Chapter 2-Weapons of Paper and Bone

idk, there are two part that most likely I will remove if I publish, it is the part with them carving designs into the spears, and her singing. tell me if I should keep it.

As we searched the halls, the silence felt heavier than the air. Every step echoed like a warning, bouncing off lockers smeared with ink and blood. The school wasn’t a school anymore�"it was a battlefield stitched together with fear and memory.

Victoria moved ahead, her boots crunching over shattered glass and torn pages. The paper was everywhere�"ripped from textbooks, flyers, notebooks�"like the building itself had tried to shed its skin. Some of it was stained red. Some black. All of it useless now, except maybe as kindling or camouflage.

“We need weapons,” Aries muttered, gripping a broken chair leg like it was Excalibur. “Real ones.”

“We have what we have,” Victoria replied, not looking back. “Paper cuts deep if you aim right. Bone breaks when it has to.”

I scanned the hallway. A snapped ruler. A jagged piece of metal from a locker door. A pencil sharpener blade. It wasn’t much, but it was something. And something was better than nothing.

We weren’t soldiers. We were students. Survivors. And everything around us�"every desk, every binder, every forgotten art project�"was now part of our weaponry. 

“We have weapons” I reassured, I pointed to the jagged metal piece, the rulers, broken binders, and the scattered pencils. “Besides, you all somehow got f*****g tree branches, and if you carve those properly, they can become weapons.”

They all nodded their heads along to what I was saying. “Put them in the bags!” Aries shouted. They quickly followed the orders, and before I knew it. They were back, standing there.

“Let's continue searching.” I said, “We need to get back to camp by nightfall.” I started walking, looking around for anything useful, maybe even a survivor. 

“Calm down Sage,” Juno joked, “It’s not the end of the world.” I stopped in my tracks, and turned around, her smirk wiped off her face once she saw the anger in my eyes.

“Not the end of the world?!” I snapped, anger lacing every word. “Not the end of the world? Juno, we’re trapped in a school with bloodthirsty monsters, and you saw what they did. How can you say it’s not the end of the world? What kind of fuckingly stupid idiot would think that�"”

I stopped myself, breath ragged. The hallway was silent. Juno’s eyes didn’t flinch, but something behind them shifted. Regret? Defiance? I couldn’t tell. My anger faded, and I regretted my outburst.

“Juno, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to�"” I started, but she cut me off.

“No,” she said, her voice steady. “You’re right. Let’s just continue searching.”

We moved quietly, footsteps muffled against the hard floor. The hallway stretched ahead, dim and warped by flickering lights. Lockers stood half-open like mouths mid-scream. Juno stayed close, scanning every classroom we passed. Most were empty. Some looked like they’d been abandoned mid-lesson�"chairs overturned, papers scattered, a half-eaten sandwich still steaming on a desk.

“We need something sharp,” I muttered. “Or heavy. Anything.”

A janitor’s closet held a broken broom handle and a rusted wrench. Not ideal, but better than nothing. I handed the wrench to Victoria. She gripped it like she’d been waiting for something to hold onto.

We checked another room. No survivors. Just silence and a trail of blood-stained footprints leading out the back door.

“Someone was here,” Aries said.

“Or still is,” I replied.

No one answered. Victoria just tightened her grip on the wrench and stepped back into the hallway.

Victoria motioned from up ahead, her voice low but urgent. “This way. There’s a stairwell that leads to the old theater wing.”

Aries nodded, already moving. The four others followed, quiet and tense, their eyes darting to every shadow that stretched too far or moved too slow.

We passed a shattered trophy case. Gold-plated memories lay scattered across the floor�"names of students who’d once mattered, now forgotten in the chaos. Arthur picked up a jagged shard of glass and held it like a dagger. No one told him to drop it.

The stairwell loomed ahead, dark and narrow. The kind of place where sound gets swallowed and light forgets how to reach.

I hesitated at the top step. “If someone’s still down there…”

“We’ll deal with it,” Juno said. Her voice was calm.

