Alive

One

12:55 P.M.
It was fifth period when the power went out. I was in the lunch room with my friends and at first no one was worried because lately there had been a few random power outages due to bad weather. We waited for a teacher to say something but no one did, and it started to get pretty quiet when people began to realize that their cell phones had completely stopped working.

No data. No service. No electricity. Nothing.

You could feel the tension in the room slowly start to build up.

1:08 P.M.
Soon enough we all realized that cars had stopped working too, and so had the backup generator that powered the school's emergency lights.

Then all of the tv's turned on. We all looked at each other in confusion. How could the tv's turn on if everything else has stopped working? A person flickered onto the screen. He was dressed in all black with a Guy Fawkes mask covering his face and he had a dark background behind him. "I am the leader of Anonymous and we have just shut down the U.S. power grid." The screens flashed then went dark.

That's when the panic started to set in.

1:12 P.M.
My friends and I all looked at each other with fear in our eyes. What does that mean for us? Was school cancelled now? How would we get home? A million questions with no clear answers flashed through my mind.

Today was supposed to be just another normal Monday. An hour ago I was in class taking notes with our science teacher droning on about chapter nine, and now this was happening?

I lived less than five minutes away from the school and always joked if something bad ever happened, everyone could just walk to my house. But this? This was different, no one knew how to react to what just happened.

BANG. BANG.

The lunch room windows shattered and glass rained down. There were six people standing outside of the cafeteria with guns. Five of them were guys, and one was a woman. They each had sleek black guns in their hands and strapped to their bodies.

Everyone froze.

Were these people here to help us? How did they get here? What was happening right now?! One man raised his gun and shot at us.

BANG.

Someone hit the ground. Then, an explosion of chaos. People ran in every direction trying to get away from the shooting. Boys and girls were screaming there lungs out. Like that will help. People shoved their own friends out of the way as they bolted for the doors trying to save their own lives. I had never even seen some of my teachers run before, but they all ran for their lives just like the rest of us. There are a few things in life that you never want to happen, and this was one of those things. Panic, shock, and adrenaline rushed through everyone as they scrambled to escape.

This was the most helpless I had ever felt before, I wasn't in control of the situation and I couldn't save anyone. Couples, friends, and enemies all shoved past each other trying desperately to find a way out of the cafeteria.

BANG.

Someone beside me was shot in the chest. That could have been me! I barely registered what was happening but I knew I needed to get out of here as quickly as possible before it was too late and I was dead. I grabbed as many friends as I could and told them to follow me. I hope we can at least make it out of this stupid lunchroom.

1:14 P.M.
It sounded like a million firecrackers going off at once, only louder and quicker. We were running as fast as we could, pure adrenaline was keeping us going.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Three more shots rang out. I turned just in time to see three dark red holes blossom onto Tyler's no longer crisp, white shirt. Time seemed to stand still as we all watched him look down at his chest in surprise. There was nothing we could do as he fell to the ground.

He had just been right behind me, and now he was dead.

I just watched one of my friends be murdered.

I didn't even have time to say goodbye. The shock that covered all of our faces was unmistakable as we fled down the hallway.