Chapter 58 He is back and has even brought new ones with him

There were no lessons for the next few days. Babsi wasn't there and Luke had to help his mother carry boxes after training. During training, he was put through the wringer even more by Tes with the words: "As you don't have school, you can spend your time training".

They had actually pushed a second bed into the room and the head doctor had put an Enter at your own risk sign on the door. Despite the second bed, Liz spent most of her time with Sarge. Unless there were ward rounds, meals or visitors. 

Then she sat dutifully on her bed. The nature of the letters leveled off; most were still negative and ended up in the box, but the positive ones became more frequent. 

At some point, Liz was picked up by April because, according to the head doctor, she was healthy again, and the bed disappeared again and Sarge was alone. Luke wondered if he felt lonely when he was alone. 

After 1 ½ weeks it was back to class, everyone was there and Sarge came into the room with a mug of coffee and a fag, but he finished smoking them first and put them in empty cups.

"So, I'm back and we can continue. We'll carry on as normal, without rushing, even if that means you're here longer than the other classes. Before we start, we have two entrances."

A boy and a girl walked in, they looked alike.

"Holy shit Bill is that you?" came from Ted.

The man he was addressing winced, he was haggard and nervous. 

" Hello." 

The girl smiled, she looked a lot like Bill. She was about 1.75 tall.

" Hi."

" You know Bill, he had the misfortune of being abandoned by his buddies in Vienna and picked up by a gang."

Bill looked at him. "That's right. The doctors say..." he winced as a door slammed shut from outside. "I'm going to have anxiety attacks for a while ..." a stutter was clearly audible.

"So, be nice to Bill. The young lady is his sister, she's here at the request of both parents."

She looked at him. 

"I can't leave him alone. He can't make it two meters without having a seizure. Fucking principal, yeah her son's been taken away. Shit, she did that. Where can we sit down?"

"You have a choice."

Luke was on the net, getting reports on the exo-suits.

Someone cleared their throat, he looked up. 

"Can you swap with me? I don't want to leave him alone," came from Saskia. 

Luke looked to the side, remembering that Leonore had squatted down next to Eddi.

"Of course."

He stood up. 

" Hey Bill." 

" Heyyy Luke, sorry I was an ass..."

" No problem, sorry I pointed the gun at you."

He nodded and sat down by the window with his sister next to him. Luke just sat down in the next available seat. Don't bother with the cell phone.

"Good, so was Saskia? "

She nodded.

"Do you want to tell me what school you went to. We know Bill went to the same one as this one."

She thought about it. "My father only had money for one person at that school, I went to a normal elite school. I didn't want him going into debt or going to his sister's to pump money."

"Okay, let me know if you're not done with the material. The classes here are structured a little differently."

" Okay, I have one more question."

Sarge sat down on the edge of the teacher's desk.

"I'm listening," Sarge looked at her.

" The information sheet says we don't need a school uniform."

"That's right, you're free to wear whatever you want."

"I see. And what about tablets? Bill doesn't have one and neither do I. Our aunt is too stingy. Told us we should have been more careful."

"You get some, what else?"

"Why are we isolated? I mean..." 

"We are a special program of the Ministry of Education. All classes are emptier at the moment than before the epidemic. There are too few students, vaccination status and teachers."

Saskia looked at Sarge scrutinizingly.

"But why not in..." she continued.

Sarge looked at her.

"Why aren't you in a prestigious building like you're used to? Now let's say you've been moved to a higher security zone because of your past. "

"Our aunt said we're squatting in the military zone now."

Sarge grinned. 

"Yes, that's true, but your aunt should also know that there are civilian sectors here where she can also feel comfortable. But just so we all get to know each other better, how about you introduce yourself?"

Saskia blinked at the sergeant.

"Well, Bill, we all know you, and according to the list, you're even the oldest."

Bill looked at the class.

"Yeah. I had to repeat a grade."

"Based on your grades so far, you were on a good path Bill. You're both going to graduate with an internship. Start thinking about where you want to do that. Let's just do it."

Luke yawned in his mind and clicked through the net on his phone, he still had no idea where to do an internship, he wondered if feeding Berta or shoveling manure in the greenhouse at Tes counted as an internship.

