First time getting chickens. I'd planned on getting 4 chicks of different breeds this spring, but it's insanely competitive getting chicks locally right now.
It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to control getting a single batch of day old chicks, is there a good method for handling mixing chicks that might be from different hatcheries, days apart in age, etc?

Hi everyone, I will be in Mountain View for an internship this Summer and want to know if there are any sublease options (for female only apartments) available close to the Silicon Valley campus. I am looking to sublet from 6 May to 18 Aug. I am fine with both private and shared rooms. DM me if you are subletting with the apartment details. Also if you know of any potential groups to search for apartments, let me know. Thank you!

Greetings, Huntsmen, Huntresses, and gender neutral Hunters! Welcome to another week of writing prompts! If you are new here, this is a community-driven weekly event, and the purpose is primarily to generate creativity and have fun while doing so (whether you are a 100% real-meat person or not, we don't judge).

If you missed the news, /RWBY and the discord both have new moderators! Be sure to give them all a warm welcome! :)

What will be involved Special Note for Spoilers!:

Each week, three RWBY-related topics will be posted (subject to ties and special events!). Participants can write a short piece of fiction or dialogue based on that prompt. When writing, the suggestion is to aim for 1k-3k words, however, this is not a requirement. There is no goal - this is not a popularity contest - just write and have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)
SPOILERS:
You may write spoilers for the most recent episode into your works. However, we ask that you treat it like NSFW entries and post elsewhere (FFN, wattpad, etc.), link to it here, and provide proper warnings, okay? Great! <3

Rules (gore, NSFW, spoilers etc.)

The rules are the same as the sub's posting guidelines. Nobody here wants to see your story taken down, so please refer to them before contributing! If someone chooses to ignore these rules, the post will be removed.

Additional information

Pre-writing is welcome! /rwbyprompts is a sub with writing as a focus - there you will find an archive of all the threads as well as a somewhat fleshed-out wiki with odds and ends. :) A detailed spreadsheet of WPW things is here! Keep in mind that this houses a lot of the old prompts, but it also has links and things like early participation to previous WPW threads. We're trying this whole week-to-week thing in the face of the bajillion prompts we had built up. We might do something with them, or people might cycle them back in, who knows what could happen??
Find us on Discord at The Qrow's Nest! The permanent invite has been deleted due to Discord bot shenanigans, so dm shand if you want an invite!

The Prompts!:

This week is dedicated to Spring Break, which means we're going freeform! The theme is obviously every student's favorite time of year - write what you like (but try to behave yourselves haha!)

Next Week's Poll:

The annual Spring Break Beach episode is on, so we're still on last week's poll! :)
The Poll!

Last Week:

Some of the older threads keep getting updates - if you spotted a to be continued, you might wanna go back and have a peek! ;)
The [thread]()
The Prompts:

• Team RWBY always gets the lowest scores on "survival and evasion" exercises. Finally, somebody from another team has to explain that a trail of wanton destruction isn't evasion.
• The Rwby crew (can include villains or not) play among us.
• Yang's arm gets a Prosthetic Yang to replace the Yang it lost.

Alternate-Secondary Prompts:

• An AU where Pyrrha is Jaune's childhood friend.
• Pyrrha's ghost possesses Ruby so she could interact with Jaune. (Nothing "unsafe" happens, though)
• The tragic story of a young huntress (or huntsman), the ravenous horde of Grimm (s)he has fallen in love with, and the disapproving society keeping them apart.
• Team WTCH abridges a RWBY episode of your choice (btw the comment isnt stickied).
• The history of SDC corporate branding.
• RWBY/HI FI RUSH Crossover!
• Rather than be inspired by Qrow, Ruby instead bases her weapon(s) and combat style off of a different scythe wielder (not necessarily from the RWBY-verse).
• Top GeaGrand Tour Remnant Special, featuring Yang Xiao Long. Hilarity ensues, as is the usual for Top GeaGrand Tour.
• Young Maria going for tryouts at Haven Academy.
• One character has something in their teeth, and another JUST. CAN'T. STOP. STARING at it.
• JN_R visits the neighborhood where Pyrrha grew up.
• Yang finds a Terran main battle tank. Chaos ensues.
• When Crocea Mors was created, a soul was born in it. This secret is known by the Arc Family only, with the exception of Jaune. So when the sword reawakened, it introduced itself to Jaune while in front to Team JNPR.

Upcoming Events:

Next week is Spring Break!

Important Stuff and Things!

I have managed to rescue /RWBYFanfiction from an untimely demise! If you would like to share your fanfic or make recommendations, head on over there! I know that I've said something special was coming for this, but Ruby on Rails is hard and not cheap to operate. The fanfiction indexer that I was trying to set up just isn't working and probably needs someone with more experience in RoR programming/design. I haven't completely put it to bed, but it might be a while before I can circle back to it. In the meantime, the fanfic sub has actually had a decent amount of postings - head on over and say hi! :)
No matter how bad things may get, words will always have meaning. Now get out there and write something, but most importantly, have fun! :)

I wasn't sure what to title this but I feel a need to share my experience. It's a long story. TLDR at the bottom. The names are changed here.
Last spring/summer I met up with a guy online. His name is "David". We jerked off and I gave him head. I learned he was in an open relationship. A few weeks later we met up again and did the same thing. He asked if I was into groups, showed me photos of his boyfriend and all that. I've never done threesomes so I told him I'd have to think about it.
Sometime later that month his boyfriend, "Anthony" started texting me out of the blue. I asked who he was and all he said was that I was in his apartment. Eventually he told me he was David's partner and he wanted to meet up with me. We exchanged pictures and chatted a bit and it ended there. A few days later I texted David about meeting up again and we made tentative plans to meet at my place in the evening. When I left the gym that night I texted him and Anthony was now messaging me on Grindr. He told me to "have fun". When I didn't reply right away he sent another message saying "okay." (I then learned about read receipts on Grindr). I messaged him back and explained I was leaving the gym and was confused by the message. He went on to say that he was having a guy over tonight and he wanted me to keep David busy. I joked that I would. He then asked if David fucks me good which I told him he hasn't done that. Time passes, David never texts me back and Anthony asks me if I'm with him. He tells me he hasn't heard from him in hours and I told him he last replied to me much earlier in the day. Towards the end of that night he starts asking what i do for work and then he tells me what he does. Anthony then says he's with David right now and David's saying he was with me which I deny. He starts to tell me that David was in recovery and relapsed so he was just trying to see where he was and thinks David is using again. He starts apologizing for all of this and putting me in this spot. He asks if we could still hang. I told him potentially if they figure their stuff out.
So over the next few months I don't hear from David but Anthony continues to message me on Grindr. We talk here and there about meeting up but nothing ever lines up. I then start seeing them at my gym. Anthony messages that they saw me, calls me handsome and all that. I told them they looked good too. Later that week David is at the gym and makes eye contact with me. He comes over to chat and apologizes for that night a few months ago where he told Anthony we were together but weren't. I brush it off, tell him it's fine and we just chat about life and the gym. He asks about hanging sometime and I say I'd be down. Later that day Anthony asks if I saw David which I confirm. He asks if we fucked which I explain that we didn't and we just caught up a bit at the gym. I told him that I referenced to David that Anthony and I have messaged here and there over the last few months which Anthony wasn't keen about. I asked him the rules of their open relationship which he wasn't fully sure of.
Time goes by and there are messages with Anthony here and there. I eventually met him in passing at the gym. I saw David a few times at the gym and we chatted here and there over the course of the fall but only at the gym. At the end of November Anthony and I discuss meeting up and I ask about a threesome and he tells me that he prefers I keep our meet up between us and not tell David. I told him I wasn't comfortable with that. I wouldn't run to tell David but I'm not trying to hide anything or get involved like that. He says okay and I figure it's done.
Now Anthony has a faceless profile on Grindr. Generally blank. There's another guy (Nick) I chat with on there who has a blank profile but I've seen his face before. In December I'm talking to Nick about meeting up tomorrow morning and setting a time and plans. After about half an hour of chatting about this I realize I'm messaging Anthony and not Nick. I immediately told him the mistake and apologized to him. Anthony went off on me. Told me I'm terrible for coming to his apartment and hooking up with his partner. I told him I was there months ago when I first met him. He tells me to stop talking to David and I tell him it's only at the gym and I'll avoid speaking with him moving forward. Anthony then tells me that I'm lying and he sees me texting David all the time. I deny this and note that I haven't texted him since early in the summer when we last planned to hang at my place. He doesn't believe this. Eventually we both block each other because he's railing into me and doesn't want to hear anything else besides what he believes. Following this I never saw David or Anthony at the gym again.
Months pass by and guess who comes back to message me? Anthony. He sends his picture, says hey and says he's sorry. I didn't reply right away and he sent an impatient follow up message that just said "ok". I told him I needed time to reply. I eventually responded and told him that it's okay and I apologized for the confusion and not drawing a better line in the sand when we last spoke. I told him I don't have any ill feelings towards him but that I think it's best we don't speak anymore. He says "ok." A week later I now see David on Grindr with a full profile as well anthony with his blank one. Over the weekend Anthony messages me at 1am which I ignored. This evening he messages me and asks if I'm looking and I say no I'm not. He asks "well what about another time?" I tell him "I think it's best that we don't meet up." He blocks me, then unblocks me and says "you're whack" and blocks me again.
Anyway that's my story. I didn't expect it to ever be such a dramatic interaction. I'm more wary of approaching people in open relationships now especially if they're unable to share their rules or they're being secretive. I'm sure I'll hear from Anthony again but I'm just going to ignore or block him moving forward.
TLDR: I hooked up with someone in an open relationship. Their partner wanted to hook up with me and started texting me. Random drama ensued between them. I maintained some contact with them over a few months. I eventually learned they weren't so open and rejected the partner. The partner blew up on me, eventually apologized and got mad again when I didn't wanna meet up.

