1943 Breakthrough | Ziam

Chapter 1

Bradford, England. 1942

The autumn sky is dark and vengeful, dropping countless beads of water. Mangling winds are blowing in every direction, causing the nineteen-year-old boy's body to quiver.

His boots splashed through the puddle as he walks. The leaf-stripping winds had stripped the last leaves from the trees, leaving them naked in this first day of November.

He hugged himself using his free left hand since his trench coat is not enough to keep him warm. The harsh cold winds charged towards his direction making it hard for him to hold the umbrella. He quickly increased his walking pace because he can't wait to get away from this extreme rainfall.

Zayn later arrives infront of his school where students chatting loudly with their friends, ignoring the rain. The school's roof is imitating a waterfall, students are with their umbrellas and wearing different kinds of warm clothes, and the path is starting to flood a little.

He hurried to enter the school but suddenly, he felt his feet fly out from under him as he landed hard on his bum. Slowly, he gets up and carefully walks, not minding the laughs and giggles of the people around him.

"Loser" he heard someone says but he chose to forget it as he approached the school's hallway, closing his umbrella.

Upon reaching the hallway, Zayn did not expect a ball hitting his head, making him dizzy for a moment. He turned around to see who did it and he saw a group of jocks laughing and walking towards him.

"Oops! My bad, wimp. The ball slipped." Andy, the leader of the jocks, said.

Zayn stayed quiet as he continued to walk to his locker. His head hurts but somehow, he managed to shake it all off a little bit.

It has been the same scenario throughout his highschool life. They bully, he ignores. He is quite used to it already that sometimes he can't feel pain whenever they hurt him in the ways they think it's funny. No matter what he does, they will always come up with a way to make fun of him. At times, he can't help to ask himself for answers as to why they are doing this to him.

Zayn is not a popular guy in school. In fact, he is barely being noticed. He considers himself as one of the lone guys in the campus. The social ladder in school revolves around three aspects. Athletic success, family background, and sex. If you don't belong to any of this group, then most likely you'll end up being unpopular.

He do not mind being an outcast in school. He is more focused on his goals rather than listening to unimportant gossips about who is screwing who.

He opened his locker and he took off his wet trench coat. He did not remove his brown jumper, which is the only thing that's keeping him warm through the cold. He touched the back of his head and he felt a small bump. He expected it. It was a basketball after all.

He went straight to his classroom and patiently waited for their teacher to come. Everyone around him are spending their time talking to each other while he is quietly sitting on his chair. Zayn realised that it is their last school year being a senior. He is excited to graduate and he can't wait for college to get closer in achieving his desired course.

He likes Natural and Health Sciences especially Biology. There's something about this subject that he can't seem to ignore. The thought of him saving lives and wearing a white coat intrigues him. But that's not the entire reason why he had chosen to be a doctor.

Hours passed by like a breeze and he could hear the bell ringing, signalling it was already time for lunch. He made his way to the cafeteria. He got his tray of food and is now looking for a place to sit. He was walking towards an empty table when suddenly his food flew over his clothes.