The girl who had showed them how to deactivate their rings--Amria Fasaka--was putter her own PDA away and picking up a bashed-around coat from the ground. "I'd assume so, unless they're run by a bunch of thick-skulled idiots."
"They are." The five teenagers said in unison.
Amria didn't say anything for a moment. "How stupid are we talking about here?" She asked.
"Really stupid." Kira said. "They've got a 'dress code' but they never enforce it..."
"Well, that's pointless." Amria said as the bell rung. "And of course, they're apparently still gonna have class..."
"Because they're dumb," Nolie muttered. "They get attacked by the Animated, the entire building gets torn apart, people are killed, and they still think it's a good idea to have class like normal."
"Except that things aren't normal anymore," Toria said. "With the Animated showing up it's pretty obvious that our normal lives aren't so normal anymore."
"Pretty much," Amria said. "I've seen the news reports; so far, no one's been taking any of this seriously." She looked up at the tattered building. "Maybe now that a school was attacked and kids killed they'll start treating this stuff like a real threat."
***
Later that day when school was over Nolie went straight home. She wanted to figure out what was going on as soon as possible.
"Hey!" Kira called. "Wait up!"
Nolie stopped and turned. "Don't you have ROTC practices today?" She asked. Normally Kira left right after school for her air rifle practice.
Kira shook her head. "Commander and SgtMaj figured that it'd be best if there wasn't any after-school stuff today. Maybe even for the rest of the week. More than we can say about the school teams though..." she trailed off, indicating the tennis team leaving the building for practice.
"Are they idiots?" Nolie asked exasperatedly. "There was an Animated attack just this morning! And here they are, going to tennis practice like there's nothing wrong!"
"That's the school for ya," Kira said. She looked at her rings. "These things won't come off. I kept on trying to pull them off all day, but they're glued to my fingers. Inspection tomorrow will be interesting..."
Nolie nodded. Several members of the 'Crazy Crew' as their group had been dubbed were in the NJROTC unit in the school. As a result Kira, Toria, Raina, and herself all had uniform inspections every Wensday. However, the rings the four of them were wearing were definitly not regulation.
"So we're pretty much screwed for uniform day," she said. She looked at her Rings. "How many points are we gonna end up losing?"
Kira shrugged. "No idea." She said. "The most I've ever gotten off of uniform inspection is two or three, but these Rings are going to be a doozy..."
***
Nolie grumbled at her alarm clock when it went off the next morning. I hate that thing, she thought. Next time it goes off I'm gonna toss it out the window...
"Owww," she groaned as she got out of bed. The previous day's battle was finally letting her know it happened. "Inspection's gonna be a pain."
She got into her uniform, noticing new bruises as she did. Yay, she thought.
Once she got breakfast down, her mom drove her to school. Looking out the window, she saw that the Animated had attacked all over town. Looks like Gaians weren't there at the right time. She thought.
After breakfast Nolie met the rest of the Crazy Crew in their usual place, but this time they didn't discuss the usual insanity. This time It was all scheming about the Animated and how to get rid of them.
"I take it the rest of you guys notced how our Rings are stuck." Kira said. "So far I've had no luck getting mine off."
"Who cares?" Rosalyn asked.
"I do." Kira replied. "Do you forget that Nolie, Toria, Raina and I are in NJ?"
"And why should you care about your rings being stuck on your fingers?" Rosalyn asked.
"Having rings like these on our fingers means bad inspection scores." Raina answered. "Which is something I can't have..."
"In all honesty I really don't care." Nolie said. Kira gave her a look. "Hey! I'm not on the drill team; I don't need a flawless uniform!"
Kira stuck her tongue out. "You'll still get a bad inspection score with all the screwieness." She said. "Even without the Rings."
"I just wish these things were easier to activate." Toria said, tugging on one. "If you ask me, having to get our PDAs out every time we have to fight seems like a pain in the butt."
"Tell me about it." Rosalyn said. "Especially when you don't know when the attacks are coming. What if you can't get to your PDA or--HEY! Give that back!"
Laruenciel had stolen Rosalyn's ID. "Nope." He said. "You're all whining anyway. Hey! Quit it!"
While Rosalyn beat up Laurenciel, Nolie studied her Rings. "Rosalyn's got a point." She said. "If we can't get to our PDAs if there's another Animated attack, then we're as good as dead."
"We need a better way to get these things activated." Toria said as the bell rung for the junior high. That was their signal to go back in the school. "If the only way is through our PDAs, then Nolie's got a point."
"Zippety doo-da." Kira said. "I'll see you guys later. NJ first hour. Yay; inspection."
The group went their seperate ways, Rosalyn still trying to strangle Laurenciel, even though she had her ID back. Nolie went to her first class in silence; their lives were going to get really complicated.
Nolie didn't pay much attention during her first four classes. It was't until ROTC that she noticed a new face in the class. And familiar.
"Before class starts I'd like to point out our latest Cadet." Commander said. "Miss Amria Fasaka transferred here from a unit in the Chicago area. From here on she'll be a part of our unit."
Nolie didn't say anything as the other greeted the new student. There's no way. She thought. Amria's here?! In Freeport?!