Hey,
My housing plans for the summefall fell apart and my housing on campus is awful (IV 🤢).
My co-op starts in May so I’ll be here for the full summer, fall, and spring semesters. Imo there’s a lot more open places available for groups rn than singles, so if you’re in a similar boat or know someone that is please dm me!

Hi! I’m looking for female roommates for the Fall ‘23- Spring ‘24 school year! I’m going to be a senior in the fall and my major is psychology. Most nights I’m a homebody, but I occasionally like to go out during the week and during the weekend. I like to play tennis, watch tv/movies, cook, bake, and just hang around!
I would like to live close to the main quad (within a 10 minute walk). My budget is $800/month, but obviously less than that is ideal! I like to keep my personal space and common areas very clean so I am looking for roommates who are the same way. Please let me know if I can fill a spot in your apartment or if you want to start searching together. Thanks! ◡̈

What brand of evening primrose oil did you see results with? I got my implant inserted on valentine’s day this year and I didn’t bleed for the first month and have begun to bleed for almost two weeks now. Immediately it was period-like, medium bleeding and it is now pretty heavy with lots of clots and no sign of stopping. I began to use epo after reading about it and the first day it did bring my bleeding down to nothing but then a few hours later it came right back and now there’s seemingly no effect from the epo. I wonder if it’s the brand I’ve been using however, first I tried the spring valley brand from walmart and then I tried the generic target brand, none are working for me. I wonder if I just need a higher quality brand or something.

I’m 20. I’m gen z. I was born in spring 2002. Obviously, 9/11 was a horrific tragedy, and I don’t mean any offense by this post. But what I just don’t get is why it was so profoundly shocking to everybody. Every time I read about 9/11 the focus is always on how Americans were incredulous that something like so violent and awful could happen in their country. But seriously? America is practically falling apart, and it has been for most of its history. Scores of people die in terrible tragedies all the time in America— mass shootings, extreme weather, climate-change-related disasters, forest fires, wars overseas, pandemics, poverty, inadequate healthcare. This has been true since long before 2001. We’re constantly under attack from other countries— China, Russia, North Korea, and more. We’re manipulated by corporations without our best interests in mind. Most people my age that I know think there will probably be another war in our lifetime. If another 9/11 happened, I’d be sad and scared, but probably not even that surprised. 9/11 just seems like another terrible thing to have happened in a long line of terrible things to have happened in America, a long line that will probably only continue. Did people seriously think the US was invincible? How is that even possible? I feel like I’m probably ignorant, but given the sheer amount of tragedy that exist, I just don’t get it.

Three bedroom / two bathroom apartment at The Piedmont (really close to Tempe campus!!).
Cost: $899/month (not including the initial $55 resident application fee)
​
Includes:

• Fully furnished apartment and bedroom
• Kitchen, washing machine, dryer, printer, and individual bathroom
• Pet friendly (There are currently no pets in the apartment but having a pet is negotiable)
• Balcony
• Recreational facilities including but not limited to gym and pool

Desired traits:

• Maintains the common areas (especially) and room clean
• No recreational drug usage
• Maintains communication as to:
  • Usage of common space (shelves, fridge space, etc.)
  • Having other people in the common space (throwing a party, having a sleepover, etc.)
• Available to meet sometime this Spring 2023 semester

About me: MechE Junior at ASU. I like anime and fantasy novels, cooking (will use kitchen often), and arts+crafts.
​
DM if interested!

Hi there,
I am new to SF and recently saw an apartment on Bush St. (close to Polk but not on Polk) that I really liked. It pretty much checks most of my boxes - easy commute to FiDi, good layout/space for a studio, access controlled building with a package concierge, laundry onsite, dishwasher, tons of closet space, close to good restaurants and grocery stuff, feels quite lively/gives me city vibes, etc.
I know it's a few blocks north of from where the Tenderloin starts, so I was wondering how the area is in terms of crime/safety? For context, I moved here from NYC so the homelessness/grim nature is not a shocker for me (although they do seem a bit more aggressive here).
I have looked at places near the Castro, DBT, Mission and Noe Valley but didn't really like them/have to share with housemates, and would ideally want to balance being in a nice home and being close to social stuff. I know Nob Hill/Lower Nob Bill is a bit far from these places but I find SF to be kind of small and most places are a pretty easy commute with public transportation/bike.
Thanks in advance!

I have pretty much never seen an article that made me just about laugh out loud regarding layoffs, but this one did, about the last round of layoffs at Google - https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/20/tech/google-layoffs-employee-culture/index.html
Few specific points, informed by the fact that I lived and worked near there for two decades... 1) Google had the nerve to lay off people who'd been there for long periods of time - very experienced, highly educated, senior people, hardcore Silicon Valley types who'd never been laid off in their lives, never met with anything but success and flattery, never encountered obstacles or ill fortune of any kind. I know/knew a few of these people, and these folks have never even had to file for unemployment! 2) Google laid off TONS of very senior people. Presumably, their salaries were so inflated that the top kicks realized that even with stupidly hiring tens of thousands of people during the pandemic, they could still keep five people for every one of these senior techies they canned. Probably get more work done, too. AI might be coming for all of them. 3) Dear God, the horrified screeching of these people permeates this article. Shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, that "there is an abiding devotion to revenue and seemingly endless growth. And that comes without any thought to employees’ welfare in the end.” You gotta be kidding me. What, you're not the pampered workling of the upper class after all? Your status as a member of that upper class is subject to revocation? Whatever will you do with that $2M 3BD/2BA home that you bought in the right school district so your precious kids could be indoctrinated into the same compliant work culture you happily embraced? 4) “'A lot of us workers at the bottom are just confused about where tech is headed,'” a former employee said." At the bottom? LOLZ. Get back to me in five years and let me know what it feels like to be at the bottom.
Wow. I've always called these people The Anointed, because they always seemed to effortlessly coast through life. I've contracted in these companies for almost a decade, with no paid time off and, sometimes, folding tables in a hallway to work on. Meanwhile everyone else had offices that look like apartments - when they could be bothered to show up. I'll never forget it. Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others are all majority contract labor. These are the people, in the article, on the other side. Glad to see some of them getting their fannies spanked for once in their lives.

Ok so title is a bit misleading, but my daughter was diagnosed with adhd this last august. She started medication but, because we give it to her at home in the morning, and then she rides the bus, gets to school, does a morning group time, etc, the medication is, essentially, out of her system before the “school work” starts.
She’s had a really rough year in kindergarten (first year In kindergarten, but 3rd year with the same teacheclassroom, and never had issues the last 2 years)
Today she started taking her medication after lunch (also in the morning, but added the lunch dose)
I got a text from her teacher saying “she’s a complete different child today” and how she was “so defeated before spring break, and was so happy and excited to learn again today” (today was the first day back to school)
My daughter usually comes home and completely falls apart. School is hard, kids were “trying to distract her”. She doesn’t get her work done, and she feels “stupid”.
Today she came home and said “mommy! Today wasn’t so hard!” 🥹
My heart could explode!!
Both my husband and I have ADHD, but we both weren’t diagnosed until we were teens. I have so much negative inner thoughts from being undiagnosed so long (im dumb, im lazy, I suck at everything, etc etc) and I am just SO hopeful we can save her from a lifetime of feeling so miserable.
AND she has been on a waitlist to start therapy since august, and we found out yesterday, she can start in 2 weeks! 🙌🙌
Just had to share with people who could appreciate how big of a deal this is!

Hello, and welcome to my post. It's time to move a lot of goods due to life, I just don't play airsoft as much as I used to sadly, and I need to get some things on track financially to make future moves.
I'm located in Fall River, Massachusetts. I'd much prefer pickup/meetup, cash in hand, but will accept paypal, cashapp in person. I frequent Advanced Action Sports in Warwick (Used to work there) So we can meet there. I can ship, on your dime. Tracking provided thought usps. What you see is what you get, unless stated otherwise in post below. Guns can be chrono'd upon request. Please don't hesitate to ask. Everything is best offer, worst I can say in no.
Pictures with time stamp: https://imgur.com/a/jUjqiMQ?fbclid=IwAR2LiriuDEVGNjOaqznCpNH- JZEz5Iq8Xiuln23xzvCAxD447FkkSFAlcjI

Lpeg P90 - $20

200fps w/ .2g battery included. Not much to say, perfect for your kid to shoot tin can terrorists in the back yard.

Tactical Force M4 CQB - $100

Basically new in box, fielded once by previous owner judging by the zip tie on the rear sling plate. Comes with 1 Mag and the foregrip in the box.

Sig Sauer Patrol Kit - $60

Brand new in packaging, Received as a gift but... kinda don't need it. Literally still in the factory Shrink wrap.

