Hellschool: Umbris
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As the blinding amber light of a new day shone through the windows Max was strolling about watching as many of the once preppy party girls of the school took their walk of shame, though at this point it was a walk of pride seeing as payment for their services was a bountiful amount of food. Silently scowling at the girls who were willing to whore themselves out to survive she was able to see some of the disgusting vile degenerates that were willing to stoop to such a low level for just an hour or so of company. There was Brent from the Melior, a few members of Herbodia, Jason from the Pops and Mr. Margrove one of the esteemed committee members who not only hoarded the food that was once left in the cafeteria but was composed of only the most perverse, corrupt or cruel individuals possible. It didn't surprise her that Mr. Margrove was willing to have sex with a minor with all the rumors she'd heard about him watching porn on the school's premises she was surprised he was even allowed to become a teacher.

 

Returning to the auditorium Max felt her back smash against the wall as a small figure hugged her waist tightly almost like a child. Groaning in pain Max vigorously tried to pry Frida from her body but the small redhead simply wouldn't budge, slouching against the door she watched as the rest of the members came to greet her. Marco gave a curt poker-faced nod of approval for returning, the bed-headed victor was about to crack a joke about being an early bird, and Tasha was on the brink of tears with frustration ready to go on a tirade about how worried she was. Though while the others celebrated her return Gwen stared at her with sharp emerald green eyes, Max could feel the fury and anxiety behind them but even through her aloof and distant nature, Max could tell that she was glad she was back.

 

After the warm reception, Tasha noticed the ripped clothes in Maxs' hand and the bruises on her body and with a deep stare Tasha dragged max along silently expecting her to explain her wounds at dinner. While max was tended to victor eagerly scurried back to his off-stage alcove bordered and blocked by curtains as he gladly worked on tools and weapons living out his mad-scientist dream in the edgiest way possible. Marco went through to the main stage which he turned into a training area using sandbags and rocks as improvised weights and bolted coat racks as pull up bars. being the most in shape out of everyone in the group he found that having the pre-dome slackers act as the group's mussel gave a good sense of purpose to the once aimless degenerates. Frida ensured that the food supply was stable and the supplies were manageable with her young age barely detracting from her overall brilliance and exuberant math skills and while the others chipped away at their daily tasks Gwen locked herself away in the storage room silently planning the group's next moves while occasionally emerging to give either thanks or advice. This was their clan, this was Umbris. Their little home away from home.

 

Tasha thoughtfully patted max's bruises with a cold rag knowing they couldn't afford the Meliors ice packs nor the pops ice trays leaving them with the water that they hid in the shade hoping it'd stay cool enough to be enjoyable. With spring emerging and summer soon approaching Tasha mournfully stared at max's pale back wondering if he'd ever get to return home. Resisting the urge to lean her worries on max's she instead ticked her armpits resuming their casual banter.

 

"So how was your morning, see anyone you might hook up with cause you know these rooms always free at night"

 

"Tasha seriously why do you always bring this up just because we're stuck in hear doesn't mean I'm just gonna pipe the next guy I see"

 

"Or girl"

 

"Tasha!!!"

 

"Fine, fine I'll drop it but seriously I can't believe you're a senior and still haven't gotten some you need to put yourself out there instead of always wandering the halls like an edgy Paul Blart"

 

"Well your one to talk"

 

“Hey, you don't know my life” it was subtle yet evident as a lull in the conversation took hold it don't force conversation nor expect any form of continuation but max could feel a lump in her throat as she hesitated on her next topic of discussion.

 

“Hey Tash, I've got a question”

 

“Shoot”

 

“Have you seen a guy with a black zip-up hoodie and a hellhound pet anywhere around here?”

 

“I knew it! you did have someone in mind”

 

“No! It's not like that, it's just he helped me out when I was…”

 

Tension quickly filled the room like a flooding ship haul, the deafening silence didn't help either with it only adding to the tenderness of the subject. Tasha tried to comfort max resting her hand on her shoulder only for it to be shrugged away, Tasha wished max would open up more even Gwen would cross her self-imposed distance and show hints of vulnerability but that was never the case with max. Chewing the inner edge of her lip Tasha decided to drop the subject and pick up on the last loose thread that was their conversation.

