Ms. Lily glanced to the side and noticed Pepe still there.
Pepe gave her a look that pleaded for her to disregard.
"Pepe, why are you still over here," Ms. Lily inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I wanted to give you an apple," Pepe stuttered and fumbled in his bag for a moment. His fingers brushed against the worn canvas. He nervously laughed and pulled out a large, red apple, polished to a gleam. With a slight limp, he walked and extended the apple to Ms. Lily.
Ms. Lily stopped writing and looked down at the offering. She looked at Pepe, then at the apple, and back at him. A genuine, warm smile, which reached her eyes, spread across her face. "Thank you, Pepe. That's very thoughtful of you," she accepted and took the apple. She placed it on the corner of her desk. "A gift for a teacher is always welcome," she added with delight.
Pepe's eyes shortly darted to a locked cabinet. He looked back up and responded with a slight nod. He limped back to his seat with a serious expression. It was as if the apple had been a distraction from something. He sat back in his seat, behind Matteo, and let out a sigh.
A small wave of whispers went through the class.
"That's Pepe for you. Always looking out for everyone," the boy with the bucket hat remarked with a chuckle.
Ms. Lily turned to the blackboard and resumed her lesson. "Now, where were we," she mused and tapped her chin with the chalk.
The students fell silent with anticipation. All eyes were on Ms. Lily.
Stark's eyes sparked with determination in finding the truth. "What about the outside world," he questioned, and his voice was a little too loud in the quiet room.
"You will learn more about the outside world further in your studies. For now, you must understand that The Sacred Forest is hidden for a reason. The world outside is not... forgiving," she informed.
"The people who... who attacked our home," Stark clarified, and he struggled to keep the tremor from his voice. "Where did they come from?"
The room fell silent.
The students exchanged glances with Stark and Ms. Lily.
Ms. Lily was unreadable behind her sunglasses, but she gave a slow, understanding nod. "Good question, Stark," she praised. "The world is a big place. Bigger than you can imagine," she elucidated and turned to the large map of the forest. "Those attackers were not from The Sacred Forest. They were from beyond," she revealed and paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. She didn't have a complete, truthful answer.
Not satisfied, Stark furrowed his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to press her for more details, but he held back. He slumped back into his chair.
"Who is Stribora," Hafen asked, and he seized the opportunity to gather information.
Stark glanced at his brother and smirked proudly.
Ms. Lily shifted her weight and sighed. A different kind of weariness settled over her features. "I'm not supposed to teach that, yet," she asserted with a guarded tone.
Matteo tilted his head and asked, "Why not? Is it a secret?" He tapped a pencil against his desk.
A hush fell over the classroom. Every student leaned in, and their curiosity piqued.
Ms. Lily placed her hands on her hips. Her gaze traveled over the sea of faces, and her lips tightened. "Fine. You need to know where you stand anyway," she consented. "Well, your world is The Sacred Forest. It's a beautiful, safe place, but it's not all there is. Stribora," she revealed and continued, "Is the name of the country we live in." She gestured to the map and elaborated, "Beyond the districts and the dense forest is a vast and complex land." She walked to the blackboard, picked up the chalk, and wrote the word: Stribora. She turned to face the class and took a deep breath.
A collective gasp rippled through the students. They looked at each other with wide, confused eyes. To them, a "country" was a foreign concept. They had their districts, their forest, and that was their world. The notion of a vast, ruling entity was something from another reality.
Pepe, Hafen, Stark, and Matteo also looked confused. They thought Stribora was a person.
Stark's fists clenched under his desk. "What is a country," he sought to know with a spark of interest.
"A country is a nation, a large area of land with its own government, laws, and people," Ms. Lily answered.
"Is the outside world, Stribora, beautiful," Stark interrogated with a curious stare.
"Beautiful? Not in the slightest," Ms. Lily muttered with a grim expression. "Stribora is a militaristic country that has conquered nearly the entire known continent. We live in one of its dominions, Dominion of Bobby, named after one of its greatest military heroes," she divulged. She returned to the map of The Sacred Forest on the wall and pointed towards it. "This forest, our home, is a tiny, almost forgotten part of that dominion. The outside world is ravaged by war and dangerous creatures. Humans are trapped in walled cities as monsters roam the outside land. Only soldiers and traveling merchants can traverse the horrifying area. Beyond the forest is a cruel and unforgiving place. So, stay in the forest where it is safe," she claimed with a bit of urgency.
A collective gasp echoed in the classroom. Following, a murmur rippled through the class.
Stark seemed disappointed, and a shadow fell over his face.
Jasper stared at the map of the forest, and a storm of emotions churned within him. His father, Flint, had been a proud member of The Guild. A hero. He had fought monsters in this very forest. Now, Ms. Lily was telling them they were nothing but a forgotten corner of a vast empire. The Guild... gone. His father's legacy... it felt cheapened.
