Generation Infinosil

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six - Shane

2050

Every minute until lunch dragged as if the time would never pass. The words of those around me, including those of the teacher, all merged together into a monotonous blur that I payed little attention to. My eyes were solely focused on the hands moving in a circular motion around the clock.

My pulse rate seemed to be speeding up with every second; I couldn't make out if I was excited, anxious or maybe a bit of both. I wanted so badly to have some kind of proof that what she was saying was true, but I equally wanted her to be lying so that there would still be some hope of remembering the past. As you can tell, I wasn't entirely sure of what it was that I wanted, but I found myself desperately needing to see her, desperately needing to know where we stand.

I found it strange that I was so angry at her the night before, yet as soon as I saw her that morning, I was hypnotised by her and no longer felt like that. Just being in her presence was enough to calm me down, and I had no idea how she could do that to me.

The clock continued to tick- the background music for my train of thought. Then, without warning, my daze was interrupted by a bell that rang out throughout the school; suddenly my ears were flooded with the clatter of students flowing out of the room in a not-so-orderly queue.

It was not the regular school bell that signaled the end of lessons, it couldn't be for I had been staring at the clock for the entire lesson and I knew for certain that there were still 23 minutes left. (I had checked my timetable enough times that lesson, just to ensure that I knew when it ended.) Lunch would start at precisely 12:30, and it was only 12:07. I had been waiting for the sound of the bell for what seemed like years, so that I could go and find Kaitlyn at the zebra crossing, where we had arranged to meet for the second time in two days.

However, I did not appreciate this shrieking, deafening, siren-like fire bell to interrupt my daze and result in me being shoved into a stormy ocean of inpatient pupils, struggling to get enough space to breathe. Did there really have to be a fire drill practice today of all days? My head was already pounding with an almost unbearable headache, and I couldn't stand the thought that this could prolong my absence from Kaitlyn.

That's when I realised that this wasn't a simple fire practice. As the crowd maneuvered around the corner, many of the students at the front screamed and ducked, as orange flames threatened to lick their bodies. This was a real fire. The school was on fire.

The crowd changed direction towards the other potential fire exit, except for one girl who stepped out of the stream of people and stared at the fire-lit passage, as if transfixed on a point in the distance. I recognised her immediately.

I pushed and shoved through the crowd until I could reach Kaitlyn and pull her back into the stream of pupils, where she could be safe with me. When my hand touched her arm, she flinched as if she thought she was under attack until, turning around and seeing my face, she reluctantly stepped into my arms and allowed me to lead her out of the school and onto the tennis courts- our fire assembly point.

Now we had escaped the rush of pupils and were no longer constricted by the narrow corridors, I stopped and noticed that Kaitlyn was clearly in shock, her eyes were wide and hardly blinking. Concerned, I shook her shoulders, trying to disrupt her trance. It was aimed at the flames enveloping our school.

Then, not knowing how I didn't see it before, I gently brushed some hair from her face and found, resting on her beautifully shaped cheekbone, a fresh wound. Looking back at the building, now turning black from the flames, I realised which classroom would have been hit worst. Room 6. Kaitlyn was in the same maths class as Nathan, they had just had their lesson in room 6.

Then it hit me, Kaitlyn was safe, but where was Nathan? Panic shot through me as I scoured the school grounds with my eyes to find Nathan. He and Kaitlyn had been the only two people I really felt comfortable around in this school. With every second that I couldn't see him, my heart pounded harder and faster in my chest. That's when Kaitlyn, as if reading my mind, gripped onto my hand and pointed somewhere in the distance. Two of Nathan's friends, who were introduced to me on my first day as Jack and Matthew, were walking towards us with a limping figure inbetween them. It was Nathan, his leg was harmed, but he was safe. I almost ran to him in joy, but I stayed cemented in my place; Kaitlyn needed me.

I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arms around her small, seemingly fragile body, hoping that she would feel comforted with the feeling of my body pressed against hers.

I could feel a patch of my t-shirt becoming damp on my chest, presumably from Kaitlyn's tears, but her breathing slowed and after a while, her body began to shake less violently too. It broke my heart to see Kaitlyn, usually so strong, feeling vulnerable and weak, but at least she seemed to feel safer now that she was in my arms.

She didn't break away from me until Aimee and Cassy instructed her apologetically to join her registration group, so that Mr Watts could tick her name on the list and know that she wasn't in the building. I slowly and regretfully walked to the area where my registration group were clustered, hating my forced absence from Kaitlyn and craving her presence once more.