Ares AS-02 Sniper Rifle BONEYARD - $75

This one is an easy fix, but I just don't care enough to fix it for my own use. Hop up BB catch need to be filed down to slide up in the hop up to prevent BB from falling back into the bolt causing jamming. New after market Twist style outer barrel. Gun has a M170 in it and hits at around 450 fps w/ .25s. Hits like a truck when it feeds. Toss me a few bucks more and I can give it some love and get it running. Comes with 2 mags. Extra few bucks I can toss a scope in with it (not pictured.).

Cyma M4 Keymod Full Metal - $150

I received this gun as a bag of parts. OG owner thought he knew what he was doing, bought the gun brand new and took it completely apart and failed to put it back together. Well as you've can see in the pictures it's alive. Pretty nice piece if I must say so. Gearbox is virgin, I had no reason to open it, it sounds great for a Cyma. Hits 290 on my chrono with .3s. Comes With a metal Mid cap.

Sharps Bros Licensed "Jack9" Metal Receiver - $200

One of them fancy Ares M45 Pistol carbines. Received in trade, I've used it once for plinking. Barrel breaks away from the receiver for easy storage, Mircoswitch trigger, Metal DFE Receiever. comes with 1 mag. Perfect for dad's who own Harleys.

CYMA AMK CM.040 "SH*TBOX" - $150

Alright, This one's a little painful. I love this gun, It been a reliable beat stick for years and it just keeps going. As you can see, its got character. I walks talk and carries a big stick. Classic Army Krebs lower rail w/ BCM Gunfighter grip, 5ku Leaf sight rail. Needs Loctite but I think its cool. Patina dust cover and a 74 stock with a tasteful sticker to tie it up. Gearbox is stock with a "destruction of God" High Torque motor. Eats anything you'll throw at it.
The gun is old, so its got some looseness to it. A little bit of love and some glue here and there and it will be solid again. Wired to deans, comes with the 7 mags pictured (High caps, because have fun.) I want this gun to go to a good home, It deserves it. I can include the rest of the Classic army Krebs parts if you desire.

VFC Avalon Block II SOPMOD - $400

My main Squeeze, Completely stock besides a new spring in october. It's well used and ready for more. Comes with everything Pictured and I'll toss in some BAMF mags to go with it. Evike T1 on a 1in raiser, Acetech Flaming Pig Tracer, PTS Short grip, Knock off Surefire scout with dual pressure switch (other wire on switch broke off, so no peq box for you. The only real flaw with this rifle is the outer barrel. Pervious owner didn't take the grub screw out of the Flash hider and damn near stripped all of the threading. There's just enough for the tracer to sit on. Other than that, She rips, and ready to play. Shoots 350fps w/ .25gs. I can sell the whole gun without anything for $300. This guns are 500 bucks brand new and sell out frequently, so this is a pretty good friggen deal.

Misc stuff that might be interesting...

Acog 4x - $80

Working Trinitium, Chevon. Missing side adjustment cap. Homemade Killflash with Lexan cover.

3x Prism - $40

Received in trade, Illuminatesm, clear picture.

VALKEN 1X35mm Multi reticule Sight - $50

Nice optic for the money. Red green and 4 choices of reticules to choose from.

VISM Reflex sight - $40

Just like the Valken sight, just ^smol

Classic Army HK33 Receiver set. - $???

You made it this far, so here's something cool. Old school classic army HK33 project. I just built a CA G3 so I'm gonna pass this on to someone aspiring to build something cool with this. I'm not sure what to price this at but I'm sure we can make some agreements here and there.

Lastly, the boneyard - $99999

I've been active in my community for almost 20 years, been teching and fixing guns for more then half of that. When you've been doing it that long, you tend to horde parts. The last few pictures are just a small tidbit of parts I've amassed over those years. I just wanna throw it out there before I make a mega boneyard post. If you need anything small parts wise, I may have it. Just DM me. Most of the parts are indeed M4 parts, but I do have some AK, G36, G3 Parts kicking around. Most are stock, some are upgrades. Just holla and I'll take a gander though the junk.
If you've made it this far, Thank you for hanging in there. I hope to make some deals and hopefully find good homes for all of this stuff. Be on the lookout in a week or 2 for the mega boneyard sale.

