fandomhigh | The Day After Doomsday: Getting By In a Post-Apocalyptic World

"You ain't gonna see it comin'," Reno announced, the moment the butt of the last student to enter the classroom hit the chair. "I don't care if you been watchin' it fallin' down on your heads for weeks, I don't care if you were warned on the news, I don't care if you're the reason it happened or if you put your life on the line to keep it from happenin' or if some kinda magic vision popped into your head an' showed you exactly what tomorrow was gonna look like, yo. I don't friggin' care."

Apparently, Reno's caring reserves were running on empty, today?

"When you're standin' there in the aftermath, lookin' over whatever's left and realizin' that everyone is dead or gonna be that way real damn soon? When you find yourself face-to-face with the actuality that everything you know ain't never gonna be the same again, you will not be ready."

He took a moment, giving the students in the classroom a significant look.

"I don't know how each of you is gonna take it, and a lot of that might depend on what it is you're faced with, yo. But lookin' at the examples I know? People when they're desperate ain't friendly creatures. I seen kids wanderin' the streets with sick little siblings to watch out for, no family to their name an' nobody in the world wantin' to help. Nobody can. They're all in the same friggin' situation. I seen people resort to looting, I seen the kinda shit that a panicked mob can do. I seen people just completely give up and wait for it, or get themselves killed in a panic."

There was a pause, then, while Reno grit his teeth and tried his damnedest to not feel so godsdamed human. Of all the subject matter that they tackled so far, this was the one that was hitting him closest to home.

Go figure.

"I saw people who had a whole lotta nothin' but their pride all their lives, let their brains turn off and cling damn hard to what they had, because that was all there was left for 'em in the world. But it was too damn big for 'em all at once. They couldn't just walk out there and face that they could never go home again, couldn't just step in and start pickin' up what they could. It took 'em a lot of time before they got to that, yo. Time an' work. Even the people who looked like they were doin' what had to get done, bit by bit? They weren't ready for it, either. Don't think for a moment that they were."

Deep breath.

"Another discussion class today. How do you think you'll react when you're standin' in the aftermath, and what do you think it'd take to snap you outta it? Talk about it if you feel comfortable with it, clam up if you don't, I ain't gonna judge. Practical crap like pissin' on rags to get drinkin' water, anyone can do. Talkin' about yourself can be damn near friggin' impossible. Just be damn respectful no matter what you think of what other people are sayin', because if I hear shit-talk about the person who admits they're gonna hide, I'll personally drag you outta the friggin' room and leave you there. Bein' afraid? That's the most sane damn response there is."

[Open!]

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Jake snorted. "See? I don't think I need to worry then."

"You might try," she replied. "Considerin' that this class is meant to have us consider everything and not assume."

"The class is about getting by," Jacob pointed out. "I'll consider what to do and how to keep myself from getting eaten or whatever. Worrying now about whether I'm going to turn into a useless crybaby? That's not going to help me much. If I cope, I cope. If I don't, then I'll be screwed."

"Nice," she said flatly. "How nice it must be to live in a world where you can dismiss people not handlin' things well and not think it's got to be a consideration."

He raised an eyebrow. "The question was how we'd cope personally," he pointed out. "I'm dismissing myself, not the world. If I'm not personally capable of handling things, then I can make as much plans beforehand as I want, it's not going to do squat. You can make as much predictions as you like, but it's not going to get you anywhere."

"The class is also leaving it up to us to decide how we'd react in a different situation where we're not a victim. If you deliberately brought this 'bout, you'd act differently. If it was a mistake, you'd act differently."

"Well yeah, if I wanted to cause it, I suppose there'd be celebrating that it worked," he said. "I'm not sure why I'd want to destroy the world, unless leeches took over maybe."

He shook his head. "The thing is, you've got to pull through somehow, right? There's no choice. You give up and you're dead."

"And some people get to the point where death is the answer," she said softly. "Everyone's got that point, though knowin' where it is ain't easy to say before it happens."

"Well," he considered it. "There wouldn't be much point if you're the only one left, I suppose?"

She bobbed her head.

"Or if you were the only one that you knew was left--it's a whole world, how can you know for sure? Or if everyone you loved died 'cause of your actions..."

Great, now he was going to get depressed. See how ignoring it worked better?

"I dunno, maybe there's something you could do to try to make it up." He snorted. "Not that you could, but you kind of owe it to them, don't you?"

"Do you?" Ino asked, frowning thoughtfully. "I mean, if you caused it, and had a reason to--ain't things goin' the way you wanted? Maybe it's okay, that way."

"I'm kind of hoping that if I ended the world, they would already have been dead," he frowned.

"But you don't know that, yeah?" Ino's lips twisted. "S'what we're supposed to think about here."

"I think if you're forced to do something like that, you'd better make sure you blow yourself up while you're at it," he grumbled.

"That'd be too simple," she said, with a sigh. "None of this is simple."

"It'd be thinking ahead?" he tried, shaking his head. "I'm gonna be depressed after this."

He'd get over it, give him a muffin or two.

"Better to be thinkin' now than finding out later," she said, without much sympathy.

The Day After Doomsday: Getting By In a Post-Apocalyptic World - Period 2

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