 

“No, I haven't any guys with black hoodies and the only ones I've really seen with hell hounds are the Pops and the MVPs occasionally the Melior, but those nerds are too busy kissing the feet of their queen to even think of caring for anything else”

 

“What?”

 

“Nevermind, but why do you ask anyway?”

 

“Well, cause I think the rats may be more organized than anyone willing to believe”

 

“Really?! The rats, the schools literal worst of the worst.”

 

“...Yeah?”

 

“You know who you're talking about right? These aren't the kids who were picked last for dodgeball, these are the kids who weren't picked at ALL. They're the people that literally no clan wanted, and you think their what, colluding to bring down the committee?” Tasha didn't even try to hide her sarcasm nor her mocking but it was clear that Max wasn't amused instead she was deep in thought, pondering the idea shed just posed to her friend.

 

“I wouldn't go that far but from what I can tell they at least have a leader” Adamantly Tasha spun max around to face her allowing her to see the highly skeptical look on her face as the two sat in the heavily modified dressing room.

 

“Max these are rats by definition their loners and they only huddle in packs in times of desperation it's practically guaranteed that they have no leader and they never will.”

 

Considering her words their moment was interrupted by a barrage of voices yelling from outside the door. Donning their gowns Tasha and max ran outside to see the cause of the commotion only to come across a crowd of people surrounding victor as he defended his position with a threatening spear made from a broomstick and an oddly large spring whose end was remarkably splintered and twisted erratically. Approaching the frenzy the duo quickly understood the reason for the uproar.

 

all things for their group were scarce food water, but most important weapons. Many of the members of Umbris played ROW but too many were fringing the hipster median making it so that the majority did not have a single way to defend themselves aside from weapons. Yet sadly that need just couldn't be met there was so little scrap for Victor to work with since most of it was either hoarded or stolen by rats and with nothing to sell Umbris was on the brink of being forced to merge with another clan. The idea made max's heat sink seeing as it meant that all of their hard work and dedication were in vain and in the end, they were still too weak to survive on their own. Pursing her lips in a tight grimace max was wondering just how they were going to survive when victor slammed his spear on the ground shattering the spring into a cascade of rusty bronzed shrapnel.

 

Staring at him in silence victor carefully avoided the fallen barbs with exaggerated steps until he reached max handing her a rough piece of sheet metal bent around a broomstick handle and secured with a mixture of twine and rope improvised from twisted duct tape. Staring at victor with a deeply concerned look she only saw his twisted grin realizing that he had something wonderfully horrible to share with the group. Raising his hand he held a small group of batteries wrapped in scraps of construction paper and rubber bands with a small stick of wood sticking out the end, slicking back his hair with a swab of spit victor began revealing his latest weapon like a cheesy infomercial salesman.

 

“Now ladies and gentlemen boys and girls are you tired of those annoying Pops getting you down or do you feel some of the Crylics are being just a touch too colorful then blow them away with Victor Maclin's brand new battery bombs salvaged from the waste bins of the Melior just light the wooden fuse and letter rip. Watch your enemies wriggle and writhe in pain as their bodies are doused in skin melting battery acid. We've only got twenty in stock so get them now before we run out

 

The clamor immediately ramped up in size and scale as people all around the stage were rushing for victor trying desperately to get their own battery bombs, in the meantime, max went off to relieve herself from the surroundings of the auditorium. True it was the safest place for her to be and it was full of people who cared for her but it was times like these noisy chaotic times that made her mind disorganized and remind her of her change prompting her to cover her face again in an almost childish attempt to hide her dark secret.

 

Rushing to the rooftop max lay on her back as she watched the sky begin to ooze and drip with a cascade of purples, oranges, yellows, and blues signaling nights imminent approach as well as the possibility of having to reveal what happened. Feeling for the knife shed been given and stared at it slowly wondering ‘would this had really helped? would I have fought him off if I had this?’