I'm writing this from the ruins of our old diner. This will be my last post.
When the bus came to an abrupt stop suddenly, I pressed my head against the window and peered out, hyper alert of my surroundings.
I was seeing a large glass building which reminded me of a school, or maybe a hospital. It looked far more modern than anything in Littlewood. It hit me that this was the Halfway House we had been promised solace ever since we were kids. I vaguely remembered our class being told about the curse and quickly following that up with, “But we’ll keep you safe. Like we do every year, we send our seniors to a place of healing to prepare them for the outside world after going through such trauma where they can mend and reignite themselves."
Ironic wording, considering what really happened to us.
In actuality, I knew exactly what it was. The whispering in my head had revealed the Halfway House’s true meaning. Inside that building we were going to burn. We were going to fucking burn and nobody was coming to save us. Not our parents or the town. Leaning back in my chair, my gaze flicked to the front where two armed guards were beginning to escort my classmates off of the bus. I had already made my decision when I grabbed Jun’s sleeve and yanked him under the seat in front of us. He let out a sharp gasp, almost a sound of protest. “Bee, what are you doing? Get off--"
Slamming my hand over his mouth, I pressed myself into a ball, pulling him further under the seat. The thud, thud, thud, of the guards' boots sent slithers of fear creeping up and down my spine. They passed us. I could hear their breaths, their muttering to each other.
The guards already knew our game. I sensed them checking under each seat—which motivated me to shuffle myself further under until I couldn’t breathe. Jun didn’t move, his breaths sharp and heavy into the flesh of my palm. After a moment which seemed to go on forever, thudding boots retreated back towards the front of the bus. I squeezed my eyes shut when the engines started up once again. Gripping Jun for dear life, I settled on taking deep breaths. We were going to get out, I thought. We were going to escape.
“Can you get off of me?" Jun tried to squirm from my grip, but I tightened my hold on him.
“Shh.” I said under my breath. “Don’t make a sound, okay?”
"Why? We're going to the Halfway house!"
I bit back a yell, stopping him from crawling away from me. "There is no halfway house."
Once the bus started to move, keeping a firm grip on Jun’s sleeve, I pulled us from our hiding place and lifted my head, scanning for somewhere better. The back was our best bet. When I started towards it, dragging Jun with me, however, I spotted two familiar faces already in hiding. Jonas and Mira. Jun let out a low grumble, and part of me couldn't believe he was still salty about Jonas in this situation.
Without speaking, we joined them, with Jonas shuffling back so I could join him, pulling a reluctant Jun with me. It was an uncomfortable squeeze but we were safe. I allowed myself to breathe when the bus fell into a steady drive. But I didn’t have time to relax. I was considering asking Jonas in low whispers why he had chosen to hide, when once again the bus came to a jolting stop. “Forty six?” The bus driver all but thundered from the front. “What are you talking about? Fifty were loaded onto the bus. I fucking counted them!"
Shit. Shooting the other’s a panicked look, I weighed our options. Four against one.
We could easily get past him.
“No. No, we did a sweep of the bus!" His voice was growing panicked. "There’s nobody on here."
Jonas twisted around, shooting me a questioning look.
What the fuck is wrong with him? He mouthed.
I pressed my index over my lips in response.
Jun let out a frustrated hiss, and I instantly knew what he was going to do. Before he could, however, I was slamming my hand over his mouth once again, this time with Jonas' help, cutting off his strangled, "We're over–"
Jonas shoved us further under, dragging a struggling Jun. "Do you want us to get caught!?" He exploded in a hiss of breath.
Jun only muffled into my hand, and I half wondered if knocking him out would benefit us. The bus driver’s voice was eerily shaky. I could hear every tremble in his tone. “Check? Yes! Uh, yes, I’ll check now. Don’t worry, alright? There’s no more kids on this bus. They must have ran away."
When the driver started down the aisle in a bumbling stumble, ducking under each seat, I attempted to hide. I mean there was nowhere to hide, though I at least tried to shove myself uncomfortably further under the damn seat until we were squashed like sardines. “Hey!”
The driver’s steps quickened towards us and I felt my body catapult into fight or flight.
“What are you kids still doing here?” When I lifted my head to meet his eyes, I expected anger. There was no anger, however. I was seeing frustration and fear, trickles of pain blooming in wide cartoon-like eyes. The guy was keeping his distance from us, I noticed.
Like we were teeming with the plague. It was a curse, not a contagious virus.
"What do we do?" Jonas murmured.
"We stay here."
"But he's looking directly at us." He said in a sing-song voice. "I don't think he's blind."
Before I could stop him, Jonas was awkwardly dislodging himself from the gap underneath the seats. He jumped to his feet and raised his arms in mocking surrender. His smile was bright, but there was an underlying darkness in his eyes, and I had no doubt he wouldn’t resort to violence. “Yeah, okay, you got us. We were just hitchhiking back to town. I’m not a fan of the whole half-way house thing,” he said. “I’d rather just ride back into town and go and see my pops.” His lip curled. “I want to see if he’s okay. You know, after last night. I'm sure you know I'm a little on edge."
“No.” The driver’s eyes filled with tears. “No…” he shook his head rapidly, his arms trembling at his sides. “You're not going anywhere. You.. you're staying right there."
"What, so I get possessed by the dead souls of my ancestors and now I don't have basic human rights?" Jonas rolled his eyes with a scoff. "You're legally inclined to let me go. I don't want to go to some weird halfway house and pretend I didn't gut my best friend's mother, alright? I'm going home, asshole."
The driver didn't move. "I'm telling you to… to stay back." He moaned. "Please. I have a wife. I have a wife and two children, and I just got promoted! I don't need this shit!"
Jonas' eyes darkened. "What did you say?"
"Jonas…" Jun hissed out.
"No, no, I'm curious to know what the fuck this guy's problem is," The boy spat. "I woke up tangled in my neighbors guts, and this guy…" He started to laugh, a hysterical giggle collapsing into a sob. "This guy thinks his job is more important?"
"You're a disease." The man said in a whisper. "You shouldn't… exist." His gaze flicked to me. "All of you. You're a disease."
A look of hurt sparked in the boy's eyes, and his lip curled. “The curse is over, Jackass! I'm not going to kill you!" Jonas cocked his head, his expression crumpling with confusion when the guy started sobbing. "Are you…crying? Jeez, what did I say, huh? I'm not going to kill you! We just want to go home, alright? Look! I'm holding up my hands. Just take us home."
Just as promised, Jonas held up his hands.
I chose to stand at that point. Jun followed hesitantly, Mira following, staying behind Jonas. The driver stiffened, backing away.
“I said stay back!" He hissed out. “Do you hear me?” His shaky hand went into his jacket, his eyes squeezing shut like he was expecting something. Pulling out a phone, the man's fingers nervously tapped the screen. He didn't take his eyes off us. “I’m taking you kids back to the Halfway House, alright?"
He nodded at us like we would agree if he looked as pathetic as possible. And he did. The guy looked like he was ready to drop to his knees and beg. “Just… stay there.”
I caught the exact moment he dropped the notion of an authority figure. His lips twisted when Jonas ignored his instructions and took a casual step towards him. If this guy had a gun, I knew he would use it. Instead, he stumbled back with a cry. “Don’t fucking move! I mean it!”
Jonas' lip curved. He raised a brow. “Like this?” Another step.
This time, the man let out a shriek.
“Jonas.” Jun said. “Dude, stop. You're scaring him."
"Scaring him? What's to be scared of?" He laughed. "The night's over, and this guy still thinks a bunch of kids are going to gut him."
"I don't know," Jun whispered, "but don't get too close, okay? He looks freaked."
“Why?” Jonas twisted around to look at him. “This guy’s got fucking problems. Didn't I tell him we weren't a threat?"
I caught a glimmer of that maniacal glitter left over from overnight. “Let me guess,” Jonas laughed. “Do you see dead people?” In three strides, he was face to face with the guy. Nose to nose. Still smiling. The driver was petrified to the spot, like Jonas was inhuman. His eyes were wide, lips moving, but he wasn't speaking. "You look like you're about to poop yourself over a bunch of teenagers, my guy. Kind of pathetic, dontcha think?"
"I…" The man's bottom lip trembled. His breaths were heavy, his mouth twisting and turning and trying to speak. I would have felt sorry for him, if it wasn't for him being responsible for bringing my class to the slaughter. He couldn't even get words out, wide eyes pinpointed on Jonas and Jun like they were ghosts. Something was building in my head, a pressure harsh enough to make my nose bleed.
I found myself staring out of the window. I had initially caught the movement of a lamppost swaying back and forth. But there was no wind. When I squinted, I noticed more things which didn't make sense; a patch of flowers which had been planted outside the Halfway House were… drooping. No, not just drooping. They were blackening, rotting away into their soil, petals being whisked into the air and coming apart.
It was 10:30 in the morning, and the sky was darkening.
Jun started forwards and grabbed Jonas’s wrist, and with the two of them so close, the man let out a childish whine which only confused Jonas further. Outside, a tree I was so sure had been standing tall and proud, crashed onto the ground suddenly, the force of the impact rattling the bus. I fought to hold on. The pressure was building in my brain, and suddenly I couldn’t… I couldn’t breathe. “Hey!” Jonas yelled in the driver's frozen face. “What did I say, huh? The curse is over! You don’t have to be scared of us anymore, alright? Just… take us home–"
Bubble-gum.
It sounded like bursting bubble-gum.
I didn’t hear the latter half of what he’d said because the bus windows were suddenly bright red, dripping red. The floor was red, the seats, and the ceiling. Jonas was red, and I could feel splatters of it on my cheeks and speckled on my chin. The others had gotten the worst of it, but it was still painting me. The red was warm and wet, like I had bathed in it. It was at my feet, pooling and spilling and spattering every colour from existence. I felt like I was back in on the school corridor being suffocated by a wet rag pressed over my mouth, horrifying images projecting into my hand from the fumes. But these weren't delusions. This was real. It was happening.
There was a dizzying moment when I thought it was raining blood before my brain found reality and I blinked at the spot where the driver had stood in front of us—and it began to dawn on me. I hadn’t been looking at the man when he popped out of existence. I was watching the leaves on the trees outside start to brown and then blacken into nothing. Like there was an invisible force decaying everything in its path. Jonas, who looked like he was starring in Cannibal Holocaust, twisted around to face me with wide, almost unseeing eyes. He looked like he might say something before the bus shook, and I forced myself to move, to find the window.
Outside, the ground had started to crack apart, zigzagging raptures spreading like fire across the sidewalk. Jun grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bus, Jonas diving off first, Mira on his heel. The world was crumbling around us, I realised. I could see it in flocks of birds flying across the sky in a panic. When we found solid ground, Jonas started hyperventilating. I was half listening to him mutter obscenities to himself, eyeing the growing sinkhole eating up everything in front of us. A woman jumped into her car and attempted to drive straight ahead before another tree collapsed, crushing her. “This is the curse.” Jonas said shakily. “It’s got to be, right? But why would they still be mad?"
The four of us teetered on a safe piece of sidewalk.
Mira wasn’t speaking. I think she was frozen. Traumatised. I could barely see her through the red.
“Nope.” Jun murmured. He swiped blood from his eyes with his sleeve. “It’s because we’re refusing to save the world.”
“What?” Jonas spluttered.
The ground started to split in front of me and I staggered back, my stomach galloping into my throat.
“He’s brainwashed.” I found myself gritting out. “Jun’s convinced we’re saving the world.”
“Like… like The Avengers?” Jonas grabbed his arm with a laugh. “Dude, did you hit your head?”
“No.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“Didn’t I make it clear I didn’t want to talk to you?”
“Well, you might as well! Since the fuckin’ world is ending!” He paused. "If this about me and Wendy--"
Jun laughed. "You're telling me this now?!"
“Stop.” Mira cut in, her cry breaking into a sob. “Just shut up. Shut up! I can't think!"
Their back and forth was barely a whisper in the back of my mind while I watched chaos unfold in front of me. Have you ever heard a human being explode?
It kind of sounds like bubble gum bursting.
I glimpsed a running man hand in hand with a little kid before both of them went “Poof!” against the store window, painting it in a whole new colour.
Like a domino effect, the town's people started rupturing like the ground beneath us. I was staring at an old woman struggling to hobble through a panicking crowd when the mayor announced himself via megaphone across a particularly large crack in splintered concrete. Armed guards surrounded him and I wondered if whatever this was would spare him. “Stay exactly where you are!”
“Do you understand me? Do not move!”
When they risked coming closer, part of me revelled in seeing fear prickle in their eyes. Behind the mayor, was our principal. His face beet red. The guy was seething. “Can you kids understand what you have done?”
Uh, yeah.
I think we had accidentally caused the death of Littlewood.
I didn’t say that, though. I wanted answers and Jun and Jonas seemed in their own world, watching our town crumble around us. “The curse.” I said shakily when they were close enough to hear us. The bookshop I’d frequented my whole life started to crumble behind me, windows splintering with the force of the quake. But It barely fazed me. Neither did the little girl screaming for her exploding mother showering her in scarlet. “Who really started it?”
The mayor dropped his megaphone. “If I tell you, will you hand yourselves over?”
Even his voice was shaking.
I nodded. “Of course.”
"What?!" Jonas shot me a look.
"She's not being serious, idiot," Jun muttered to him. "She's stalling."
The mayor's lips twisted. “No fighting? No more questions?”
“Sure.” I said, gesturing to the world around us. “You should hurry up though. Unless you want to turn into brain soup.”
If the phenomenon happening around us wanted to take the three of us, we would already be dead. It wasn’t targeting us, however. It was killing everyone except us.
Which spoke volumes.
“Uh, no,” Jonas hissed, tugging on my sleeve. “We should run. Like, right fucking now. I don't care what you want to say, okay? I don't want to be part of this!"
“Let him explain.” I said.
“Bee, are you serious?” Mira's eyes were wide, cartoon like.
“Very.” I told her, before directing my words at the mayor. “I want to know why you made Noah Sharpe kill my mother eleven years ago. And I don't want bullshit."
A woman who was mid run across the ruins of the sidewalk blossomed into a cloud of red, and I only just glimpsed what was left of her bag landing onto the ground with a comical splat. The mayor looked like he might argue or even attempt to capture us right there and then. But he didn’t give the order. Instead, he pasted on a strict smile. “Two hundred years ago in the year 1799, the elders of this town made a grave mistake which they knew they would regret for the coming years, dooming their children, and their ancestors to eternal misery” He cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Littlewood was on the brink of collapse. Women were unfortunately barren and unable to bear children, and nothing they tried would work. They tried everything, Bee. Everything which would work and wouldn't - - old wives tales, and whispers in the wind carrying word of mouth. The town had no other option and were forced to make a terrible choice. Our elders prayed to an entity and asked for good luck and prosperity to help us through trying times, and for their women to no longer be barren."
“Prayed?” Jun frowned. “Like… to a God?”
“You could say that.” The mayor smiled proudly.
"No, you said… you said there was a fire," Jonas whispered. He was already in denial. "That's what you told us! You told us there was a fire which killed a bunch of kids…and we’re punished because you didn’t help them. Because you let them burn."
The mayor was doing a good job of skirting around actual conversation.
He nodded gravely. “That was the story we told you, yes. It was built on the bones of the truth. However, the reality of what really happened would cause panic. The truth is our ancestors sacrificed fifty teenagers in the year 1799. They were a gift to this entity in control of our beloved town. As you already know, human sacrifice was practised in those days. Some say it was normal. Human blood and life force was seen as the greatest gift Littlewood's bearers could accept— as well as the soul from an elder, or an authority of the town. But of course we couldn't do that. In the simplest of terms, our elders were.. more important. ” He folded his arms. “However, what they did not know is that those sacrifices were… impure. They had engaged in certain activities which would be deemed… unsanitary, or maybe that's not the word for it. They, ahh.. I'm not sure how to–"
“They fucked.” Jonas cut him off with an eye-roll.
The mayor’s gaze found the ground.
“Indeed.” He said. “Angered, the entity demanded more than the town could give it, and when town’s people started to notice rotting food and animals disappearing, rumours of a beast lurking in the trees beginning to circulate, they struck a deal. Every year following, the eighteen year olds, with fifty being the minimum, would be sacrificed as our punishment.”
