Darkness enveloped my sight. My eyelids felt too heavy to open. A ringing sound in my ears so intense that I wondered if my hearing was really gone. I began to try and sit up. It was no use. Everything felt so heavy. Moving to my side, I was finally able to prop myself up a bit and open my eyes. Instantly, they began to burn. My entire body winced at the pain as I began to cough. Turning my head I began to scan my surroundings. Nothing. There was hardly nothing left of the school. Just moments ago I had been teaching a math lesson. My head unintentionally began to shake back and forth it was not supposed to be like this!
The week before the school board, the superintendent, principal, and all the staff had gathered to think up strategies for if the school was hit. No one ever thought we would have to implement any of them. The consensus of the room was that we were just a small town. Not worth anything to be hit. There were no military bases nearby or any power plants. No major political buildings of any kind. There were no factories. It was just a small rural town that even it's population was of no consequence. So why?
I tried getting to my feet. There was some struggling involved but I finally stood. The sight I was staring at was unbelievable. Rubble was everywhere along with some bodies crushed between. Tears began to well up in my eyes. We should have planned better! At least figured out an alarm system to warn us! From the looks of it my class was on the outside of the blast. My hearing was finally starting to come back as the ringing faded. Another teacher grabbed my arm.
"Lena! Lena! We're taking all the children that can move to the town square! Find as many as you can and move!" He yelled at me as he gave me a nudge. Like I was hit with a surge my body began to move. I began to round up as many kids as I could find. From my own class I had accounted for all but one. All were alive, scraped, bruised, and scared but alive. I had also found five kindergarten children. Then I heard it. The screams and cries of infants from our daycare program. One of the only rooms that still stood. I could hear workers pounding on the door screaming for help. The door itself was blocked by a trophy case that had fallen over.
"Hold on!! I'm here! I'll try to get you guys out!" I yelled as I began to asses the situation. I turned to look at the frightened children behind me. My eyes landed on the biggest boy in my class. "Zach! Come help me move these out of the way!" I said as I waved him over. The boy didn't hesitate and moved into help. We struggled to move it an inch. Before I knew it the other children had moved into help. Finally the case was moved out of the way. I opened the door to be slammed with hugs from the staff.
"Thank you! Thank you! You saved us!" They shouted. Alls I could do was nod as I caught my breath.
"How many do you have?" I asked. All three women already had infants in their arms. Along with a group of toddlers around their legs.
"15 in total! The toddlers can hold a hand but we still have four babies that need to be carried out and more hands for toddlers to hold!" Answered the woman closest to me. I looked over to the children with me. One of the many times I was glad to be a fifth grade teacher. I had six girls in my class that I knew had younger siblings and were probably used to toting babies and toddlers around.
"Kelsey, Olivia, Kirsten, Maya, Alicia, and Trina! I need you girls to come help these gals out with carrying babies and helping the toddlers get out! We will meet you girls at the town square!" I yelled out. The girls quickly moved to help but Olivia stopped in front of me.
"But what about Zane? We still haven't found him???" She asked. Her and Zane were always close. I nodded and gave her a quick hug.
"We'll find him. I promise! Now you gotta be strong for me and help these babies get out of here ok? It's going to be alright!" I said as I gave her hand a squeeze. Then helped the girls to all exit the room. With a quick nod I watched them head in the other direction. I looked at the kids around me. There wasn't much further I was willing to take them. For the further we went the worst it got and I could not handle them seeing anymore death. Just to the boys bathroom. That's all that kept running in my head. Zane had asked a couple minutes before if he could use it. I just hoped he was there alive.
We came to the boys bathroom...well what was left of it. I began to call out for Zane. It seemed like forever till I heard a quite reply back. Without even thinking I began to tear through the debris. "Zane! Zane!" I yelled. Finally I had him uncovered. I could already tell the boys legs were badly injured. Without even thinking I quickly positioned myself. And removed my hoodie. Thankfully Zane was one of the smaller boys in my class. I placed his arms around my neck and had Zach help me tie the hoodie around us to help support his weight. With a nod, the children and I began to make our way out. The sun was almost blinding now that we were moving away from the smoke. There was coughing all over from the children. Now that I wasn't hyper focused, I could hear how they were suffering. If I had kept us in there any longer...I shook my head. There was no time for that. The main road was full of debris, people, and car wrecks. I looked over to the field beside the school. It would be longer to cross through it, but I could spare the children of seeing more destruction and fatalities. We would just have to cross through the field and a couple tree lines then we could cut over to head to the town square.