"Luke?" asked Sarge, looking up, hearing the giggles from the others.

"Yeah?"

"Your turn, where were you thinking?" asked Sarge.

"Thinking about where I'm doing internships, Sarge."

" That's what you've been doing since we announced it, come by my place later."

" Do I have to?"

" If you know you want to do one, you don't, so? "

" I have such a rough idea ..."

Sarge looked at him intently.

" Good, then introduce yourself."

" I'm Luke, I was born in Italy but grew up in London because my mother worked there. Still, I've visited here a lot because my family lives here and this is more my home than London."

"What about your father, Luke?" asked Eddi.

Luke thought about it.

"Well, he's a musician, the last I heard from my mom was that he's making money from the epidemic now. My mom kind of lives separately from him, I don't know what kind of relationship she has with him. I had my grandad and my uncles as father figures."

"And what does your grandpa do?" asked Saskia.

Luke thought about it.

"He works in the army administration and often does interviews and stuff. "

Sarge grinned and pocketed his cell phone. 

Luke's cell phone buzzed and he looked at it. His mom and he sighed.

"Well, let's get started."

To Luke's relief, Sarge really did get on with the lesson. 

At lunchtime, he went to his Uncle Yusuf's store as usual to get something to eat. Even if it meant his aunts and cousins chatting him up every time, it was part of the routine and he had got used to it.

It also meant that he heard the latest gossip and was bullied with foreign languages as he had been since childhood. 

Due to the second outbreak, business was a little slow, so his aunt gave him leftovers from the morning, which he could either eat at home or share. 

So he sat down at his school desk with a full belly, put the bag with Kingdom of Yusuf printed on it, fished out a Pepsi, opened it and sipped the can. Eddi came into class with Leo and held his nose.

" Bah Luke, you've been littering again."

Luke looked from the can to him and grinned.

" Only the best in my kingdom Eddi and it's healthier than what you get at the chip shops. "

" Luke luke luke " Eddi came closer.

" You're eating at a relic of the past, how many branches?"

Luke burped. 

" Only here in the islands."

" See, and this isn't even strictly a grocery store. Food? Clothes? Furniture?"

Luke looked at him, sipping the can.

" It's fine Eddi "

"Tz tz tz" Eddi sat down. Leo grinned, looked around in the bag, took something and sat down. 

"Boah Leo you traitor!" came from Eddi.

"Don't be such a traitor Eddi, it's the same thing you ate at my house. My mom got the recipe from there."

Luke looked from both of them to Bill and Saskia, both of whom had just come in, the others too, staring at the bag. 

"Have some."

Bill looked in, grimacing.

"Thanks, but it's not my thing."

Saskia was still fixated on the bag, a growl coming from her.

Luke looked at Bill.

"Iisst too little." 

She gave Bill a punishing look.

" Take as much as you want. " 

She hesitated. Sarge reached past her and pulled out a couple of cans of espresso and a bag of stuffed dates. 

Saskia winced.

"I knew I smelled Yusuf."

"These are leftovers."

Sarge ate a date and walked to the desk.

"Sarge, how can they eat that?" asked Ted.

Sarge opened a can and took a sip.

" Because it tastes so good Ted, do you know how hard it is to get homemade stuffed dates? "

Ted shrugged his shoulders

.

"Really really hard, before the second eruption you had to pre-order from Yusuf and they're the only ones who make it in their own store. Other restaurants have it delivered."

"Sarge, my mom says it's garbage. It's just fast food."

" You guys go to Burger World too. So what? " Sarge threw empty bags in the trash. 

" Ted, the world is bigger than you can imagine right now. "

Mei came rushing through the door with four vacuum bags in hand.

"George, you know I'm in a hurry, I want to introduce Danny to my uncle."

"Oh," was all he replied.

Mei nodded, sniffed, looked around.

"Hey, this is Luke's class. "

"Right, and those two back there need tablets and phones for it."

"Okay."

Mei came closer, Saskia had sat down. Mei put the packages on the table near Luke and tossed her hair. Then she looked at Bill and Saskia.

"So, you're getting the standard version of the pad." She unpacked the tablets and cell phones.

