Things are getting weird with our teacher because we've been locked in the classroom for days...
**Day 1**
We had just turned to chapter eight in our books when the bells went off. By the door, a red strobe light spun, and metal boards slid down the wall to close us in.
The others began to move around and get scared at their desks.
"Okay, okay. Class, I think everything is okay. It was probably just a test. Mr. Ramlee put up his hands to try to calm down the crowd.
Katty came over the intercom just as he was about to speak.
"Level 3 Contagion is in the south corner of campus." The lockdown procedure is now in place. The isolation procedure is now in place.
"Oh no…" The teacher looked pale and a little scared all of a sudden.
\---
**Day 3**
I moved my rook across the chessboard's tiles to get to Julie's bishop. As I took it off the board, she stuck out her tongue in defiance. I laughed and then took a bite of another saltine cracker.
Mr. Ramlee told us not to stay here for too long. It probably only took the CDC a little while to put people in lockdown and get rid of the virus. He said that since they can't let us leave our classes, it must be a pretty bad virus.
We have snacks for about one more day. When all you have is bread, candy, and spray cheese in a can, it's been hard to ration properly.
We were keeping our hopes up, though, which was all we could really do. For now, I'm staying upbeat.
\---
**Day 5**
It was beginning to smell bad in the room. Some buckets in the area were set aside as bathrooms. They were only half full and smelled awful.
Last night, we were hungry and ran out of food. I tried my best to ignore the fact that I was hungry, but my stomach hurt. Now I didn't want to read or play chess, so I just took as many naps at my desk as I could to pass the time. I was waiting for the doors to open at any time so that I could go home. I missed my family.
It looked like Mr. Ramlee was also losing it. Up until now, he had been pretty calm and made sure we were all okay. He was talking to himself as he paced the room, though, and his eyes looked a little crazy. He would swear under his breath and then say prayers a few times.
I hope we can leave this place soon.
\---
**Day 8**
Bang, boom, boom
I woke up because of a loud noise on the other side of the classroom.
Bang, boom, boom
I stayed still to look like I was asleep, but I opened my eyes just enough to see the Biology teacher repeatedly slam a chair against the steel door.
Bang, boom, boom
It was really getting to him.
"Get us out of here!" Mr. Ramlee screamed and threw the chair to the side.
"Sir, I can't do that." There is a Level 3 Contagion that has been found. I've blocked off the area that's hurt, but you need to stay away from everyone else for your own safety. The voice turned out to be robotic and hummed.
He screamed bad words at the camera in the ceiling corner.
It was also getting bad between some of the other boys. In the past few mornings, there had been fights. Also, some hands are going back behind the fake plants and lab tools, which is not okay.
It looked like things were getting worse for us slowly. Going to a zoo and seeing a group of chimpanzees, but these ones are hungry.
Something bad was about to happen, so we had to get out.
\---
**Day 10**
The only thing we'd drunk in five days was tap water. Every time I got up from my desk, I felt dizzy. I would almost pass out because the room would spin. By sheer effort, I stayed on my feet. I was crazy afraid that my friends would eat me if I passed out, like a pack of hyenas on a deer. As my guts spilled across the marble floor, they were tasty.
Even though I thought it was crazy when I said it out loud, I didn't think it was so crazy after all when I saw how hungry everyone was.
Mr. Ramlee hasn't talked in over twelve hours. With an exacto knife, he's been sitting at his desk and cutting something into the top of it.
This was the first time I had the thought that we might not make it out of this alive. It's possible that everyone in this class was going to die.
I shook my head and cried.
\---
**Day 13**
No way, Mr. Ramlee! "Stop, Mr. Ramlee!" Richard cried out.
"Do you not see?" We need to do this because we need food. That's how to survive. When the pack is in pain and there isn't enough food, they attack the weakest member. Biology makes it clear. "Own the fittest lives."
Travis's eyes were about to pop out of his head because Mr. Ramlee had his hands around his neck and was squeezing him so hard.
Travis tried to get under him, but he was weak and very small for his age.
Richard picked up a big jug from the table and threw it over his head.
