From June 29th, Sunday, to July 1st, Tuesday

Zek’s reply had been painfully childish: “you jealous.” Right after typing that out, he turned his attention back to his “faithful” on the livestream.

"You know what I think about those scientists, man? They didn’t predict the storm. I did. They said the rain wouldn’t stop. I stopped it. I... ME! Zek Prophète! I told you the sky listened to me. And you laughed at me, man. Who’s laughing now, huh? Look..." Zek said, grabbing the singing fish toy and pressing the button, letting the creepy Chinese song play as if it were his triumphant response to the world.

Across town, Renata just saw Zek’s Squawk response. Her day had been absolute shit. Her stepfather yelled again, and her mother kept sobbing like a broken doll. At least on Squawk, she had a voice—and she was already preparing her clapback.

“BREAKING NEWS: Digital beggar claims he stopped the rain, but can’t stop spewing bullshit or getting drunk.”

Zek’s livestream showed his Squawk page, and everyone watching saw the reply from @meteorman42. The chat exploded in laughter and outrage, and Zek quickly responded:

“How does it feel knowing your soul’s gonna burn when the meteor hits? Keep hiding online, coward. Jealous loser.”

Renata—@meteorman42—didn’t waste a second:

“Better than hiding behind that filthy beard and lice-infested hair you haven’t washed in three years. Who’s jealous of a homeless man who doesn’t even shower?”

“Showers are a capitalist invention to sell soap,” Zek replied.

The argument reached absurd levels. Zek hurled wild, off-topic personal attacks—insults about parents, sex, you name it—while @meteorman42 posted screenshots and videos where Zek contradicted himself. More and more people joined the mess, with half supporting Zek and the other half backing the previously unknown @meteorman42. Eventually, Zek accused them of being a bot run by the government or a major corporation.

July 1st, Tuesday.

These were the last two weeks of school, and it seemed like no one cared about it anymore, though some students still showed up—either because their parents forced them to, or because it helped them forget the madness at home and in the world. Even the smartest students didn’t seem to care about university or national exams anymore.

Gabriel was trying to teach yet again, while most of the class was chatting or on their phones. Then Nathan’s phone buzzed—it was a message from Laura that said: “I wish you were an ice cream. Guess why.”

Nathan didn’t hesitate—he just replied with “Heheh, nice!” Only for Laura to realize she had sent the message to the wrong person.

"NATHAN! THAT WASN’T FOR YOU! IT WAS FOR MY BOYFRIEND! I’M SORRY!" the girl shouted in horror.

"What’d she send you?" Bernard asked, peeking at Nathan’s phone. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! ‘I WISH YOU WERE AN ICE CREAM’!"

Almost every student burst into a chaotic karaoke of “Maintenant je suis glace, glace, glace, glace,” laughing and singing, while Laura shrunk in shame, Nathan stayed indifferent, and Gabriel nearly cried inside.

"CLASS, PLEASE! SILENCE! WHOEVER TELLS ME THE NAME OF THE SINGER GETS EXTRA CREDIT!" Gabriel pleaded.

A weird noise came from above. It was the fan near the chalkboard, wobbling and threatening to fall.

"Imagine if that fan falls on someone’s head. No one’s fixing it?" Iris said.

"Excuse me. I’ll fix it," said Nathan, climbing onto a chair to reach the fan—only to make it fall completely, narrowly missing him.

Everyone laughed and resumed their chaotic singing as Nathan got down, holding the fan’s casing.

"Sorry, sir. At least I tried," he said with a shrug, returning to his seat.

At the end of the school day, Gabriel went to the principal’s office. Lucie was smoking, despite the enormous "no smoking" sign hanging right above her head.

"Principal... I know our budget’s always been tight, but... the students are depressed and demotivated. But today, they laughed at something in class, and it got me thinking... What if we took them on a field trip? I know there’s only two weeks of school left, and nobody seems to care anymore, but..."

"But what?" Lucie asked, exhaling smoke upward.

"Even if the world ends, I still want to give them a little bit of hope and joy..."

"What, you want to take them to a dinosaur museum so they can learn how to handle extinction?"

Gabriel considered saying something. Slowly, Lucie seemed more exhausted and frustrated with this apocalyptic situation.

"I thought of two places. I can pay out of pocket if needed. One this Friday, and another next week. Is that doable?" Gabriel asked.

Renata was walking home alone, too absorbed in her headphones to notice anything—until she heard someone behind her.

"Hey, bitch!"

At first, she thought it wasn’t directed at her—until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see four girls surrounding her. Two were from her class, the other two from the year below. All wore cross necklaces, and one even had a t-shirt with a picture of Zek on it.

"You’re that little bitch who doesn’t believe in the prophecy or in God, right? Who keeps saying it’s all bullshit, right?" one of them snapped.

"You’re going to hell," another said, full of hatred and scorn.

"Can I leave?" Renata asked, unfazed, staring them down.

"Why don’t you just die? Then you’ll see God exists!" shouted the girl in the Zek shirt, slapping Renata hard across the face, knocking out one of her earbuds.

"You’re not ashamed to wear a shirt with that hobo’s face on it?" Renata asked, trying to laugh.

"And you, aren’t you ashamed of trying to be a man? Look at your boy clothes and short hair, how ugly," another girl said, yanking Renata’s hair while someone else pushed her to the wet, cold ground.

Amid all the kicks to her body, all Renata heard were insults.
"Slut."
"Freak bitch, no guy’s ever gonna want you!"
"She’s just mad ‘cause she’s got no tits or ass, that’s why no boys look at her."
"Zek’s gonna get you!"
"Hit this whore! When God comes down on that meteor, he won’t wanna see any unbelievers!"

She didn’t know if it lasted seconds or an eternity. But then she heard a voice—one she recognized—and the girls instantly stopped their rampage.

"Hey, hey, hey, girls! Is this how you act? Beating someone who doesn’t understand you instead of trying to talk? Is that what Jesus taught you?"

That voice... it was the boy who talked to her about her drawings the other day. Lucien.

"But she’s always saying in class that it’s all lies. She calls Zek a hobo and a fraud!"

"She’s just scared. We all are," Lucien said calmly.

Renata didn’t catch the rest of the conversation, but after about a minute, the four girls walked off. Lucien crouched and offered his hand. Renata hesitated, but then accepted it.

"You okay? Did they hurt you badly?" he asked.

"I... I’m fine..." Renata said as she got up, shaken.

"People... they act like animals when they’re scared. I know what it’s like to feel alone like that."

Renata looked down. For the first time, someone had spoken to her like she was more than just another background character in the filthy world outside the internet.

"You gonna walk alone again tomorrow?" Lucien asked.

"I don’t know..." she answered softly.

263 days left.