Date: 23rd March 2023
8:05 am : Day 1 in the apocalypse
"Argh , wth did we sleep the second day out?" Meirin asked as she woke up
"Shut up , just twoo more minutes mom" Malvina said half asleep drooling on my hand . I slapped her hard to wake her up shouting " get up! Its morning! Maam didnt woke us for night look out!"
Malvina flung up "what ! Shit!"
"Bruhh the night was too peaceful for the apocalypse " azeem groaned out loud .
I looked around for a phone or watch to check the time and it was 8! " it is 8:00 !" We all rushed to put back the sleeping bags and unlocked the staff room door . We slowly pushed the door open , terrified and expecting the worse .
But all we saw was the sight of our teachers , unpacking the food they found and Fatima helping Farhad up . The others are still asleep.
I went back in the staff room to pick up our toothbrushes.
I saw the others sleeping soundly like a baby . I think i didnt like the sight of my dear friends sleeping peacefully . I made sure to step on each of them to get to our bags . "Ow!" . "What the" . "You are too heavy to be stepping on others!" .
"Mission successful ! Get up and get ready ". I smiled back while grabbing our brushes and toothpaste .
" seeing you smiling first thing in the morning , that too after getting stepped on is awful " Ayshaq groaned while trying to get out of the sleeping bag .
I whispered back " be extra careful with what you say , you know every action has a equal and opposite reaction" .
The three of us girls , went to freshen up . I got ready fast so i head back to the classroom our teacher were placing our breakfast in , i entered on them whispering something to each other . I wanted to ask what they were talking about .
But first i have to check on Anshiba , i ran to the classroom they were in , to her side to check her fever . She was burning! Right now we couldnt do much for her , i forced her up and feeded her some biscuits and gave her a pain killer . I was scared to even think of it .. "she might not make it" ... my thought were all jumbled up and suddenly i felt a hand on my shoulder . I snapped back .
"Come on ! I have been calling you , atleast answer back , maam is calling us to have breakfast " i looked back at Asher and nodded my head . " in a bit" . .
I checked on the other two kids and thankfully they have regained consciousness. Illisha brought them some food . They are able to eat well .
I turned to the window by their makeshift bed side , pulled out the newspaper from a corner .
The once beautiful sight that used to appear on looking out , it was no more . A few buildings at far had fallen , trees covered with blood , and the roads filled with monsters and ... corpse.
I thought to myself , the beautiful nation , India ,has fallen . Not only India but the whole world is going through this .
" it looks like it might rain .." i said looking out from the corner of the window . While Illisha checked on Kashish's wound , the one with an injured arm .
"You know , it still amuses me that you are able to just take a look , figure out the situation even though i have known for 11 years. ..... are you... worried about your parents ,Ameira? "
" I am .. llisha ... I am really worried " i looked down trying to hold back my tears . the mood became heavier due to the sudden topic . And it looked like Kashish might start crying , trying to change the topic i said " so! Lets go and eat!"
We ate our breakfast in full silence till Azeem and Karen started joking about how Mal was drooling all over my arm while sleeping last night and Ayshaq was snoring loudly .
" I DID NOT!" Mal and Ayshaq shouted embarrassed in perfect sync .
We laughed a bit and they helped lighten the mood .
After breakfast , i decided to help out on nursing the injured along with Zaid , Mal , Meirin , Illisha and Azeem . The teachers were collecting everything edible together .
The rest decided to search for anything usable. I turned back and said " guys , bring back any phone you find . K? And dont go down right now ."
They didnt understand why i needed cell phones when the internet isnt even working . I told them to just bring them and i will tell them all about it later.
Thankfully we were able to manage blocking the main gate of the building , right now only the emergency doors were open for our use . .
"Anshiba's wound looks worsened and the other kids arnt in the best of their mental condition " i whispered to Mal, as we cleaned Anshiba's wound clean .
" yeah , i think we should let the younger ones , take rest , yesterday must have been exhausting for them mentally , it will take time for them to recover' Mal answered back .
We informed the teachers as soon as we were done bandaging the wound and they agreed on the fact that we should let the younger ones take rest , instead of searching.
They were trying to get signals from the computers but to no avail . Ms. Riya came to us and said " why dont you all go and rest for a bit ? We will look after the injured and um maybe fix those bandages" .
We must have done a bad job tying the bandage
Instead of going and resting , the 5 of us decided to wait in room 203 , the one we had breakfast , for the others to come back .
11:00 am
A little while later , the rest returned to the room where we had breakfast .
" we were able to find these phones, though some have broken screens" Rohit said .
" i was able to find the usual , notebooks , pens , suprisingly four knives! And metal bottles..." Neha informed
I looked at what we had " so , a total of 76 phones , a lot of writing material , four knives , 26 metal bottles , woah! A lot of sanitizer , glue tubes , duct tapes , some mops and paper soap ? "
"Yeah and this other stuff as well!" Asher exclaimed .