"Uh, we already have cell phones ... our aunt gave us," commented Saskia, looking at the unpacked cell phone.

Mei switched everything on.

"Both on a trablet each." she said in a commanding tone.

They cuddled. Both tablets started flashing and started up. Mei connected the phones to the tablets so they would synchronize.

"These are your cell phones and tablets with your identifiers that the Ai gave you. Before, you only had clones from your aunt."

"Typical..." Bill said.

Mei raised an eyebrow, looked at him, then at Sarge.

"One of the survivors from Vienna."

"Good luck, then. "

Another growl sounded, Mei looked at Saskia, then Luke.

"I offered her something to take, but ... "

Mei took the bag, placing several bags in front of Saskia, who stared at them.

.

"You can eat these without worrying about your figure and they'll fill you up. "

" Pahh, all urban legends! " came from Ted.

Mei put a can of Pepsi in front of Luke and one in front of Saskia.

"I'll take the rest, okay?"

" Go ahead, I'm full of No. 2 anyway. "

Mei grinned. Looked at Ted.

" Everything is fresh at Yusuf's, some things are cooked according to recipes that date back to the Middle Ages. All the ingredients come from the islands around here. The farms, the greenhouses, everything is freshly grown or cultivated."

"Oh oh, Miles Corp?" came from a girl.

Mei grinned.

"Right."

Leo looked at her.

"My mom works for Miles in a greenhouse. She says it's the most modern thing there is at the moment. When you walk in, you don't even think it's a greenhouse."

"Pah Miles... my dad has farms," Ted said again.

"It's not about who has what. It's about" she came to him and leaned forward.

"That's what your dad has, boy, what do you have? Huh? "She looked him in the eye.

Ted puffed.

" I'm still waiting for an answer."

Sarge sighed.

"You're only saying that because your father's the boss," came from Ted.

Mei grinned.

"Oh, at least you've got some balls in your pants. "

She squatted down.

 " I'll tell you what your statement really means. No matter what I do, he knows. When I was your age and wanted dates. Well, three obstacles. First my mother, then my uncle and then my father. The last one who made it to my father ended up in a monastery.

 Even the one I secretly dated and I thought the three of them didn't notice. "She cocked her head to one side. "He did know. So now when I say my dad has this and this, Ted, there's always someone who has more than you or your parents or me or someone I know.

Yusuf Kingdom is a franchise of Miles, a lot of other things too and as far as I know, ¾ of your parents' meat is bought by Miles and the rest is sold to Edel Local. That means it's very likely that the people who buy meat from Yusuf will eat your beef. Apart from the fact that the food you get is from Miles."

"Pah..." came the reply.

"The thing is, the plants are run by the founder's wife. She doesn't really give a shit about the plague. "

Sarge sighed.

"What, that's right. We're lucky in the sense that this cleans up large areas."

Luke was distracted by crumpled bags beside him, he glanced to the side and saw that Saskia had eaten it all and was sipping from the can. Bill looked at her questioningly.

"That was really tasty and the meat is really good."

"Ahha..."

Luke looked at Mei again, Danny had come in.

"Uhh," he looked around. "Really fancy here, George, career boost at its best. " His gaze lingered on Luke. 

"Oh, look at that, weren't you staring at the Exo today?" 

Luke grinned. "Yes, I did, but I've already taken a lot of pictures. "

Danny looked at Sarge. 

"Did you know his mom set a trap for Ethan and me?"

Sarge raised an eyebrow.

"Danny, did you really think the four of them weren't working together?"

" That's exactly why George, the three of them are already bad, but the four of them. Wuhh!"

Mei rushed over to Danny.

"Danny, let's go before I smash that little bastard's face in!" she stomped out. Danny looked at her questioningly, then at Sarge and finally at Ted, who had a smirk of victory on his lips.

"Ah, the stupidity of youth."

"Tzz army twat..." came only from Ted.

Danny looked at George.

"George, can I shoot him? I'll make it look like an accident. "

" No. "

" At least break the legs, he looks like a runner. "

Sarge sighed.

" Danny, go with Mei and try to get the most out of the Great Sector Leader."

Danny hung his head.

"Damn," he looked at Ted.

