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shall prevail”, “your School cares about you – help keep it safe” and other similar nonsense. The Pastor’s daily address was also spiced up with similar messages in the context of the Armageddon still raging outside and the Sly One trying to find his way in into the “holy grounds” of the School.
    My own relations with the Principal were tense but he did not go as far as charging me with any offense. My little adventure in the School pool gave me certain … celebrity status. The Teachers and Students alike were looking up to me and it would be problematic to convince them that I was part of the Conspiracy. Being a shrewd politician, Principal Viler maintained a very friendly façade when we met. While he was all smiles, his cold, almost unblinking eyes gave a very clear message: my prosecution was just a matter of time. He would certainly enjoy watching me burn…
    It was at the end of one of my classes when I saw Ms. Kendall standing by the door of the auditorium. After saving my life so many years ago, she had become something of a mother figure for me. No longer very young, her eyes still preserved the warm glow that always made me feel better. I would visit her once in a while and we would talk and she would give me advice – the only person who could get away with it without encountering my (consistently fierce) resistance. In the last year or so, ever since our homegrown inquisition really kicked in, I started to notice certain changes in her (usually very calm) behavior. It was like there was something she wanted to tell me but hesitated. I didn’t want to push because I just knew her all too well. She would tell me when and if she decided it was time. When I saw her standing by the door in her gray Senior Teacher’s robe, looking impatient and calm at the same time, I immediately understood that that time had come…
     

Chapter XII
    Finally, the last Student was out of the auditorium. I took a deep breath (which sounded a lot like a sigh) and slowly walked towards Ms. Kendall, trying to look calm and composed (but failing on both accounts). She was looking at me with a kind but troubled smile. I loved that smile - the way it lit her features with an inner radiance – making her look so very young again, just like she did on that day a lifetime ago...
    ”Teacher Kendall, such an honor to see you in my class.”
”Teacher Raven, always my pleasure to visit an old friend.”
”Is there something I can do for you?”
”Well, to start with, you could accompany an old lady on her trip to the library.”
”With pleasure, madam!”
    As we went out of the auditorium, we had to stop and make way for the Security Assistant recruits marching and chanting their consistently idiotic slogans. Many of them were nice kids once; I even taught to some of them and could remember the way they were before… it is unfortunate but the truth of life, even in the post-apocalyptic world is that power perverts people – the promise of power even more so … Viler knew that all too well. And as I looked at the faces of these young hounds of the Principal I could clearly see the ugly stigma of their perceived superiority – superiority through pain, superiority through violence, superiority through death. Viler had trained them well, they had already seen blood and they loved it. I looked at Ms. Kendall – her face was very pale and her mouth was twisted in a grimace of disgust. I raised my eyebrow quizzically and gently pulled her sleeve. She looked at me and nodded. Such public display of disaffection would be noticed and reported. The SA worked very efficiently.
    Finally, the corridor was empty and we were able to move on. Principal Viler’s face seemed to follow our journey through the displays on the walls; his voice carried an added menace. Or it was just me - slowly but surely going insane (I could almost hear the happy chuckle of the dark whisperer from the depths of my mind – his time was coming)…
    The