Day 1 12:05 pm

“John, John, come on get up John” It sounded like Mark, it sounded like Mark was panicking. If something was important enough to make him worried John needed to pay attention to it.

John sat up quickly and saw both Mark and Grace sitting next to kneeling next to him. Around them was a sea of people, it was so thick that from John’s position on the floor he couldn’t even see through the mass of legs. It was as if he had sat down in the middle of a rollercoaster queue line.

Jumping to his feet John looked around the horde of people, the entire student body of Altim had been forced into the cafeteria. Personal space had ceased to exist as the crowd pressed against itself unable to escape the confined space. Hundreds swarmed around the doors attempting trying to force their way through to no avail. “Mark, what’s going on, why are we here?”

“I don’t know, I found Grace then came over to you.” Mark had calmed somewhat now that John was up but was still tense. Despite the brave face he wore John could see through it to the contained panic underneath. It was mirrored on the faces of everyone in the room aside from the one kid crying over in the corner.

“Well then, what’s next?”

“I don’t know, things are going to get really bad really quick if we don’t get out. These weird screen things on our wrists don’t help.” Mark raised up his right arm as he spoke. On the outside of his forearm was a large smartwatch looking device embedded into his arm. John looked at his own arm and just like Mark’s a small black screen was attached to his arm as well. The skin around it was warped and scared around the device which was flush against the surface of the arm. Looking at it he could tell that it should hurt but as he flexed his arm and looked at it he felt nothing.

“Grace, do you have one too?”

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“Yep right here.” Grace lifted her right arm and just like him and Mark she had the strange device.

“John, we all do, everyone in here has one.” Mark confirmed as looked around clearly searching for something or someone. “I saw Patterson earlier, he is trying to get the team to meet up by the doors to the 400 hall. Something about safety in numbers.”

“Do you think he knows something?” John knew he probably didn’t and just wanted everyone in one place where he could watch over them like the mother hen he was.

“I don’t know but he’s the only one trying to do something, well something productive at least.” Said Mark looking over at the massive football jock wailing on one of the locked doors trying to break it down.

“Okay have fun, I’m going to go find Samantha.” As soon as Grace had spoken she tried to make a break through the crowd to look for her friend.

But before she could even take a second step Mark had grasped her arm pulling her back. “NO, you stay with us.”

“Oh come on let me go, I’ll be fine.” In response, Grace tried to break free of Mark’s grasp by throwing her body weight into a twisting meant to break the grip at the thumb. John chuckled at the scene, Mark was a year old and had 40 pounds on their younger sister. It would have been easier to get out of handcuffs than escape from Mark’s iron grasp.

“You’re saying with us. At least until we have this figured out.” Mark rotated his arm outward forcing Grace to twist her entire body in order to stay upright, “Can I let go or are you going to wander off?”

“Fine, I’ll be good.” Unable to resist Grace gave up her attempt to break the grip. “I’m not a child I can look after myself you know.”

“Then start acting like it, it’s about time you grew up.” Mark let go of her wrist but kept the pressure on as he gazed down at Grace.

Grace defiantly stared back at Mark making direct eye contact as sparks started flying between to two. John had seen this dozens of times and recognized the sibling spat it was about to turn into. Sometimes he would even quietly encourage them for his own amusement but now wasn’t the time for that. It would be best for him to kill this argument in its crib before it could grow into something worst.

“Both of you stop.” John stepped in between them forcing them apart. “Now’s not the time, this whole room is about to erupt and I’m not letting you be the match. Come on, I just saw Patty and I don’t want to lose him.”

As he spoke John muscled his way into the crowd forcing his siblings to follow him before they would be cut off by the crowd of people.