Chapter 2

Daniel stayed quite and listened as Jay and Eric were discussing what to do .

" I don't want any' baggage ' " Eric said adamantly . The baggage here referred to Daniel

" I'll take care of him . Daniel , might not have powers like us , but he is smart . He should be my responsibility." Jay answered. He disliked how Eric had tried to suppress him just because he had killed the giant bug.

Although Jay had became more haughty with Daniel , he still loved him as a friend and he would do what he could to take care of him.

Daniel could easily solve this small disagreement by saying he had manifested, but no he wanted to be looked over. He had goals he wanted to achieve, and he didn't want anything to get in his way.

"Fine he can come with us , but if he tries to do anything funny I'll kill him" surprisingly Eric had quickly adapted to the new world order . Nations had not been dissolved yet , but it was only a matter of time until they did. News all across the globe indicated a very absurd number of rifts had immerged and were spewing out a monster every two seconds.

An example of the state of things was that it didn't take long for power(light) to be disconnected from the school ruins and the surrounding areas . This was too fast unless the estimate made by the experts was off by a lot , there was probably another variable at play.

Daniel wouldn't say he hadn't adapted to the circumstances quicker than Eric , after all he made preparation for the possibility of a zombie apocalypse almost once every week.

Perhaps Eric was the same .

"Thank you Jay , I will have to repay this kindness in the future." Daniel said genuinely. Who knew if Jay would have abandoned him with the world as it was coming to. Jay like Daniel was a realist . He might have been of average Academic intelligence, but his emotional intelligence was quite a lot higher than Daniel.

" I won't fault you for using Connor to protect yourself, it's a natural reaction, but Daniel it is because you don't show remorse that this is now causing problems for you , had you shed a couple of tears you would have at least been a lot more trustworthy to Eric."

Jay said.

" It's not like I'm not aware of this , you know me Jay I can't falsify my emotions or reactions , moreover to admit guilt would tell everyone that I'm at fault . It was the bug that killed Connor, not me."

Jay looked him in the eye and held contact, but Daniel stood his ground, anyone would have done what he did given the opportunity. The fact that they wanted to blame him for Connor's death was ludicrous. Should he have died so they could shed tears for a few seconds and forget his existence because they were filled with thoughts of survival? No thanks .

Daniel might have become a genius , but It didn't change his core values .

" Funny enough you are still thinking like the world is still running on laws". Jay said , trying to intimidate Daniel.

Daniel squinted his eyes and stared dead into his eyes.

" The state may dissolve in a month , a week or even today , but for now the central government is still in operation. It means one must still abide by the rule of law. And who said I'm helpless? At this exact moment Mavis , Eric , Kayden and you are the only humans I can't kill in this room ."

The room went silent, turned out others were listening in on their conversation, but Daniel had long been aware of that . What purpose did it serve? Well Daniel wanted badly to keep his power manifestation a private affair for now , but he couldn't keep his pride in check.

For the most part he acted rationally hence why he said the first part of the sentence, to give others the illusion that they were safe from human ruthlessness for the time being, but not for long .

" My friend, you are really something." Jay patted his shoulder and chuckled lightly.

Out of the four ppl mentioned, Kayden was the only one not to publicly manifest powers , everyone wanted to know why Daniel had the confidence to murder them but not him . But one look at him and they understood why . The young man was built like a tank . 6'7 feet tall full of weighty muscle and top of the states boxing champion.

Just becaus of that statement, Kayden began to garner some more attention that was directed towards the three. The young man looked visibly pissed off at the pestering.

Daniel got back on his phone . He didn't know why but he felt that after his phone went out , he'd find it difficult to charge it back up.

Luke was their homeroom teacher, the one who was tied up was still writhing. Why was this? Simple the perverted man saw a giant beast and thought the end was coming, his first response after the bug was taken down , was to take charge and tell the young men in their class that this was their last opportunity to loose their virginity. Sadly the man was dillusional, almost everyone even Eric the loner had lost that virginity he was talking about years in advance. They all understood how easy it was to get sex in this day and age . A relationship was the hardest part , but sex wasn't .

And at the moment the students were satisfied with the many illogical happenings , and refused to orchestrate one themselves. who knew if they could even get it up while still grieving their fellow students .

Eric went toward the man and said to Jay .

"If you are taking him , then I'll take this one"

Daniel and Jay squinted eyes at him .

" Don't worry I'll use him as bait In case we run into a difficult spot, scum like him don't deserve to breath in the same air as normal people"

This caused many students to shiver ,' how ruthless ' they thought , he was no better than Daniel! Some thought he was even worse. At least Daniel was put in a tight spot , but Eric blatantly planned aloud to use Luke as bait.

"That's.... " Jay hesitated , he fully agreed with Eric , but to maintain his public image

He had to play the part of hesitant collaborator . It was now in Eric's court to give a convincing speech that berated him for his folly in adapting to the new social order.

" Don't be soft ! As the world has come to this do you think people like him will help humanity weather the storm? No! They'll make it worse!. And he isn't unique, there are many like him everywhere that will take advantage of the situation to commit the most depraved acts. Some might even awaken powers making them ten times worse ! Imagine it wasn't us but he who awaken powers. Do you think anyone would be safe?"

