professor Samuel to all of you. My age, well it's just a number so it does not matter and where I came from is none of your business!"

He walked around the room before he continued, " What matters is that you know I will be your class teacher".
He sat on his desk and said "Any questions?"

Cassius raised his hand, "Why do we need a class teacher? Shouldn't it be a trainer?"

"Ah yes,  usual questions from ignorant fools just like all of you. It's not all training, dear. You will also have a class to prepare yourself from what you are training for".

"I don't understand," I said, loudly.

He looked at each one of us and asked, "You are in this class to become rangers,  right?"

Everyone nodded.

" And you all know that part of being a ranger is going out of the dome which is why you will be trained?"

Everyone nodded again.

"Now,  let me ask you this.  Why do you need to be trained when you are only going out of the dome?"

"To prepare our bodies from radiation when going out there?", I asked.

"Partly, yes. What else?"

"So we can protect ourselves from mercenaries", Alouette said.

"Correct! What else? "

" Wait! There are mercenaries out there? ", Holden asked. Professor Samuel nodded

"How could they survive out there?" Barin asked they same question I had.

"Well, we're not the only one who knows how to use the radiation suit, are we?",  Chava said. It was full of sarcasm.

"Nice answer, grandma", our teacher said referring to Chava's white hair. Chava just gave him a smile which means that she was not offended.

"What else?", he asked again.

"A possible fight with rangers from another dome", Cassius said.

"It have not happened yet since the rangers were founded 7 years ago, but it does not mean that it will not happen in the future. Although we have created ties with other domes, it just can't be avoided specially when we discover something that can change the world or benefit our respective domes." He explained. "What else? "

" There's still something else? ",  Zinnia asked.

" Yes,  dear. And that something else is the most important reason why rangers exist.  And that's what you will learn in this class.

"When are we going to start learning about it? ", I asked.

"In due time, kid. As your class adviser and teacher, it is also my responsibility - which I despise very much- to make sure you all catch up to my lessons. Fail and you will be punished." He said grinning.

"That's scary", I heard Zinnia said to Alouette.

"You also have to know that you are not the only class in this building. So you better stop acting like some entitled brats fed with golden spoons. I would appreciate it if you will get along with the other classes because at the end of the year, you will have to compete with them. No worries though, it's just a friendly competition. "

" And the most important thing, you will train with the recruits for the army so you better behave and not start any fight with them or you will be going home with your sorry asses."

"Did everyone understand?"

"Yes,  sir", we chorused.

"Good! Alright, Yankees, time to see your bunkhouse! "

" Yankees?", we chorused.

"Yes, that's your class name, Yankees!"