Code Black (N.S)

9.

️Liam's POV

As soon as Biology had ended, I rushed out of the classroom and stuffed all of my books in my locker, glad to get out of what I could only describe as my least favourite class.

I slammed my locker door shut and tiredly headed over to the cafeteria. Sighing, I sat down with the rest of the group and we all ate our lunch. Things seemed considerably normal, everyone was talking as they usually did. Well, Niall was the exception but he wasn't particularly talkative anyways. 

Something changed towards the end of the lunch period. That being Niall standing up and rushing off, only managing to say something about needing air. I knew it was a bad idea for him to go off alone but I also knew that Niall tended to get uncomfortable in certain situations and the only way to help him was to remove him from the area. 

Shaking thoughts of Niall from my mind, I stood up as I heard the high pitched ringing of the bell, signalling the end of lunch. 

I stood up from my seat, walking towards the bin and throwing away the rubbish I had collected from the others, who were all too lazy to throw away themselves.

I hurried over to the exit and towards my locker in order to collect my things for my next class. 

~

I reached my locker which wasn't that far away from the cafeteria and put in the combination. I opened it to reveal my considerably organised locker, and I was about to take out my things when I heard a voice from the P.A system.

"Attention students, I have just been informed that we have a Code Black. Get into a hiding place and don't come out. I repeat, we have a Code Black."

My eyes widened in shock. I didn't expect to ever be in this situation. Sure, I had gone through those lockdown drills countless times over the years but everyone thought that they pointless. 

I slammed my locker door shut, trying to calm down my racing heart. The students surrounding me were beginning to panic, seemingly forgetting the rules of remaining calm and focusing on getting somewhere safe. 

I tried to do so, my main concern was getting to safety before something happened. Those practice drills really didn't prepare you for the overwhelming rush of dread that you feel when it was all real.

I managed to make my way through the students as quickly as I could. I was concerned for everyone else but I knew that I had to keep myself a priority if I wanted to get out. The best I could do was hope they also managed to escape.

Eventually, I made it outside, struggling to see over the mass of people and relying heavily on my small height advantage in order to catch sight of my friends.

I soon spotted Michael's lilac hair and I noticed him standing with Ariana, Danielle and Calum, all four of them huddled in a circle. I was too relieved that they were all okay because I had no idea what I would do if I had lost any of them in there. But something felt off, there was something missing and then it hit me.

"Where's Niall?" I asked, feeling my heartbeat quicken as I stared at all of them.

The others all had a similar expression to mine, I knew I wasn't the only one that felt as though their hearts have dropped to their stomachs. Danielle looked at me with a grim expression, her hand moving to firmly grip mine in what was obviously an attempt to comfort me. 

"I don't know. We were hoping that he was with you," Ariana murmured, her dark eyes shining with tears that I knew she was desperately trying to fight off. 

I started to panic yet again. If he wasn't here, then he was likely still in the school. The thought of him being alone right now nearly killed me. I knew it was a bad idea to let him go alone. 

"I shouldn't have left him alone. I should have stayed with him, this is all my fault," I cursed myself.

Michael shook his head, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"There was nothing you could have done. Even if you knew, we all know that Niall wouldn't have listened to you," he assured me softly. I had never seen him look as distraught as he did right then. 

The others all nodded their heads in agreement. I knew where Michael was coming from but that didn't take away the guilt I was feeling. Regardless of only knowing him for a short amount of time, I felt like he was something like my brother.

I looked over, catching sight of Harry's friends, who looked equally as upset as we did. Louis was crying into Zayn's shoulder and I noticed that the group was missing its leader.  

The sudden sirens and flashes of blue and red lights pulled me out of my thoughts as the police pulled up at the school, followed by several ambulances. A tall man got out of one of the police cars, loudly addressing the people surrounding him.

"Alright, everyone. May you please vacate the area and wait there until further notice. The police have this under control," he said, authority laced in his voice. 

Even though the police officer said that they had it under control, no one had made any effort to go inside the school, in fact, most of them hadn't even left their police cars. I couldn't help but frown at this realisation. Why weren't they going in to save Niall and the others who were trapped in there?

Were they even going to bother with it, or were they going to wait for everyone to get killed?

Everyone moved as far away from the building as they could, crying and holding tightly onto others as if they were a lifeline.

"Li, I know you're worried but waiting there and not looking after yourself isn't going to save him," I heard Danielle say, her hand moving to grab mine, gently pulling me further away from the school and closer to the flood of people who remained. 

"I just-- I feel like I can't sit here and let all this happen. I know there's nothing I can do, but standing here is making me feel guilty." 

"We know. Li, we get it. None of us like this and I'm desperate for something to happen just as much as you are. But we can't do anything, there's nothing you have to feel guilty for," Ariana said, reassuringly reaching up to grip my shoulder. 

"I have to go ask them what the fuck they're doing," I shook my head, pushing her hand from my arm and letting go of Danielle's hand, moving towards one of the police officers. 

"Excuse me, but why aren't you going in?" I asked, trying to be as polite as possible, when in reality I wanted to scream at him, make him do what he was supposed to.

He simply looked at me with an unimpressed expression. He was clearly annoyed that I was questioning his authority. He didn't seem to care that innocent people were going to die if they didn't do anything. 

"Look, we're doing everything we can. We've got this all under control. So may you please follow instructions and look after yourself?" he responded, letting out a sigh and trying to sound encouraging. 

I shook my head, feeling myself growing considerably angry at his refusal to do anything. I knew it wasn't really his fault, I just hated this helpless feeling I had. I wanted something to be done. 

"Sir, my best friend is trapped in there and may or may not be dead by now. I need to know why you aren't going in," I said, trying to not sound more than slightly irritated.

"We're working on it. Trust me, kid. We know what we're doing."