 

Max could feel her body sag in response acknowledging her weakness and how drained she was from fighting to survive every day. The food tasted like sand, the clans were at each other's throats and with each passing day, she loses more and more hope for returning home. It would be her birthday tomorrow shed finally be 18, she remembered the promise her dad made her say that she'd get to drive his car on her birthday. Now that thought flew by like a distant memory. staring down at the ground max could feel a small shiver flow through her body as she stood at the edge of the rails ‘ I could just do it. End it all right here, maybe then I may be free. No more fear no more stress’. Sighing max simply leaned on the railing staring off into the distance watching as dark plumes of smoke rose from the city, the shield made it so they couldn't hear what was going on outside but max could imagine that whatever it was it was big and that's when she noticed him.

 

It was the figure though this time he was alone scoping out the perimeter of the barrier and feeling along the edges of its indention on the ground, pulling out a notepad max watched as the figure took deep detailed notes about the barrier using one of the telescopes to take a passing glance at the pad. Watching carefully max saw as someone approached the figure, she was clean, perky and carried a light air around her and with a stock of surprise max watched as Jessica Rowley approached the figure with a sense of eagerness.

 

For a moment max was confused not only was Jessica one of the pops she was extremely beautiful which drew the question of why she would bother socializing with a rat instead of just whoring herself out and making quick steals. Max watched the pair walk off as questions filled her mind but with a degree of renewed calm, she returned to the auditorium hoping that the group had calmed down only to see that a small fight had broken out. Sighing max went over to Gwen's room to get her to break it up but as she did she hear papers fluttering to the ground like a cascade of flayed feathers while pens and pencils clattered against the ground, spying through the small crack in the door max watched as Gwen's face twisted in anger and frustration

 

‘was our situation really that bad?’ Max decided to lay on her cot until dinner letting thoughts of the mysterious figure occupy her mind.

 

 ‘Just who was he, why was he inspecting the barrier, what connection did he have with Jessica and more importantly why did he save me?’

 

Staying on her cot max eventually came out for dinner watching as the seemingly delicious chunks of meat sizzled against the dirty slab of sheet metal that was once the bands thunder sheet, as portions were handed out max could see Tasha staring at her incredulously across the flames of the fire and finally conceded to her indecent demands. Standing up all attention was drawn to her immediately, every eye focused on her form as her mouth dried and hands drew damp. Eventually, she found her voice and relayed her experience to the clan, she watched as some people reacted to her experience some clenching their fists, others looking at her with grief and sympathy in their eyes, but most simply stayed quiet until she was done. Victor was the first to speak up stabbing a crudely fashioned stake into the ground with his usually warm and wild eyes now replaced with a cold calculated fury “tell me where I can find these fuckers, I'll gut them like the vermin they are”

 

“Glad you feel that way because that's exactly the plan”

 

Suddenly everyone's attention diverted to Gwen her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached her waits while her glossy white skin was almost like polished ivory set on a moonlit night. Standing before the clan on the podium often used during school elections her deadpan chilled the area as a heavy tension fell onto the presiding companies.

 

“As many of you can deduce, we’re short on both food and supplies we have nothing to sell and rumor has it that a battle royal between the clones will take place a week from tomorrow.” Murmurs erupted amongst the crowd but kept her eyes fixed on Gwen knowing that shed deliver some sort of answer or piece of reassurance to the situation, but she knew that as of now their situation had drastically changed.

 

“But don't worry because I have a plan. In order to avoid being swallowed by another clan, we must gain more resources so two days from now we will raid the rats.

 

"We've found that they've been amounting large piles of scrap in a singular den located in Mrs. Rutter’s chemistry room so as of today all of you are going to be working towards this event, as of today we will subjugate the rats and take everything they have.” As Gwen finished her speech max drowned out the sound the joyous and riotous clamor as a single thought dominated her mind ‘if that guy is there, we won't stand a chance’.

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