We slowly descended, each step creaking beneath our weight. The air grew colder, heavier, like the stairwell was swallowing sound. No one spoke. 

The theater wing was darker than the rest of the school. The emergency lights barely reached this far, casting long, broken shadows across the floor. Dust floated in the air, catching the light like ash.

Victoria reached the bottom first, her hand hovering near the door handle. She glanced back. I nodded.

She pushed it open.

The theater wing was colder than the rest of the school. Dust hung in the air like fog, and the silence felt heavier�"like the building itself was holding its breath.

We moved in slowly, weapons raised, eyes scanning every shadow.

Then Victoria stopped. “There,” she whispered.

Taylor.

He was slumped against the wall near the backstage door, legs sprawled, head tilted unnaturally, and blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His phone was still lit in his hand. A soft voice echoed from the speaker�"tinny, distant, female.

“Hello? Are you still there? Can you tell me your location?”

Juno knelt beside him, checking for a pulse she already knew wasn’t there. Her face didn’t change, but her voice was tight. “He’s gone.”

The operator kept speaking. “We’re sending help. Please stay on the line. Can you hear me?”

Victoria reached for the phone, hesitated, then handed it to me.

I raised it to my ear. “Don’t send anyone,” I said. My voice was low, but firm. “If you do… they’ll die too.”

A pause. Then: “I�"I don’t understand. What’s happening?”

I looked at Taylor’s face. Fearful. Frozen. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

The line crackled. “We have responders nearby. They’re trying to reach the building, but�"there’s something around it. Some kind of barrier.”

“They won’t get through,” I said. “And if they do… they won’t come back. We’re already dead, don’t send more, or that would be more deaths than necessary."

The line was quiet for a long time. “I understand, but would you at least tell me your names? ” 

I put the phone on speaker, and everyone said their names. 

“Sage”

“Victoria”

“Arthur”

“Aries”

“Juno”

“Azzie”

“I won’t forget you all, please at least let me try to help.” She pleaded.

“No. No more unnecessary deaths,” I said, my voice firm, cutting through the thick silence.

The others looked at me�"Victoria, Juno, Aries, even the other fifteen trailing behind us. No one argued. Not this time.

I held the phone tighter, the operator still on the line. Her voice was trembling now, barely above a whisper. “Are you sure? We can try again. We have people ready�"”

“Shut the f**k up,” I snapped. “ I said no for a reason. They won’t make it through. And if they do… they’ll end up like Taylor.”

A pause. Then: “I understand.”

I lowered the phone, thumb hovering over the screen. “We’ll call again if we find a way out..”

“Okay,” she said. “Please stay safe.”

I ended the call.

My eyes were glued to Taylor's body, someone touched my shoulder. “Come on, we need to get the others.” Azzie said.

“Then we bury him” I said, not asking, telling.

---

As we laid Taylor into the hole, I thought about Luna. 

“If you think about it,” she said, “they don’t truly die.”

“I don’t understand.” I asked, “They do die, whether it is through peace or pain.”

“I mean,” She replied, “They don’t truly die, they live on in your memories, your heart.”

“You're weird,” I stated, “You know that right?”

“Duh!” She replied, laughing. 

The scene faded, and everyone was standing there, looking at me. I realized there were tears flowing down my face. I wiped them from my face. Was Luna still alive? Was she even at school today? Is she . . . one of them? These thoughts replayed in my head repeatedly. 

“Are you ok?” Azzie asked, looking at me.

“Yes” I croaked, I sniffled, and wiped my eyes again. I would assume that I looked broken, because she asked again. No, I thought. Nothing will ever be okay, not tomorrow, not ever.

“I’m fine Azzie.” I said. Then I remembered something Luna said.

“When they're gone, they're never fully at rest.” She said

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“To be put to rest,” She started, “they need to be at peace. The song Hollow Skies”

The scene faded. I slowly started, the melody calm and eerie. 

The moon so high among the stars full of lies,  

Eerie eyes beneath my hollow skies.  

