Opening Stone

"As most of you know, 52 years ago, the Great War started. The reason for this not being titled World War 3 is due to how long the war lasted and the devastation that was caused. It lasted for ten yea... " The thin blonde woman with red frame glass stopped midsentence to address a disturbance in the room.

Everyone was looking to the right side of the classroom. All the students, including the teacher, could see Justin saying something quietly to a little brown hair girl with her hair in a ponytail. "Leave me alone, you jerk. How could you say that? I would never!!!!!!" The brown-haired girl said very firm and loud.

"Stop it right now! This is the last warning for all of you." The teacher said as her eye started glowing red.

The students on the front row of the class sitting at their desk could feel heat radiating from her.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" The entire class said together, Justin and the girl were a little louder than the rest. That's because they knew the command from the teacher was really directed to them.

"Now let's continue where we left off," she said while straightening her uniform.

On her uniform had the Corporal patch with another patch below it saying Jones. "The Great War lasted for 10 years. Every country was involved, and it was brutal. It all started because of Country in particular. They loaned money to every country, except for a small hand full. One day they decided to collect their money, and none of the countries had it. So they decided that they would go in and take what was theirs. All the debtors raised arms and fought back. The small handful that did not borrow money saw this as an opportunity to gather more land and resources, then they joined in the conflict as well in hopes of taking over the weak countries. Is everyone still with me?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," all the students said in uniformity.

"That's good; you all are starting to sound like soldiers. That small handful were actually the world powers at that time. When they got involved, countries started using nuclear bombs they had been secretly working on. Eventually all the countries that had them were using them."

Corporal Jones stopped talking to turn around and pulled down a rolled up map that was placed close to the top of the ceiling. The map was of the United States of America. She took a few steps over to her desk that was just off to the side to grab a long stick. She pointed at a state called Florida.

"Now take a look at this peninsula. There were so many bombs that hit this area that it broke up into pieces. This entire area is now covered in water. This very thing happens to many countries and islands. A lot of people and places do not exist anymore."

A sad face was shown on the faces of all the students. Just thinking about all of this a lot. They all knew this much so far, but death still weighs heavy for anyone.

Corporal Jones paused for a few moments for the students to regain their composure. When she noticed they got themselves together, she decided to continue.

"2 years before the war ended, a weird, unusual phenomenon happened. With all the nukes and EMPs that were being set off, a lot of damage was being done to the planet. All of a sudden, it was like the Earth absorbed all of those things. About another fourth of the population died when this happened due to radiation poisoning. Those of us who are alive somehow absorbed it as well, and it doesn't seem to bother us in a negative sense. Since that moment, all computerized electronics and radio waves no longer work."

Jones took 2 steps over toward her desk. She took a cup from off the desk and took a sip from it. After setting it down, she continued, "Almost a year after that, abilities started surfacing. Without technology at that time, the fights stopped being global and more localized. Counties wanted the people with abilities to turn the tide of the fight."

She stopped and took another sip while darting her eyes back and forth looking at the class.

"What stopped the war was that the animals were being affected by what happened as well. They became more violent. Their hide became hard as rock. The animal grew..."

She stopped to look at the clipboard in her hand. "...about 52 percent their original size, some even larger. They started breeding two to three times faster. Some animals merged, like the most common one, the chimera wolf. The main body of a wolf and the tail are snakes. A few creatures even develop abilities. This became a serious problem and endangered many countries. The war stopped, and people tried to protect themselves." She stopped and realized that these students were just older children, not adults.

"Don't worry, we are almost done, then we will begin with the opening." Corporal Jones took another sip before continuing, "Researchers eventually discover that some pieces of Earth have more radiation than others; if we expose people to it, they will obtain their abilities quicker, usually immediately; if not, it will most likely happen within two or three days. This is what is called the opening. Are we all ready?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!!" everyone said with some excitement.

Corporal Jones turned to her desk and opened the latch of a metal box on the desk. She opened the lid and reached in, pulling out what looked like an ordinary rock. It was, at least, large. It looked like it was chiseled down. While holding it with two hands, she walked to the other side of the classroom to a pedestal. She placed the rock in a cast iron ring that held the rock in place on the pedestal.

The door immediately opened, and Lieutenant Carter walked it. He placed his arms behind his back and addressed Corporal Jones, "Corporal, Are we ready for the opening?"