"Sam, this is Jasper. He's my boyfriend." Nancy pointed at her boyfriend. 

"Jasper, this is Sam. My new friend." Nancy pointed at Brian.

"Nice to meet you." Jasper held his hand to Brian.

"Likewise." He shook his hand.

'Who would've known.' He thought.

Jasper was a grade above him. The Junior who'd almost won last year's national competition for basketball. After having a completely even score with the enemy for almost the entire match, Jasper broke his ankle, failing the last dunk. He was quite infamous for it.

Jasper had a curly coffee-colored hair, almond eyes, and was unsurprisingly taller than Brian by a few inches. He was the kind of guy that would strike anyone as companionable with that smile of his. 

Wearing a Chicago Bulls varsity jacket, he rolled an arm over Nancy's shoulder. 

"So you're the guy who gave her that hentai thing, huh?"

"Lent. I lent her the book."

"Yeah, whatever." He shrugged.

Although Brian didn't like being talked to that way, he didn't need to like it right now. He turned to Nancy, "So he'll be the one sharpening it, right?"

"Yeah..." Nancy slowly turned to Jasper.

"Wait, you really brought me here to sharpen someone's stick? I thought you were joking." Jasper looked at Nancy befuddled.

"Nope, sorryyy. I wasn't joking."

"Huh..." He stared at Brian. Expecting answers.

"I need to find food," Brian said.

Jasper glanced at his empty stomach. He'd been looking for food inside the dome with his hungry friends. Though they hadn't found anything besides leaves (and grass). He'd considered going outside, but after seeing the scar on that naked girl, he thought otherwise.

"Alright, sure. I'll grind that thing for you." Jasper rubbed his chin, "But we want in."

"I was planning on inviting you two anyway," Brian replied. At first, nonchalantly. Though, after he remembered what happened to Brandon and the rest of his class, "But it'll be dangerous."

Jasper's face became serious, "Are you going outside?" 

"Yes."

"Just like those other guys then, huh? I thought you might be lookin for fishes in that pond. Guess not." Jasper sized him up. Head to toe.

"You chosen?"

"No."

"Acknowledged?"

"No."

He smirked. "Heh, then why even bother? You saw what happened to Kayl, right? You'll never survive outside. Even now, the other acknowledged are planning on going outside. And they're not taking abandoned losers like you."

"Status," Jasper said and a screen appeared in front of him. Displaying his stats.

"I changed my mind. I was planning on joining those guys, you see? I thought you might give me something else, but I guess not. If you got nothing to offer, me and my girl will be going now."

"But—" Nancy said.

"No, Nance. Food is more important than your damn book." Jasper sighed as he stroked her head.

Just as they were about to leave, Brian clenched his teeth. He didn't have another choice, did he? 

"I have dice!" 

"...What?" Jasper thought he might've misheard him.

"If you're willing to help me, I'll give you some dic—" Brian was punched in the face. It felt like someone had swung a baseball bat straight at him. His mind went blank as he saw stars. His face smashed into the dirty soil.

"Did you just try to give me drugs?" Brian took a glimpse at him with his blurry vision. Jasper was furious. Although he couldn't see his face quite clearly, he could still feel it. The anger.

"Jasper!!! Oh my god, what are you doing! You can't just hit him like that!"

"What do you mean?! He was trying to give us drugs! Drugs Nancy! Cocaine! You know what happened to your uncle, right?! I did this for you!"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Y—Yeah, but you can't just— He was just trying to..."

It didn't take long before his vision went black and he couldn't hear anything anymore.

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"Aww... my head," Brian awoke from the dirt groggily. Having trouble seeing everything, he massaged his shaky head. Everything around him was dark. The only thing he could see was the faint blueish purple from the crystal.

It looks like everything was the same. Only, it was a bit darker now and he was alone. Brian picked himself up from the ground. Except, he found that his book was missing.

"Fucking bastard. You gotta be shitting me. That bitch too..." Brian groaned as he tripped again. There was something about that bastard's punch. It wasn't normal.

Brian crawled unto a tree close to him. As he leaned his body on the tree, Brian chuckled.

"Ughh... Fucking unbelievable. And here I thought everything would be fucking simple..." Unexpected things happen. It's just life. Even if you thought you were right, even you were completely sure that you were, life kicks you in the knee and tells you to fuck off. Failure, yet again.

"...Guess there's no escaping it, huh?" Brian grew silent. If he couldn't get a group together, fine. He'll just have to survive alone. He had enough of people's stupidity anyway.

Once the dizziness had settled to the point it was bearable, Brian got up. Grabbing the branch he had cut before, Brian began slowly shaving the tip with his knife. Yes, he was groggy. Yes, he was fucking pissed. But none of that mattered. He needed to fucking survive.

One shave at a time.

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"A wooden spear, five staves, and a dozen rocks."

The crystals were orange again and the dome was no longer dark. It very much looked like sunrise. The dawn of a new day.

Brian wore a worn battered chest plate that was part leather and part metal. The old thing smelled like old fungus. The pitiful thing was, the armor only covered his chest and back. Other than a few leather strings, the sides were empty and exposed. 

Although it made room for movement, Brian didn't feel comfortable leaving it open.