Whispers crawl through velvet gloom,  

Dancing shadows in a silent tomb.

Ravens hum a lullaby,  

Their wings like shadows passing by.  

They do not mourn, they do not cry�"  

They carry souls where dreams still lie.

A breath held tight in time’s decay,  

Where memories drift and fade away.  

No cry, no scream�"just silence stays,  

Wrapped in the breath of midnight haze.

The night is sweet, the air is kind,  

No pain remains, no ties that bind.  

Just gentle winds and velvet light,  

To guide you through the final night.

I watched you fall like autumn light,  

Soft and slow into endless night.  

No fear, no pain�"just peace remains,  

As stars forget their ancient names.

Close your eyes, the world is still,  

Beyond the hills, beyond the chill.  

Let hollow skies wrap you in sleep,  

Where secrets drift and starlight weeps.

Hollow skies, take them home,  

Where dreams dissolve and winds have flown.  

Let them rest, let them blaze,  

A soul set free in a midnight haze.

 No one spoke, they were probably shocked. I never would sing, not even if I was required to. “Sage” Aries breathed, “That was-”

I cut him off, “horrible, awful” I suggested, expecting him to nod.

“No,” Azzie answered, “That was beautiful.”

“Don’t bother,” I mumbled, “He needed to be at peace in his final rest. Let's get back to Camp.”

As we walked the halls, I worried that there would be more people. More deaths hidden somewhere in the school. They all deserved peace in their final rests, and I hope that they are free from pain, wherever they are. “You go on ahead,” I blurted, I needed to be alone. Free from the fear that one of them would die, because of me. 

“Okay,” Azzie replied. Everyone seemed okay with the idea of my walking around the halls alone. “Just remember, kill them before they kill you.”

“Yeah yeah” I answered as I walked away from them, the opposite direction, to search and look for whatever I pleased. As I moved through the halls, I took every precaution, I hid every time I heard a noise. I flinched, every time I made an unsuspected noise.

“Quiet!” A voice hissed in the distance,  I froze. “You don’t want to be found.”

I slowly glided to where the voice was coming from, it wasn’t the cold and ancient one that they spoke. It was serious, and urgent, human. “Whose there!” Someone suddenly spoke. I stilled,  I forgot that they are deceptive, and they can modify their voices. Slowly turned, “Wait, Sage.”

I turned back around, knuckles whitening as I tightened my grip. The tension eased the moment I saw who stood before me�"Luna. She had heterochromia, her eyes looked as if golden brownish-yellow nebulas had been dropped into deep navy blue, glowing softly from within like distant galaxies. Her skin was a warm caramel tone, lightly freckled, and her short wavy hair carried chestnut and copper hues.

Her white shirt had a golden tree on it, its branches stretched out, and atop the trunk of the tree, it said They feared me when they fell.  The more I took in the quote, the more I realized, it’s about Mother Nature, then it’s not just a statement of survival. It’s a warning. A reminder that nature isn’t passive. She watches. She waits. And when pushed too far, she reclaims everything.

“I like your shirt,” I blurted out, although her shirt and her face had blood splatters all across, it was beautiful. Her black jacket was covering her back, so I couldn’t tell if it said anything. 

“You do?” She asked, shocked. I guess she could tell that I was wondering if there was anything else on it, because she removed her jacket and turned. This time the shirt had a fiery black and red phoenix. It said, I am the thing they never planned for, the aftermath they couldn’t escape from.

It was shockingly beautiful, not a threat, but a warning. A message stating that she will come back, and it will be worse than the last. 

“Which wing are you from,” The other girl asked, “Oh! By the way, I’m Daisy.”

Daisy had honey-brown eyes and freckles scattered across her face. Her medium-length wavy hair was a mix of brown and auburn, tousled and streaked with dried blood. She wore camo cargo pants and a tan shirt with three dancing skeletons printed across the chest. A denim jacket pulled the look together, though it too was marked with smears of dried blood.

