ChapterFifteen: After School Tryouts

October 2155

It's now afternoon. The teams have started their tryouts. In one of the dance studios, Hannah and Emily enter for their cheer tryouts. They both wore sweatpants and tees. Since they were indoors, they didn't have to cover their arms, but they still had to wear their sun-goggles. They saw more girls and guys that were also former Undergrounders. The obvious sign? They were also wearing sun-goggles.

As the two besties walked towards the new potential recruits, they saw their new friends, Cassie and Lilly. The two Gen-Mod girls, on the other hand, were wearing short fleece shorts and tank tops. The weather on GH569 was much warmer than on Earth, hence why they exposed more skin than everyone else.

Cassie smiled warmly at her new friends. She said, "We are all going to be in the cheer squad!"

Emily asked, "How do you know?"

Hannah told her, "You're talking to a Gen-Mod. They're practically seers."

Emily giggled nervously, "Oh right."

Lilly decided to change the subject by saying, "Well, my bestie here finally got a mate! A former Undergrounder from the EU!"

Cassie smiled bashfully, "Yeah, he loves physical books."

Hannah said, "Most Undergrounders prefer physical books."

While the girls, and others, chat, Kylie and her small circle of friends enter the room. Everyone held their eyes on Kylie. She was flawless as ever in her newest athletic wear. Her previous bruise on her jaw was gone.

Kylie looked over the potential additions. She looked at the former Undergrounders, and then at Cassie and Lilly, then back at the Undergrounders. She then noticed a few of them had badly bruised jaws and bandaged fingertips. She walked up to those with visible injuries. She just stared at him for a good minute or two. Everyone else felt uneasy about this, including the injured ones.

Then Kylie backed away from them. She looked at both the Undergrounders and the two Earth Gen-Mods. She stared at their ash-colored, pale skin. She then said with disgust in her voice, "All of your Earth people look like zombie vampires...including you two Gen-Mods."

Cassie and Lilly knew she meant them two. Lilly said nervously, "Well, we didn't get strong sunlight back on earth. Just nuclear..."

Kylie held her hand up, and said, "No one wants your sob story. Anyway, I'm calling all of you the ZVs: Zombie Vampires."

Hannah scoffed, "Seriously? Just because you get to live on a normal surface world doesn't mean you're better than any of us."

Kylie rolled her eyes, and said, "Let's just get this tryout over with. If I had it my way as the cheer captain, I wouldn't let any of you ZVs join! But my coach is making me do this."

With that, everyone sat down as they waited to present what they're capable of. Lilly, who was sitting next to Cassie, mindlinked her bestie, I have a bad feeling about this girl.

Same here, Cassie mindlinked back.

Once again, neither of them could deduce Kylie. They both hit the walls in their minds. One thing was for certain was that something had created a wall so the Gen-Mods can't figure out what was going on.

In the basketball court across the dance studio, the tryouts for the basketball team have begun. Damon was between two former Undergrounders: One had a badly bruised jaw, while the other was completely clean. All of the former Undergrounder boys wore shorts and tees, but they had to wear an athletic long-sleeve shirt, and tight pants. It was all to protect their sensitive skin.

The potential recruits were all standing next to each other in a line as the coach examined them. He looked at the injured-in-the-jaw boys, including Damon. Then coach stopped walking to ask, "To the boys with bruises around your mouths, care to explain why you were beaten up?"

All of the injured boys, including Damon, were silent. Damon wanted to come up with some fantastical story on how he got his purple-blue-ish bruise all over his jaw. Yet, he knew he was nothing compared to the all-powerful Gen-Mods. Gen-Mods were basically gods and goddesses among the Normals, yet they're not treated as such. Some of the Normals call them "mutants." Others treat them the same as if they were Normals. That was fine for the Gen-Mods. All they wanted was equality, and that's it.

Then the coach stepped back, and said to the boys, "Alright! Let's test you boys out! Separate into two opposing teams. You'll also be playing with my current players. I'll observe everyone. Tomorrow I'll post up who will become part of the Peacocks!"

The boys cheered excitedly. The group splits into two teams. Damon was in the same team as Liam. Damon breathed nervously as this was his first time in playing any sports. Suddenly, an Undergrounder boy walked up to him, and said, "Dude, relax. Just focus on the game, and you should be fine."
Damon looked at him. The boy added, "I'm James. I'm from Hazan, a city underneath New York City...or at least it was..."

Damon raised an eyebrow behind his sun-goggles, and asked, "What happened?"

James sighed, "The city collapsed from the pressures from New York City above it. Only a tiny population was saved. Everyone else probably died from either radiation or were crushed. I heard rumors that some of them survived, but were turned into Gen-Mods just to stay alive."

Damon sighed, and then turned his focus to the game. Soon the coach started the game by blowing his whistle. There were four rounds in the game, but for the coach, he very much impressed. He watched the injured Undergrounder boys real closely. They were playing very well. They avoided being hit or scratched on. They jumped over potential, deliberate trips from the other guys. They made jumps high enough to touch the rim of the bottomless, netted basket as they place the ball in there.

The coach couldn't believe his eyes. These injured boys played as well as the Gen-Mod boys who were already in the team. There were the non-injured Undergrounders who played quite well, but none of them were compared to the injured ones. The coach, being a Gen-Mod himself, tried to deduce the injured boys, but like all the other Gen-Mods, he couldn't. Nothing but a wall blocking him from any insight.

