SURVIVAL 2: NTH PLANET

LOCATION: nth Planet TIME: Morning

I can hear a swift whoosh in my ears. I can feel the strand of my hair caress my cheeks. A tingling sensation from my arms to my feet. It is so cold. It seems like I’m floating.

"Hwa!" I woke up because of the cold I was feeling. I also noticed that I was floating in. I thought the river was deep, and I could not even swim.

Where am I?

What a serene place—a cold breeze, the river is calm and shallow. There are tall trees, green plants, and shrubs. Chirping birds and insects flew above my head, and the sound of insects is audible as the sun rises.

"Whaaa!" What I saw next made me shriek because I saw that there were floating bodies of people in the river.

Are they… dead?!

They wear school uniforms like me. Then, I realized that they were the 23 students like me floating in space a while ago.

I guess we are here on the so-called nth planet. The hologram says, the nth planet looks like the Earth. I scan the surroundings. There is no doubt that there are no visible differences.

Not long after, others are also rising from unconsciousness while floating on the river.

"Where are we?" I heard a girl ask.

"Is this the nth planet?!" a boy with long hair asked the boy he was standing next to.

"Gosh, is this it? How can I live with this?" complained a girl with curly hair artfully.

"Hey, guys! Check it out, our clothes aren't even wet!" What that boy said caught my attention.

I checked and touched my clothes and hair. We are completely dry. Also, we all floated, even if it was just a shallow river with probably just the height of our knees.

"There is nothing you can do if you are too amazed by what you see.” replied the boy with eyeglasses. “Don't you remember? The hologram says everything is possible on the nth planet.”

"Oh no! What if there are no gadgets here?"

"How can we live like this?!"

“How did we end up here?!”

Most of them panicked.

"Stop worrying about the things that would not suffice our means to live! We should come up with ways to survive here.” A sudden appearance of a rather chubby boy who spoke while everyone was complaining.

Everyone became silent because of that.

"Um, I think we need a leader to guide us on what to do," suggested a girl with braided pigtails who looked modest because of her soft, girly voice.

Her companion also spoke. "That's right, the situation will not be more chaotic without a leader," he agreed.

I noticed that they looked very much alike. Maybe they’re siblings or even twins.

I approached the two of them and spoke. "Why don't you two become the leaders?" We might need two of them because we are all confused.

A pretty girl with long light brown hair scoffed. “Suit yourselves. As if I can trust someone I don’t even know.”

“I know that I do not deserve your trust, but I am willing to be in charge of this. I hope to gain your trust as soon as I prove myself worthy of it.” The chubby boy replied.

“Likewise. It’s not that I’m plotting something against all of you, besides, I’m not familiar with everyone except my one classmate. But my service could be of help on how we’re going to survive this place.” The boy with eyeglasses added.

We all talked and agreed that they would be both our leaders. “We will look for a place where we can stay, and we will build huts," briefed the chubby boy.

The boy with eyeglasses continued what the chubby boy was about to say. "The girls will gather some fruits and vegetables or any edible that they will find in the forest. Boys, look for wood that can be turned into huts, and we will build it. Then get ready to work with bonfire before nightfall. We will look for a place where there is clean water and a safe place to stay. Do not go alone because you may get lost. I will also mark our meeting place. We will gather there with what you all got." he finished.

Everyone agreed, and so we went for a walk to find a place for us to sleep.

After that, all the girls looked for food. This place is so secluded.

"Yo!" I was startled by the sudden slap on my shoulder.

"H-Huh?" I stuttered, asking.

"Oops, your face is so funny, hahaha!" A shoulder-length black hair, tan-skinned girl startled me. Her uniform is a white blouse, red necktie, red skirt, and black shoes. I just scratched my head from what she did.

"Chill! I may not look like it but I’m a trustworthy person."

I just nodded and then smiled at her. We got some vegetables and fruits for our food later.

"Ah! It's wearing me out!” she complained while reaching for more fruits. “Think about it, one day I remembered I was at school but when I woke up, I was already in outer space, and when I woke up again, I was in this place!" she said jokingly.

What she said made me ponder. "At school?"

She turned her back on me. "Yes, we had a moving up ceremony then. The weird thing is, I don't know some people, but others know me."

The same thing happened to me. I was about to ask another question when a modest-looking girl with braided pigtails approached us.

"Um, excuse me. Let's go back to gather food," she insisted.

We only managed to get what we saw and deemed useful. We immediately went back to our meeting place and saw some boys sorting trees to make huts.

Everyone was working together when a boy approached us and gasped.

"G-Guys ..." a boy with brown, undone hair stammered, holding onto his knee due to fatigue.

"Oh, what happened to you?" a girl with a messy hair bun questioned him.

His heavy breathing continues. “There’s a monster over there!"

"What are you talking about?" lofty question of a good-looking boy with a curly swirl at the end of his silver hair.

The boy approached our two leaders. "What I saw is true! About twice human’s height and about thrice a human-sized wide!" "What the heck? Does that kind of thing really exist?" doubtful comment of the bubbly girl who talked to me earlier.

The leader with eyeglasses approached the panicking boy. "Where did you see it?"

"Just got very close to it. As I was picking up wood, I saw large and strange footprints, so I followed it, and I saw the… a-a monster sleeping."

"We’re on the nth planet so that is possible." The leader with eyeglasses mumbled.

"Wait," the eyeglasses leader interrupted. "We should create some weapons for protection... Boys!" he called them. "We will find and go near that monster's den and study its behavior, if it is dangerous or what. If it’s not a threat to us and it lives far from us, then we can conclude it is safe. But if its location is close to us and a big threat, then it’s time to evacuate ourselves."

The boys arranged the wood we gathered a while ago.

***

"Are you listening?" I regained my senses when someone waved my face.

I looked around, and all the boys had left already. I am talking to the bubbly girl. All the girls are still here in the gathering area waiting for the boys to return.

"W-What was that again?"

She sighed. "Hmp. You must've been weirded out by yourself." I nodded at what she said. "I also asked the others here, and our situation is almost the same. Some of them also came from a ceremony, then ended up here. That is all they have remembered in their whole lives."

I remained silent.

"It's funny, right? I don't know my name. I don't even know if I have a name. But the funnier thing is, I know the name of my silly classmate, yet he doesn’t know his freaking name. Hahaha!"

Oh, she knows her classmate’s name, but I don’t know his.