“I’m from SouthWing.” I answered. Looking at their faces to look for any sign of emotion, or something useful. 

“That one's new” Luna stated, fidgeting with her jacket zipper. “Who’s Lord?”

“How do you know they're called that,” I asked, tensing up. My grip tightened again. 

“Word got around.” Daisy blurted. Was there any way to check if they were human?  I thought, my brow furrowed.

“How” I asked, trying not to show fear, but my voice still cracked. “Everyone’s dead.”

“Not everyone,” Daisy said. “There are 3 others”

“Others” I echoed.

“NorthWings” Luna said, “They already have their territory.”

“EastWings” Daisy continued, “They have the labs.

“And finally,” Luna started, “The WestWing, They have access to woodshops. Proper and deadly weapons.”

“How?” I asked.

“Like we said.” Daisy started, getting annoyed by how frequently I asked this question. “Word gets around.”

“Who’s your leader?” Luna asked curiously, “I bet it's someone smart and brave. ”

I felt sick to my stomach, I was neither of those things. “It doesn’t matter, let's just head back to camp.”

As I walked back, I felt nervous. How the hell did this even happen?  I thought, Was it all planned? We soon made it to the theatre wing, and there were 2 guards at the door. They had a broken ruler, and a makeshift dagger using a branch as a hilt with the jagged metal piece from the locker that we found.

They bowed their heads, but I gave them a look that said Don't. They nodded, as if to say, understood. As he walked down the stairs, the cold hit me, I rubbed my arms hoping to gain some warmth.  Where had my hoodie gone?

As we walked through the theatre, I noticed how well they were setting up camp. There were tents everywhere, some already built and others still being worked on. People were moving around, fixing stuff and adding things like they knew exactly what they were doing. It looked like they’d done this before�"maybe for a field trip or something like that.

I headed toward the largest tent I could see. It stood out, kind of like the main one. Just like at the entrance to the camp, there were two people standing guard outside. They didn’t say anything, just watched as I got closer.

This time, I wasn’t quick enough to give them a look, for when they saw me, they said, “Hello Lord Evens”. When the two guards stated their greetings, Daisy and Luna both gave me a  look that said,  What the hell are they talking about.

“No need for formalities James and Mia,” I ordered, and they nodded in condolence. I entered the tent and there I saw Aries and Victoria talking strategy over a drawing of the school grounds. A lantern was next to them to give them lighting in the dark tent. 

“Hey Victoria,” I said, making my presence known.

“Aries” I acknowledged him, he looked up from the drawing and bore into me with a cold glare. I stared back, hoping my message got across, I’m in charge, remember that. 

“So” Victoria said, breaking the tense silence I created. “Who are these two?” She nodded toward Luna and Daisy.

“This is Little Raven, also known as Luna,” I answered, pointing toward her, “and this is Daisy.” I nodded toward Daisy.

“Hello Daisy,” Aries greeted, walking toward her with a hand outstretched for a handshake. “I’m Aries, Commander of the SouthWing Troop. This here is Victoria, my Second-in-Command.”

Victoria scowled, her arms crossed, she clearly didn’t like them.

“What’s wrong,” I asked. “Victoria, fix your attitude, they are guests.”

“My lord,” Luna said through clenched teeth, “it’s not just her attitude. It’s what she did.”

“Still crying about that?” Victoria said, voice dripping with mockery.

Luna’s eyes flared. “You ditched us during the final performance last year. We rehearsed for weeks, and you bailed ten minutes before curtain.”

“I had a better offer,” Victoria said, shrugging. “Lead role in the senior showcase. Sorry not sorry.”

“You didn’t even tell us. We found out when the director announced your replacement.”  Daisy hissed “We had to rewrite the entire scene.”

Victoria smirked. “And yet, you managed. Bravo.”

I stepped forward, the dusty spotlight catching my face. “You betrayed your castmates, Victoria. This isn’t just camp�"it’s trust, it’s teamwork. You broke that.”

Victoria’s smirk faltered. “I did what was best for me.” 

