On the surface, Jim, Dwayne, Natalie, Bryan and Isabelle all walked on the sidewalk together trying to figure out the students whereabouts. Although school ended, the roads of Sunshine Valley were empty.
"No matter how much we walk, we see nobody else but us. What's going on in this town?" Bryan looked around.
"Not sure. It's not normal to not see any students around. Especially since we are two-third already in the school year." Jim also looked around.
"Do you think they are in their house?" Dwayne suggested.
"Maybe. It's probably the only option we have at the moment. Should we try to knock on some of the doors to check?" Isabelle held Dwayne's hand.
"Sure. But I've always been wondering. If we knew that the adults are trapped in the sewers, then what about the children?" Natalie scratched her head.
"It's obvious. They are part of us in Sunshine High." Jim answered Natalie's question.
"No I don't mean teenagers, I meant literal children. You know what happened to Oliver. He was panicking when he was in our school when Isabelle found him. I haven't seen other children either in the school or around the town. So I was wondering where they went?"
"Not sure. I only saw teenagers where we went. Isn't it the same for you guys?" Jim looked at the group.
They all nodded yes.
"I don't think Scott has a clue either. It's up to us to find the other students and if we do have the time, we should try to find the children's whereabouts. I'll be worried about the infants if that's the case." Jim showed concern
"We should split up and meet back up at the destroyed playground over there." Natalie pointed at the same playground that Scott and his friends destroyed during their brawl.
"Right." The friend group would then split up.
Looking from every part to the corner of the town, Jim, Dwayne, Natalie, Bryan, and Isabelle all looked at every house while at the same time avoiding soldiers on the street, being afraid that they would interrogate them the same way they did to Bryan.
Some see nobody behind the windows of each of the houses while other houses barely had their lights on.
Isabelle had plans to go to stores and restaurants on whether people were there or to understand about the student's whereabouts. However, most stores tend to be self-paid with barely any staff members there. She checked on places where teenagers would mostly hangout, but it tends to be barely any people. The arcade was nothing but the noises from the machine and the movie theater having nobody in each movie with each screen showing reruns from movies from the late 20th century.
"Is that the Muddy Mummy, The Frightful Frankenstein, and the Thing from the Unknown?" Isabelle looked at each screen in different theater rooms.
Walking out of the last room and now in the snack bar, Isabelle looked around to try to find any kind of people to help her.
"Is that who I think it is?" Isabelle ran towards what seemed to look like a person at the customer service with ginger hair, wearing a red vest jacket and white dress shirt as their work outfit looking back.
Isabelle jumped over the counter and tried to talk to the man. "Excuse me do you have any…"
However, Isabelle stopped herself as he turned the rolling chair and saw that the person had unfortunately died most likely due to malnutrition.
Isabelle took two of her middle and index finger to check the pulse on his neck. "He must've died a long time ago. I don't understand what happened."
Meanwhile, Jim headed to the only grocery store in all of Sunshine Valley. At the store, he smells a harsh smell and later understood why.
"How old are these products? They haven't been replaced in years." Jim picked up a rotten tomato with bugs inside it.
Dropping the fruit, Jim notices others of the produce also rotting both fruits and vegetables as well as the meats being spoiled. The only things that seem to be in good shape have to be the processed foods from frozen pizzas or microwaved french fries.
Jim opened the fridge to see what seems to be a microwaved dinner from steak and mash potatoes. "I don't get how someone can eat garbage like this everyday. What can I say? I myself had to survive by any means necessary even when eating processed foods to even dirt and cockroaches back when I lived in a broken shed."
Suddenly, Jim notices a store clerk walking around the store with a barcode scanner. Dropping the tv dinner, he ran towards the clerk to know what was going on with the students in the town.
"Excuse me, do you have a minute?" Jim stops the store clerk.
"Welcome to the Sunshine Grocery Store. How may I help you?" The store clerk looked skinny and tired.
"Have you seen any students in this store or around the town?" Jim questions the clerk.
However, the clerk had said nothing in a while.
"Welcome to the Sunshine Grocery Store. How may I help you?" The clerk said again.
"D=Did you hear me? Have you seen any of the Sunshine High students?"
"Wel-"
Suddenly, Jim grabbed his shirt and tried to make him answer his question. "DAMN IT dude! Answer my question! The whereabouts of the students are the concern at the moment. Please, I need your help!" Jim shakes the clerk.