“Burned.” I corrected in a scoff.
The man found my gaze. “In those times, yes. Burned at the stake. However, throughout the years we have found a far more humane way to complete the ritual.”
Yeah. Incineration.
“I’m not a virgin.” Jonas said dryly.
“That doesn’t matter.” The mayor said. “Whether you are or not, fifty sacrifices were demanded to make up for the towns sins. If the debt wasn’t paid, however, the entity threatened a wrath greater than hell on earth to strike our town and then the world.” This time he lifted his gaze and looked me directly in the eye like I was supposed to feel guilty. “What we call The Teen Purge would be child’s play in comparison to what they have planned for us,” he continued. “If the correct number of sacrifices are not made, Littlewood will fall, which will cause a domino effect. Destruction will spread to neighbouring towns and then cities, followed by countries across the world, killing billions of people.” The mayor gestured around us as spattered red. “As you can see, we are already seeing the start of it.”
“So… two hundred years ago, you idiots prayed to an inhuman entity and actually expected them to give you what you wanted?” Mira whispered.
Then she laughed to my surprise. “You killed fifty kids because a faceless presence told you to?”
“Like I said, Mira,” The mayor’s tone grew cold. “Human sacrifice was considered normal in those days. I’m not saying what our ancestors did was right, but they were starving. Their women could not bear children.”
“What does that have to do with turning us into psychopaths?” I found myself asking, my voice was trembling. “Why did Noah kill my mom?”
This time, the man wore the slightest of smiles. “Do you really think parents would agree to us murdering their children if we didn’t make them fear them? If we didn’t plant the idea in their head that it was their twisted child’s life or innocent towns people? Your parents were as in the dark as you. In their eyes, you were cursed. Killers. You had to be taken away.”
“You’re kidding.” Jonas looked frantic, his eyes darting around, searching for an escape, “Do you seriously think I’ll die for a town which has ostracized us since were five years old? Who made us think we were fucking monsters?”
“Mr Lockhart, the sole reason why this town is crumbling around us is because you are still breathing.” The Mayor told him. “Right now, forty six seniors have been… gifted as part of our yearly ritual. That is not enough to stop them from destroying us. We need exactly fifty sacrifices.”
“Well, good luck finding them.” Jonas said in a choked laugh. “I’m sorry, but no. If you think I’m going to willingly sacrifice myself, you’re deluded!”
“Jonas.” The principle at least tried to be sympathetic. “I know you don’t want to do this, but which would you prefer? A world which is no longer recognisable, one which you wouldn’t be able to survive anyway, or a peaceful euthanasian? Your father is still alive. You will be saving him.”
“I don’t care!” He sputtered. “You think I give a fuck about anyone in this town? You’re an elder,” He accused. “Why not give yourself to them, huh?”
“That’s…” The Mayor looked taken aback for a moment. “Mr Lockhart, that is incredibly disrespectful.”
"So is murdeding our entire senior class! " He gasped out, his body trembling. Jonas backed away, grabbing Jun’s hand, and then mine. I held on, but Jun wrenched away from his grasp, his eyes far too empty for me to bear.
“The girl who told me she had a siren in her head,” He said softly. “She said I was going to save billions of lives, and this is what she meant.”
Jonas let out a sound of distain, and Mira laughed again. Her laughter was hysterical.
There was a content smile on Jun’s face and I realised with a pang in my chest, that I preferred it to the agony twisting his expression when I’d found him. I wanted him to be happy, to be at peace. But not like this. I wanted to run away with him, with Jonas and Mira, even if this twisted fate demanded otherwise. Jun strode over to the guards, with two out of four spontaneously combusting in their helmets before the remainder grabbed and restrained him. For a moment, Jonas looked like he might join him. I saw it in his expression, in his eyes filling with tears.
He took a shaky step forward like he would abandon self-preservation for a boy he had confusing feelings for, a boy who was locked into a fantasy nobody could pull him out of. Before he turned on his heel and ran. I watched him go, concrete splintering under his every clumsy step, as he pushed himself into a sprint. I respected that Jonas had chosen himself over the town. His own life over 7 billion people. He didn’t owe Littlewood anything.
“Mr Lockhart!” The mayor yelled, a look of panic twisting his expression.
“Go after him! We need fifty sacrifices!”
The guards hesitated.
They were scared to get near any of us.
“Go!”
After hesitating, they were stumbling after him, but Jonas was already out of sight.
He nodded to the remaining guards holding Jun. “Take him to the halfway house. They’re waiting for him."
At his words, I found myself backing away, and an almost childlike look of pain crossed his face. “Bee.” The mayor stamped the ground like a child, like he was having a tantrum. “Did you not hear him?” He shook Jun like a doll, his smile widening into a grin. “You’re going to save the world!”
No.
I laughed at him. In his fucking face.
He had to be kidding!
He’d taken away my mom, and Noah— now Jun. My entire fucking class.
To make up for a mistake THEY had made. We were being punished for what they had done.
For 200 years, we had suffered.
Because of them.
And he expected me to give myself up?
One look at Jun told me he would never follow me. He had already made his choice.
Still though, I smiled at him.
And he smiled back.
Not a Wonderland Smile, a real smile.
“You’re insane.” I found myself spluttering. “You actually want to die.”
Jun rolled his eyes. “Die?” He said. “Who wants to die? No, Bee. I don’t want to die.” My friend laughed, and the guard holding him flinched, as if a single movement or expression would trigger him to combust like the others. “What did I tell you? I want to go visit my dad before Christmas. I want to move across the country and start fresh in a new college. I want to…” he pulled a face. “I want to eat New York pizza and kiss a stranger, make mistakes that I learn from. Maybe I want to go skinny dipping in mid-December, drive through late night traffic with my head stuck out of the window singing to cheesy pop. Barf all over myself after too much drinking, and then do it all over again the next night because I have zero self-control.”
The more he was speaking, the more I realised I was losing him. No, I’d lost him.
Jun was speaking in goodbye, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Because, if he had made his choice to give in to his fate, then what business did I have trying to save him? He would only hate me. He was doing a bad job of acting like goodbye didn’t matter to him though, swiping at sore eyes. “The list goes on, Bee! Of course I want to live, idiot,” he laughed again, though it was more of a sob. I thought I was getting through to him. I knew deep, deep down, he didn’t want this either. But Jun was a good person.
He stepped out of the guards restraint , and into my arms. He was warm, and I held onto that. “Nobody ever wants to die,” He mumbled into my shoulder. I squeezed him tighter. “even on the edge of life, even with that storm cloud over their head, the suffocating pressure in their chest. All of that anxiety and pain knotting up their gut telling them they’re not worth it. That they should give up. They all still want to live. They want that reason to keep going.”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. Why I couldn't step in front of traffic or cut open my wrists. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe not all of Jun was gone. His eyes were far too sad for me to call them empty. Brainwashed. “But,” he stumbled over his words, pulling away so abruptly, I felt like all the air in my lungs had been sucked away. “How is it fair that I live while everyone else dies? Our whole class, Bee. How could I stay breathing while they sacrificed themselves for us every year prior?”
“They didn’t have a choice!” I said through gritted teeth. “Do you really think they willingly walked in there? They didn’t want to die, Jun! I saw them die. All of them."
Jun’s eyes flickered to the guards in front of him, and for a moment it looked like I was getting through to him. He made the slightest of movements, his hand grasping hold of my wrist, fingernails digging into my flesh. I felt that desperation to live. Even if he insisted it was the opposite, I knew he was putting on a brave face. But then our Principal was gone, and more red was spattering my face. Jun let go of my wrist and stepped away from me for the final time, allowing the dwindling guards to grab him. I finally understood what the mayor meant. The longer we were breathing, others were suffering and the town was falling apart. Except I couldn’t bring myself to have sympathy for them.
Would you?
“Jun.” I was fighting, then. Fighting to hold myself together when I was splintering apart. “What I heard… in my head,” I sputtered. “They weren’t voices. They didn’t speak to me.” I could feel my knees buckling. “They were screaming! They didn’t want to die! And… and why should we?”
I turned to glare at the mayor who was still standing. “Why should we die for them, huh?” I demanded. “Give me one good reason why we should die. So they can kill the seniors next year? Why should we be the ones they sacrifice? Prisoners exist! Child murderers! Why can’t it be them?”
“That is something we considered.” The mayor started to say, but I cut him off.
“Shut up.” I gritted through a mouthful of tears. “You don’t get to speak."
The mayor looked like he might argue but decided against it.
Jun shrugged. “It’s either us or the planet.”
“This isn’t a movie,” I said, “Do you really think you’re doing some heroic gesture and the whole town is going to cheer you on?” I was seething, I couldn’t control my words, control my breathing. “No. They see you as a sacrifice and nothing else. I don’t see them putting up a fucking memorial. Did they for the others? Did they care, Jun? The girl who put all this in your head. Did the town remember her?"
It took two single strides to grab him.
Shake him.
"Did. The. Town. Care? About any of them? Noah? Tommy? The girl who filled your head with all this crap? Did Littlewood remember them?"
He held my gaze. “She said I was going to save billions. They don't have to care."
“So?” I shrieked. “I choose myself any day! And you should too!"
I expected him to call me selfish, but that wasn’t Jun.
“So, run.”
I let go of him. “Jun, I swear to God–"
“I’m not saying goodbye,” Jun said in a strained voice. “I’m going to turn around and walk away. And you’re not going to look back, okay?"
“What?”
If Littlewood hadn't been decaying around us, I would have held onto him.
Mira was grabbed before she could follow Jonas, and I was so close to following Jun. I was so fucking close to giving myself up, as long as I got to be with him and the others. When one of the guards took a hesitant step towards me, however, I found myself backing away. No. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to fucking die, and if that made me selfish, so be it. I felt myself moving step my step.
One last look at Jun.
He wasn’t smiling, his head bowed as a guard pinned his wrists behind his back. When he lifted his head, his eyes were on the horizon. He looked content. And knowing that he was happy—he was at peace with his fate, I ran. And behind me, just as I turned around, the mayor was staring at me, a look of immense disgust on his face. I stared back. I wanted him to explode. I wanted his body to shower the street in red and prove to me that this so-called entity didn’t just take innocents. It took those in power too. And yet he stood there, not a smear on his perfectly pressed suit. His expression was twisted with fear, a pain in his eyes I had never seen before.
And his words were echoing inside my skull.
"Human blood and life force was seen as the greatest gift Littlewood's bearers could accept— as well as the soul from an elder, or an authority of the town. But of course we couldn't do that. In the simplest of terms, our elders were…more important.”
I took pleasure in quickening my pace into a sprint.
It’s been 12 days since I last saw Jun. On October 3rd, the trees started to blossom again. Outside my hiding place, the remnants of the diner, a rose bush bloomed out of nowhere, followed by daisies. Amongst the chaos, the endless shower of red every time another towns person was claimed, there it was. Life. Sitting in a battlefield of death. Jun.
Number forty seven. I want to believe it wasn’t him, that he got away, that he got some sense knocked into him. But it was hard to ignore the suffocating presence squeezing the breath from our town lift—even if it was only slightly. I lit a candle for him. Well, I couldn’t find any candles, so I set my neighbour’s yard alight instead. October 5th, the ground stopped cracking apart and the town's people were spared. Number forty eight. Jonas. It was fast, and I knew by the way the wind knocked into me threatening to throw me off my bike when I was scoping the ruins of my neighbourhood, a powerful gust blowing my hair from my face, that it was him.
I sensed his anger and frustration, but no pain. I think he liked being part of the wind. Jonas had done the opposite of what I thought he would. Instead of running away from his fate, he’d given up. Maybe he didn’t have anyone left. He should have ran. Maybe there might be far more destruction if he did. Jun and Jonas totalled the number of sacrifices to forty eight. I wondered if it was enough to make Jun’s wish come true. Did my fallen classmates really save the world?
Following them was Mira. I knew by the pace the leaves started to flower on trees, like the town was mending itself, that she was gone. With her combined with the boys, I think it was enough to stop the destruction, at least for a little while. Mira had fought until her last breath. She didn’t want to die, and that was evident in her lingering presence causing more decay than life before she seemingly found some kind of peace. Birds started to sing again, and the last person who exploded was, ironically, her mother. Sucks to be her. I think I’m allowed to laugh in this situation, right? Maybe Mira had a hand in it.
And I did laugh. I laughed until I cried.
Until the remaining town’s people power washed her off the sidewalk with everyone else.
October 13th, and the sun is shining.
The town are attempting to rebuild a broken Littlewood, and I sit here hoping me still existing and breathing will bring their downfall. I don’t have to hide anymore. Nobody will come near me. I’m like a plague, which works for me.
I’m skipping town soon, but first I want to stay behind to see the fireworks. I want to know if Littlewood has truly been spared or they’re just taking their time. I like to think my classmates are still here. I mean, they are. I see them in spring flowers coming to life in Fall. I hear them in the wind blowing my hair back. Some call me a coward for running away, while others beg me to keep going. And I will. I’m just… waiting.
I’m waiting for Littlewood to fall. Because I am the 50th sacrifice. While I breathe, their debt is not paid. My town’s clock is ticking, and I can’t wait for a wrath to finally be bestowed on the ignorant. I know this “entity” won’t rest until we’ve all been gifted to them. I can see that in rotting animal carcases appearing in the road and on the sidewalk. The town try to hide it.
They’re trying to hide the sudden appearance of maggot like insects festering on every street corner and a mysterious flu which has taken hold of the kindergarten. Like I said, I should sympathise with their dead. I don’t think our parents knew about any of this. We were just monsters to them; monsters they decided to let go. I am thinking about playing the pied piper and taking the little kids of the town with me. I can still save them, right? They don't have to die too.
I saw a junior girl yesterday.
Lanie Matthews. I used to sit with her in the cafeteria sometimes. She was handing out flyers in an attempt to send away Littlewood’s juniors to a safe place so the curse doesn’t get them next year. I want to tell her that her fate will follow Noah Sharpe and Jonas Lockhart. Mira Jane. Jun Sato.
Did their sacrifices really make a difference?
Who knows? Maybe this “entity” will take our world before October 1st, 2023. I think they’re waiting for me. They’re waiting for me to give in too. At some point, I almost caved. It was the screaming I couldn’t bear. Mother’s crying for their children in despair, and vice versa. But then I got a hold of myself. If I want to bring down Littlewood, then I have to survive. I wonder if the world will follow…
Are you worth saving?
In my opinion, no.
You're not worth Jun and Jonas and Mira, as well as generations of our town burning them alive.
Why should I sacrifice myself for a planet which is already killing itself?
I think I'm losing my mind. Yesterday, when I was hunting for supplies, readying myself to leave, I could have sworn I saw two guys leave the remnants of what used to be the old church. Hands entangled, the two of them hissing at each other, wielding baseball bats and cloth bags on their backs. Maybe I haven't been eating enough, but their faces, despite being bloodied and bruised, haunted eyes scanning an oblivion in front of them– a cursed town which insisted on their sacrifice– were familiar. They moved in a cloak-and-dagger dance across ruins, the one in front keeping a firm grasp of the other's arm, and when they moved, each step was in sync, the two grasping onto each other like their lives depended on it.
I can't help wondering if perhaps I was wrong. Maybe Jun and Jonas aren't part of the wind, afterall. I think they're much closer. And whether they are reincarnations built in flowers, or ghosts still attached to the town, I will find them again. But also… I won't fall victim to my own imagination. It could have been anyone. The way they moved, however, made me want to believe my delusion. It is hopeful thinking, but that is all I can do right now. I can hope they're much closer. And I'll reunite with them.
One day.
I’m going to ask you that same question again.
If this was your choice.
What would you do?
Would you surrender yourself to a fate which will save billions of lives… or run?

