As they watched January laugh, a chill creeped into their bodies.
When she finally stopped, she simply turned and continued walking, her back straight, her pace unhurried.
They quietly looked at January's back, fear creeping into their hearts.
"…why is this happening?" June asked carefully, her tone trembling. "You seem to know more than you let on."
January's lips curved into what might have been a smile, though it carried no warmth. "If you live long enough, you'll know eventually."
"…riddles, riddles, riddles," Hayley muttered angrily under her breath.
Susan's voice cut through the tension. "Let's leave the hallway quickly. There might be more students like the ones outside."
January ignored her, walking on without pause.
___
When they stepped out of the main building, chaos greeted them. Seaside High no longer looked pristine; the red rain had transformed it into a ruin.
The grass was scorched black. Walls crumbled, windows shattered. Those unlucky enough to be caught outside lay scattered across the grounds—bodies riddled with holes, blood pooling, organs half-melted as if eaten away by acid.
This scene was not what they expected. They expected to see screaming people or monsters of them moving around, but nothing. After the horror in the canteen, they thought they were numb, but the sight still twisted their stomachs.
Siera's voice shook. "H-how is this possible? By the canteen, the others weren't like this."
"Damn…" Jaxon whispered, staring at the corpses, "Maybe the acid is a later reaction?"
"Siera shook her head. "No. If that were true, the other countries wouldn't have stayed calm. Something's changed."
June forced herself to look away. "If that's true, we need shelter. Just in case it rains again."
Susan and Hayley closed their eyes, trembling like the rest.
When they gathered their wits, they realized January hadn't waited. She was already far ahead, her figure cutting through the destruction.
They ran after her, clinging to a grim mantra: Better to follow the one you fear than stand clueless like a frog in boiling water. Even fearful action is better than fatal inaction.
Half an hour passed. The world around them was nothing but scorched grass and demolished buildings. The rain had carved devastation in mere moments.
Hope drained from them. Exhausted, they stopped for a short rest.
January stood apart, her expression neutral, unreadable. That indifference sent chills down their spines.
After a few minutes, she tilted her head toward the sky. "It might rain."
Without looking back she contained walking.
Hesitating for only a second, they ran after January.
___
walked straight to the door, fiddling with the lock.
"Supermarket is new," she stated, setting the lock down.
Siera gaped. "How do you know?"
"Lock is new."
Susan frowned. "How could you tell?"
"Maybe they just changed it?" Jaxon muttered, glancing around nervously.
January didn't answer. Instead, she scanned the area and soon found a key hidden beneath a flower pot by the window. She pushed the door open just as thunder roared overhead and tiny droplets began to fall. The group hurried inside.
"T-that… that was close," Hayley panted, trying to catch her breath.
When no one responded, she looked up with a frown. "Guys, did you hear—"
"Oh my God, January, you're right. This is a new supermarket!" Jaxon exclaimed, eyes wide at the shelves stacked with supplies.
Greed flickered across their faces. June, Hayley, Siera, Susan, and Jaxon exchanged a glance before sprinting off, leaving January at the entrance.
"Humans… always greedy," January tsked, following them in.
---
Five minutes later
"O-okay, that… got a little… out of hand…" Susan panted. The others nodded, equally breathless.
"Does anyone… feel… dizz—" Siera's words cut off as a loud thud echoed. Four more followed.
January sighed, walking toward the unconscious group. "Oh, there they are. The supermarket is bigger than I thought."
For the first time since the canteen, her expression shifted. She knelt, reaching for them—then froze. Their skin was turning red. Before she could process it, her own body gave way. January collapsed.
___
June slowly sat up, pressing a hand to her aching forehead. As her vision cleared, she realized something was off. Everyone looked… different.
She stood too quickly, pain shooting through her skull. A muffled groan beside her drew her attention— Susan! But when June leaned closer, she froze. Susan's black hair now shimmered with a faint green tint.
Heart racing, June tugged at a strand of her own hair. Her blonde locks had turned aqua blue.
Confused, she decided to wait until the others woke. One by one, they stirred, blinking groggily. Soon, all were awake; staring at each other in shock.
Hair colors had shifted, eyes gleamed unnaturally. At first, they tried to excuse it: dyed hair, colored contacts. But January's eyes silenced them. Her irises glowed a deep, impossible red.
Noticing their stares, January met their gaze without flinching. The others quickly looked away, focusing instead on their surroundings.
That's when they noticed it. The supermarket was brighter than before.
"The roof!" Susan gasped.
They all looked up. The ceiling was gone, exposing the grey sky above. Fear etched itself across their faces. Only January kept her eyes on the ground.
"How?" Jaxon exclaimed.
"How did we even pass out?" Siera whispered, staring upward.
"Simple." January's clear voice cut through the tension.
Hayley stepped forward, her ginger hair now a tangled dark red. "How?"
"The rain."
June's voice dripped with sarcasm. "So… you're saying we're dead?"
January's eyes flashed. "If you'd like, I could arrange that!"Her brain thumped in pain, making her volatile
"You might as well be, seeing as hiw pale you are." June retorted.
"June!" Susan exclaimed, shocked by her outburst.
The others stared, equally stunned. June had always been calm, this was new.
Realizing her mistake, June muttered an apology and moved to the far side of the group, closer to Siera, putting distance between herself and January.
