THE SURVIVAL

The day had begun like any other—a scorching morning in 2023. The students of 7B sat in their sweltering classroom, shifting uncomfortably in their seats as the ceiling fans whirred lazily overhead, doing little to battle the oppressive heat. The thick, muggy air clung to our skin, making it feel like we were suffocating. None of us could focus. Our Social Sciences teacher droned on, but her words blended into the background, swallowed by the humidity. Every now and then, I'd glance at Sabrina, seated next to me, and we'd exchange weary looks.But then, something strange happened.The door to our classroom burst open with a loud bang, startling us all out of our heat-induced haze. A student from another class—someone we didn't know—stumbled in, gasping for air, their face ghostly pale. For a moment, the room stood still, all eyes fixed on the mysterious figure." teacher.. teacher...a learner fainted in the girls toilet!" they gasped, barely managing to get the words out before collapsing onto the floor. Their face was a mask of panic and confusion, their eyes wild with fear. No one moved. For several heartbeats, silence settled over us like a thick fog, heavy and impenetrable. It was as if we were all waiting for something—anything—to break the stillness.Finally, our teacher, Ma'am Binu, rushed forward. "Stay here!" she barked before dashing out of the classroom, leaving us in stunned silence.For a long moment, no one spoke. We all looked at each other, searching for some kind of explanation in one another's eyes. Sabrina leaned over to me, whispering, "What do you think they meant by 'fainted'?"I shrugged, but deep down, unease began to coil in the pit of my stomach. Fainted? What did that even mean?Minutes ticked by, but it felt like an eternity. We shifted in our seats, growing more restless by the second. And then we heard it—the piercing scream of a teacher echoing through the halls. My blood ran cold.The class exploded into chaos. Chairs scraped against the floor as students jumped to their feet, knocking over their desks in their haste to leave. Sabrina grabbed my hand as we ran into the hallway, joining the stampede of panicked students who had spilled out from their classrooms.As we surged down the corridor, the sound of frantic whispers filled the air. I overheard snippets of conversations—words like dead, disappeared, and gone. My heart pounded in my chest, a wild rhythm of fear and confusion. What was happening?We followed the crowd toward the girls' bathroom. As we neared the entrance, the hallway seemed to darken, as if some invisible force had sucked all the light and warmth from the air. The door to the bathroom stood ajar, and through the gap, I could see something—someone—on the floor.Three students were sprawled out on the cold, tiled ground, their bodies contorted in unnatural positions. Their eyes were wide open, frozen in terror, their faces twisted into grotesque expressions of fear. And their skin... their skin was streaked with splashes of color—red, blue, green—fainted across their bodies in broad, messy strokes. It was as if someone had taken a paintbrush and carelessly smeared their limbs with bold, crude marks.The sight was horrifying, but what struck me most was the look in their eyes. It was as though they had seen something so unimaginable, so terrifying, that they couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't even fight back."Let's get out of here," Sabrina whispered, tugging on my sleeve. I didn't need to be told twice. We turned and ran, back toward our classroom, our minds racing with a hundred unanswered questions. But no sooner had we reached the door than the unthinkable began to unfold.One by one, students started collapsing in the hallway. At first, I thought they were fainting from the heat, but as more and more bodies crumpled to the ground, I realized it was something much worse. Their bodies fell in a series of sickening thuds, like dominoes, each collapse echoing louder than the last. Some students screamed, others stood frozen in shock, but none of us understood what was happening.Sabrina squeezed my hand so tightly it hurt, but I couldn't pull away. I couldn't move. All I could do was watch in growing horror as the bodies piled up. Teachers rushed into the chaos, but they seemed powerless, just as frightened as we were. Their commands for calm were drowned out by the mounting hysteria.The gates were locked, trapping us inside the school. Fear hung in the air like a suffocating fog, and with each passing minute, the tension grew unbearable.And then, it got worse.Yolanda, a classmate I'd known since primary school, began to tremble. Her whole body shook violently as if she were being electrocuted. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and before we could react, she collapsed. Ma'am Binu appeared out of nowhere, but instead of helping, she shouted at us to "Put on your shoes!" as if that could somehow stop whatever was happening.We were warned not to help anyone who had fainted. They told us we'd be expelled if we tried. The teachers spoke in whispers now, sharing cryptic messages that only deepened our confusion. Something dark, something unseen was unfolding right before our eyes, and there was nothing we could do but watch.Karabo, a boy known for his obnoxious laughter and careless attitude, seemed to find the whole thing amusing. At first, he laughed loudly, mocking the panic around him. But as more students fell, his laughter grew forced, strained. He glanced around, realizing too late that this was no joke. His grin wavered, then disappeared entirely. Fear crept into his eyes, and before long, he too collapsed, his body joining the growing heap of lifeless students.Hours stretched into what felt like days as we remained trapped inside the classroom. The darkness outside pressed in on us, and the eerie silence of the school felt unnatural, as though the very walls were closing in. Eventually, the bell rang again, but it didn't bring relief. We were told to gather in the classroom for a "snack," an absurd gesture in the midst of everything. Teachers moved through the aisles, trying to calm us, but their voices lacked conviction. We were all terrified.Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the end-of-day bell rang, signaling the end of our nightmare—or so we thought. We were allowed to leave, but nothing felt normal. As Sabrina and I fled the building, I saw her younger brother among the primary students being evacuated. His innocent face was pale, fear etched into his expression. None of us were okay. We were survivors, but of what?The school day had ended, but a new chapter of fear had only just begun.The question that haunted me most wasn't about the fainting, the fainted bodies, or the collapse of my classmates. It was something much darker, something that sent chills down my spine:What really happened that day?