Meirin said " sure sure , lets check the important stuff out first " .
While we sorted things out . Azeem shouted excitedly " ooh cool! Lighters , matchsticks and some cigarettes! " i went up to him hurriedly and took the ligthers . " yup this is what we need !" .
Everyone looked confuse as to why i needed only lighters . But the gears of their head started to move and asked " we can cook now?"
" yes but not for that! " i excitedly called the teachers to explain the plan . When the teacher came in ,and the others , leaving the injured and those who were resting .
" so , we have a lot of phones , and phone batteries have Lithium in them!" . Meirin's head gear started turning and she answered back ," lithium is highly reactive ! We can use them as weapons! " . "Yes , we can! And if we take out every battery and burn them a bit , they can act as little explosives as soon as we bring them in contact with fire! " i continued on .
Seeing me and Meirin excited about these things , everyone sighed and Asher said ," your craziness is finally coming to use, Ameira "
The teachers were in shook seeing their two best students who they thought were really quite and mature are planning to create explosives , they were reluctant saying it is dangerous but in the end gave in as we needed to get out of here before our stock of food gets findh
I continued on to explain , we can tie knife and mob together to create a spear , the sanitizers can make fire last longer and we just needed a few things more . They heard both of our explanation and due to the situation it was a necessity.
"Woahhh , you both really are crazy , how do you even think of that !" Zaid still in shook but looked kinda impressed while we continued to sort everything out , into groups .
Meirin answered back " no no no , she is the crazy one to always start , i just follow up the ideas" pointing at me .
I said " well this psycho will be making the weapons needed to atleast go a floor up ,and get access to chemistry lab and storage room and maybe leave a SOS signal . Just trust me . " .
It was almost 12 noon by the time we were done sorting everything out . I shooed everyone other than Meirin out as they might get in the way but Asher and Rohit decided to stick around for 'just in case' . We let them be and started with our little project . " we two alone ,it will be too slow , lets just make them work " , i told Meirin and she totally agreed.
I showed them how to make everything and suprisingly they picked it up really quick.
We decided to make a few small explosives with the matchboxes and stickes , tying the mop and knifes together .
Tied some sanitizers up together , if thrown at the right angle , they will open up and mess with the sense of smell of the monsters! .
Finally the phones , we broke them to get the batteries out , we attached a matchstick on each . We decided to attach the lighters with a few elastic bracelets , they will make it easier to light fire without losing them ! .
3:48 pm : tools are ready
it was almost 4 pm by the time we were done . " wow! It is completed a lot faster than i expected " Meirin remarked while cleaning sweat off her forehead .
"I told you it will be faster with these two " .
While we were talking , Asher and Rohit tried to check out what we made by trying to light one of the batteries up .
"Nooooo!" Thankfully , they just started the fire , we were able to extinguish it ,and they were scolded by ms.Riya for for lighting up the fire .
The others checked all the supplies we made , and i took out a piece of paper with sparkling eyes " now! Lets get to the real pla-" . Before i could complete my sentence , ms. Riya snatched the paper and hit me in the head "Ow! Why did you hit me maam?"
"Firstly , go clean up and Eat lunch ! And then you can start talking about plan , look at the other three . Oh you poor things~" , she turned to Meirin , Rohit and Asher making the most innocent face . " why dont you all go eat some food and then we can continue on " . She turned her head to me , and Asher mocked me , sticking his tongue out .
'this little sh-t , i will teach him a lesson later ' i thought to myself looking right in his eyes . I smiled and said " yes for sure maam . " . We started eating lunch when Meirin trying to start a conversation " isnt it weird that the world is getting destroyed and we are all here talking and laughing ?"
"It isnt weird it is needed" ms. Riya said while sitting down with her plate .
"I wonder why the monsters arnt approaching us ? " Mal asked with curiosity while sipping on her soup .
We were able to get hold of the coffee ,tea, soup and other easy to cook stash from the teacher's lounge on the first floor , thanks to that we are atleast able to get a warm meal now that we have access to fire ,
Suddenly the whole room went silent , nobody really questioned to why we were able to sleep peacefully last night .
I put down my spoon and looked up " i poured disinfectants near all building gates and on the staircase last night before going to sleep and today morning , alcohol helps cover up smell , stronger odor" . And i continued on eating . Man , i didnt knew i was this hungry before .
But everyone suddenly halted and the atmosphere got heavier. Why? I wondered , why arnt they eating , when Meirin and Malvina hug me with tears falling down their cheeks " you idiot! You approached the gates! What if ! What if.... sob " .
I suddenly realized what i did , from others perspective it was the same as offering myself up to death .
Ms. Riya scolded me right away , it seemed she was trying to hold her tears back " you could have been taken! What would have i told your parents ! Dont do dangerous things like that alone! Consult us first !" .