TLDR This is a crude and rough initial attempt to place many known events into a narrative order with some semblance of a time stamp to them. It concerns the time of 12:50 to aproximately 3pm? or later the day of the shootings.
lengthy intro, feel free to skip this part
You will see I don't get too far on the time stamp part, and I'm sure I'm leaving out known and likely vital events we know of, too. But the sources are scattered and their narratives jumbled as well. It does begin to sketch a picture though, to tell the story as best as I can from the top of my head. I'd like to make this a lot more factual and probably should make it a lot less "editorial," as well. But it is like the old joke, what do you call a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the lake? "A good start."
I'm POSITIVE some of this is wrong. But I wanted to start somewhere before it all gets turned to mush in my brain. I keep notes but later they don't always make perfect sense to me because all the information comes in from every angle and it's spinning like a top, usually as well. . I'm not a historian, or a true crime reporter. I'm an amateur on the internet in this regard, please forgive me and help me get it right where you can. I dont mean to offend anyone, either. Hopefully we are all in this together, to establish the truth here. How can we have any real opinions or accountability or make the best policy decisions moving forward, or honor the fallen, or sue the heck out of one another, for that matter, without first establishing the basic facts.
It's just what sloughed off my keyboard this morning as I woke and once again tried to make sense of what makes no sense. why, ten months on we have to peice this together from corporate news accounts' hastily assembled snippets of B-roll, local rumor, internet conjecture (mine and yours, dear readers), leaks and bodycams edited and truncated by a hired PR firm for the city of Uvalde, and other odd sources coming across the ether and "over the transom," meaning we don't know who told us this.
This will be a partial timeline from a shattered afternoon where almost everyone present was in some sort of a state of shock, yet waving cheap and crude videocameras of various sorts and disordered eventual custody around in back of a school no one paid much attention to before, and that will soon be razed to the ground. And about which NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE other than to board up the windows and wipe up the blood. One important source seems to be a "whistleblower" who may in fact be a "bad actor" working to just help spread out bad news as slowly and poorly as possible, selectively omitting the worst of the worst. Who can say?
It's a portrait of chaos, drawn from chaos. A vision of hell from someone who wasn't even there, but can't stop imagining it somehow. I have little idea why. Some of my friends' children were there, but they were not in the 4th grade. It's probably all none of my business, my only real connection is that my children go to public schools in Texas. And I helped pay for these public records that are so well hidden. That at least means something to me. The rest just seems to spring from common decency and having an empathetic heart. I couldn't rightly say why any of us are here almost a year later but we are. It all started with a bang. And it all ends in sin and tears, like my grandmother would say.
The TLDR is that 21 people were murdered and a bunch of people who were only attempted to be murdered were mishandled by idiot cowards and dragged hither and yon while parents were tackled, tased and traumatized. The rest is just the gory sad details.
Don't read it if you can can help it. Horesman, pass by. But if you must, know this: it isn't pretty and it likely won't fix much of anything. But maybe just maybe it's part of path towards eventual healing or as Senator Gutierrez says, looking forward someday to "a slightly duller ache of pain."
There is no good place to start this narrative, the story of the "Aftermath." This is the wrong place but it's where I began so here it is:
Draft Narrative:
If it was Noah and AJ who ended up in an ambulance with Mayah, it seems like one of them may have originally been on the bus but taken off fairly quickly. The narrative from the lawsuit by the bus driver seems to say a boy was put on her bus but quickly taken off because of the seriousness of his injuries, or perhaps like with Mrs Mireles, the frantic cops seemed to have tunnel vision and couldn't find the ambulances at first and when one was finally right in front of them, they stumbled towards it instead.
It's also related that a dead child was placed into one ambulance, and that's why there were three in the other. Extrapolating from there it's also possible Mrs Mireles was eventually taken off the sidewalk and put in the ambulance with the dead boy still inside, or maybe she was moved to an ambulance the finally arrived from Main Street holding area.
The WP/TT/PP story has an excellently detailed animation of where ambulances and school busses came and went, beginning with the initial two ambulances. But it doesn't say who was placed inside any of them. The lead bus leaves the line at the funeral home where at least two livestream cams had caught the frantic scramble of LEOs to march and carry kids from the school to the bus. I'm not sure how many kids were on the bus. I haven't even re-read the lawsuit account yet.
Finding a sync point in order to put time stamps to the animation and the citizen livestream recordings for us poor saps denied full versions of public records videos is difficult. It seems likely the bulk of vehicle movement animation is drawn from DPS helicopter video and of course the funeral home cameras. We don't have those, but we can see snippets of them her and there the DPS helicopter at least. It's the one with the rangefinder marking and what looks almost like a weapon system crosshairs superimposed on screen. The story itself mentions LEO bodycam as well. Don't forget Crimson Elizondo is said to have ridden the "BORTAC express" school bus and wore an operating bodycam.
But the buses began to move - then stalled - before 1:01. That seems to tell us a few things - the "triage" was perfunctory and swift in getting the kids who could walk - and some who were carried - from the school to the BORTAC Express. But it took more than just one or two minutes, it seesm like it took almost ten to get children onto the BORTAC Express, but less than ten probably. We know one child was so wounded he was taken off the bus and put into an ambulance. likely the one manned by the EMT who treated thee kids, Mayah, AJ and Noah. That's not certain tho.
Two busses in the lead turn left onto Geraldine. Others go right. Were some on a route to civic center? Or to hospital? I need to check routes.
In a sick, sad moment on the Adam Ladezma livestream, seemingly after 12:50 and before 1:01 a US Marshall threatens parents, telling them harshly to move behind the busses or else their kids won't be brought out, and that the present delay is their fault, for standing on the grass off the street north of the busses, blocking no one and nothing. It seems like the scrum of agents are waiting inside, calling and stalling for a path to be cleared for them, rather than trusting that the public wants the same thing they want - for medical aid to be swift.
Some 5-10 minutes earlier the news had spread by word of mouth that the shooter was "in custody" or dead, it seems. The crowd is indeed increasingly distraught, frantic and hostile to LEOs. Some had likely seen a stretcher come out of the school. possibly with the dead child who was locked into an ambulance. And then abandoned, visibly, to some who could see it just across the street, undoubtedly. An air of pandemonium was cresting. No doubt many heard the gunfire at 12:50 or at minimum saw the LEOs n the west doorway courtyard react, after more than an hour of standing around trying to look tough, or whatever.
Then, a gaggle of LEOs, possibly BORTAC and seemingly although not visibly, DPS Crimson Elizondo among them rushes the scrum of children to the first bus, number 17, as seen on a livestream video from the parking lot at a distance in a blurry video. All hell breaks loose. On the door side/ funeral home side, a livestream cam catches some of the chaos as a distraught father is tackled by LEOs who prevent him from reaching his son. The crowd screams in protest, and women begin to loudly and openly wail in abject agony. They've seen THEIR children are bleeding, wounded, in shock, or worse. and all they are told is to "stay back" by the same people who didn't go in an hour ago and get them out.
They should be livid and they should be cursing and shouting, IMO. In some regards, these cops are accessory to murder IMO. A judge will never likely assess that. But they've kidnappend the kids and held them in police custody, arguably but not prevented the shooter from killing them at will for 82 minutes. And they've physcialy blocked those who were willing to immediately intervene.
On the other side of the bus, citizen Adam Ladezma, whose nieces and nephews go to Robb "films" or livestream-captures a child who, on encouragement from his family crawls out the back window of bus 17, the "BORTAC Express" as I'm calling it and is helped down and spirited away from the custody of the lawmen. As you watch, it's likely you feel a sigh of relief. These are poor custodians of children, one is likely assured despite the breakdown order occurring. Anyone would want to get away from their custody and the child readily complies. "When you find yourself going thru hell, keep going."
So there are all these things happening and more, and I'm attempting to put them into a coherent timeline. This is a bad, preliminary attempt to do so but I think the clues exist to do a much better job of outlining the actions. Perhaps the first pass should just be to name all the things that we see or know happened, in whatever order we have. I'm sorta doing that here but not in bullet-outline form, pardon the very poor choice of words.
But as the busses soon get moving, we know the BORTAC Express driver has locked the back door and that she sees Eva Mireles "dead" on the sidewalk being given CPR or at least lying there bleeding. And we know a child is taken off the bus by who she says is BORTAC, I think. She's made her initial turn onto Geraldine and the bus behind her follows her. lead. Does it have kids on it, the #2 bus? Does it have a LEO on it, or instructions where to go? I don't think so. It's just going. There may be a picture of aaLEO on the street speaking to the driver, IIRC, Ill try to find it. The driver wants the heck out of there, who wouldn't? Maybe it hopes to pick up more students and wishes to be closer. Seemingly, no one is put on board as it waits on Gerldine that I can see evidenc of however. It follows the Express off the scene.
The busses move far enough that the #3 and 4, 5, busses can turn right. As they do so, they too seem to stall as a helicopter comes in to land. I think it is the DPS chopper but I cannot be certain. If so, it's potentially one of the things that has delayed the arrival of the medical Air Flite choppers, although that sounds like mainly an oversight or foible of the Medina Fire chief, too. One of the choppers has blood supplies. The end up not getting used at the scene. I'm not sure if they go to the Uvalde hospital, the blood supplies, or back to a Trauma 1 center in San Antonio.
Dust covers the sky and drifts eventually onto the wounded (Eva Mireles, probably, gets covered in it) and and the ambulances that are newly arriving. A famous long-lens photo shows what looks like a 9/11style ash blizzard or. snowstorm-from-hell on the scene looking down Geraldine from the front of the school to chaos, disorder. We move quickly from two ambulances, one locked with a dead child inside and the other overcrowded with kids bleeding on the captains chair, to six or eight ambulances.
As the DPS helicopter moves towards the playground, the camera swings back to the west entrance and the bus lane. A stretcher gurney seems to be going IN to a newly arrived ambulacne. (See the first video WP/TT/PP story) Another gurney seemingly is OUT of another folded low on the ground by the tail of a ambulace. The tail end of the #2 bus is still there but begins to leave.
DPS tactical from all the way up in Austin has arrived somehow at 12:58 (too late, they were always going to be too late for the kids) in the midst of the bungled evacuations. Somewhere before all this they sprint to the courtyard by the west door, choking the passage of anyone. News helicopter seems to capture some of it, as well as news cameras down at the front of the school, and still photogs, too. it looks to all of them like something important is happening. It isn't. Not there, and not with them.
Somewhere in here SWAT from San Antonio enters the mix. I'm very loose on that timing. They're hard to tell apart from DPS tactical or SRT or whatever they are called. Is it them that runs as a big squad? I'm unsure. Nor can I spot where BORTAC huddles up afterwards. I think they stay inside the building because we don't spot them outside, not at tthe west and not at the south. They didn't all stay on the bus they commandeered. DPS Crimson Elizondo did, but who else?
We know ambulances have crawled across peoples yards, criss-crossing like a post apocalypse freeway scene to get around abandoned cop cars blocking the roads. They start arriving all from one direction as the second bus behind BORTAC Express finally manages to scoot off from the front of the school.
There's some sort of "load and go, load and go" action here that we don't have much information about unless we extrapolate what child was wounded how and eliminate the trio of AJ, Noah and Mayah from them, possibly.
At least one medical helicopter manages to land, to no avail at some point. Everyone is racing somewhere in an ambulance. Xavier, to his demise somewhere west of Hondo. Mrs Mirales never leaves the ambulance at the curb, as she desperately attended to possibly at near-gunpoint after UPC cops and attending EMTs have seemingly furiously pumped what little blood she had left onto the sidewalk, because her heart stopped from the traumatic way she was dragged from the room, seemingly and of course her multiple gunshot wounds from an AR-15. The "load and go" kids must also include the teacher from 111, who has first been placed in a cop car, or attempted- he didnt fit - and then onto the tailgate/ lift gate of a fire department truck? Possibly the one in the funeral home lot, which must have freaked the crowd out to witness, then finally into one of the "maze runner" arriving ambulances.
Again, I refer us all to the WP/TT/PP animation for clues to that. Somehow, "load and go" period ends. When? When the ambulances stop moving, whenever that is.
And then, finally, Rangers lock the scene down, even closing the gate to the west door. It's now a crime scene and they are in charge of the investigation. The Justice of the Peace, acting as coroner is enroute to pronounce the less than 18? bodies as dead. Unsure on the math here. Three left the classroom with a pulse who died. 21 died. (plus the shooter, #22). One body was locked in an ambulance. How many left in the classrooms when the rangers lock it down? 22 minus three who died and one who was improperly removed and locked in a (much needed) ambulance. 18 bodies including the shooters, is that right?
Eventually each is designated a letter of the alphabet and DNA sampled on site so the pieces of children and teachers can be sorted and reassembled, or at least distributed to the funeral homes in the right batches. Several are said to be more or less headless. On one, a pair of Green converse with a little heart-shaped sharpie drawn on the toe, that aids in identifaction.
Parents have been told to go to the civic center. Many are going to race to every hospital they can think of, including San Antonio instead. Mothers, fathers and grandparent must all separate to cover more ground, adding to the panic and desperation. Some have been told to go to the high school, but the high school gets some sort of possible gun threat? Again, NO ONE IS IN CHARGE.
On the curb near the front of the school sits Lexi's Rubio's mother and deputy father, utterly bereft. He's been kept out of the classroom but seems to have been told the definite news their child is not coming out. Curious news crews videotape and photograph them in their grief, until the mother of one parent seemingly arrives to join them. Eventually, they thread their way onto the campus to get away from the news anchors assembled by the school sign in the same intersection where Officer Hill had parked to witness Coronado's "wild ride" at 11:31 or so. 82 minutes and then some have passed, as have at least 19 souls? by now, some still fighting for life, the shooter one among the many dead, yet separate in category only. The blood of all spreads to mingle in the footprints and pools of fluids on the floors the gruesome CSI process begins in earnest.
In the queue on the video projector's mechanism, "Lilo and Stitch" awaits the Disney happy ending. Elvis won't be singing the finale BURNING LOVE today. Elvis has left the building. Elvis is deader than Elvis. And the children are going to meet him in Heaven, if you believe what the King does and loved to sing about. "Farther along, we'll understand it./ Farther along, we'll understand why."

