My back hurt. That was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. My mind flailed around, disoriented, and I sat up. Why was I in a classroom? A sleepover? A few of my friends were here, but why a classroom— Oh.
The events of the day before hit me like a truck. The death, the scenes of suffering, the panic, the frantic race to save people… and the exhilaration that I felt as I fought and thought my way through the opening hours of the apocalypse.
Holy shit, I’d met an angel. It'd turned into a freakin' girl — a tall, silver amazon!
“Guys? Sleep time is over, if you got any. The Captain wants everyone out on the field so he can give a speech.” I vaguely recognised the voice as Finn, the hot firefighter who'd shown me around the school when I arrived.
None of us were happy about waking up and moving, and there was a ton of grumbling. Grumbling, and tears. Ollie had a small breakdown as she woke and remembered the previous day. Scott was quick to comfort her, of course. They were besties, and despite the allegations, not dating.
Honestly, the fact that Ollie could cry like that with all of us… it felt like she was the only smart one in the room. You could see the fragility in everyone's expressions as we trudged out the door.
There were a lot of people out on the field when we got there, and more began to flow in as the minutes ticked by. Over to the east, the sun was beginning a climb that would throw the temperature up towards the mid eighties — a warm day. Good. I didn't want to do a full day of apocalypse in the cold.
A while after we arrived, when the field seemed full, we saw the Captain climb up onto the steps of the workshop. He stood there, scanning the crowd with a weary, patient expression. People slowly began to quiet down when they saw him waiting, until finally there was dead quiet as the man who would decide our future began to speak.
“Everyone, I hope at least some of you got some rest last night. I know that too many of you didn’t get much, or any, though. I know I didn’t.”
He paused, closing his eyes for a second like he was in a mental cage match with his own exhaustion.
“First things first, I need to address the leadership question. Yesterday, we lost Chief Burke and all six officers of the Edgewood Police Department.”
This time, when he stopped, it wasn’t for exhaustion. He worked his jaw, eyes distant and intense.
“I understand the circumstances of their deaths, but they died doing what they thought was right. I won’t have anyone speaking ill of them. That said, their loss means I’m the highest-ranking first responder here at the school. I’ve taken command of the situation here until we can establish contact with the county or state government. I know that in times like these, there can be worries, but let me reassure you that I don’t intend to play dictator. My wife is putting together an interim staff in the admin building. If you have concerns, needs, or skills to offer, that’s where you can go.”
Immediately, people began to ignore what he’d just asked them to do — shouting concerns, ideas, and needs at him like an ancient army firing a barrage of arrows. The hand he held up seemed like a tiny, useless shield in the face of all that, but, miraculously, people actually stopped.
“I know you have questions. I have the same ones. Here’s what we actually know. At ten sixteen yesterday morning, an earthquake hit the eastern seaboard. We don’t know how far it reached. All electronics failed shortly after, and they haven’t come back. It’s not just your phones and cars — computers, water pumps, air conditioning, street lights — all gone.” He stopped again to let that sink in with the crowd. It sank in alright — like a depth charge.
“Then… I’m just going to say this plainly, because I spent all night trying to find a way to put it that doesn’t sound crazy — the wildlife began to change. Mutate. Animals that were squirrels or raccoons yesterday morning became… monsters. They are hostile, resistant to conventional weapons, and they’ve killed a horrifying number of people already. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. We are experiencing a mass casualty event.”
Bile tried to rise in my throat as, again, I remembered the blood and viscera I’d seen yesterday. His wording was brutal, but honestly, it probably didn’t do the scale of the tragedy justice. Chelu said this was happening across the globe.
There were people crying in the crowd now. One woman was sobbing as she held a toddler to her chest. The kid looked old enough to be kinda heavy, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“I know. I… Please, if you see anyone who needs comfort, don’t hesitate to ask if you can help. We’ll need to process this together, as a community. However, formal ceremonies of any kind will have to wait. We’re in a dire situation, and on top of that… You’ve all seen it, felt it. The ‘Choice’, the attributes, the…” He grimaced. “...spells.”
