CHAPTER 119: 119-FIGHTING THE WHITE SQUAD

Clementine:

They didn’t seem too affected, but they weren’t making jokes anymore either. They looked rather serious, and then they saw us. I watched them look at us and squeeze together, probably to talk about us. Then they acted like they weren’t seeing us and began moving forward, completely avoiding us. I couldn’t tell if they were guilty or not. All I could say was they were avoiding confrontation because they knew they had messed up badly.

"So, do you really think you’ll get out alive from here?" Haiden yelled, targeting the girl specifically, the one responsible for the Fleshmingos killing the other innocent girl.

She slowed down and looked at her squadmates.

"Let’s keep moving," Joshua told her, sounding like we were the ones bullying her.

Xenia started to move forward when Ian chuckled.

"It’s just that some bitches are so mad they have to do something crazy just to get attention. Did you get one, baby?" he teased more than he accused.

She suddenly stopped and turned to look at Ian.

"I didn’t know this would be the outcome. I was just trying to play a prank." The way she defended herself, she sounded offended that anyone would call her out for causing the girl’s death.

"A person was killed because of your prank," I hissed from the bench.

That was the only time Joshua stopped, and along with him, all his squadmates.

"And did you not know there were monsters? We’ve been there before, so you knew how important it was to stay silent. That’s why you threw the stone. So don’t act like you didn’t want that outcome," I said, looking straight into her eyes.

Her jaw dropped, and tears spilled down her cheeks. She turned and hugged Jake, who was standing next to her.

"Can you stop bullying her? She made one mistake, and you’re all ganging up on her," Jake said loudly.

"Ganging up on her? Are you kidding me? And a mistake? What kind of mistake was that? It was done on purpose. She wanted that girl dead. Melania died because Xenia and you were being a bitch to her," I argued, getting up from the bench. "And don’t think I won’t tell everyone that you were the one who handed her the rock. So yeah, you two were in on it."

I pointed at both of them, watching Suki raise her brows, fold her arms, and tap her foot like she was questioning us.

"You guys will no longer talk to our squadmates. Have I made myself clear?" Joshua stepped forward, thinking we’d be scared of him.

"And who the fuck are you?" Yorick said.

Now my squadmates started lining up with me.

"Oh yeah, this is the douchebag who can’t control his bitch," Troy said, making Suki’s eyes go wide.

"You’re messing with the wrong squad. And now that your bitch has already seen what Jake did, let me remind you, we can do even worse to you guys," Joshua said, watching us with a threat in his eyes.

"What did you just call Clementine?" I heard Haiden’s knuckles crack.

The next thing I knew, Haiden, Yorick, and Troy rushed onto the road.

"Guys, no!" I screamed, but they didn’t care. Haiden ran and jumped with his fist in the air. When he landed, he punched Joshua to the ground. Troy headbutted Jake, pulling him away from Xenia and shoving her to the ground, where she started crying, as always.

I noticed Yorick fighting the rest of the squadmates, the two silent puppet boys of Joshua, and Suki coming forward with a stick in her hand to attack him. That’s when I knew I had to step in. I rushed forward, and before she could land the stick on Yorick, I grabbed her arm.

"Huh? You think you can fight me?" she said, trying to intimidate me with her widened eyes.

"I know I can fight you."

The minute I said that, I headbutted her, and her nose started bleeding. She stared at her fingers, then at her nose, before screaming hysterically in my face. That didn’t scare me. I grabbed the back of her head, shoved it down, and kneed her in the face.

I watched her get up, covering her nose with her hands in shock, then step back and land on her butt, screaming in pain. That’s when I felt someone grab my arm. Joshua must have come to her aid. As he began to turn me around to hit me, Yorick grabbed him from behind, his forearm pressing against Joshua’s chin, pushing him away from me.

The chaos grew louder until we heard a strange scream in the distance, something that vibrated the surroundings. Not like an earthquake, but more than that. Suddenly everyone froze.

Then, in the distance, we saw half of the North, where the main city began, turn completely black. I even heard the crier gasp at the sight. It was like half the earth had gone missing, nothing but pitch dark.

"What is that?" I heard Suki whisper, but Joshua was quick to pull her into a hug.

We began to separate, almost in slow motion, the Whites on one side and us on the other, all staring toward the darkness.

And then what happened shook us all where we stood. We heard an announcement, sounding like it came from the academy’s speakers.

"So, Crusaders, we are glad you’ve made it this far. For the rest of the day, you can enjoy your time freely without worrying about anything. Just step towards the big city, and you will find a house ready for you. You are asked to come to the hall of the house, attend the dinners, and listen to your ringleaders. Thank you very much. You have only five minutes to come through."

The announcement ended, and we looked at each other in confusion.

"The ringleaders? Why would the ringleaders be here? And what did they mean by having a house for us there?" Jack asked Joshua.

Joshua shrugged.

"We should go. It’s only five minutes. I don’t want to stay behind and let the other teams win," Suki said, making us all turn to look at her.

Our squad then glanced at each other.

"Let’s go," Jake said, and the White Squad started moving forward.

However, I noticed Ian slowly raise his arm and wave his fingers at us, almost like telling us not to go there. Then, before us, the rest of the Green Squad and the Blue Squad showed up. Oriana was missing until we looked behind them, she must have gotten lost after the Fleshmingos attacked.

They were all rushing toward the darkness, toward the big city.

"Have you guys lost your mind?" Ian yelled, and suddenly everybody stopped. Even the White Squad slowed down.

"This is not our ringleaders," he said, pointing toward the darkness.