Lockdown

Chapter 2 - Police

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

That was all that could be heard throughout the room as everyone sat there waiting for something to happen. We didn't know what we were waiting for, some thing big, or small, but we knew that whatever it was could be the difference between life or death.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Sitting there on the cold, hard, and very uncomfortable floor of the math room, I looked out the little part of the window I could see from where I sat. Looking up at the mid afternoon sky, I wondered if I would ever be able to see that sky from outdoors again, and be able to breathe in the fresh air that came with it. Upon thinking this, I realized that nothing in my power would be able to control whether or not I was able to walk outside again. So I did the one thing I should have done as soon as I heard what was going on, I started praying to God.

I prayed for anything and everything I could think of. That everyone would make it out okay, that we would all be safe and this would just be a bad memory, that all of those who had lost their lives already would be safe in heaven. I don't know how long I sat there praying. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours but after however long it was, I heard something that gave me hope, even if it was only a little bit of it.

Police sirens, and by the sound of it the whole department was here, along with backup from surrounding cities. Which could only mean one thing. We still had a chance at surviving this.

Intense pressure on my left hand had me tearing my gaze away from the window, and pulling my hand away from whatever was crushing it. Looking over I saw Kaleb looking at me sheepishly with an apologetic glance, but he had a hopeful look in his eyes. A loud screech broke through the silence that was followed by a hard and serious voice.

"Attention shooters!" The police must have arrived and used their megaphone to communicate to the shooters. "This is the police! Come out with your hands behind your head and no one will get hurt! We will give you five minutes before we go in there and take you out by force!"

"Well that was short and to the point," I thought to myself. "Just five more minutes. All I have to do is wait five more minutes and the the police will come in and save us. Just five more minutes."

I spoke to soon because not even a minute had passed when the beep to our intercom sounded. My school wouldn't be considered a 'normal' school because it was set up different from other schools and run differently. One of the things that makes my school so much different from all the others is that our intercom doesn't run just through our school, it also has a setting where it can be heard outside as well in case the office needed to contact someone that was getting on the bus. The shooters seemed to figure this out and took advantage of it.

"We will not be going out, nor will you be coming in," a cold, intimidating voice spoke.

The police responded almost instantly. "And what on earth makes you believe that."

"Because the minute you decide to walk through that door is the minute we open fire on all of the students and staff in here without mercy. All of the deaths that would occur at that moment would be on your hands since you could have stopped it but chose to ignore the warning."

Kaleb looked at me frightened and whispered frantically, "He's lying, right? Because the whole school is on lockdown. A-a-and he can't get in any of the classrooms because the doors are all locked, r-r-right? A-and the police know this so they will come in the school and get all of us out of here alive, saving us, right? Right?!?!"

Quietly I reassured Kaleb, "Of course the police know that. The shooters in the building will soon realize this is a lost cause and will give up, or the police will just come in themselves. Now stop panicking. Everything will be fine just calm down and let the police do their job. Okay?"

Kaleb nodded though he didn't look convinced, and I don't blame him. A small part of me believed the words I had just told him, but another part, the bigger part, was thinking of how we should all be worried because there is probably a set of keys out there in someone's hands that could unlock every door in this building in case of an emergency, even if the school was on lockdown. If that set of keys existed then whoever held those keys held our lives in their hand, literally!

The police must have thought and agreed with what Kaleb had said, thinking all the students were as safe as they could be if they were in a classroom following procedure, and decided to speak again to the shooters, calling what the believed to be a huge bluff.

"We know the school is on lockdown with all the students secured, so if you don't come out we will come in! You have three minutes left to decide if you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way, because no matter what you choose you will be forced to come with us."

Right after this was said a laugh sounded throughout the room, but not just any laugh. This laugh sounded like something you would hear in your nightmares. It was a cackle that started out soft but became louder and louder until it was the only thing you could hear. Every part of it sounded evil and it gave me goosebumps.

Everyone in the class looked around one another trying to figure out who would laugh in a situation as serious as this, only to realize that that horrible sound came through the intercom, meaning it was the shooters response to what the police said, and that scared me more than anything.

"That was great, really inspirational to all the people in here, really. Except, you have one detail wrong. Sure, the school is on lockdown, but it won't stay in lockdown when I use the key to unlock every door, one at a time, killing someone every time a door is opened. The principle, what's her name? Mrs. Gray, Mrs. Greece, Oh! The principle Mrs. Green gladly handed over the key when she heard she would die if she didn't. A great principle these guys have, or should I say had."

Horror overcame my body at his words, and I was suddenly paralyzed in fear. That couldn't be true. Mrs. Green was the nicest person alive. If anyone needed help she wouldn't blink an eye before helping, that's just who she was. So to hear that she gave us all up so she could live, it crushed any ounce of hope I once had.

"Now, this is what's going to happen," the shooter continued on with his speech. "You guys will stay out there without moving, unless it is to go away. Every time somebody comes closer to the front of the school, a door opens, and I'm guessing you don't want these doors to open because we all know what will happen then. Now let's see, since you guys decided to so rudely ignore what I was telling you, who's door should we open first to show you we are serious with what we say. Hhhhmmmmm. Not the seniors because it's their graduating year, so they can go last. Not the freshman yet because they can live the longest to have this day haunt them forever, so they will go second to last, and not he juniors because they are probably all psyched to only have one year left here, which leaves us with the sophomores. Listen closely policemen, and maybe you can hear the classroom chosen scream, knowing the lucky students blood is on you hands."

No. No. No. No. NO! Nonononononononononononononononono!This can not be happening! They can't open that door! It's just not fair! Oh my gosh! I don't want to die! What do I do? What can I do?

Every sophomore in the building must have been thinking the same thing, and you could tell just by looking at their faces that none of them wanted to be that 'lucky' student chosen. We were all panicking on the inside but didn't want to scream in case it drew attention to our room and led us to be one of the first students to die.

Minds racing we all held our breath as we suddenly heard footsteps coming down the tile corridor leading to the door. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Then they stopped. It was silent for thirty seconds before horrified screams pierced the air, followed by a gunshot and then the screams seamed to become louder.

It wasn't our room the shooter went in, it was the room next to ours, Mr. Taylor's. We were lucky this time, but what about next time? We were sitting just sitting ducks here, unable to do anything except hope we aren't the ones to get shot. There was no where we could hide.

But that wasn't okay with me. I had to do something instead of just hope I don't get shot. My life was in those shooters hands, and I wasn't okay with that. I had to think of a plan, and fast. My life depended on it.