After the game was over, all of the boys entered their locker room. They all showered off the sweat they made during the game. As soon as Damon had finished changing back into his uniform, James walked up to him. He told him, "You did great out there. I'm impressed. Do you play sports?"

Damon replied, "No. I mostly read and write."

James' eyes widened when he heard that. As he was about to speak, Liam walked over to the two guys. He told them, "Guys, I wanna show you two something tonight."

James asked hesitantly, "What is it exactly."

Liam answered, "Okay, just outside the city, there's a fence surrounding the city. Right outside the fence is a beautiful forest. I saw the area a few weeks ago. I'm not taking you two outside the fence. We're staying inside. I just wanted to show you. That's all."

Damon and James thought for a moment. They had just met this Gen-Mod boy. Then again, the two Normal boys just met each other. Still, the two were still trying to get used to their new world, whereas Liam was born and raised on GH569.

James replied with a hesitant smile, "I'll go with you."

Damon, on the other hand, still wasn't sure. He wasn't one to make new friends right away. Hell, he just claimed by a girl he barely knows! Then he remembered he had a coffee date with Cassie. So he asked Liam, "When do you want us to do this...trip?"

Liam replied, "Late tonight, like...10pm."

Damon smiled slightly, "Okay that sounds good. I have date right about now. Pick me up at the café nearby?"

Liam nodded. Damon grinned, once again revealing empty spaces of where his canines were supposed to be. Then he ran off. Both James and Liam saw his gapped-tooth smile. It was the oddest they've seen. Why would Damon be missing two canines? Maybe he got into a fight, hence why he's missing two teeth.

Then James asked Liam, "Hey, what's-your-name..."

"The name's Liam," Liam corrected him.

"Liam, can you deduce on that boy that just ran off?"

Liam shook his head, and replied, "No, I can't. Something is blocking me from finding out what's going on with him."

James sighed.

It's now almost ten. Cassie and Damon were walking out of the café. It was a very interesting date as they talked about their lives on Earth. Cassie didn't envy Damon one bit as he explained how his former underground city of Unterkatz was being overpopulated and slowly decaying. Yet, Damon didn't envy Cassie either. Even though she lived on the surface world, her former hometown of New York City was greatly overcrowded. There weren't really any summers. Just constant nuclear winters due to being in the northern hemisphere of Earth. There was pollution all over. Sure, the Gen-Mods can take that type of ruthless atmosphere, but it didn't mean they liked it. In fact, most of them hated the hell they breathed in. But who knows if all of them will be transferred to GH569? That remained to be seen depending how badly overcrowded the Six City-States will get.

As the two sat outside the café, Damon said to Cassie as he held her hand, "I'm going on this trip with my new friends. Supposedly we're going to check out the fence surrounding the city."

Cassie nodded, she got a text from Breyden, reminding her she has thirty minutes to return to the base. Cassie sighed, "I have to go home now. Trust me, I would love to go with you, but I can't. Besides, I promised my family that I wouldn't go anywhere near the fence."

Damon nodded, and said, "That's fine. I'll give all the details tomorrow."

Cassie then hugged Damon tightly, and said, "Please be careful, Damon."

Damon chuckled as he hugged back, "I will, babe."

With that, Cassie smiled as she walked to her car. As soon as she drove off, Liam arrived with his car. James was in the front seat with him. Damon saw them, and walked up to them. He got in the car, and asked, "How did you figure out where James lived?"

Before Liam could reply, James said, "He's a seer, remember?"

Liam rolled his eyes, and said, "I'm not a seer. Sure I have that ability, but still. I'm just a dude curious about this planet."

The two guys agreed. There was something about this planet that felt quite unknown. But James knew who was on the planet while Damon didn't. Even Liam knew who was on GH569. After about two hours, Liam finally drove up to the fence. He parked the car, and turn it off. The three boys walked out of the car. James and Damon looked up at the high, barbed-wired fence.

Liam then said, "This is the fence that surrounds this city. Supposedly it's to protect us from the Forest Natives."

That got Damon's attention. He turned to face Liam, and asked, "Natives? You mean aliens?"

Liam replied, "Kind of. No one has really seen what the Natives look like..."

"They look exactly like us," James interjected.

With that, Liam and Damon's eyes widen. Since it was night, Damon and James were allowed to take off their sun-goggles. Liam asked, "How do you know the Natives look like us?!"

James replied nonchalantly, "My girlfriend told me about them, and showed me sketches of them. They look like vampires, but they're not."

Then James stared at Damon, remembering seeing his canine-less grin. He continued, "They have sharp fangs where the human canines would be, and they have sharp nails."

This made Damon uncomfortable with James staring at him with suspicion. Liam noticed the tension, so he cleared his throat, and said, "Anyway, this fence is to keep out the Forest Natives. Why? Who knows...but they growl at night."

As soon as he said this, growls were emitted at a distance. The three boys turned to face the fence. They didn't see anyone there, but they heard the growls. It sounded like they were coming closer to the fence. Both James and Liam smiled as they wanted to see the Forest Natives, while Damon stepped back to the car. He didn't go inside, but he was both scared and curious. He wanted to see who these Natives were.