After dinner we were in our rooms waiting for the teachers to come around announcing lights out. I was on the couch doing more research, I looked at a familiar website and read through it. It was recently updated. Scientists are saying that the super volcano is twice the size they thought it was. They say that two-thirds of America would be inhabitable, that didn't change, but the amount of ash changed. Over 10 feet of ash would spread up to 1000 miles away from the immediate vicinity. My eyebrows raised as I scrolled through the article.
Air transportation would be shut down because of the gas and toxins from the explosion, not just in America but all over the world. Escaping would be unlikely except possibly by boat. I continued looking through the article and many other articles, curled up in bed.
Eventually Rochelle walked in telling me it was lights out. I had overheard conversation from the teachers earlier in the week, they had decided to check on the students 2 hours after lights out to make sure they were actually asleep. All the teachers got spare keys to each of the rooms. I can easily get away with this.
In case you haven't figured it out already, I'm a very observative girl. My room is about 7-10 steps away from the door. My bed is an extra 3-4 steps. That rounds to 10-16 steps. Which takes about 20 seconds to walk to. In those 20 seconds I can close my laptop and shove it under the bed, and get under the covers and quiet my breathing before getting seen. If the teacher simply peeks in the room it will be 5 seconds of steady breathing, if they actually walk in and look around it could be about 10 seconds of steady breathing. But listening is key here, I will be able to hear the doors open and close and the footsteps of the teacher. I can easily get away with this. I have about 10 years of experience with getting away with these things. I'm practically an expert.
I smirked to myself as Rochelle told me it was lights out.
"Thanks Rochelle." I spoke. She nodded, went to the bathroom to change then got into bed and turned the TV on for a bit. I shared this information with the others, the ability to avoid getting caught by the teacher.
"Any new information?" Rochelle asked after a bit. I nodded and turned to her.
"Turns out the explosion will be worse than the scientists originally thought, the statistics were wrong. Over 10 feet of ash will spread up to 1,000 miles away from the original vicinity. Two-thirds of the continent will be inhabitable." I told her.
"Interesting." She said and chuckled.
"I'm assuming you aren't going to sleep until 4 in the morning again."
"Nope!" I said turning back to my laptop. Rochelle chuckled and went back to the TV. I opened up my notepad on my laptop and wrote down notes about the volcano as I went through the articles. I'm not sure why the Super Volcano fascinates me, I think it's because of the amount of destruction it could cause. I looked up more charts and graphs and made similar ones on my notes.
"You have an addiction." I heard Chris's voice say softly. I looked up. Rochelle had fallen asleep not too long ago. I smiled.
"Hey Chris." I greeted. "And no it's not an addiction, it's a hobby."
"Whatever you say." He chuckled and sat down next to me on the bed and peeked at what I was doing. I didn't care, everyone does.
"10 feet?" His eyes went wide. I nodded. "Remember the blue zones?"
"Yeah?"
"That's where the worst of it would be, almost 20 feet if I remember correctly. And there will be 10 feet in the purple zone and half of the orange zone. The other half of the orange zone and the yellow zones would be safer. I might be wrong but I'm not sure. There's so many theories it's crazy." I mumbled as I typed on the laptop. Chris watched me.
"You have a strange hobby. But that's what makes you special." he chuckled. I nudged his ribs.
"I'm gonna fight you one day." I warned. He ruffled my hair.
"Whatever missy. Just get some sleep." Chris chuckled and walked out. I glared at him the whole way before fixing my hair.
About 2 and a half hours later the teacher came into our room to check on us. I pulled my procedure and got away with it. They came and left within the time span of 2-3 minutes. I almost screwed up and got caught cause my laptop cord got tangled in the blankets. But I got it untangled and settled myself down just in time. The teacher had a flashlight, I could tell even with my eyes closed cause the inside of my eyelids lit up ever so slightly from the light. But the teacher came and went within 5 seconds exactly. When they left I was able to get back on my laptop and finish my notes.
When I finished it was about 2:30 so I put my laptop away, turned on my side and fell asleep.
****
The next morning we were told to get out of bed at 9:30, we had to leave at 11:30, so a few students fell asleep for a little longer, roll call was at 10:45. I set an alarm for 10:15 so I could have time to get ready, eat and make it to roll call. I don't eat much for breakfast I had a couple biscuits and an apple which was enough. I don't have the largest appetite, it isn't even average it's below average. I'm not anorexic or anything, I just have a small appetite. Rochelle always criticizes me for it.
