Some young adolescents had gathered in what appeared to be a classroom. The chairs didn’t match the benches; the walls were on the verge of collapsing, and in place of a board, there was a white wall.
It was the education center inside the Phoenix base. It was the place where their education regarding the outside world began.
Since these children weren’t allowed to leave the base, they were educated in combat as well as theory about the ever-evolving world. Once they reached seventeen, they’d be allowed to go on hunts under supervision.
People thought such things were a waste, but Neha insisted on educating the young. Surprisingly, in her past life, it was Alaric and Blaze who had started it.
The results were beneficial then, and now, Neha was trying to replicate that success for humanity’s benefit.
Yet, the gloomy faces themselves held no hope for the future.
Usually, the children would be seen laughing and smiling, despite the circumstances. However, now none of them had the energy to smile.
"Did you hear about Zera—?"
"Shh! Teacher told us not to take his name. Big Brother Min doesn’t like hearing it."
"Who would like a traitor? Big bro should have executed him on the spot!"
They had witnessed the bloodshed within the base during partition. It was then that they grew to learn what execution meant. Although there had been none since the split.
Still, it wasn’t a secret that what Zera did was unforgivable. Not only did he kill Joanne and her son, but he also joined the cannibals! Since then, he had hunted down two more people from their faction.
Once he had been an inspiration for the young; now he was a traitor. The only one with a kill-on-sight order given by Min.
The order received mixed reactions from the camp-dwellers.
Some applauded Min’s decision as they knew Zera was like a brother to him. While some called it drama. After all, it was Min who let Zera leave and join the cannibals.
The children had also been divided into two groups. Obviously, they couldn’t do anything about Zera other than express their displeasure. Soon, that anger spilled over onto Hina.
Out of a dozen students, only three supported Hina. Expressing that she held no control over her brother’s actions. The rest viewed her as the catalyst of all the problems.
Their ages were between fourteen and sixteen, yet they held such thoughts. It was troublesome, to say the least.
"How long do you intend to gossip?" Neha asked, entering the room.
Hina walked behind her. Ever since Zera left the base, she had grown extremely quiet. One could say she had been traumatized and always remained close to Neha as a result.
"You’re here to learn, not to gossip," Neha rebuked the class. "If you want to do something about Zera, then take the weapons and leave. Let’s see how long you last out there."
The children averted their gazes in shame and discomfort.
Just then, one guy stood up.
"Sure, give me one," he said.
The students gasped again. It was the first time anyone in the class had shown such disobedience. Even Neha was taken aback by it, and her eyebrows twitched.
Instead of calming the situation down, she grabbed two sticks, handing one to the boy and the other to... Hina.
Not just the class, but even Hina was surprised. Although she went on hunts and had basic training, she had never fought someone intentionally.
"Go outside and sort out your differences," Neha said. "The rest of us will start the lesson."
The boy didn’t waste any time and left. Hina was hesitant, but left when Neha glared at her.
Traumatized or not, this is the only way you can silence the critics.
Neha didn’t know if Hina would win or not. She just hoped her courage would be enough to silence those who saw her as the symbol of Zera’s betrayal.
Meanwhile, she grabbed a piece of charcoal and wrote two words on the wall.
"Food web. That’s what we’re going to talk about today," she said, turning to face the glass. "Does anyone have any ideas what it could mean?"
"It’s like a complex food chain."
"You’re partially correct," Neha said, drawing four circles.
She divided it into four parts before naming them. Humans, mutants, plants, and lastly zombies.
However, unlike chains to represent who eats whom, it was an overlapping structure.
Humans were shown to eat both plants and mutants. Mutants and plants ate each other as well as humans and undead. The undead were shown as eating humans and mutants.
The reality was much more complex, but Neha described it in the simplest terms. But it also showed the dire position the humans found themselves in.
"The size of the arrows reflects each species’ dominance over the others," she explained. "And as you can see... humans have the smallest ones."
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The students began giggling and laughing, and Neha knew why.
"Teacher, you’re mistaken," one girl said. "Plants don’t eat humans."
"They don’t at the moment, but they will soon. Give it like a month or two, six months at most. When that happens, there won’t be a place where humans would live without constant fights."
Although it wasn’t a reality now, the carnivorous plants would appear all over the world in due time. She was confident because the same had happened in her past life.
That’s when all hell would break loose.
In the past, it took a year for such plants to emerge, but Neha had a feeling it would change this time.
Almost everything had already changed from what she remembered. What little that was left intact would change soon enough. Although she hoped that wouldn’t be the case.
Thankfully, she remembered how to kill most such plants. Hence, as long as they weren’t ignorant, they should survive for a few years. At least, until the time she didn’t die in the past.
Before she could continue, there was a knock on the door.
Hina stood there, her stick broken in half. As for the boy, he was nowhere to be found, but the blood on the stick and on her face told the entire story.