"I... I am sorry ...." .
The mood is all ruined now because of me but we couldnt afford to cry and waste our time any longer . But my idea was good , it kept us safe for a whole day .
We all decided to pour disinfectants at a 7 hour interval , and move in teams for this work .
3 boys , Zaid , Karan and Azeem volunteered to go , even though maam didnt wanted them to .
" it is my duty to protect you , you all are kids! I will go . " Ms . Riya insisted.
Karan answered " Maam , dont worry we arnt that little anymore , plus we all need to start working , we dont know what we might encounter in future " . Azeem nodded his head in agreement
It seem the two clowns have finally grown up due to our situation.
6:23 pm : meeting
Everyone gathered in the room 203 ,
"So whats the plan" Asher asked .
I placed a paper on a table , while everyone rounded up . Well those who are abled right now .
" i think we should start by getting up to the third floor and then roof . "
" why , cant we just make plans to go out first"
"No , Neha , we cant , going out right now is a lot more dangerous than you think , we have no idea about the type of monster we might meet , we arnt even armed ! It will be better to get to the storage room and chemistry lab first . We will be able to acquire some useful chemicals , ropes , mobs even tools " . Meirin answered her back .
"But..! " Neha persisted for no reason. The teachers finally intervened , but one of them isnt here only Ms. Riya is present right now! Why ?, did she ran away as well , i wondered.
"Neha , its better to get to the third floor first , then we can make plans for going out , but right now , it will be safer to go up and atleast leave some mark on the roof top that there are survivors here , maybe the military will help . " ms Riya comforted Neha .
But we knew it will be hard for military that too in this populous country like India to rescue everyone . Thinking rationally , it will be better to star taking charge of ourself than just sitting around waiting to be rescued .
" so .... our next mission is third floor and rooftop??" Azeem asked .
"Yes".
"But why do we need all these weapons then ? I dont think there is anything on 3rd floor . "
" to be on the safer side , 3rd floor might not have any monsters ,but we still need to have something to protect us . " .
" now anyways . We can divide ourself in 3 groups , each having 4 members , how about Meirin , Ayshaq , Illisha and I can be in team 1 , Meirin and I are quick on are feet , Asher is ... he can help us out we will deal with whatever is infront of us , hopefully there isnt any monsters but still .. and Illisha can be at the back and inform if it is dangerous for the other teams to move, it will be easier to inform and communicate between teams .
Second team can be made of Ms. Riya , Neha , Karan and Zaid , you all can collect whatever you can find . Zaid can stay at front , on the look out , he is our school's athlete after all .
Third team will be standing at the emergency door , they will make protect our exit , , we will sign it to you whenever it is safe to come out , please help team 2 to carry things back , the third team will have : Asher , Azeem , Rohit and Shruti . "
Azeem worriedly asked " But Rohit and Shruti! You know they are a little small" , it was obvious why he was worried , Rohit and Shruti are a year or two younger than us , he must be thinking they will be needed to be looked after . But they are what we have right now .
" its fine , senior ! We will not disturb you ! We can take care of ourselves dont worry about it !" Rohit reassured Azeem .
Ms riya said smiling at the two kids "It seems you dont need to worry about these two, they are smart "
Everyone agreed with their positions and questioned me about how they can use the tools Merin and I made .
Malvina havent said a word in a while , staring at the ground but she finally asked "but why am i not coming along ?"
" you will get in the way , its better if you stay back and look after the injured " i answered her back , my words might be harsh , but she wont be able to help out much with her physical condition .
" but Ameira " .
" No buts , you are staying behind and thats it!" I shouted .
Suddenly the girl in the hoodie scoffed " And who are you to decide what we need to do ? Who made you the leader , you too are just a kid who will get in the way. " , we didnt knew her name nor did she talk to anyone , even during this meeting she just sat in a corner with a hood on . We did try to approach her earlier asking how old she is , and if she is injured but she didnt answer us back . So we decided to leave her be .
"Hey thats rude! Be thankful we are the ones working our butt off while all you do is sit around all day" Asher answered trying to defend me .
I didnt like confrontations but i still decided to answer back if not now the seeds of doubt will arise and we wouldnt trust each other then " i never said i am the leader, right now i am not the only one deciding , i asked everyone's opinion and then planned a strategy , cause right now , i may be the best person out of all of us for this situation . "
"Whatever , i am not taking part in your little game , you all can go ahead and play with your lives " , and she walked out of the room after saying that .
" well, nobody asked her opinion or to take part in anyways , what a pest " Ayshaq said in a rather loud tone as if he wanted her to hear them .
Ms .Riya for one final time reminded everyone "well anyways! Then our next mission is to get to the roof ! Everyone be prepared tomorrow morning at 10 , make sure to rest properly tonight and loosen up for tomorrow, try to not worry about it , most likely we will just go , grab the stuff and run back . Now , lets have dinner and rest well . "