"As I was saying, the rain. If you're thinking 'We did not get hit by the rain' you're stupid."
Everyone looked towards Jaxon as soon as that sentence dropped.
"What?"
Nobody answered, but their stare gave him the creeps.
___
Outside the supermarket, they sat on large rocks beside withered trees, the ruined Mart looming behind them. Though unspoken, the group had reached an agreement: keep their distance from January.
The group had come to a hidden agreement, and kept distance from the pale January.
Ignoring their blatant avoidance, she continued:
"Back at the canteen, when the window broke the rain entered, though none of you touched it... you did breath in the fumes." January continued.
"Wait, but— that still makes no sense— rain does not have fumes!" Hayley exclaimed, shooting up and shaking her head vigorously.
"Natural rain doesn't," January began.
"Man-made ones probably do. Invisible to the human eye," Susan finished, her tone sharp.
""…mhm." January hesitated, then hummed in quiet agreement.
Jaxon's voice wavered. "Wait, doesn't that mean—"
"Yes. We're… mutated." Susan cut him off, her words heavy. .
Looking at them jumping to conclusions, January watched quietly, lips pressed in detachment. They would figure it out eventually… right?
___
After draining their brain power from jumping to conclusions, they finally addressed another blight of theirs. Asking January was now second nature since she seemed to know more than she let on in the beginning.
"Why did are hair change colour?" Susan asked as she stared at January, still avoiding eye contact.
"…because... because...," January was unable to form words. She felt dizzy, as if her head had been bashed into a brick wall.
They all noticed this.
"Is it just me or does January look... paler than usual?" Jaxon questioned, moving back slowly. His question made the slightly tense teens more apprehensive.
"Calm down…" January paused as a headache attacked her, making her already pale complexion paler.
Seeing her complexion, Hayley and the rest backed further away.
"Why are you backing away?" January asked as she tried to stand up.
"Ha... we're going to discuss something important... give us a minute." Hayley laughed nervously as she turned towards the rest.
"…I don't think that's January anymore." After a short pause, June said as she threw a quick glance at the increasingly pale January.
"I say we run," The rest looked at him in shock. He ignored them, "Hands in if you agree." Jaxon placed his hands in the circle.
Seeing Jaxon firm in his decision, the rest slowly placed their hands on top of each others.
Taking deep breaths, Susan walked towards January. "We're going to find food, we'll be back."
They knew this excuse was extremely stupid—flimsy even; no one would belive it, but they couldn't only hope lady luck would pity them, and January was to muddle-headed to notice.
January looked at them for a while, crimson eyes blankly staring, agreeing, "…okay."
As if saying that drained her strength, she looked down, her long silver hair framing her face.
They let out a breath of relief. Jaxon signaled the rest towards the large clearing of trees. They nodded at each other, and carefully sped towards the clearing. Before the could dissappear from her sight, they heard her say a few more words. Feeling embarrassed, the sped up.
After a while, January looked up, her hair falling over her shoulders, iris now crimson with gold and purple highlights.
"They ran earlier than I thought." January muttered to herself, voice more carefree and arrogant. Her struggling expression completely gone. She gracefully stood up and cheerily walked in the opposite direction, a wide smile on her face. She suddenly turned back and noticed that they had covered their tracks.
This made her laugh loudly, soon it froze into ice-cold indifference and her eyes returned to its bright crimson.
___
The sun had started to set before the group reached an open area. The huge clearing led into a forest, untouched since no project had been finalized there.
In the middle stood a wooden cabin, likely used by a family for vacations. Seeing the area was clear, they stopped to catch their breath.
Siera looked back, then down, her expression conflicted. "…I think we shouldn't have run," she said, glancing at her teammates. "It's normal to look pale after everything that happened this afternoon…"
Susan: Cough
Siera: "Except for Susan."
The girls fell quiet at that.
"You all agreed—there's no turning back!" Jaxon broke the silence, his expression hardening.
He strode toward the cabin, ignoring their reactions. With unnamed anger, he kicked the door open after a few hits.
The cabin wasn't too dusty; it had been used regularly, though a few charred marks scarred the walls. It was spacious, with basic amenities: a kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a living room.
The kitchen and living room were separated by a half wall, allowing a clear view between them. In between stood a dining table, scattered with plastic bags filled with canned vegetables and fruit.
Jaxon grabbed bananas, oranges, and whatever else he could find. The girls followed, gathering supplies as well.
Ten minutes was all it took to ransack the cabin. They stuffed their backpacks, having already discarded books, pens, and useless trinkets. Now, only food and water mattered.
Satisfied, they left the cabin and headed deeper into the forest.
After walking for a while, the sun had completely set. The only light came from the bright moon. Perhaps the rain had cleared the clouds, because the moon shone brighter than usual.
It also made the air colder. Luckily, they still had their school jackets.
Suddenly—
"Arrh~"
Susan, more sensitive to sounds, stopped.
"What's wrong?" June asked.
Susan whispered, "Did you guys hear that?"
Everyone froze, listening.
"Errh~"
The five gasped.
"Yeah, I heard it too… it sounded like… moaning?" Hayley said, her brows furrowed.
"Do you think… zombies?" Siera exclaimed, fear raising her voice.
June quickly placed a hand over her mouth, shushing her.
The others listened carefully. Again, the faint moan.
They continued walking until they reached the edge of the forest, where a lake stretched out before them.