Luna scoffed. “You did what was easiest.”

“Ladies” Aries interrupted, and we all stared at him, anger clearly etched across our faces. He held up his hands in defeat, and backed away. “Just assign them their roles Lord Evens,”

I rubbed the back of my neck, relief flowed over me, the pressure was over. I was definitely not cut out for leading them.

Okay, you can do that, just. Breath, I thought to calm down. “Daisy, you're going to be a Repair Girl. You're good at tweaking and fixing things.” I turned, “Little Raven, you’re going to be storyteller, and Military Intelligence Officer.”

She gave me a look, confused, “And that is  . . .” she said, hoping for me to answer.

“That is someone who collects information on enemies, basically the other Wings.” I answered, I turned to Aries, “How are the spears coming?”

“Great,” He grinned, “We found some brooms, hockey sticks, and a few other things that we deemed suitable for them. There are 2 right now.”

“Please bring them to me Commander,” I ordered politely, he dipped his head, and exited the tent. 

I turned to Victoria, her scowl still plastered on her face. “Please lead Daisy to her tent with her assigned role.” I said sweetly, reluctantly she complied. She led Daisy away, but before Daisy left, she gave us a tight smile.  “Little Raven, you stay.”

She stayed, and we waited for Aries to return. 

When he came, he was breathing hard and held two stripped wooden spears, each carved to a sharp point. The bark had been peeled away, leaving the wood pale and raw. They were rough in places, but solid enough to hold.

“Aries,” I said, “what took you so long?”

“Theo wouldn’t give them to me” He answered, gasping for air in between words. “Not until he heard you wanted them.” He handed me two spears�"one broom and one hockey stick�"the points looked sharp enough to tear flesh.

When I got the spears,  I handed the slightly thinner one to Luna. “Do you have anything to carve it with?” I asked her. She nodded, and I started to carve intricate designs into mine. “Get it out, start on yours, but leave a blank space on it, not too big though.”

She shakily removed a box cutter hidden in her jacket pocket. We carved the spears in silence, together. As we finished, I looked over at Luna’s spear. Her hands trembled slightly, but the patterns she etched were deliberate�"sharp lines, swirling curves, a story told in symbols. The blank space she’d left was just above the grip, a small untouched patch of wood waiting for something.

“Give me your spear” I ordered, and she complied. I wrote in the blank space, 

SouthWing 9087

MIO

I also carved a falling spiral design on the tip of the spear like a narwhal horn. I handed it back to her, and did the same to mine.

SouthWing 17336

SL

“Copy my movements” I ordered Luna. 

I used my x-acto knife to prick the tip of my finger and pressed it upon the tip of the spear. This caused more blood to flow down the spiral design on the spear. Luna hesitated, but followed my actions, she winced when she pricked her finger, but she followed through.

“Now,” I stated, “These spears are now ours.” 

“I have two questions” Luna murmured, she continued to stare at her spear. “What do you do for food and what does MIO stand for?” Her delicate fingers tracing the neat letters on the grip of the spear.

“MIO stands for your post, Military Intellectual Officer,” I replied, “and no, we haven’t had any food for the few days that we’ve been here. Also, I was hoping you had a phone for us to contact someone outside for food.”

She nodded, and removed a hidden phone from her jacket. I reached for it, but I stopped in my tracks. I stared into her, “You haven’t contacted the authorities, have you?” I questioned.

Her face contorted into confusion, “Why?”

“Because there is no way out of here,” I retorted, “They’ll just die with us.”

“Oh,” She mouthed, she fidgeted with her hands, peeling the last nail polish off her nails.

“When did you call them?” Aries said eerily calm,  “Answer me!”

 He inched closer, but I held my spear toward his throat, “Calm down.”

He stopped in his tracks, but his cold glare stayed on Luna. She shrank back in fear, and opened her mouth but no sound came out. “It's okay,” I soothed Luna.

“R-Right before Sage found us,” She stuttered, “me and D-Daisy finally worked u-up the courage to c-call them.”