That seemed to snap people back to the reality of their situation. Superpowers , yes . There were superpowers now ! Just imagining the horror that would have occured had Luke processed Eric or Mavis's ability scared them into siding with him fully.

" I... Okay " Jay bowed his head in ' acceptance '

Daniel even before his manifestation knew exactly who this friend of his was . They were similar in some ways , but not the same. While he would stab you in the gut face to face , Jay would constrict you with a barbed rope and leave you to hang , and you'd never know it was him. But this was an analogy, they weren't killers, but this perfectly described their approach to human interaction.

But he wouldn't call out his bullshit , he had more pressing matters at hand!.

He had begun from scratch, reading all there was on Biotechnology while standing and 'participating' in the discussion between Jay and Eric. His genius mind was too amazing it went beyond what he could previously imagine . The genius he used to think of was within human perception. To put an analogy forward , he was an average Joe, and when he was asked to imagine a strong man he imagined Arnold the famous body builder, but the suddenly he became superman.

That's exactly how it was , it was when he began 'studying' that he understood were he was at . Earths civilizations technology was too basic for him!

The concepts came to him the instant he read the content , he never had to reread or mull over shit! Daniel wanted to burst out and laugh histerically. He would kill himself if he ever went back to being human , that's how insane he had gotten.

Biotechnology seemed to be really lacking. It was like parts were deliberately hidden from him , and he hated it. With all that he'd been speed reading, and now knew , a scientist should have long come up with a serum or procedure that evolved the collective human race five decades in the past!!

What were human siting on their butts for?!!

It was so irritating he felt like strangling the entire scientific society! They could form atomic bombs and nuclear missiles, but making a superhuman civilization was not in their purview?!

He was mad .

Others on the side watched as Daniels mood went from his usually nonchalant, to utter exhilaration, to confusion, and finally full on rage. He was scrolling something so fast the phone literally couldn't go faster. It even lagged atimes causing his frustration.

" Let's leave." Eric said to Jay

" But we're are we leaving to?" Jay asked him .Eric looked at the surroundings filled with students staring with hope and said .

" Not here" just that two word Statement crushed their spirits .

" Don't be heartless! We are all fellow students, let us go with you, we won't cause trouble" Janice yelled at the two .

"This.... I ... " Jay started to say , but was he really? But no one would ever know, because Eric cut him off.

" Just because of that , you want me to risk my life to protect you? I might not be a scum like teacher Luke , but I'm not a saint either."

"Let's go , if you do anything more we are done " Eric said as he sent a cold glare towards Jay , and fully ignored Daniel who stood a bit behind him .

------

Outside the building four men stood together. Two in conversation, one bound by a rope and feeling skittish, and one with a schooled expression scrolling abnormally fast on his phone .

Eric's plan was simple . They were going to go out into the dangerous world and train their powers against the beasts.

Jay found this abnormal, who immediately starts hunting monsters they know nothing about , with a abilities they had just come into possession in less than an hour? What about his family?, was this boy insane? He really wanted to dump this shit stain and leave with Daniel to find their families. After all they were just a district away.

"I know what you are thinking, let me find my family , let me find a safe place to huddle ,and weather this Apocalypse. You are not necessarily wrong, but you aren't right either. There might be a situation where the monsters that come from the rift becomes stronger. If you do not already have the ability to deal with your self protection what is the point."

" You are making a lot of bold assumptions here. And my family is very important to me. I will not go on a clearly fruitless endeavor just for the fun of it " Jay said . There were few things Jay stood up for publicly, and his family was one of such things.

Eric hesitated a bit .

" Alright we can go find your parents, where are they?"

" In the community shelter east from here . "

" Do you know how to drive?" Eric asked

" I know how to drive ! Please let me go , I don't know what came over me then , but I'm clear headed now!" The homeroom teacher bound on rope yelled in fear , but anticipation. Hopefully they'd need his help, and when the opportunity presented itself he'd flee.

"Yes " Jay answered ignoring Luke. Really which seventeen year old didn't know how to drive, if anything Eric was the weird one.

"What about the car ?" Suddenly an ignition went on, Daniel had hijacked a Nissan so casually . He long knew how to do this even before his manifestation, although a few more minutes would have passed by .

" You are surprisingly useful" Eric said as he took the front Passenger seat .

Before Jay could get in , Daniel showed him his phone screen that had the notepad app opened with a text on it saying.

[While you weren't watching he used his telekinesis to rip out a red coloured gem stone from within the monsters carcass. I suspect it is a resource vital to you also.]

Daniel needn't say more . Jay wasn't a novel reader like him, but he was smart enough to draw up conclusions on his own.

Daniel had been wondering since the time he saw Eric rip the red gemstone out of the bug monster. Why were the similarities between the current climate and novels soo uncanny. There was something fishy going on, but he would investigate it in secret.

Real life was never ment to mimic fiction. But there was the possibility, though miniscule that this was happening the other way round.