"Welcome to-"
"Damn it. I can't get through him. There has to be something I can try to make him get his senses." Jim looked around the store.
Suddenly, Jim looked at the Durian close to him. "That's it."
Taking a ton of produce bags to protect his hands from the spikes, he picked up the fruit and used his knife from the multi-tool to open up the fruit. Knowing that the fruit was rotten, he cut off the flesh of the fruit and quickly covered his nose.
Jim covered the clerk's nose with the fruit and suddenly.
"AAAAHHHHH!" The clerk's eyes widened.
"The hell was that!" The clerk looked at Jim.
"A Durian fruit is one of the smelliest fruits in the group. Even worse when it's rotten. I thought that maybe this stench could get your senses back since you were acting like a zombie."
"Great. How long was I here?" The clerk questioned.
"Not sure. All I know is that you've been here for a long time since I bought some stuff here last year."
"Oh God. How did I manage to survive? I-I'm confused."
"Same here. Your subconscious probably underwent homeostasis and decided to feed yourself this...food." Jim looked around.
"Oh shit. I've eaten these rotten products?"
Jim nodded yes.
"Oh….." The clerk vomited.
"So. Tell me more about the student's whereabouts." Jim questions the clerk.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since the military had committed martial law. There was a lack of students present in our area. We don't know why, but it must be because of the situation currently."
"Well, I do remember the students shopping here, but I'n not sure as of recent since I've lost my mind since September. But let me ask you this."
"Yea?"
"Is John still here?"
"Not really but….."
"YEAH!" The clerk screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I can leave!" The store clerk ran outside of the store taking off his store apron.
"Wait!" Jim ran after the clerk.
The clerk ran towards the border of Sunshine Valley and was ready to leave the town.
"I can't wait to leave. I've been stuck in that grocery store ever since John forced me to work there. It was either there or the sewer. Now that he's gone, I can leave this town, start over and….."
Suddenly, a bullet went through the clerk's head as the clerk lost consciousness and died from a fatal head wound.
'Shit!" Jim took two steps back.
"Target eliminated." The sniper from the military watchtower said on his radio.
"I guess leaving the town isn't an option." Jim ran towards his friends after a couple of hours looking around the town.
It was now the evening with the group reunited again in the same spot as they were before.
"So, any updates yall." dwayne with his hands in his pocket.
"Nothing." Natalie was disappointed.
"Nothing either." Bryan was also disappointed.
"I was close. All I had was an overworker movie theater employee who died from malnutrition and probably hadn't had any Vitamin C. I wish we could've investigated this situation earlier before he died." Isabelle felt bad for the worker.
"There was nothing you could've done. You did your best." Dwayne comforting his girlfriend.
"And that leaves me last. I almost got some information. However, the store clerk just wanted freedom and it led to his death." Jim said.
"What happened to him?" Natalie questions.
"One of the military's snipers shot him in the head. These soldiers are just killing anyone who enters or leaves the town."
"That's so fucked up. They are this sensitive in finding the terrorist in our town?" Isabelle said.
"Yes. I don't think they want to make the same mistake as they did for the twin towers."
"So what are we gonna do now?" Bryan being concerned about the situation.
Suddenly, the group heard a branch snapping.
They all looked at where the sound came from and there was a hooded and masked person wearing all black looking back and them.
Being spotted, the masked person ran as fast as they could.
"Hey!" Jim ran towards the person followed up by the rest of the friend group.
They all chased him down until Dwayne, the former captain of the football team was the fastest runner in the group, being able tackle them down to the ground.
The person struggled to escape from Dwayne's strength and body mass.
"Who are you?" Jim bended his knees to see the fuss.
However, the person hasn't spoke.
"Natalie, do me a favor and remove this person's mask." Jim looked at Natalie.
When she pulled off the mask, it was somebody that Jim recognized.
"Holy shit. Barry?" Jim realized.
"Well, I didn't realize I would get to see the school nerd again." Barry took off his hood.
"W-What? Jim, who is this guy?" Isabelle questioned.
"This is Barry. He's the leader of the Sunshine High Band group. They are very popular in football games and the pep rallies that have constantly been going on during the school year. I gave them and the band a powerful stimulant that will give them aggressiveness in playing their instruments."
"Oh. So what were you doing Barry?" Natalie also kneeled down towards Barry's eye contact.
