The Phoenices Volume 1 - Expired

Chapter 30 - Reilly

I had ditched the pumps for bare feet in less than an hour, the bottom of my feet aching a bit even after removing the shoes. We were all in the bathroom painting, trying to finish up the project we had begun, I was working on the floor still, along with Elizabeth, Maddie, Sean Paul, and Samantha, while everyone else worked on the walls with quotes and solid backgrounds. I was working on the sixth tile of the day when an announcement began. All of our heads snapped up, and we rushed to the door, opening it to hear better.

"This is not a drill, the entire school is now on lockdown, the intruder is on the second floor outside of room 479. Please take cover immediately, there are weapons." the immensely calm voice rang over the loudspeakers. We all rushed in, grabbing our valuables and sprinted down the halls to the nearest populated classroom, about 45 feet down the hallway. We arrived just as they were locking the door, banging our fists on it, the teachers letting us in. I bent over slipping my heels on before heading to the back wall leaning against it with ankles crossed delicately and my arms folded across my chest. I got some confused glances from the people around me, wondering why I had slid on shoes that they thought would inhibit my movement, and I answered those glances with simply holding out my wrist for them to read, recognition crossing their faces when I did. I sighed, tucking my hands back in after the teacher gave me a pointed glare about the small sound I had made. He had climbed up onto the door ledge, holding himself there with what looked like minimal effort, obviously in case the intruder got in. I heard the slamming of a door from a nearby room, followed by several gunshots, tears filling my eyes as I realized what was about to happen. I let a single tear fall down my face, quickly reaching up to wipe it away before anymore could fall, taking a deep breath and recollecting myself. I had just smiled at a concerned Nicalie from across the room, when the door rattled, my small reassuring smile dropping from my face in an instant, replaced by one of pure horror. I began to feel dizzy, my hands got cold. Nicalie made eye contact with me again, her dark skin lightening to a pale gray-brown. I felt a drop of sweat drip down my back, my ankles began to shake. The doorknob clicked, and the pale white man walked into the dark classroom, his skin practically glowing white. The teacher fell off the door as if they had practiced it, and if we weren't in immediate danger, I would've laughed at the sight of the balding, middle-aged man leaping off the frame of a door like spider man, but instead I screamed in horror, as the impact of the teacher created tension on the man's trigger finger, sending the fully automatic into motion, bullets flying out of the barrel and causing several people to scream, running for cover, two students hit, one in the gut, the other in her lower leg. The first boy, blood spilling from his torso, his eyes wide and his body slowly collapsing, until he was a heap of blood and flesh on the carpeted floor, blood dripping from his mouth, all of us staring at him with horrified expressions. I covered my gaping mouth with my hand, tears filling my eyes. I dared not move, as the shooter now had his gun trained on us, the teacher knocked unconscious and thrown aside. I made eye contact, the dead gray eyes looking back at me.

"Eyes down," he ordered me, holding the gun up to my head. I wanted to disobey him, maybe kick him in the nuts and escape, but there was no way that was going to work, so I let my head fall, my chin resting on my collarbone as tears freely fell from my eyes. I heard him on the other end of the class, and I let my head drift back up the tiniest bit. I touched the person next to me, making them jump before really quietly whispering in their ear.

"We are gonna run. Right now." I whispered, tugging her shirt, slowly walking backwards keeping my eyes on the intruder. The door was wide open from his entrance, and he was only halfway across the other wall. I slid the heels off for silence's sake, turning to run out the door, slipping and almost falling on the sharp turn out the door. We ran for a bit, turning around once we reached the end of the hallway.