New School

Chapter 16: Horror

I woke up in a pile of dust and rubble.

I looked around for anyone who could remove the metal bar that trapped my legs. I spotted one of the nurses far off in the dust, coughing and spluttering. Calling her over, she limped towards me, but when she finally got to me, she collapsed in a heap on the floor. Horrified, scared, and in pain, I struggled to lift the bar up. I screamed for help, but no one answered, until I saw a silhouette in the distance sprinting in my direction. As the body came towards me, I continued to shout for help to make sure that the person had heard me. To my delight, I saw he was a fireman when his features became visible. I lowered my voice a bit and called over to him, to ensure he was coming to help me. As he ran, I noticed he was not looking at me, and, after all of my calling, he ran straight past me without acknowledging me whatsoever.

Disgusted, I shouted abuse at him as he ran away from me, but he took no notice. My legs were in even more pain now under the constant pressure of the metal bar. I was in luck, however, as Nadira's voice echoed from behind me. I shouted out for her, and she responded to my call, saying she was on her way. I knew that Nadira would not ignore me like the fireman did, but what I didn't know was if she'd be able to lift the heavy bar that had trapped me.

After about five minutes of waiting, Nadira came from behind me, carrying Conor in her arms. She was crying. I mean bawling. Conor's body was limp in her arms, his face expressionless. Reaching my arm up, I placed two fingers on the vein in his motionless left arm. There was no pulse. He was dead.

Throughout my journey up until that point, I felt guilt about how I had roped Conor and Nadira into my problem, but I never felt as much guilt as I did at that moment. Conor was dead and Nadira was traumatised, and it was all my fault. Placing Conor's body carefully on the uneven ground, Nadira walked over to the bar with her head hanging. I told her not to bother. I deserved to die after what I had done to myself and others. I was a wanted crimal, a psychopath, and, shamefully, I ruined people's lives. The lives of the family and friends of Josh, Clyde, Joe and Geoff. The lives of Conor and Nadira. The lives of everyone impacted by my wrongdoings. I was a horrible person, and I deserved to die trapped under a metal bar, in pain, bleeding out.

Nadira looked around desperately looking for a way out. Picking up a sharp bit of metal, she brought it up to her neck twice, but brought it back down both times. I encouraged her not to do what she was about to do, but, even with all that I could've done to stop her, on the third time, she slit her neck. Dropping to the floor, she banged her head on one of the solid chunks of metal spread around the wreckage, ensuring her death.

I didn't think that what was happening to me was real. It was just so surreal. Nadira, Conor were dead, and I was going to die surrounded by suffering, innocent people. It wasn't right. I broke into tears and closed my eyes, resting my head on a small heap of dirt.

I woke up in a pile of dust and rubble...