The Leader

I sat on the bed waiting for about 4 minutes. I know this because I spent my entire time waiting staring at the clock on the wall. It was unlike any I had ever seen before - it was an analog clock that was in the form of a hologram. Other than the hologram clock, there wasn't anything too different about the nurse's office compared to one back home. The interior of the office didn't match the vibrant futuristic feel of the city it was based in. In all honesty, besides the clock, it looked like something that could have existed back home.

After a few minutes of watching the clock and thinking about nothing important, I heard a knock on the door, followed by an entrance. The person who came out the door was a girl. She looked about my age, was about my height, and had curly hair and a tough face - still pretty, but tough. She sported the same uniform as the boys I had seen earlier, besides a few minor differences. Instead of the khakis, she sported a navy skirt, and instead of the suit jacket, she wore a sweater vest. At the sight of me, the girl's face changed to a surprised, impressed expression.

" The celebrity herself wow you look even more badass than I envisioned you would, you know your the talk of this place right? We have some pig held captive in the gym, we have his radio for safety measures and we happened to hear everything going on hence why we were able to jump in and save you, no need to thank us by the way truly it's our honor your doing gods work. I mean, that chase was fucking awesome, and you killed that pig. The girl walked closer to me and asked if she could check out my shoulder that had been shot. "Do you mind?" I figured why not, since these people did save my life. "Yea, sure." She pulled down the shoulder portion of my shirt. "Holy shit!! There's not even a mark on you!!" The girl giggled with excitement and joy. She backed away from me, giggled some more, and clapped her hands.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse how over-the-top I am right now. It's just...well, you're the first person we've tried this medicine on, and I'm just kinda blown away right now, you know? I'm sorry, where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself to you." The girl walked closer to me and put her hand out to shake mine. "I'm Sara. I'm the person that kinda runs things around here. I'm here to get you up to speed with our whole operation here, hopefully in a span of like 20 minutes, because we don't have much time."

I shook her hand back as I thought to myself No way this girl could be their leader, right? I mean, she looks no older than 17. How in the hell could she possibly be the one in charge around here? I didn't have too much time to ponder on this in the moment, so I just shook my head. She told me I should be okay to walk and that she wanted to give me a tour of the school while she told me what I needed to know. Sure enough, I got up from my sitting position and walked out of the office with the girl.

Upon leaving the office, I was met with a sight once again familiar to the one back home. It was a regular-looking school hallway with lockers, water fountains, and even school events posted on the walls. The hallway was bustling with kids - there had to have been at least 40 passing by. They all sported uniforms mirroring that of Sara or the two boys from earlier. Sara began to walk in front of me. "Cmon, follow me." As I followed her, she gave me some general information about this school.

"So, this is Wayne F. Washington School of Leadership. The name's kind've a mouthful, so we just call it the Wayne. It was founded in 2022, a little over 300 years ago, and has always been the premier boarding school here in Texas." I interrupted her. "Wait, did you say Texas? I thought we were in Massachusetts?" Sara's welcoming look turned to one of seriousness.

"No. This is Austin, Texas. I mean, at least it used to be, and it's not technically considered Massachusetts. The New Bostonians describe themselves as a 'super country,' bigger than the state they came from, bigger than the country they came from, even bigger than the world. Every piece of land they conquered, they consider New Boston. But us survivors still refer to it as the city we knew." I was still confused. "Survivors?"

Sara's smile returned to her face. "Where the hell have you been the last eleven months?" I answered truthfully, figuring she was someone I could trust. "About 324 years in the past." Sara, shocked by what she just heard, stopped her walking and turned to me. "No shit, you're a time traveler?" Never heard anybody refer to me as something so cool before - it kinda caught me off guard. "Um, I mean, if you wanna call it that. I mean, I'm not like a professional or anything."

Sara, regardless of how boring my response was, was still amazed. "No, no, do not undersell yourself like that. You can travel through time!! I mean, shit, if I could do that, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd...well, I'd change a lot of things." Her facial expressions changed to something a little more grim. I didn't wanna say "like what" because I had only known her for a grand total of ten minutes. Luckily for me, her expression changed again back to a more cheerful one as she began to walk again, and I followed.