"I just don't get it! How can you eat so little and feel stuffed?" Rochelle exclaimed as I finished my last biscuit. I giggled.
"How is it you eat 10 tons of food and only feel like you ate a slice of orange?" I asked. It usually shuts her up. My inability to eat a lot of food is unexplained. Her inability to eat so little food is unexplained as well.
"Come on girls quit bickering." Scarlet laughed.
"You ain't my mother!" Rochelle exclaimed. We all laughed then got ready to go to rollcall. I grabbed my side bag, stuffing my laptop in it, along with my book and portable charger for my phone and laptop. My phone went into my back pocket, my earbuds in my front pocket. I grabbed a spare rubber band for my hair and wrapped a sweater around my waist then followed Rochelle, Scarlet and Chris to roll call.
"Do you really need all that?" Scarlet asked.
"I do indeed." I answered rebelliously. She shook her head.
"What are we going to do with you?" She asked.
"Let me live my life woman." I frowned. She shook her head and chuckled. Chris threw an arm over my shoulders and grinned.
"If that volcano ever blows at least we have someone who will be able to keep us from dying." Chris grinned.
"I don't know, she'd probably freeze to death, she has no fat on her." Rochelle teased. I swung my leg forwards, my goal was to kick her. She moved out of the way though. Chris laughed and removed his arm from my shoulders and we kept walking to roll call.
Waiting in the lobby was going to be the death of me. I swear to God I was going to die of boredom. I couldn't pull out my laptop, cause the teacher would get mad. I had my phone out and I was texting my mom. I sent her a couple pictures I took of the city last night and of my friends asleep. I'm sneaky like that, but Scarlet tried to rip my head off when she found out. Chris had to grab her to keep her from doing so. Also yes Chris and Scarlet are twins but not at all identical. Chris has light brown hair and Scarlet has dark brown, almost black but not quiet, it's just really dark. Chris's eyes are brown and Scarlet's are hazel. Chris also has a darker complexion while Scarlet is a ghost. They have the same parents, but you know, genetics.
Rochelle is kinda like me, she has brown-blonde hair, mine is dyed strawberry blonde but it's natural color is brown-blonde. Anyways, we have similar eye shapes, and almost the same hazel eyes. Rochelle's is ever so slightly darker. I have slightly higher cheek bones and Rochelle has more cheek. Okay, maybe we aren't THAT much alike but people mix us up and ask if we're siblings so I mean, still.
So we are waiting in the lobby nothing too special happening, until it finally happened. The one thing I thought I would be thrilled for, but proved me wrong.
There was a slight rumbling. Everyone looked around and as it got more intense teachers started saying it was an earthquake and we dove to the tables in the breakfast area. Once we got under there firework sounds and then one huge, deafening explosion. It was so loud my scream couldn't be heard. I covered my ears and closed my eyes. I could feel a thumping in my chest signifying more firework sounds, drowned out by the loud rumbling in my ears. The loud explosion finally died down and my ears were left ringing. Many students laid on the ground dazed from the sounds, but it was quiet now. I dizzily stood up and helped my friends up. Rochelle was completely off balance and had to lean on me and Scarlet. Chris sat down and held his head.
"What was that?" Scarlet asked. I looked around. The windows were completely shattered, the tiles from the room had fallen off. When my ears stopped ringing I could hear the cries and screams from the other students, many asking "what happened?" over and over. My heart started pounding. No way. I let go of Rochelle and ran to one of the broken windows and looked outside, I could see a cloud of ash way off in the distance.
My eyes widened in their sockets. My heart jumped up into my throat and my hands got shaky. No way. How could the volcano have exploded? The scientists would have noticed signs wouldn't they? There would have been warnings weeks ago. We would have left the United States and gone to a safer location. What is this?
"Elizabeth! Get away from the window!" A teacher yelled. I backed away and went to my friends. There was another explosion, and then another. It was getting louder. We all covered our ears. It kept going, and wouldn't stop. Teachers began running around handing students cotton balls and stuffing them in their ears. It helped a little, it definitely muffled the explosions.
"How long is this going to go on?" Chris yelled over top of the explosions.
