Jacks And Jokers

3: Into the Kings, but First. The Threes.

The teacher started the day out by taking role count. There were 32 Students in class that day. When role was done we left for the train with one less student than yesterday. Today we were to travel through our city to understand what part of the culture we stood in, and what role we played.

The train was within a five-minute walk from the school. For once in my life, I could leave this dismal place, most likely to stay here the rest of it. Due to the great funds our school didn't have we couldn't afford a bus, so I was stuck seeing a new part of town that seemed worse off than what I'd seen before. We got onto the train and were told to sit in a seat with up to two occupying any spot.

"John!" my friend called. It was Izabell, my closest friend. "Hey! You ready for today?" Izabell, or just Izy, was the type of person that being around her pulled the energy from you but rejuvenates you at the same time.

I sighed and responded with an unenthusiastic smile, "Ya, what do you think we'll see?" She looked at me as if I had just asked the world's hardest question, and she, somehow, would find the answer.

"I think we're going to see some of the Kings. Maybe some Aces!" Aces, while respected by everyone, were not the smartest. In a sense, they were the brute and not brawn. They were always out protecting the city from the monsters, or as our society likes to call them, 'bent cards'. These so-called 'bent cards' we feared among everyone within the card stacks. What was crazy is, no-one had ever seen one at any point.

I get that thought out of my head with a shudder and say, "Izzy, you know we'll see aces. Wherever there are Kings there are Aces." Kings were notorious for having Ace guards with them. Whether they were sleeping, getting food, or even visiting the twos, threes, and fours, though I'd never seen a King have the audacity to visit this area. With how high and mighty they are described to be, I doubt they would associate themselves with lowly peasants like the twos that live in poverty. They were supposed to be the nicest of the nice, yet they couldn't spare time to see the ruins in which their fellow humans lived.

"I wonder what else we'll see!" I knew she was just attempting small talk, and with that realization, her wristwatch beeped awarding her points. She had the highest score for anyone I knew. I'm surprised she was still a Two. Well, I shouldn't have been I guess, since you can't leave till after the Sorting Ceremony.

"Attention everyone!" my teacher's voice rang from the front of a train catching everyone's attention. "We will be reaching the third district in a few minutes. I want everyone on their best behavior, though I expect nothing less. If you get lost ask a local for directions to the train as we will convene there at the hour, understood?" There was a resounding yes from everyone awarding them all dings from their wristbands from doing so. "Good," she said joyfully. "Because we're here!"

The train came out of the forest just as she finished the last sentence. You could see the semi desolate town. At this time everyone else was either in school or at work. Failure to do so would deduct points, and that was penalty enough for most. "She must have rehearsed that," and more for today's sake added, "cause that was perfect." There was no ding or buzz.

As I should add. You don't always get points just for talking and complimenting, although you occasionally could. You can, however, get points deducted for bashing on someone, so you have to make it neutral, or positive. I, strangely, for some reason don't receive points as easily as others. As I said... Not fair.

A few minutes later the train stopped and we all got out. I noticed the air was a little less muggy than the Twos, but not crisp. As I looked around I realized that the houses were also slightly less beaten down than the concrete, half-fallen over houses in the Twos. There was very little color, but vibrant compared to the bland usual.

"Okay, everyone! We are going to start by touring some of the mines, and if we have time we'll go see how some shops are run." Our teacher was good at public speaking, but not teaching. She could sell you a back rub, but not know what it was. "We'll take a left here!"

As we were walking through the mines Izy and I talked about the next sorting ceremony, which was only a few days after this trip. Where you went was determined solely by how many points you had.

"I hope I at least make it to the Jacks," Izy said. I knew if, at all honest, she would make it to the kings. She was the top of our class on points, and the Kings always accepted the nicest.

"I have no doubt you'll make it past the Jacks Izy." She smiled at this. Unlike her, I rarely ever cared about my points. I most likely was the lowest in my class for my points. I sometimes wonder if this is why Izy made me her friend, just to get more points for being nice to the lowly.

As she looked away presumably blushing I looked around. I saw color, some buildings, a few people roaming the street, and a shop. One thing did catch my attention. There was a person in a dark alleyway close to the edge of the mine shaft entrances. I thought nothing of it, it was probably just a bum. He looked at me and I met his gaze and quickly looked away. I don't know why, this person just creeped me out. Somewhere in my gut, something didn't feel right.

Izy saw my paleness and asked, "What's wrong?"

I met her gaze and said, "I just thought I saw something." I had seen something, but she didn't need to know. After a tour, and plenty of could debris later, we got back to the train and were getting ready to go.

I looked out the window of the train one last time before we took off and I felt a weird sensation. I looked out and saw the same pair of eyes locked onto me from a building's roof.