The School

Chapter 3

I wake up on Monday morning, ready to start my week after an almost uneventful weekend. I encountered those odd people early Saturday morning but I didn't see a trace of them at all yesterday. I didn't see Warren, Vincent, or Paige at all on Sunday. But I also stayed inside for the whole day because it was just a good lazy day, with the rain and gloominess of the sky, I played videogames. 

I get out of bed and stretch before hopping in the shower. I scrub extra good up and down my body and thoroughly wash my blond hair. I step out and braid my hair while it's still wet.

I dress in black ripped jeans, a navy blue sweatshirt, and my boots. 

Mom and Dad are already gone by the time I step out of the house with a granola bar in hand. I'm finishing up on the rest of my granola bar as I get to school and start walking up the steps.

The sun glinting off of something shiny catches my eye just past the school. It's that fucking van! I can't even believe what I see when I sprint the rest of the way inside and find Warren, Paige, and Vincent all talking at my locker. 

Warren immediately notices my shaken expression, "Rory? What's the matter with you? What happened?" 

I can barely catch my breath as my heart threatens to beat out of my chest. I look at everyone, "The van is out there guys, I told you, I told you, come on we have to go see." The boys barely acknowledge it and I can see the apprehension on the three's faces. I'm trying to usher them all towards the door when the bell rings. Vincent and Paige start walking to class and Warren grabs me so we're not late. 

Paige looks back at me and with her mouth she words out, "I saw it too." 

The fact that I'm not crazy makes me feel better. Once Warren and I get to class we take our seats in front of Vincent and Paige. 

The teacher starts his lecture but I'm not even paying attention as I shake my foot restlessly. There's no reason for a van to be outside the school. And no one I know in town even drives a van like the one I've been seeing. It's a pristine white, it looks new, and it looks expensive. Definitely not something that can be said for a lot of the vehicles in town. Nobody spends the money on flashy things, if it runs and can get the job done, then that's all that matters. Things just aren't adding up.

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice comes on the the loudspeaker all through the school. "Every student needs to make his and her way out into the hall. Lines of fours need to be made. Teachers do the same. If these directions are not followed closely, you will be euthanized."

The voice was smooth and deep, but it was the tone of the voice that had me moving my legs without any thought. It was the promise behind his words, I really felt that if I didn't line up I would be killed. And that scared me. 

Out in the hall, we lined up, Warren and Vincent stood in front of me and Paige. I watched as other kids came out of our classroom and lined up on either sides of us. Kids came out of the rest of the classes and did the same. 

I could see both girls and boys with tears in their eyes, and silent sobs etched into their faces. 

There were loud bangs all around us and I jumped, I could feel Paige jump behind me too. Giant men dressed in black and carrying long rifles stomped down the hallways and started pushing lines of kids towards the auditorium. 

I could see the men punching guys that fought back and I saw one girl get shot down as she tried to make a run for it. I was absolutely stunned. A man pushed me roughly into Warren's back to get me moving again. He turned around and I could see the harsh fire blazing in his ocean eyes. I put my hand on his chest and just shook my head when he looked down at me. 

He looked pained to have to let go of the fight and kept walking forward. 

Before my view was blocked I was able to see men and women, mostly middle-aged, in white lab coats walk into our vacant classrooms with equipment. It looked like they were setting up stuff but before I could make out what they doing I was pushed into the auditorium on to my knees. 

I cried out as my knees made sudden contact with the hard floor. 

Warren put his arms around me and I nestled into his chest as we sat back against the wall. Vincent was holding Paige as she cried softly. I couldn't help the tears that slowly fell down my own face. The entire ordeal drained my energy and I found myself losing the fight with consciousness.

I woke up suddenly as all four of us were being forced to stand, by one of the large men in black. He guided us to one of the classrooms that the people in lab coats had taken over. 

Walking into the room was crazy, there was a barrier of metal outlining the door and sheets of metal locked over the windows. There were vials of various colors of liquids all throughout the room. It was dark in the room except for one black light shining on us from the ceiling. 

The man shoved us into the room and locked the door behind us. Warren began banging on the door and yelling as I stood off to the side. Vincent held Paige close to him as he eyed all of the new state-of-the-art equipment in our old classroom. 

"Fwoosh!" 

We all looked up as the black light illuminated purple gas that was being emitted from the water sprinklers in the ceiling. 

"Cover your mouths and don't breathe in, guys!" Vince called out.

The gas settles all around and the black light lets us see the vapor surrounding us. It's like the light was taunting us, showing us that there was no way to escape the danger encompassing us. 

I'm forced to take a gasp of air and the gas floods my lungs. As soon as I do that, the pain barrels into me. I fall as the pain overtakes my senses. 

Warren grabs me and holds me to his chest before I can hit the ground. When he does that, he accidentally takes in a breath and the pain hits him too. We both fall.

Paige and Vincent hit the floor in the next moment, writhing just like me and Warren. 

I can feel the blood boiling under my skin. I'm sweating so badly and my skin burns. My vision blurs and the last thing I see is Warren's face crumpled in pain. I can just barely make out Warren's voice as he softly calls out to me in a broken voice with incoherent words. 

I black out as the pain overtakes me.