There were more murmurs, heads shaking, eyes wide, even a few scoffs, despite everything that’d happened.
“I’m aware of how that all sounds. I’m saying it anyway, because people managed to turn those abilities on the monsters. They saved lives yesterday, and they’re going to save more today. We don’t have the luxury of disbelief. We need to use what we’ve been given to survive.” He squared his shoulders as he spoke, and for a minute, it looked like he had actually gotten some sleep.
“So, here’s the plan. I refuse to believe what some others are saying — that the Unites States government has fully collapsed. We’re too prepared, too organised, and too stubborn for that. But until we make contact, we’re on our own, and we need to act like it. We’re going to stabilise the situation here at the high school, send out parties to scavenge for supplies and find more survivors and get our crafters set up to produce weapons from the materials that we bring back — weapons that work.” He hefted one of my axes for emphasis.
“So, if you can build, if you can fight, if you have medical training, if you have any useful skills or knowledge — we need you. Please go and speak to the new admin team.”
There was more murmuring this time, and thank god, it wasn’t as desperately sad as it was just a minute ago. There was a little hope in the expressions around me — just a small amount, but enough to work with.
Of course, the Captain had to go and start talking about how much things were gonna suck. “I won’t lie to you. Things are going to be hard. The toilets don’t work, we currently have very little food, and without the water running, that will be an issue in not too long. If we all pull together and work to survive this, then I’m certain we will survive. We will get through this. Thank you for listening.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped down from his makeshift podium and was immediately mobbed by scared, anxious people. It felt like it’d been a good speech, given the kind of person that the Captain was, but… the idea that there was some sort of other side that we could ‘get through’ to… I shook my head. This was our reality now. I knew that with the cold hard certainty that came from speaking to a dying angel.
Ollie suddenly stepped forward and whirled. "Yo guys, we should go find one of the admin staff and let them know we want to go out as a group. I hate the idea that we might get split up.”
“Definitely, and with our classes, we have all the roles covered,” Scott agreed, dropping a hand onto her shoulder.
Everyone else made noises of agreement, all enthusiastic in their own ways, and began to wander towards the admin building. Camillo was the one who noticed I wasn't following. "Kai?"
"I'm a crafter," I said apologetically. "I'll probably need to stay here and make y'all some weapons and stuff. Sorry."
Alec winced and displayed one of the many reasons I had a crush on him by walking over to give me a one-armed hug. "Nah, bro. We’re sorry to leave you on your own again. We'll come back, I promise."
I leaned into the embrace a little and nodded. "I know. Bring me back some cool loot, okay?"
"Definitely," he agreed, and stepped back to follow everyone.
"Good luck out there!" I waved, then slumped and closed my eyes. Alone again.
I felt like I was becoming untethered from everything I knew… even my own damn body. I already missed the way things used to be. I missed being less aware of how loose and itchy it felt to wear this body. It was like becoming aware of the tag on the collar of my T-shirt — once you realised it was there, you couldn't un-feel it.
"Heya, bud!" The cheerful voice snapped me out of my depressive spiral, and I opened my eyes to see April standing before me. "Feeling okay?"
"Just really tired," I sighed.
She chuckled darkly. "Same… that sleep was rough."
Ugh. I needed to be doing something. Ah, wait… we had a plan. I could do shit — I didn't have to slouch around, moping while I crafted shit like a Victorian child in a factory.
"I need to get out and be useful," I said, stomping my foot in determination. "What's the first thing you need from outside?"
She lit up instantly with excitement. "You could go to my metalworking shop and grab my tools. I have a gas welder somewhere, a few bottles of spare gas… but most importantly, I have a forge I think we could get hot enough to— fuck, but it's really hungry for gas, and… Ah! If you get as many of my thermal bricks as possible we can probably just make one that uses charcoal or whatever. Yeah, that'll work."