"Why would I? You are friends with Scott, the outcast of Sunshine High. The one who's no different than him." Barry smiled.
"Who?" Jim also interrogated him.
"Him."
"That doesn't answer our question. Also, what about Scott being an outcast."
"He's the reason why we are in this mess. He's the one who brought the military to make our lives worse."
"That's ridiculous. Why do you expect him? Are you saying this because you desire to suck John's dick so badly?" Natalie kept interrogating.
Barry looked around his surroundings. "No, I would never do that to a person who entrapped us here at the same time another student being no different than him."
"He's talking about John. Is he also aware of John's antics?" Jim thought to himself.
"Barry. Lemme tell you this and you better not lie because of the hot water we are in. Where are the other students?" Jim gripped Barry's head.
"I'll never tell!" Barry screamed.
However, that scream alerted the nearby soldiers in their area.
"You idiot." Jim looked at Barry.
"Shit. They're coming." Bryan sees flashlights approaching them.
"Tell us now or else we both die on this street. We both know what happens if we both die in these streets right?" Jim gave Barry a frown.
"Okay okay. Follow me." Dwayne got off Barry as he led the friend group.
The soldiers flashed their light at the origin of the scream. However, they had no person in sight.
"What was that?" The soldier looked around the area.
Distanced from the street, Barry had led them into the woods where it was dark and full of bushes, difficult for the military to track them down.
"Barry, where the Hell are you taking us?"
"Shut up. We're almost there." Barry then was slowly seeing the bright building as they approached out of the woods.
When they walked out of the woods, they approached a familiar place Isabelle had already been.
"Is this?" Isabelle looked at the building.
"Yes. It is." Barry opened the back door of the only arcade that Sunshine Valley offers.
Heading inside, Barry walked towards the skeeball machine.
"I don't think we got time to play some game you know." Natalie looked at Barry with a confused look.
"Just let me do my thing." Barry took out a game token that wasn't in a circular shape, but instead a square shape that fitted well with the coin slot.
Inserting the coin, the game started with the balls dropping and Barry accurately hitting the targets with a specific order from a T to another T to an I. The game ended with a unique noise compared to that of a usual machine. Suddenly, the board of the machine opened like a trap door.
"Get in." Barry walked into the machine.
The friend group would also follow him into the machine where when they all entered, the board closed on its own.
"This whole time, I've never seen this before." Natalie looked around as they headed down the stairs.
"So Jim. What did you try to do with Barry that forced him to do this? Is it because it was a life or death situation?"
"Actually Natalie, it was more about the situation with John, since we're both under his contract, including Barry, we know that he'll throw a tantrum if one of us is missing. And although Barry probably hates Scott and us, he can't risk other students' lives. A form of manipulation psychology on him."
"Smart." Natalie smirked at Jim.
Opening a steel door, what seemed to be a door capable of handling a nuclear blast, Barry turned the handle of the door.
"Alright. You want to know where we were and not at school? Here you go." Barry fully opened the door.
"My God." The friend group was in shock.
The place seemed to look like it had more room than that of the school gym. There were students, freshmen to seniors, suffering from the situation above ground. The older students tend to take care of the younger students as well as some taking a nap in what seems to be a foldable bed. There was a pantry the size of the classroom of what seems to be rations that were meant for a nuclear war. There was another room of what seems to be a group therapy session. Finally, there was a garden that was growing fresh produce more than that of the grocery store.
"My God. This is where you guys were during the summer?" Bryan in shock.
"Yes. Ever since 1999, we hunkered down here to avoid John's rampage."
"Why couldn't you guys stay down here forever?" Jim questions Barry.
"Because if John was suspicious of our whereabouts for a long time, then he'll try to find us, even breaking down that door there to bring us back to the surface and be treated like we were toys to him." Barry pointed at the door.
"Not to mention, our contract. Since we're under his rule, he can use us like puppets or track us down in an instant. Luckily, he rarely resorted to that option, thus the reason why we are still alive and here without John noticing this place."
"Luckily, Scott was able to notify and recognize the contract we made with John after the situation with Laura." Jim thought to himself.
"Wait, about your contract, do you remember when you had yours? I had mine last year when I was abducted from Des Moines."
"Me. I have had mine since 2002."
"2002!" Isabelle was confused.
"But how is that possible! You are the same age as we are!" Isabelle questions Barry.