"I won't stop Mei if she cries on him." 

He grinned and walked backwards to the door.

"And if the dragon moves, wahaha, and if he doesn't do anything, I'll stick it to her father and then no matter where you hide, he'll come for you and if he doesn't, I'll stick it to that old monster from the north block that you piss off his little one. You all saw how he held George's cat by the neck with no effort. "

Ethan took another photo of Ted.

And then he was gone.

Saskia raised her hand.

"I have questions, and because I'm new. First. Ted did it? Why are you acting like a bitch? Without the army, we wouldn't exist and I know that from my aunt, who is very skeptical of the army." 

She twirled the can in her hand

.

"Ted, how did you get out of the second breakout wave? I mean, Bill's not a prime example and from him I know you ran off with his group with the principal and the field hockey players took care of the infected. "

Ted looked at her.

" What are you trying to tell me?" 

" That you have a good life now Ted. "

" I see, and what about you? "

She smiled. 

" I bashed my best friend, who I've known since 4th grade, in the head with a baseball bat when she tried to bite me. Had to fight my way from the gym to a locked room, running until the omega people came. 

Only then did I find out from Mum and Dad that Bill hadn't been brought to us as promised. You were taken straight to your parents, even though you went with the principal. I saw my mom and dad break down when they saw it go to Vienna and we knew my aunt was there because she had her company headquarters there. "

She smiled. 

"What the hell are omega people..." came from Eddi.

Sarge seemed to be thinking.

.

"They're part of the branch of Miles Corp whose private army calls itself that. Almost all of them were first wave elite soldiers and report to Uther. "

"Then, Sarge, are you and your buddies better than them?"

" No. Like I said before. That's the elite. Eddi I may have a good level of training, experience and so on, but they're in a league of their own. Saskia out of personal interest. Were those Omegas with full helmets or half helmets?"

"No helmets, but I saw some walking through the city with their heads completely covered. Thought it was the army at first."

"A lot of them?" 

"Yes. I only found out later that they were omega people and it confused me that other rescued people were scared just because they were marching with reverberations. I thought it was cool, but..."

Sarge looked at her thoughtfully.

"Tell me."

Saskia looked at the can and turned it over in her hand.

"I was scared of them at the same time, especially the one guy who was there. Some guy from the army meant a coordinator."

She looked at Sarge.

" I saw how people cowered because of my aunt, the Omegas carried out his orders without question. We weren't treated badly, but more like objects. Understand Sarge, the ones without helmets, they smiled now and then, showed something. 

The ones with helmets cold and the guy. He looked at us with cold eyes, pointed at people who were dragged away and shot. Even when he was gone, the ones with the scanners walked past the people and picked up ..."

"Sarge?" asked Eddi.

He blinked.

"Just memories, kids. As for your question, Eddi, like I said, they're better. The corporation activated its main cadres, they were already marching and even singing back then. 

When large units of Russian soldiers joined them, it became a tradition, many officers back then cursed the Omegas for building the stereotype of the power of the Northern Bloc back then. What Saksia described, they scanned people for infections. Because there was no cure. What color hair did that guy have?" 

Saskia pointed at Luke.

"Just like him..."

" Hhmm, then you've seen Uther. Shall we continue Saksia, you wanted to say something else? "

She nodded.

"It's my first day here, sure you guys are nice and all. But I've lost my old life. The mansion we had burned down because my dad was there fighting for his and mom's liver. My friends are all gone. At least Bill came back on the helicopter. "

"Ssas..." began Bill.

"No Bill," she looked at Ted. 

"Ted, do you know what our parents are taking on so we can be here? My aunt is still mad at my dad because he made a deal with the devil and she couldn't do anything because she was stuck in Vienna or she would have. "

Ted looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"All the talk shows about Vienna are on my aunt's network, live recordings etc., they were all just on there and there were no camera crews on site. That means everything was supplied by the military."

The jittery one nodded.

"We saw the raw footage from the drone here at the time. " 

Sarge cleared his throat.

"And we're making a cut now that everyone has tablets. Let's get back to math. That'll cool you off."

Everyone groaned. 

The next few days went on as usual, Luke felt like it really did feel like school. Except he felt like he was being watched.