"Details, April," I giggled— huh? Giggled? Why did I just call a laugh a giggle? I was going mad.
"Okay, so down Central Avenue, you want to take Shallcross Street and there's a shop called Boyd's Metalworks. That's the shop. There's a big platform trolley in there you can load up with the really nice yellow bricks stacked in the back of the shop," she explained. "You want to also grab all the oxygen and acetylene tanks you can see. There probably won't be too many. The torch itself is a set of metal pipes with a few valves and shit. It's hung on a trolley that will probably also have two tanks strapped into it."
"Okay, I can do that," I nodded. "I'm going to grab whatever other useful tools I see too, obviously."
"Perfect," she smiled, flashing me a thumbs up.
Looking around at everyone, I realised that the post-speech confusion was the perfect cover to allow me to disappear. "I'm actually going to dip now, April. I think I can hop the back fence by the toke trees."
With a confused frown, she asked, "Toke trees?"
"Oh, yeah… see how there's the embankment that's meant to be overflow seating for the football field? Well, those trees behind it are where all the stoners would go to get high. Hence, toke trees."
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "High schoolers, man. Y'all come up with the weirdest shit that makes perfect sense."
"Hey, I graduated!"
"Yeah, yeah, get lost kiddo. I'll go run interference with Charles," she said, shooing me away.
Thankfully, the sports fields weren't just a flat expanse of grass. There were fences marking the football field, and a cute row of bedraggled hedges beside a path that ran all the way to the back. I set off at a brisk — but hopefully innocent — pace down that path.
To my surprise, I actually made it into those trees, and after making sure there was nobody to see, I ducked into the trees and scrambled up the brick wall. Was it a coincidence that there were several roughly carved handholds in the wall? Who was I to speculate? Let's just say that this wasn't my first time hopping the wall to escape school.
Once I was un-safe outside the walls, I crouched low and dashed to the other side of the street. I'd dropped directly into the open, and if anyone was looking, they'd see me down the long, flat road. The other side of the street had a few specialty shops and such, but most were upper-middle-class single family homes. I made directly for one of those and scooted around into the back yard. It was two storeys and appeared to be empty of people or monsters, for now.
Approaching the back door, I tested the lock and almost jumped out of my skin when it actually opened. Cautiously, I pushed inwards and began to search. I had very specific targets. Namely, clothing. If anyone saw me out as Silver, it'd be extremely suspicious if she was wearing an identical outfit to me.
It took me a minute to find the master bedroom, and once inside I turned and gently closed the door.
I stood there, palm against the white-painted wood and closed my eyes. It was time to transform… but I… it was… fuck, my heart was starting to hammer at my ribcage like it wanted freedom more than life.
Deep breaths, Kai. It's not even scary! You actually miss it, you miss being powerful, gorgeous, and strong.
Ugh, I just needed to stop overthinking it. With a final deep breath, I flipped my class inside out.
Silver light radiated out of me, illuminating the room like it was the bottom of a clear swimming pool. My hips expanded, thighs along with them, and my chest pushed against the fabric of my hoodie.
The sensation of becoming Silver again… emotions flooded me faster than I could process and I slumped to the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks. Oh my god, just… my waist! My hands clutch at it. It was so slim, so… good!
With the tears, my vision was blurry as heck, but when I raised my hands, I just laughed and flexed my fingers. So soft, so elegant, so strong! Forming a fist, I punched the carpet and wobbled, then pushed myself back to my feet. I felt… full to bursting, like I'd eaten an extremely delicious pizza way too fast, and it was all I could do to stand there and bask in the endorphins my brain was feeding me.
God, it was good to be me, to be Silver… no, to be Kai—a…? My stomach flipped, and I froze.
“Kaia?”
The feminisation of my name emptied my mind of everything but those four letters. Y—yeah… that was it. That was my name, Kaia. Silver was like, my superhero moniker or whatever, but since I was a girl, right now at least, my name was Kaia.
“I'm Kaia.”