"Well, that's the problem. I'm supposed to be in my 30s, but John took my mortality and made me live forever as a kid. I was only 15 when he forced a contract on me. And now I look like some guy who's growth is stunted."
"Does that mean?" Natalie.
"Yes. Jim, you and Natalie are both immortal and will stay the same age for the foreseeable future. These contracts give us the will to be under John's control."
"That's insane. What about the other students? Are they in a contract? I only know that me and Natalie are."
"No. Around fifty percent of these are rather abducted kids. However, there are still kids out there and we don't know where they are."
"The other teenagers?"
"Yes and children. I'm more concerned about the children since God knows what that maniac will do or already did to them."
"I think we should team up." Dwayne added up.
"Pfff. Why should we team up with people who made our situation worse? Scott is an outcast, I bet when John returns, he'll kill that bastard first when he tracks down his contract."
"Actually, Scott doesn't have a contract." Natalie added up
"What do you mean? He's an outcast. Every student has a role in John's world."
Jim started to feel irritated from Barry's bias against Scott. "Okay, time out. Barry, I did you a favor in giving you a homemade energy drink. Why do you now hate us and Scott? We were just exposing John's sick behavior."
"Exactly. Now you pissed him off and he'll probably be back in this town in a moment. Now, he's going to pressure not just you and me, but everyone else in this room. Also, since I'm a lookout for these students already suffering, I notice Scott and his FBI friend wandering around the town and is most likely responsible for the military invading our home."
Barry walked up towards Jim. "Also, about your energy drink, you already signed my death wish for a piece of shit. He knows that the students couldn't hear him because of how loud we were playing and who's the person who contributed to that. It. Was. You."
Barry spat on Jim's face.
Jim gripped his fist and looked at Barry with a frown.
"Fine, we came down here because we wanted to see if you and the rest of the students can help us end this madness. But it seems we've looked in the wrong place. Come on guys, let's see if the faculty can help us instead." Jim and the others walked towards the trap door.
"Yeah that's right. You guys don't belong here. You're just a nerd who's good for studying and constantly picked on for higher GPA scores. John chose you because he thought you can rival his academics, but besides the face you wear, you're nothing. Your family probably assumes you abandoned them, thinking that their disappointment of a child ran off and knowing that he will FOREVER BE A FAILURE."
Frustrated, Jim turned around and sucker punched Barry to the ground. He would then headbutt him and was really close in taking his multi-tool to take out the knife section. However, Jim was restrained by Dwayne's strength while Barry was restrained by two juniors.
"WE WERE BETTER BEFORE YOU PEOPLE AND SCOTT INTERFERED! NOW JOHN'S GOING TO EXECUTE US ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"FUCK Y-YOU!" Jim coughing out blood.
"If you guys want to sit around and do nothing, then be my guest. All we wanted was some help and it seems like you guys prefer to suck on John's cock than to end his nightmare. What's going to happen when John gets smarter and finds out about this place? Exactly, you don't know because deep down, you are all afraid and lack the guts to stand up against him." Dwayne helped Jim walk out the underground bunker.
"Yeah. Good riddance you fucking nerd." Two of the students help Barry take a seat on a nearby foldable chair.
"Hey!" Natalie walked towards Barry.
"Oh the theater girl, are you going to scream at me for your boyfriend?"
"He's not my…." Natalie took a quick breath.
"Listen, you may not trust us now, but mark my word, we are trying to do everything in our power to stop John, the reason why the military is here is because John is the terrorist that the FBI is tracking down. Scott is working with an agent to try to stop John's antics, not his. He's done a lot for Sunshine High, whether he was in my poetry club, sharing his lunch, studying hard, and giving the football team a better leader. If you let him help you, he can make the band better. Because from the looks of your facial expression, your shaking hands, and your heavily deep breaths, John overworks you and the band, and thus has to listen to what he says or else. Also, he knows that he can track you down easier on the surface, so you guys decided to hide in a bunker. With the situation going on right now, we put our faith in Scott because unlike you, he doesn't have a contract which means that he can still live a normal life and leave the town for his own sake, but he would instead risk his life to save and help others in this town. So consider my word that Scott isn't the one who is doing this, but rather John. If you and the other students have the courage to stand up against John, then come to the auditorium assembly this Friday, 12 PM." Natalie was then the last one to leave the student's bunker.
"Putting our faith in Scott?" Barry looked down with a bloody forehead.