"Stop it, Mr. Ramlee!" I don't want to do this!
The teacher, on the other hand, was long gone. He had happily gleamed eyes and drooled down his chin at the thought of a meal.
I jumped up when Richard hit Mr. Ramlee on the head with the beaker as hard as he could. It broke into a million pieces when it hit the ground, knocking the teacher out.
Richard asked me to help him push him off Travis. As tears ran down his face, the poor kid wheezed and gasped for air.
"Don't worry, everything is fine. You're fine." As the child screamed, Richard patted him on the back to try to calm him down.
Suddenly, there was a scream that sounded like a war cry, and Mr. Ramlee was lifted into the air. He jumped over a desk and hit Richard hard.
Both of them fell to the tile floor. Richard fought back, but Mr. Ramlee got the upper hand and started hitting Richard hard in the face with his elbows, making blood come out of his nose and mouth.
My mind was empty; I didn't think, I just responded. I reached down and grabbed a piece of broken glass from the beaker. Then I grabbed Mr. Ramlee's shaggy hair and pulled it back to make his neck longer. I worked hard to get the glass through his throat.
I've never seen that much blood before. It came down rapidly on Richard's chest like a waterfall.
Mr. Ramlee fell again and could not get up.
I looked at my bloody hands. I didn't feel anything. No shame or fear. Only nothing.
The metal slats suddenly moved back into the ceiling, and the door swung open.
"The lockdown protocol is no longer in effect." Please stick to your normal plans. The lockdown rules have been lifted." Her happy, robotic voice seemed so far away and out of place right now.
The other students crowded around me and did nothing but stare at the bloody mess. Even though I think I was just hungry, I wanted to know what it tasted like. I believe they did too.
A man in a suit walked into the classroom just in time, thank goodness.
"Hi, class." Under the LEDs, his white teeth shone.
A group of adults in dungarees walked into the room before we could say anything. Some people started to take pictures of everything. Some people began to clean up Mr. Ramlee.
A man with grey hair put a big box on the teacher's desk and opened it. He then gave each kid a fresh piece of fruit and a breakfast bar.
Everything he gave us, we ate up. It took two bananas and four breakfast bars for me to feel like myself again. They were sweet and tasted like heaven.
The first man in the expensive suit and Noble didn't talk to us again until we were all done.
You guys have been through a lot in thirteen days. Thanks for sticking with it. Each of your parents has been told that you are okay to go home.
As we all hugged each other, the whole class cheered. Even Richard, who was covered in blood, danced around happily.
It's almost time for everyone to go home, but I need to talk to each of you one last time before you leave. I'm going to set up in the counselor's office, and Mr. Anthony is going to bring you all down one by one to talk about what happened during isolation.
All of us agreed and nodded our heads. Anything to get out of here.
We gave Mr. Anthony, the man with the grey hair and the snacks, our guts one by one. He was the guy with the Noble.
No matter how I talked about what it was like or how I killed Mr. Ramlee, I felt nothing when I told my story.
Not until I got home that night did I finally break down and cry. I cried and cried until I couldn't anymore when I was in my mom's arms. After that, I ate a lot more than usual. So much pasta went down my throat that I thought it would burst.
It made me feel good. To have enough. To be a person again.
\---
Years later, when I was in college, someone told the press that what we went through at school was a government cover-up for a top-secret project.
There wasn't a bug or any kind of spread. First, it was an experiment to see how well the school's AI system worked. It turned into a social experiment to see how long we could last before someone was killed or seriously hurt. Under a lot of stress, to see how far you can go with morality and good manners. This was written just in case there was a real problem with the code in the AI and this happened somewhere else.
The experiment was over when I killed Mr. Ramlee.
I felt terrible when I heard the news. I was disgusted and angry for weeks.
But I was okay with it now. Travis was small and might have been the weakest member of the pride, but he was also very smart. We were able to find Mr. Noble and Mr. Anthony thanks to his hacking skills.
I can't help but smile every time they scream and hit the door with a chair for six days now.
An project that a few of us are pulling off. It will end when someone is killed or seriously hurt.
Could be...
