The Huntington Society

Chapter 2

Chaos is everywhere.

One by one, kids began waking up, groaning in pain as they lifted their heads from their beds of asphalt and concrete. Their eyes winced at the light of day as they tried to register their whereabouts. Some woke up by themselves, others were startled awake by the screams of their neighbors. Many of the teenagers that were already awake rummaged through the near by houses, desperate to find some sign of life, some sign that they weren't alone. But they were. 

They looked at each other in confusion, locking eyes with people they'd never met...or thought they'd never met. Some assessed the situation fairly quickly and realized they were in an intersection of a neighborhood. Others dumbly stared at their arms, repeating the words etched on their skin, struggling to remember anything. 

Numerous minutes passed before one girl decided to do something about the excitement around her. She almost laughed at the pure pandemonium that surrounds her. She weaved between the panicked teenagers and marched herself onto the roof of car parked in an abandoned driveway. "Hey!" She screamed and waved her arms frantically above her head. "Hey! Everyone listen up!" The girl waited until a flood of worried eyes were facing her, "listen, I don't know what's going on and I'm guessing none of you do either." She took a breath. "From what I've seen a heard, we're alone. The houses are empty, no one's here..." She shook her head, "besides us."

She raised her left arm, the words and number made a bold contrast against her pale skin. "I'm guessing we all have this?" Several heads nodded while others audibly confirmed her suspicious. "Who else here is eighteen?" Five others raised their marked arms, showing their marks. She nodded, continuing, "okay... anyone over eighteen?" No-one. "Seventeen?" A crowd of arms were raised. "Sixteen?" More scattered arms shot up. "Fifteen?" Only a few were lifted. "Anyone younger than fifteen?" None. 

She took a moment to think to herself before addressing the crown again. "Eighteen-year-olds, come here. The rest of you, sit tight. We'll figure this out." The girl slid down the back of the car before hopping onto the pavement. The other eighteen-year-olds exchanged puzzled glances before approaching the bold brunette. She faced the group of five.

"I'm Jess."

"Elijah."

"I'm Ember."

"I'm Roma."

"The name's Blake."

"So what now?" Roma asked. "We need a plan" 

Elijah nodded in agreement, "we're the oldest, they're gonna look to us."

"We need to figure out what the hell happened here and where everyone went." Blake urged.

"Not a priority right now," Elijah clipped.

"We don't know if or when they're coming back." Jess added.

"I agree with the Lil' general over here. We need to prioritize." Luca nodded to Jess who raised an eyebrow at this nickname.

"Ight, fuck me then." Elijah whispered to himself with a scoff. Ember threw him a look, warning him to watch his tongue.

"What makes you think a bunch of teenagers are gonna listen to a  couple o' idiots like us?" Blake motioned to the group.

"We're their only hope. Someone's gotta take the lead, might as well be us." Roma reasoned. "...plus I don't trust sixteen-year-olds, so."

"Alright then, what's first on the list, sergeant?" Ember poked back.

The group turned to Luca expectantly. He opened and closed his mouth before shaking his head with a laugh, "I guess we find sanctuary. We should prepare for the worst."

"The worst being..." Ember questioned.

"That we're alone and no one's coming to help us," Jess stated with a blank stare, her eyes not leaving the ground. She looked up to find the group staring at her. "What?" Blake scoffed. "Luca's got a point. How long do you think a couple hundred high schoolers are gonna last out in the streets of," she checked her arm, "San Marino? Huh? How long?"

"So what?"

"So what?" Jess snapped back to Blake. "So what, we need to find somewhere safe. Somewhere we can start over. Somewhere with food, water, shelter-"

"The library," Elijah spoke up.

"The what?"

"Ya know, the Huntington library. I dunno how but I know it's here, in San Marino. Plenty of buildings to sleep in, great soil, a bunch of fruit trees, a vegetable garden." He smiled, "I mean they even have a pond, we can filter the water and use it." He threw his hands up, "I mean it's kinda perfect."

"Can you take us there?" Ember asked.

Luca examined his surroundings before cautiously nodding, "yeah, I think."

Blake clapped his hands once before shoving them into his pockets, "alright then, cap. Let's get his party started. Jess, darling, you do what you do best and Luca and I will help lead the way!"

____

A/N

For those of you who don't know, the Huntington Library is a real place in San Marino, California! You can look it up!