"So, time traveler, what brings you to 2348? I mean, shouldn't you be meeting a clone version of yourself or riding dinosaurs or sitting in a hot tub??" I was puzzled by her question. "Umm..." Luckily, she was quick with a response. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry. I don't mean to make it seem like I'm clowning you or anything. I'm just going off the movies I've seen. I've never actually met a time traveler before, always heard about them though. Wait, if you're a time traveler, how did you know to take out that pig? I mean, how did you know he was one of them?"

I looked at her with confusion. "Them?" She was quick with a response. "Right, I keep forgetting you're new here. 'Them' is the New Bostonian police. Around here, they're known as 'pigs.' The name sounds demeaning, I know, but don't worry, they deserve it. They've done some pretty terrible things since they've come to Austin. They started by helping the New Bostonian empire seize the state of Texas, including the city of Austin. Then they wiped out anyone who defied the empire. Some were arrested, most were killed. People say most of the original Austin population was wiped out that day. Now, most of what remains of our city's population are New Bostonian colonists. The majority of the remaining original Austin residents, to my knowledge, live right here on this campus. Others, I'm sure, are scattered around out there somewhere."

I still had a lot of questions. "What's the New Bostonian empire, and why are they taking over states?" Sara began to explain. "Honestly, I don't know the full story. I just know that around 30 years ago, some racist, purist religious group out of Boston that called themselves 'New Boston' began to grow - a lot. I mean, you had countries, presidents, celebrities, and even militaries backing them in secret. One day, the group carried out a huge attack with the help of other militaries, and the group's members, 'New Boston,' began to invade parts of the world, then North America little by little. They took the Northeast and Canada, then all of the East, and then around this time last year, they took over all of North America.

"Countries who opposed them were bombed or wiped out altogether. Those who were for them ended up being completely controlled by New Bostonian rule, all under the foot of one man, Emperor Kreel - a crazy white supremacist bald sack of shit who thinks he's Darth Vader. He's obsessed with the color red, and more than that, he's known to be the leader of the New Boston organization. Every year, on November 14th, the group celebrates its first-ever attack by invading more corners of the world. They call it 'New Year's Day,' and in a few hours, they plan on celebrating it for the very last time. I'm sure you've seen the Jumbotrons, but just in case you haven't, I need to make sure you understand the gravity of our situation. If they succeed, they have officially taken over the entire world."

I was still extremely confused. I mean, how the hell is the school up and running while all of this is going on outside? Luckily, she answered my question before I asked it. "We here at the Wayne are on a mission to stop them. We've been fighting back at the New Bostonians since they came here. The day they attacked, they killed a lot of us, but for some reason, left the rest to live - like they didn't think we'd be a threat. Big fucking mistake. Ever since that day, we've been based right here at the boarding school. Luckily, there are dorms here, and it's big enough for all of us. The past few months, we've done everything in our power to make them regret it. We steal weapons, medicine, and even food."

I stopped Sara to ask a question. "How do you get away with doing all this stuff? I mean, don't they come after you?" She was quick with an answer. "Whenever we send someone out on a run, they wear all black, and their faces are completely covered. And by the rare chance they are caught, they swear to never reveal where they came from. I say 'rare chance' because every class we teach here at the Wayne now relates to the current events. We've got infiltration class, bombing class, and recently, we added a farming class. We make sure anyone we send out is completely prepared and ready to carry out their mission, hence why no matter how much I doubted them, those boys were able to get those pigs off your back.

"Now, in the rare case that they somehow did track us back to the Wayne, we just recently stumbled upon a couple secret weapons that would take care of anyone who even dared to invade this place." Sara looked back at me with a smile as she continued to walk. "Well, time traveler, now that you're all caught up with our whole operation here, we have no time to waste. We only have a few hours to get ready to try and stop these assholes. Now, c'mon, we got a group meeting in the dining hall.