Hello, I found some trails that could possibly be good for taking the RAV over without damaging it. Though we would have to test them out. Here is the list with a link to them. Seems like on most of these you will need a pass. Lucky for us in San Diego, we can purchase a Yearly pass for $30 per car, and $5 for an additional car. Pass Purchase Here
If you have done any of these trails, please let us know which and if it can be done with 2WD, 4x4, or AWD. Also let us know your experience and if you would be willing to go again.
If anyone is interested to go to any of these, let us know and we could schedule a date, where a few of us can do this on our RAV's or any other vehicle. I am excited to experience some of these trails myself if no one else is interested.
​

• Boulder Creek Road - (seems a pass is needed) Explore this 21.0-mile point-to-point trail near Descanso, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This trail is great for scenic driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. You'll need to leave pups at home — dogs aren't allowed on this trail.
• Chariot Canyon - Enjoy this 11.0-mile point-to-point trail near Julian, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This is a popular trail for scenic driving, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. You'll need to leave pups at home — dogs aren't allowed on this trail.
• Lusardi Truck Trail - Get to know this 6.2-mile point-to-point trail near Santa Ysabel, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This trail is great for birding and off-road driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime.
• Corral Canyon OHV Trail - Get to know this 14.5-mile out-and-back trail near Campo, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This trail is great for off-road driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring.
• Wagon Creek Falls - Get to know this 12.1-mile out-and-back trail near Mount Shasta, California. Generally considered a challenging route. This trail is great for hiking, mountain biking, and off-road driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are April through November. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.
• Black Mountain OHV Trail -Discover this 14.2-mile out-and-back trail near Ramona, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 7 h 16 min to complete. This is a popular trail for hiking, mountain biking, and off-road driving, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.
• Palomar Divide Road - Explore this 24.8-mile point-to-point trail near Aguanga, California. Generally considered an easy route. This is a popular trail for birding, mountain biking, and off-road driving, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.
• Bear Valley Road - Head out on this 18.7-mile out-and-back trail near Pine Valley, California. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 7 h 46 min to complete. This trail is great for hiking, mountain biking, and off-road driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring.
• Black Mountain Truck Trail - Experience this 7.3-mile point-to-point trail near Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This trail is great for off-road driving, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring.
• Santiago Peak - Head out on this 9.5-mile out-and-back trail near Silverado, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 4 h 14 min to complete. This is a popular trail for hiking and off-road driving, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day.
• Bee Canyon Truck Trail - Check out this 8.3-mile point-to-point trail near Hemet, California. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This is a popular trail for off-road driving, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime.

