In the English language, there is a term that is used to describe what I was seeing as I walked through the bloodied and battle-torn halls of Columbine High School…Collateral Damage.
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The official definition of the term is any unintended or incidental harm, injury, or death that happens as a result of an activity, ESPECIALLY when it involves Civilians or, as I call them, Normies.
Back in the day, it was mainly used to describe military ops. More often than not, it would be when our Military forces were bombing targets only to end up hitting, say, a School or hospital, the damages and loss of life were written off as "Collateral Damage," and the world moved on.
Right now, that was the phrase that continuously echoed through my unfeeling mind as I walked over the teenage corpses that were living mere minutes ago.
Could I have saved them? Probably, but why should I? I was supposed to be an observer; originally, only 15 people were supposed to die in this incident, yet I had easily walked past at least a hundred bodies, especially in the Cafeteria.
Now and then, I’d see a flicker in the corner of my eye, someone hiding in a locker or behind a trash can, shaking like a leaf. Since I was playing the part of "hero" as Nexus, of course, I would stop and assure them everything was going to be all right before sending them out the way I had come since I knew it was clear of anyone but the dead.
Did I care about the mental trauma they would have after trekking through the bodies of their fallen students? Nah, they’re all collateral damage to me.
’I suppose this goes on record as the worst school shooting history will see in the United States…no, I guess it’s beyond that considering the worst in my memory is the Virginia Tech shooting, to be fair, before the Descent of Arkadia, Columbine had fallen to 6th place, on that list, and with well over 300 deaths here, I suppose we’ve stepped into Terror plot levels of damage.’
’Even then, it leapfrogged past all the others and is firmly in 2nd place behind 9/11, which had 2,505 deaths.’ Walking up to one of the few classrooms where the door was firmly shut and, from what I could see through the window, barricaded, I gave it a firm kick and blasted the door off its hinges, revealing a classroom full of students hiding in the back corner of the room.
The instant the door blew off the hinges and the barricade of desks and chairs flew to the other side of the room, the 20-something teenagers and one Teacher screamed in terror…that is, until they saw a pre-teen-sized me walk in wearing my gear.
"SHHH, will you lot quiet down? Are you trying to alert the shooters of your presence," I growled at them, causing everyone to quiet down, half in confusion, the other half understanding I was right."
"Now then," Wearing a charming smile, I stomped my right foot on the ground, making nearly everyone in the room flinch, before extending my arm toward the doorless entrance of the room and clutching with my hand followed by an upward thrust, while activating Geo-Wall.
"The door is closed off for real, but we still need to make an escape route for you guys. Hm how to do it…" I grumbled in thought; meanwhile, the mouth of nearly every student was hung open in awe at the fact I had used what could only be described as a superpower.
When I noticed their reaction, which I had expected in the first place, I played it off with a small skit.
"Oops, silly me, sorry, first time in the field, I guess I forgot not everyone has a superpower, OK, where to start…uh…hm….Ah, that’s right, So stuff from comic books is real; I have a superpower that lets me control rocks and stuff, thus…" Holding up my hand, I manifested three Geo-Bullets and let them gravitate around my outstretched palm.
"And those of us with powers got tracked down by the US Military, TECHNICALLY, little ol me is a Major in the Army, fancy that right, I’m not even old enough to enlist, anywho…"
"Hold on, Are you saying you’re a soldier?" one kid with a buzzcut haircut chirped while pointing at me and making me shrug.
"Well, on paper, at least. I even have a fancy uniform with the gold leaf on the collar, but yeah, there’s quite a few of us, and this was the first time any one of us has been called to action here in the States; generally, we are on the battlefields but SSSHHH, that’s supposed to be Top-Secret." Holding a finger to my mouth, I wiggled my eyebrows and elicited a small chuckle from a few girls in the group.
"Most of my squad is here, and you will be able to point them out pretty easily; they’re all around my age; one wearing bright pink, she’s our Combat Medic, then you have a guy in blue, hes the Vanguard or as we call him the Meat Shield."
"But I digress; you guys are totally safe with me here; I’m pretty strong, although I may not look like it. I mean, you saw what I did to the door and the stuff you had stacked against it, right?" pointing at the metal door, which was buried into the concrete wall on the far side of the room with my thumb, I saw a bunch of heads bob up and down in agreement.
"Right, so the police and national guard have started setting up a perimeter, but my group was sent in first, so Ima kick out the window and wall there and help you guys get outta here; I need you all to try and be calm, and climb down single file."
However, right as I started walking toward the wall after giving my explanation, a loud cough caught my attention.
"Cough, Excuse me!"