It also had furry frills on the neck (that was more ornamental than useful). It did make him feel a bit cooler, but he didn't need cool right now. What a pain. Unfortunately, it was the only thing he had right now

"..." Brian stood in front of the open tunnels. There were more than just one.

He remembered the tunnel that led to his classroom's demise and decided to go with that one. He feared picking the wrong one would lead to his ultimate demise.

"Fucking hell, here goes nothing..." Brian gulped. The shine from the orange crystals cast shade in front of him. With his bag strapped behind him, his staves stacked on his bag's water bottle pocket, and his spear ready he took a step forward. There was no going back, it was this or starving.

He turned his flashlight on as he went in.

Time passed. After walking in the tunnel for a while— with his spear in front of him— Brian was greeted with more darkness at the end of the way.

'It's quiet...' Brian thought. The ominous echoes and the atmosphere reminded him of the grueling sight of his dead classmates.

As he inched to the edge of the tunnel, his nose scrunched in agony. It smelled like shit and rot. He walked in silence.

His best bet right now would be to gather the moss around the cave and hope they weren't poisonous. If he could kill one of those freaks, good. If he can't, then it's ok.

'There it is.' Brian said in his head.

The moss was green. It was overgrown to the point where it looked like grass. But it didn't matter to Brian, he was just fucking hungry at this point.

Making sure there was nothing around him, he took a plastic bag out and started filling it with moss. He had to hurry. The plastic was making too much noise. He'll leave once the damn thing was full.

Scrunch! Scrunch! Scrunch!

The plastic made a lot more noise than he'd expected. But it didn't matter. He was almost don—

He saw something move at the edge of his vision. He turned with panic. Nothing.

'Was it just my imagination?' Brian's heart thumped with anxiety. He had to hurry! He didn't want to die.

Once he was finished, he slung his bag in front and dropped the whole plastic in. He did everything as quietly as he could. With everything done, he strapped the bag and—

"RAAAARRRGGHHH!!!" A midget jumped at him out of the blue.

"SHIT!!!" He dropped the flashlight, and as quickly as he could, stabbed the thing before it could get to him. The midget twitched and gagged as its neck was stabbed. Blood leaked as it held on the spear. Struggling with its last remaining life.

"This is for my class, you piece of shit!" Brian whispered to the monster. He glared at the monster until its hands fell back to its side. It was finally dead.

'Fuck, I got carried away.' Brian swore inside. He picked up the flashlight and ran back with the midget. He didn't want to attract more of those things. The only thing he needed was foo—

"HUAAAARRRGGHHH!!!" A second one came jumping at him, and Brian was caught unprepared. He dropped both his spear and flash this time, and guarded his face as the two came tumbling into the ground.

"Fucking hell!!!" Brian swore out loud. The monster was trying to bite his face, angry and ferocious. Fortunately, his hands managed to grapple the midgets. Without his spear, the two were evenly matched.

"I will kill you, you son of a bitch!!" Brian threw the midget off of him. But it managed to claw his face. Brian groaned. The monster, more agile than he had expected, landing on all fours.

The two glared at one another. The other one was blind, but he could feel its ferocity. The monster's mouth was salivating with hunger. Yet, it's white eyes were beaming with hatred. It wanted to kill him.

The spear was too far away for him to reach. Brian grabbed the staves he had made earlier and armed himself with it.

"You wanna piece of me? Huh? Do you?" He tightened his grip on the staves. The adrenaline practically bombed on his senses, "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!?"

As though it was provoked, the monster rushed at him first. The midget sprinted on all its fours, closing the distance quickly. 

Just as Brian thought the midget was about to jump at him again, it didn't. The monster jumped on the wall and bounced off of it to his side. Brian was caught off-guard.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!" Brian swung his stave to his side.

Just as it was about to bite his leg, the midget's head was pierced by the stick. Its efforts were naught. The midget's body convulsed as seconds later, it died. Blood was shed.

"Huuuaarrghh!!!" Brian felt something growing inside him. He pulled away and vomited on the ground. Undigested water spilled the floor. It all happened so fast.

"—No, not now, Brian! You have to get up right now!" He had made too much noise already. The rest might be coming for him. If he didn't stop fucking around now, he'll get himself killed! While drips of the water drooled on his armor, Brian picked up his things and left the tunnels with both their corpses.

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"Arrghh!! Harrghh!!! Hmmmppphhh!!!" Brian downed the cooked midget meat like a mad man. 

After cooking it quietly, far away from the reaches of other hands, Brian cried. He thought that he was going to die.

—But it looks like he'll live another day.

Eating the cooked moss on his other hand, Brian was full. He'll have to smoke the meat so that they won't rot, but he worries that it'll attract too much attention. Brian plans on making a small camp outside of the crowd, at the edges of the dome.

Although he wasn't sure if the food was safe to eat or not, Brian had neither the tools or the knowledge to do anything about it. Instead of stressing it, he might as well just take the risk. They were meant to be taken anyway.

"AAAAAAAGGHHH!!!"

Brian's body twitched as he heard someone scream. It was a girl. Something was happening in the crowd. Brian took his his armor off and put the fire out. He hid his things in a bush and doubled back to the crowd.