Dibs rules apply. All prices are shipped USPS with tracking. Payment expected promptly upon placing dibs or will move on to next person. Paypal F&F (no notes) and Cashapp are the accepted payment methods. Everything ships first thing tomorrow morning
2: 10.3" 5.56 Complete Upper

• All parts are brand new. Includes BKF assembled Upper with T-marks, BKF BCG, BKF billet charging handle, BKF 9.875" Mlok Handguard with barrel nut, BKF .750 adjustable Gas Block, BKF melonite gas tube, Ballistic Advantage 10.3" 5.56 Govt Profile Carbine Length Chrome Lined Classic Series Crane Spec gas port barrel, and Rearden Plan B compatible flash hider.
• Note: Supressor in pic is not included, just added to show gap between Mount and handguard for reference.
• Pics: https://imgur.com/a/q3Rc45a
• $300 Shipped

3: AR15 Lower Build Kit

• All parts are brand new. Includes:
• 8 position fluted anti tilt buffer tube
• Milspec end plate and castle nut
• Carbine buffer and spring
• Milspec trigger group
• Billet trigger guard with hardware
• BKF Mod-1 Combat Control Kit lower parts kit with ambi safety
• Magpul MOE-K2 in Black
• Pics: https://imgur.com/a/CRoEuDh
• $100 Shipped SOLD

4: Grey Ghost Precision G26 Complete Upper

• Condition is 9.5/10. Only rounds fired were to test fire after assembly. Includes GGP G26 slide with cover plate and screws with original packaging, GGP G26 threaded barrel with thread protector and original packaging, and OEM Glock upper parts kit installed.
• Pics: https://imgur.com/a/3gtncLn
• $350 Shipped

5: Kaw Valley Precision Gas Block Dimple Jig

• Like new in original packaging. .750 journal.
• Pics: https://imgur.com/a/uYgQ66K
• $20 Shipped SOLD

6: Daniel Defense Micro T2 Mount

• Used but good condition. Includes mount, lower 1/3 spacer, sets of different length screws, and original packaging.
• Pics: https://imgur.com/a/lcrv2FP
• $40 Shipped SOLD