"Alright, we're gonna head to the square by cutting through the field!" I yelled as I readjusted Zane on my back. For the most part cutting through the field was easy. We paused for the little kids a couple of times. The first tree line was coming up. "Not much further! We only have one more..." I began as I felt something pressed against the side of my head. The children all grabbed onto each other. Some looked like they were about to run. "Don't! Just stay put guys!" I yelled. I turned to see a foreign man staring at me along with a group of guys that surrounded us. "Please, they're just.." I began but was cut off by him yelling at me in a language I couldn't understand. "Please, I don't understand wh..." the men began to knock the children down and point their guns at them. Screams filled the air. My body moved towards them. But I was yanked back by my arm. Zane let out a scream of pain. "Please! Please! They're just children! Please! Don't!" I begged. The guy began pressing the gun harder against my head and screaming at me again. "I don't know! I don't know what you're saying, please!" I begged. Suddenly there was a man on a horse that came to an abrupt stop beside us. That didn't stop the man's screaming at me though, until the new guy yelled at him. They went back and forth for a minute until man from the horse stared at me.
"They think you are spies." He explained. I stared at him for a second then began to laugh. He stared at me confused.
"Yes...hell of a group of spies. A bunch of children and a woman carrying an injured child" I answered as I shook my head.
"Women and children are used all the time as..." he began but I quickly cut him off.
"Not here! I'm just trying to relocate these children to the.." I stopped midway. If these were the enemies I didn't want to tell them where everyone is. "to safety." I answered. The man looked me over and bit the inside of his cheek.
"OK. So why don't you let my men and I accompany you to where you need to be." He answered. I shook my head and began to protest. "That wasn't a question." He said as he began to pull Zane off of me.
"No! No! Give him back!" I began. But the man shook his head as he placed Zane on the horse.
"A woman shouldn't have to carry such a heavy load. This way I also know we're not being lead into a trap." He answered as he hopped on the horse with Zane. I bit my lip. We had no choice. I nodded. "Go on." He pointed. The men had backed away from the students. The children quickly swarmed around me.
"Come on kids." I said as I began to walk. You could feel in the air how tense the situation was. A sigh escaped my lips. I leaned down to the little girl who had grabbed my hand earlier. "What's your favorite song?" I asked. She whispered her answer to me. I began to sing the wheels on the bus. Soon the children began to sing as well. The next tree line wasn't far away but it seemed to take forever to get to it. When we finally reached it I stopped and turned to the man on the horse. "This is us." I said. The man got off the horse.
"You expect to go the rest of the way yourselves?" He asked. I nodded. He seemed to think it over for a minute. Then turned to his men and spoke in their native language. I could tell the men didn't quite agree with whatever he said but no one made a move as he took Zane off the horse. He helped me reattach the boy to me. "I will follow just passed the tree line. So I know there is no threat beyond it." He answered. Again I gave a nod.
"Come on children." I said as I began to move. I motioned for them to get in front of me. Then the man motioned for me to go on. We made our way through the tree line. When we came out the other side all of the children ran to the town square. Some of the children's parents were there and greeted them in their arms. I smiled a bit at this bitter sweet moment. Then I began to walk towards the square but stopped at the stern grab on my arm. I looked to the man a bit confused for a moment till I saw the look in his eyes. The children were free to go...not me. "Allow me to take the boy to the square and I'll return." I answered. He gave a stern nod. A sigh escaped my lips. I carried Zane into the square where men came and removed him to give him the care he needed. I scanned the square and saw the girls I had sent ahead with the child care staff. Good, I thought. I turned to the man at the tree line and began to walk back. Until I felt a small hand grab mine. It was the little girl from before. She gave me a big hug. Tears began to stream down my face. They're all safe and that's all that matters. The girl ran off and I continued my walk to the man. When I reached him, he motioned for us to move beyond the treeline. My life was no longer my own.