High School Royale

7〛SOS

Alyssa Tang - 3:16PM
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Alyssa had long finished her lunch, and simply stared straight ahead, still sitting on the floor next to Olivia, backs against the counter.

"I wish Maddie was still here," Olivia suddenly said, her voice hushed.

Silence followed, as Alyssa struggled with deciding what to say.

"I miss her too," she finally responded. "It's only been 5 hours but..."

Alyssa rubbed her eyes, groaning. "Today's felt like it's been forever."

"You can say that again," Miguel grumbled, sorting the food.

"When's the last time you checked your phone?" Dariel asked.

He shook his head. "I don't wanna. I don't. I'd rather keep wondering, than to... Than to see it for myself."

"I checked it during lunch," Alyssa muttered. "Izzy was gone. I... I think I want to take a break from checking it."

Nick and Adam were in the closet, passing a rubber ball. Maya rested her head against the barricade, eyes closed.

Miguel stuffed the jars into the large plastic buckets, struggling to fit a final one in. Grace appeared before him, taking the jars and buckets.

"You're doing it wrong," she said. "You have to lay the jars upright, not laying down. That's why you're struggling to fit any of them in."

She took all of them one by one, water splattering all over the counter.

"Oh, I get it now," Miguel said, trying to reach for the jars. "I can–"

"No it's fine, I can just do it."

He backed away, arms up, giving the others a shrug.

"I mean... I don't blame her," Maya reasoned. "You seriously tried putting the jars in sideways?"

The doorknob wobbled, sinking all of their hearts into their worst fears. Maya jerked with a start, grabbing a knife and aiming it at the door. "Shit!" She hissed.

"Hello?" A voice asked, knocking. "Is anyone inside? Please, we're in some dire need of medicine; we've established a camp outside, and we need help. Please, if there's anyone inside."

Alyssa bristled, as Grace drew her bow. Naturally, they all turned to her to make the choice.

She assumed her role without hesitation. "This is a hard choice. If they're really a group that's been outside this whole time they'll have more weapons than us. If we don't say anything, they're going to try to break in. If we attack them, they'll know we're in here."

"We need to preserve our materials," Adam said.

"We're not killing more people!" Alyssa hissed.

"I'm with her," Miguel said. "We're not attacking them."

"It's our stuff!" Nick protested. "We don't need to kill them or hurt them, but we need to show by force that they can't just take it!"

Another round of banging came.

"I've already said this, but I'll say it again: You've been inside this whole time," Miguel said, his whispers frantic and harsh. "You didn't witness it. You weren't a part of the massacre. Notice how everyone who witnessed the massacre is against any more violence."

"Agreed," Olivia said.

"Yup," added Dariel.

"Grace?" Alyssa asked.