History Lesson

Ok class settle, I said settle. Taunton please move along the bench and let Brigstow sit down.”
 Miss Pucklechurch sat down behind the only desk, she looked myopically at her classroom. She only knew who was who by their sitting position. Looking down at the desk giving it an ineffectual wipe with a dirty cloth. The dirt and grime was well too ingrained to make any cleaning pointless but she liked to try. 
“Ok class history lesson today. We are looking at the main historical events of the last century”
A huge groan as the children complained bitterly.
“Miss why do we need to learn about the past it so damn depressing. I mean it miss, the past is dead to us”
Miss Pucklechurch looked sternly at the vague blob who was talking, working out the blob nearest back door that’s Emerson Green speaking. 
“Ok Emerson settle, I agree history throws light on the mistakes and the missed opportunities of our ancestors but if we don’t learn what went wrong we will ourselves make the same mistakes.”
A sardonic snort from the vague blob by the backdoor. Inwardly Miss Pucklechurch wholeheartedly agreed with that snort. She has often wondered herself, why rake up the past? It was basically a total shitshow, but she has been told as well as survival training, self defence and tracking skills, the youths under her must learn to read, write and a basic grounding in other subjects. After all without knowledge they will all just degenerate into base creatures.

Getting back to the lesson, Miss Pucklechurch in her sternest voice demanded silence. Eventually the murmuring and chatting stopped. “Ok class pick up your slate and grab your scratchers. We will start with a quiz. Ten questions just write down what you think the answers maybe. Right question 1. Which of the
following lead to the catastrophic destruction of the environment 
Was it
 A - the decision in the early 2020’s to water down the climate change agreement
B - The lack of help to what was known then as emerging countries to industrialise in an environmental friendly way without going down the route of fossil fuels
C - The rise of radicalisation of the ultra right in America and other so called developed countries starting again in the 2020’s accumulating with the American dictatorship of the 2030’s
D - The lobbying of massive polutting companies of there countries government. Holding them to ransom, as far back our history books go from 1960’s up to the total economic and environmental collapse in 2096
Or is it E- all of the above”

Miss Pucklechurch paused as she heard scratching of hard tipped stone pens on the slate boards. As she was about to start question 2 of the ten questions she had to memorise. Staying up all night with her mentor constantly repeating the questions till she was word perfect. The importance the survivors put on teaching the young the wrongs of the past was obviously laudable but Miss Pucklechurch was now of the opinion it was way too late. The scraps of humanity that were clinging on, desperately just trying to survive day to day, do they really need to know why they were in this mess? Why their ancestors had plundered the world of all its resources to fuel their rampant consumerism. 

Suddenly a cry from the back of the room. Sighing Miss Pucklechurch looked down the classroom to see a blurry blob point out of the window. “Miss, Miss it’s raining. I can hear the hissing.” 
Miss Pucklechurch stood started to walk towards the window to see for herself when a cry of pain made her turn. Emerson Green stood up. “Miss it’s coming through the roof my hand it’s burning” 
“Quickly everyone stand and walk to my desk, avoid any drips if you can. The roof is thickest my end.”
Everyone stood, Miss Pucklechurch would hear the occasional whimper or cry as the acid rain hit the roof, even thought it was reinforced concrete over the years the acid must of eaten holes right through. Eventually everyone was at the desk. Miss Pucklechurch tended to the worse burns with the small bottle of valuable sterilised water she had with her. 

The whole class. Fifteen small kids and one adult although not that much older than the kids herself. She was deemed to be an adult reaching puberty. Which in this apocalyptic hellhole was an achievement. Her mentor one of the “elders” being maybe mid twenties had told her either teach or breed that is your choice. We need kids but we need them to be stronger, brighter and better than we are. So choose now. That was a difficult thing to ask a child to decide. To keep the human race going or teach the ones that were there. She decided to teach so here she was now. Cuddling fifteen scared little souls. Brought into a world they could never really comprehend. Most of them won’t make it past ten years old. None of them have family. Breeders have babies. The babies are immediately whipped off where wet nurses will feed them,till they are weaned. All for what? To keep a foothold on this dying planet. To stay the dominant race to maybe rise again, if the world eventually heals itself. Humans will be there ready to plunder it of all its natural resources once again, growing in strength until they knock themselves back to the Stone Age. So the circle will once again be completed. 

THE END