OverSimplified- DanPlan dystopian future au

11

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The meme is a meme I made. Just so you know.

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Daniel

Hosuh and Stephen were getting off of the topic, like normal. It was a common thing whenever I try to do games like this. Stephen would go around stabbing people, sometimes that person was Hosuh. Overall I would say we get along in the end, everything comes together. Stephen was busy talking about how to kill someone with only your hands, and Hosuh didn't seem interested. I look around for Jay but found nothing. That girl Ann was gone, too. I decide to ignore their absence and keep going with the game. Or at least trying to go five minutes without Stephen making an objection and killing Hosuh again.

* * *

It had been a good thirty minutes of this. I finally gave up and went to go look for Jay around the house. Stephen noticed me getting up and followed, putting his plate in the sink and washing his hands. Hosuh got up and began to wash the plates, he was used to doing that. Back before the Tainting, when we were all 19, Hosuh was the cooker and cleaner of everything. It was a simpler time, back before the Tainting. We wouldn't have to always be on the move, we all got in fights that didn't matter because the fights were not a decision between life and death. Now, whenever we have fights it is a matter of losing someone or letting them stay in the group, and work out the argument.

I have to say, I have almost been left behind about ten times now. Me and Stephen don't exactly get along the best when it comes to pranking Hosuh. Stephen and Jay are the most protective over Hosuh, but mainly Stephen. Before the Tainting, Stephen worked at a school as a substitute teacher for a nearby elementary school. He was protective of his students and loved being around them. The students made him a little award that said 'Favorite Sub Ever'. Stephen proudly hung that in his bedroom above his dresser. All of the kids loved his hair, too. Stephen was admired by all of the students at that school. He was the fun teacher that gave you snacks when you didn't have one and stuff like that. It was unexpected for a person like Stephen to work with kids, much less be adored by them.

Jay was more of a gaming type. The kind of person that would give you the best gaming tips, know all the secret bonus levels, cheat codes, stuff like that. Being his roommate, I would know. He would often stay in his room when he didn't have classes, he came out to hang out with Hosuh and Stephen. I usually tried to get him out more, and I mostly succeeded. We would go out to dinners and movies, sometimes with Hosuh and Stephen, but most of the time it was just the two of us. We made a tradition that happened every Saturday night. It was a movie night where it was just me and him. We would make popcorn, get some blankets and trade-off the responsibility of picking the movie. Those nights were fun, sometimes we would even fall asleep on the couch. It would be me falling asleep on the couch, Jay would refuse to sleep during the movie. He said it was to make sure that nothing bad happened in the house, but I think that it's pointless to not relax while watching a movie.

And as for Hosuh, he was obviously an artistic type. He majored in science and something else. Hosuh was a mystery for a long time. He stayed quiet, I had never heard him talk, it was weird the day we became friends. It was way back in high school. Senior year, if I remember correctly.

I was busy working on a project that I had to do for a class when he ran into the computer room. He was out of breath and looked like he had been running from someone. I look at him a little more and he stared right back. Hosuh looked so scared, so vulnerable. He mouthed, "Hide me." and motioned towards the corner of the room. I cover him up with a table and turn the lights off. He curls up surprisingly small and I go back to my work. Two pairs of footsteps are stomping angrily to the door, and it swings open and I look up. Two boys are there, looking like hungry wolves that just missed their kill. I knew these two kids, they were Cooper and Bryce. They look around the room before running out, slamming the door behind them. I wait for the footsteps to subside before turning back around.

"You okay?" I say to the corner. I hear nothing. "Are you alive back there?"

I walk over to the corner and peek over the table. He's still there, just in a tighter ball now. I can hear little noises coming from him, little squeaks almost. He wasn't uncurling from his little ball of safety. I sigh and get down on the ground next to him, and simply hug him.

"It's okay, Cooper and Bryce are gone now," I say, trying to comfort him. I text Stephen.

Get to the computer room right now

Why? What happened?

A kid was running from Cooper and Bryce and hid in here with me. He's not moving and since you work with kids, I think you could help him.

Are the two guys gone?

Yeah, but the kid isn't uncurling from the protective ball he made himself into.

Coming right now. What building, and where in the building?

Building G, east wing. Room 375.

I set down my phone and turn to the little ball and wait. It was about three minutes until I heard a pair of footsteps running down the hall outside. It slowed down as it got closer, and the boy only curled up tighter. I thought he had stopped breathing. Stephen opens the door and looks around the room.

"Daniel?" He called out.

"Over here," I replied. Stephen rushes over and takes a look at Hosuh.

"How long ago?" he asks. "How long has he been like this?"

"About eight minutes."

"Is he breathing?"

"Yes. Hard to tell, though." At this, Stephen shifts his attention to Hosuh.

"Hey, the bad guys are gone now." He changed his voice to the kind when he is talking to his students. "It's safe now. You're safe with me."

He wraps his arms around the little silver-haired boy, who is slowly uncurling now. After a little bit of Stephen whispering that it was okay now, the boy had finally uncurled enough to see his face. His eyes were closed, his breath short and unnoticeable. Stephen looked at me.

"You asked the right person to help, Daniel, my buddy." I nod. "What's your name, bud?" he asked.

The boy slowly opened his eyes. The voice was faint, you could barely hear him. "Hosuh. My name is Hosuh."

I walk over into the living room to see Jay and Ann on the couch. Ann looked over and waved, while Jay stayed put. So far, it was uneventful. We all just kind of sat around, talking. Hosuh talking to Ann about cooking stuff, Stephen and I talking to each other, Jay sitting and watching. All and all I thought it would be a laid back day.

TBC