Cayden's Crusade

Official First Day Of Class

We woke up to see a note on the bunk board.

Official First Day of Class. Be at the classrom by 10:00 AM.

Fried rice,  egg, ham and toast was the menu for the day. Thanks to Holden,  we don't have to go hungry.

"Official First Day of Class? ", Zinnia said. "Ibig bang sabihin niyan may mga lessons na? Homeworks,  exams,  ganun?"

"Only way to find out is go there, Zinny", Chava said.

"Hey,  guys! Look at these!", Dash called from outside.

Nakatayo si Dash malapit sa mga maleta.

"Para sa atin ba yan?", tanong ni Naila.

Nilapitan ko ang mga maleta. "Guys,  I think para nga sa atin to. There were twenty of them", I said. I held the handle when I noticed something. "Tingnan nyo, may nakasulat. Ahh, Alouette".

"Oo nga",  sabi ni Zinnia. "Asher, sa'yo to o. Ito naman kay Myron".

Isa isa naming kinuha ang mga maletang may pangalan namin. Mga damit ang laman nito.

"Ito ba uniform natin? ", tanong ni Holden.

" I guess so", sagot ko habang tinitingnan ang ibang mga damit. Limang gray at limang itim na damit ang nandoon. Nakapartner and pantaas at pambaba. Meron ring mga underwears at personal hygiene na gamit.

"Ano to?", tanong ni Vin sa hawak niya.

"Electric shaver yan, para sa bigote mo", natatawa kung sabi.

Most guys from Circu have no idea what some of the things are so I have to show them how to use it.

"Buti na lang andito ka", sabi nila. "Baka nagawa ko nang tootbrush yung electric shaver".

"Muntik ko nang kainin tong gel na to. Ang bango bango kasi"

"Alin ba dito yung isusuot natin ngayon?", tanong ni Laszlo.

"Tingin ko itong gray", sabi ni Cassius. "Kasi tong itim masyadong flexible parang pang-exercise kaya sure ako pang training to."

" I agree", sagot ni Alouette. Suot na nito ang gray na damit. Sumunod naman sina Zinny, Chava at Naila na sout rin ang gray na uniform.
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"Ayan, nagmukha rin kayong tao sa damit nyo", sabi ni Prof.  Samuel. "Mabuti naman at ginamit nyo utak nyo kung ano ang uniform para sa classroom."

" Sakit mong magsalita sir ha", sabi ni Cassius.

"The truth hurts", tumawa kaming lahat sa sagot ni Sir.

" As your official first day of class, we have to go back and discuss the history of our dome. In this way, mas lalawak kaalaman nyo at pang-unawa kung bakit kinailangan na magkaroon ng Rangers", he started.

"A thousand years ago, humans were near extinction due to the result of nuclear war. Most survivors of the war, was killed by radiation. Hidalgo Woodson and his wife Sophia, both great scientists came up with the idea of the dome to save the people. Which is why you are alive now."

"Now, the whole dome is shaped like a sphere.. "

" Come on,  sir! We already know that", reklamo ni Cassius. "The whole dome is divided into 4 districts like a pie which  includes the Circumference."

"Really? Then tell me the reason why the base is a circle?", tanong niya kay Cassius.

"Errrr.. "

"Para mas madali mainstall ang veil and for leaks to be avoided", I answered.

"And what are the veils for, Holden", he asked.

"Ahm, to protect the dome and the inside it from radiation."

"I'm impressed", sabi ni sir. "And the Pit,  para saan ito?

" Para doon itapon ang mga kriminal",  sagot ni Alouette.

Sir Samuel laughed. "Yes,  yes. But before that, when the dome was newly created, there were attempted invasion from other places who wanted to take over the dome. The Pit was created to keep the invasions at bay."

" The couple also decided to share the knowledge of creating a dome, which is why, there are already severals domes present today, though none of them is as great as ours".

"For a thousand years, people lived contentedly inside the dome. However,  10 years ago, one of the dome's satellite found plant life on a supposedly barren land. This jump started the creation of the Rangers. Missions were made to reach the land, however, nobody made it back alive".

We were silent for a moment.

"What happened? ", we asked.

" I just told you that nobody made it back alive,  so nobody really knows what happened at that time", he said. "Don't worry guys. Storytelling will resume tomorrow."

" It's nearly lunch so let me remind you that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is your class time while the rest is training".

"Why don't you go to the pantry na at baka maubusan pa kayo nang pagkain. And remember", he said sternly, "No fighting with the army recruits or other Rangers class".
*******************************

"What do you think happened? ", Cassius asked."Baka naman tinatakot lang tayo ni Sir".

We were lined up on the table as we eat our lunch. "I don't think so", sagot ni Chava. "Mapanglait si Sir but I don't think that he's a liar".

"Baka yan yung something else na sinasabi niya nung bagong dating tayo", sabi ni Myron.

"Baka nga", we all agreed.

"Shut up,  new bean!", an angry voice roared over the pantry.

We all looked where the voice came from. An army recruit was shouting at the recruit from another ranger class. The ranger boy have his fist clenched, probably doing his best na wag patulan ang kaharap niya. I saw his teammates, just from the table near him but they all did not do anything. They continued eating as if not hearing anything.

"I'll see you later", the army recruit warned and left,  followed probably by his teammates.

The other boy went back to his seat. His teammates ignored as he tried to fight his tears back.

"We should avoid the armies", Zinny said.

"We can't. We'll have training with them later", I reminded her.

We all sighed. "We haven't started training yet and now we have to watch our asses off from those stupid armies".  Naila said with exasperation.

"Alright,  guys. Here's what we'll do. Let's just stick with each other and avoid bumping with those armies, okay. Let's stay away from them as far as possible." I suggested.

"Yeah, it's kind of lame but it's better than being sent home, " Alouette agreed.

Fortunately, we survived the first day of training, though it was more of an orientation only. No actions so far. They just let us stood on the field, the rangers in their gray class uniform while the army in brown. We made sure to stay from the armies, especially from the team Lincoln. The team whese member bullied the ranger boy earlier.