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Part II

Liverpool
13/06/2031

'Lucie, are you paying attention?' A distant voice entered my consciousness and I inched my eyes open, squinting against the blinding light. My friend Sam, sitting next to me, nudged me sharply with her elbow and I lifted my head off the table with a groan.

'Yes, Miss', I replied by default, stifling a yawn behind my hand. Miss Taylor, my English teacher, rolled her eyes, sighed, then, apparently satisfied I was in fact paying attention, continued rambling on about pathetic fallacy and foreshadowing.

'You have got to stop sleeping in class' Sam commented under her breath. I chuckled in response, suppressing a second yawn.

'I know. But I was up until 3:00 last night. Well, this morning, technically'

'Doing what?!' Sam whispered incredulously.

'Watching conspiracy videos' I replied sheepishly, much to the annoyance of Sam, who rolled her eyes.

'What?! I saw this really interesting one about the population crisis-'

'Lucie, this is your last chance. Be quiet and pay attention, or get out of my class', Miss Taylor shouted, and I instantly shut my mouth. I could her Sam sniggering, but of course, I wasn't going to risk telling her to shut up.

Despite Miss Taylor's warning, I found my eyes wandering until I was looking outside the window on my left. I hated English. With a passion. I'd much rather be outside doing something, anything but being holed up inside this stuffy classroom. I looked over to the playing fields, staring wistfully at a PE class. The thought of missing next period for track practice entered my mind, and was at least something to brighten my mood. Slightly.

Our school was also right next to a main road, which I could see onto from my position. Despite it being 11:00am and no where near rush hour, the road was packed with frustrated people driving cars and cyclists wearing masks in a futile attempt to filter out pollution. To be honest, the whole concept of 'rush hour' had ceased to exist over the last few years. Every hour was rush hour nowadays.

As I continued to stare out of the window and at the world beyond, I became aware of a distant noise. Like a kind of incessant whining. I looked around the class to see if anyone else had registered the noise, but everyone seemed fixated on Miss Taylor. When I turned away from the window and finally decided to pay attention to the lesson, the noise got louder and more demanding of my attention. Until it seemed right above us. Then time stopped.

It was almost as if I knew, in that moment, that something horrible was about to occur. My stomach dropped and a breath hitched in my airway. A feeling of dread washed over me, a feeling of utter helplessness turning my blood cold and rooting me to the spot. Then, earsplitting wails filled the air as deadly objects began to fall from the sky. The cries of terror coming from my classmates mixed with the shrieks of the falling bombs to create an ear-splitting cacophony. I clapped my hands to my ears, and shouted as loud as I could to be heard over the chaos.

'Everybody get down! Under a desk!' In all honesty, I found it quite ironic that I was taking charge in this situation. Me, the quiet daydreamer who kept to herself. Meanwhile, the adult who was actually meant to be in charge was clearly scarred shitless- at least, judging by her stiff position and the wide-eyed stare she had assumed.

In a blind panic, people dropped to the ground, scrambling around to get under a desk and get under some cover. Most people had wrapped their arms around their heads, probably in an attempt to both offer some protection and shut off their ears to the heart-wrenching noises. When the first bomb hit, the ground shook and the screams intensified. I was definitely screaming too, but all the shrieks, sobs and yells melded into one terrible, long note of utter despair. However, it was barely audible over the noise of the actual explosion. It was as if a giant's hand had smashed into the ground, and the repercussion had broken the air apart with an almighty boom. The shockwaves hit next, causing the ground to violently shudder and dust to fall from the ceiling.

We weren't too close to the first bomb, but we still felt it's effects. The shockwaves, and the searing heat that came with them. We were forced to study all about warfare and weapons- both old and new- in our history classes, but this type of bomb was unknown to me. Not that in those moments of blind panic I would have had the mental capacity to identify the type, anyway. But it was that heat, that intense, burning heat that hit me like a brick wall, that was so unknown and unfamiliar to me.

I wish that the first bomb had landed directly on us and killed us all instantly. Instead, we had to go out the hard way. I never could have imagined so much pain. I could tell you everything I had to endure- my eyes melting in their sockets, my skin melting off the bone, my lungs fighting to breathe air that didn't literally burn them- but it still wouldn't justify or convey the pain.

All I know is that after the first bomb, but before I died, whilst I was in a delusional, barely conscious state of agony, multiple more bombs hit. And my whole city, amongst others, was reduced to ashes.