“Great,” I muttered. I rose, the spear felt right in my hand. “Get a searching party,” I ordered, “We need to head out, now.”

I exited the tent, Aries followed close behind. I felt him tense up next to me as all eyes traveled from their tasks to our movement. “Squad 2. Squad 3,” Aries barked, and immediately five children came up and stood before us, between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. 

They had an assortment of makeshift weapons, including broken rulers, sharpened pencils, X Acto knives, box cutters, broken chair and table legs, mop and broom handles wrapped in cloth for grip. One even had two homemade daggers with a wooden hilt.

“We have to search for officers,” I ordered, “Squad 1 will guard the camp while I’m away. We march!” 

As we reached the exit to camp, the cold and drafty air felt easier to breathe. My lungs worked better, but it didn’t help with the anxiety that I would fail everyone, and we would all die. I motioned with my hand, quiet, because the thing we needed right now was to find them, not to get distracted.

It was easy to find them, they were shouting and gunshots were heard. “Idiots” I hissed, “They're just attracting more.”

As we came to a stop, we saw the chaos, 3 officers laid dead on the floor. I again motioned for them to be quiet, but this time, I signalled for them to charge into it. The dumbfounded look on the officers faces when they saw they were being rescued by teens at least a decade younger than them. 

“We are here to save you!” One shouted over the commotion, they continued to shoot at them, but it didn’t work. Nothing was killing them, that was until I saw the same make-shift dagger embedded into a teacher's skull.

“The head!” I screamed, “To kill them, stab them in the head.” I ran full force at one of them, spear raised, and threw it. The spear lodged itself in between the eyes. 

“Backup,” A blonde female officer called, “Send in units 2 and 4!” I darted to grab my spear, I need to look intimidating for this to work. I then walked to the officer that called for backup. 

“Cancel that backup,” I ordered, standing tall.

 The officer snorted, “And what gives you the right to-”

“The fact that people can get in here, but can’t get out.” I shot back at her, “So I suggest you cancel that backup, or innocent blood will be on your hands.”

Her eyes bore into me, as if wondering why she was taking orders from a 15 year old with a wooden spear. “10-22” She said into the radio, static was heard over the line. 

“Copy that.” A deep voice responded. I then continued to fight alongside squad 2 and 3. It was as if these things could tell when they were needed in a certain place. 

“Officer Phillips!” Someone cried, I turned, it was the same officer who called for backup. She now laid twitching on the ground, her eyes leaking black. “Someone shoot her!” I screamed, but it was too late, she lunged up and attacked the officer that was just kneeling beside her. When she was done, her blonde hair was damp with blood. I raised my spear toward her, and she continued to advance.

“Sage, watch out!” Someone warned, but it was too late. I was slammed to the floor, the air knocked out of my lungs and my vision blurred.

“Sage.” A voice rasped my name into my ears, causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to see who it was�"whether it was the teacher I hated the most or my favorite. I didn’t want to know.

“Such a pretty name. Do you think you could open those eyes so I can see the terror in them?”

My eyes remained closed. When I didn’t open them, cold, thin fingers tried to pry them apart. Then a ringing boom echoed through the already loud hallway, and the teacher collapsed on top of me. Dead.

I felt the warm blood drip down onto me, but I was too weak to move and too tired to care. I barely noticed the weight being lifted off of me�"I felt weightless.

“Sage,” someone called my name, but their voice was muffled.

My vision blurred�"dark splotches blooming across everything. I felt someone lift me into their arms. I writhed in pain, every movement sending jagged shocks through my ribs. Breathing was agonizing�"each inhale scraped against something raw inside me. My chest throbbed with every breath, and even the pressure of their arms made me flinch. I wanted to scream, but even that hurt too much.

  

My remaining energy was draining from my limbs. The cold ebbing darkness began to swallow me. Until darkness was the only thing that was left for me to feel.

Author's Note

once again I say, tell me if you like it, and don't mind the grammar. tell me if I should remove those parts