Ms. Lily paused for a moment. She turned back to the blackboard, and her shoulders slumped. "There is another matter I need to discuss," she informed, and her tone shifted. "You all must be prepared. We have received a report. A dangerous monster has been sighted near the northern district. That was the emergency that pulled me away."
Pepe sat up straighter. His hands clenched into fists. The memory of a fight with a "monster", the one that had given him his injuries, flashed in his mind.
The students in the classroom froze. Some looked scared, others looked at their peers with wide, nervous eyes. "A dangerous monster," one of them squeaked.
Elaine gripped her desk in fear. "Here? In one of our districts," she stammered.
Benjamin raised his hand and queried, "Is it... like the one that took down The Guild?" His voice was quiet but steady.
Ms. Lily's expression was grim. She took a deep breath. "The report came from a scout near the ruins. He described a creature... different from the monsters we're used to. Something with erratic behavior," she warned and added, "The description matched something I've only read about in ancient texts, and I confirmed it with Ursa, today. A being that not just consumes flesh but converts life itself. A zombie."
Stark, Hafen, and Matteo exchanged nervous looks.
"Converts life? What does that mean? What is a zombie," Matteo interrogated with a stutter.
Ms. Lily's eyes glimmered under her sunglasses as if the questions activated her inner dictionary. "According to Ursa, zombies are a new species of monsters at war with the humans. If one of us is bitten by them, we would... change. There's currently a zombie apocalypse in our dominion, and it's a quite recent issue," she boldly admitted without a second thought. Then, noticing the concern in her students' eyes, she forced a smile and reassured, "Let's relax, kids. There's nothing to worry about here. I'm just giving an example of how dangerous it is out there."
A zombie apocalypse...
The word hung in the air like a death sentence.
"We're not safe," Hafen murmured under his breath and slumped into his seat. He held a frown and pointed out, "Doesn't that mean that the zombies will eventually invade the forest?" His gaze drifted towards the window and the border, which no longer seemed like a comforting barrier but a cover for monsters.
Stark's earlier disappointment about the "ugly" outside world had evaporated. He had the same look he got when he was about to challenge someone to a fight. With by a chilling thrill, he leaned forward and breathed out, "An invasion. That means we'll get to fight zombies, right?" He looked around with a hungry grin spreading across his face. "We need to be ready. Let's start training. Now," he declared.
The class glanced at him with disbelief. In an instant, they erupted in a wave of panic. Unlike Stark, they, who had moments ago been squabbling and doodling, now looked at each other with wide, fearful eyes. The safety of their forest home had just been shattered.
"We're all going to be bitten by zombies," a girl in the front row wailed.
"My uncle lives near the northern district," another boy stammered.
Suddenly, Ms. Lily burst out laughing and held her stomach.
It immediately halted the rising tide of fear.
"Silence," Ms. Lily blurted out and held back her laugh with a chuckle. She gave a bright smile. "I see my little announcement has caused quite a stir. Good. That means you're paying attention, but you've misunderstood the severity of the situation. The zombie 'apocalypse' is far from here. It's in the outer cities of the dominion. The creature I mentioned is a single sighting, likely a stray that wandered from the infected zones. A fluke. A much greater monster destroyed The Guild. This is nothing like that."
Her words soothed the class's frayed nerves, but not entirely.
Pepe had gone deathly pale. His mind wasn't on the apocalypse; it was on the fresh bandages wrapped around his torso. He remembered the claws, the unnatural strength, and the vacant, hungry eyes of the creature he'd fought a week ago. He hadn't told anyone the whole truth, not even his mom. The description Ms. Lily gave fit perfectly. "It's already here," he whispered, but his words were barely audible except for one person, Hafen.
Hafen's keen hearing caught the allegation, and he returned a glance. He looked back to the front of the class with a serious expression and questioned, "Ms. Lily, how can you be so sure? How do you know the zombies will never attack The Sacred Forest?"
Ms. Lily leaned against her desk and crossed her arms. Her smile faded, replaced by a teacher's patient but firm look. "Because we have protection, Hafen. Even with The Guild gone, we have been safe from the major problems of the outside world. We have the inherent safety of this forest's sacred power, making it hidden. The chances of a coordinated invasion are infinitesimal. A single stray, however, is not out of the question, but fortunately, we are prepared to handle it," she explained.
The students felt relieved with Ms. Lily's assurance. "We were afraid for nothing then," one of them commented.
"Right," Ms. Lily affirmed with a chuckle.
"Well, it wasn't funny," Elaine complained with a huff and crossed her arms.
Still, Hafen kept his doubtful look.
Stark and Matteo held the same look. They knew better. They had witnessed it with their own eyes.
Peace can easily be extinguished like a candle flame.
Hafen, Stark, and Matteo learned a lot about the outside world. However, they still have more questions than answers. What was Stribora like? Will they be able to explore it one day? What if a zombie invasion did happen in The Sacred Forest? Will they be able to survive it?