A new level
Ring! The bell rings. The usual stampede runs out before the teacher is even done talking. It was a normal Monday. Ha! For it to be normal around here there would have to be a crime. So, I wouldn’t say normal day. I’d say good day. But I shouldn’t get my hopes up; it is only 3:00.
The principal comes out of her office. “Stop!” she yells. The stampede stops and turns to face her. “I am going to say something that very few of you know. You know of Anna’s death. You know of Dakota’s death. You know of Natalie’s death. The one thing you don’t know is who did it. I’m going to tell you.”
Is she giving up? I wonder. I can tell Shalee is thinking the same thing.
“It was me.”
Gasps. Deep gasps.
“Before you ask no I am not giving up. I am telling you this because none of you are going to make it out alive.”
More gasps. A couple of whats as well.
A rope comes through a skylight. She grabs on, goes up, and she is gone. The school goes on lockdown. Cellphones are cut off. And the lights go off. I smell smoke. I hear beeping. I know what it is. She is stooping to a new level. A bomb. She is going to kill everyone at once. I need to find the bomb but I can’t in the darkness I try to follow the beeping and the smoke smell. All I do is run into a smoking teacher. I just rely on the beeping. I keep running into kids. When I find the bomb I realize that I have no idea how to disable it, and I only have 5 minutes to figure it out. I pull on a wire. The wire only cuts the time down to 3:30, 3:29, 3:28. I am in complete panic. Plus if I disable the bomb, we still won’t be able to call anyone or get out of the building. We just won’t die.
3 minutes.
I press buttons. Most of them do nothing.
2:30
I press a button with some Korean word on it.
“TO DISABLE BOMB ENTER CODE” It says.
“Crap,” I say.
2 minutes.
DEATH I try.
ERROR
I think.
1:30
“What’s her name?” I ask myself, and I don’t know. I keep thinking.
1 minute.
I don’t have time to think. I need the code and I need it now.
45 seconds.
“We’re going to die.”
We’re going to die, thought Shalee. No we’re not I,m sure Davis has everything under control.
I don’t. At this time the bomb is at 3 minutes and I am panicing.
“Hey,” Shalee taps a kid’s arm. “We’re not going to die right.”
“Yes we are!” The girl screams. “Of course we are! Did you not hear the principal! Or should I say MURDERER!”
2:30
She is panicing. She starts pacing across an empty space. “Davis’ got this. Davis’ got this.”
2 minutes.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” She screams. People stare. But not judgmentally. They are all doing it in their heads. Shalee just let it out.
1:30
She isn’t watching the time like I am. She doesn’t know how long she has left. She has accepted her fate she is just waiting.
1 minute.
She lets out one more scream.
45 seconds.
“Where are they? Shouldn’t they be home by now?” My mom asks my dad.
“I would think so.” He answers.
Little did they know there was a bomb that was ready to explode in 3 minutes.
“I hope they’re ok,” says my mom.
“Me too.”
2:30
Dad sits down in his spot and turns on the TV.
“Why are you watching TV when our kids are missing?” asks my mom.
“Relax, school probably just got out a few minutes late,” he replies.
1:30
“I’ll call Davis, you call Shalee,” says my mom. She throws him a phone.
It rings, but nobody answers.
1 minute.
My mom sighs.
45 seconds.
We are all waiting. I don’t know what to do. She might win this time.
30 seconds. 29. 28. 27. 26. 25.
I start to give up.
15 seconds.
I sigh.
10 seconds.
There’s nothing I can do.
5. 4. 3. 2.
I yank every wire at the same time.
The bomb turns off, and the lights come on. Our phones turn on. I come out to find Shalee.
“You did it!” She says. We discover our missed calls from our parents.
“Say we’re fine but we won’t be home for a while,” I say.
“Ok,” She agrees.
Both phones ring. Our parents both answer. We tell them that we are ok and won’t be home for a while and they are on board.