"I have no idea!" I screamed. I reached in my bag and took out my laptop. I checked my notes. Nothing explained how long the explosions would go on. I gave a shaky breath and put it away.
Then it happened. The building began to sway. Students began to scream and began running out. But the collapse happened too quick. I pulled my friends to the very side of the building and we got down and covered our head as it began to collapse. I heard screams and screams that suddenly stopped. There's no way that everyone survived that. I felt something hit the top of my head and my vision swayed. When the collapse was done I sat up, my friends were alive cause they sat up too. I turned around and couldn't believe the damage done. I couldn't see anyone, were we the only ones that survived?
I felt something warm and sticky run down the side of my head. I touched it and winced immediately. I pulled my hand away and saw my fingers coated in blood. I swallowed then wiped my hand on my jeans and grabbed everyone's hands, Chris grabbed Scarlet's hand and dragged her with us. I only have so many hands. We got out of the rubble and sat on the cement.
I looked off in the distance. That cloud is getting closer. We're in the purple zone. Home is in the orange zone. We need to get home but how? I turned around, the buses were destroyed. I checked my phone. No service. The rumbling was still in my ears, so I left the cotton. I looked at my friends. Chris was hugging Scarlet who looked horrified. I grabbed Rochelle's hand who was in just complete shock. I squeezed it reassuringly.
"Oh God...my parents." She turned to me and yelled. That hit me like a smack to the face. Is my family okay? Scarlet and Chris are probably wondering the same. I can't text mom I have no service. I felt the need to start screaming and crying, but then took a deep breath. I took a deep breath and looked to the sky, that cloud is getting closer every minute. If we're going to survive this we need supplies and quick.
The rumbling finally stopped and it was quiet. I slowly took out one cotton ball and then the other one. My friends copied me. I turned to them.
"Okay, we don't have time to panic." I pointed to the cloud of ash. "That cloud is going to be here in just a couple hours and if we're going to survive this and make it home we need to be prepared."
"What's the point? We don't know how to get home." Rochelle sobbed. I dug around in my bag and pulled out a map of the U.S.
"Where did you get that?" Chris asked.
"Bought it a while ago, I always have it on me. But this will get us home."
"Elizabeth that's almost 800 miles!" Scarlet almost screamed.
"It's better than waiting to get buried here!" I screamed back. They had looks of fear. I looked at the map.
"If I'm guessing right, it will take about a week and a half to make it to home. We need to be prepared for that." I said. They looked like arguing.
"I know that walking isn't our strong suit, but we have families that don't know if we're alive or dead. And we don't know if they're alive or dead, don't we deserve to know?" I asked. They nodded slowly.
"Then help me out." I looked at the rubble in front of us. "I doubt we'll get anything out of there, we're better off finding a store." I looked around and saw that most of the buildings were destroyed. I pressed my lips in a tight line.
"Come on." I said and started running to the near-by store. There was a radio going, the U.S was in a state of emergency, the President was urging everyone to evacuate immediately. It was basically the Purge. No laws applied for us right now. We stood in front of a store.
"I have about 15 bucks." Rochelle mumbled.
"You won't need money." I said and walked inside. The owner was gathering important items.
"U-uh we're closed."
"We're in a state of emergency do you think laws apply right now?" I asked. He looked at me then sighed.
"Grab what you can and need." He said. I nodded and turned to my friends.
"Chris, go grab backpacks for all of us, we're gonna need them. Find anything like matches and flashlights if you can there." Chris nodded and ran off. "Rochelle, first aid, basically grab anything you think we may need, bandages, gauze, stitches, anything." Rochelle took off running, despite her social anxiety she's handling this pretty well. "Scarlet, go get us any sort of cloth material and something to hold it to our faces, if you see blankets grab them." Scarlet nodded and ran off.
I went to the food section. I grabbed a bunch of water bottles and canteens. I stuffed them into my bag. I then looked around for food. I grabbed a package of smoked ham and turkey. We'll have to eat these quickly but it will keep our protein levels up for a while. I grabbed a package of bread, some apples, a few bars of cheese (something we will have to eat quickly), and some protein bars. I also grabbed a couple things of kale. I hopefully have enough to last us for a while, we can stop to other stores along the way if we can. I found a water fountain, I pressed the button and sure enough it was working. I took advantage of it and filled the canteens. I ran back to the front of the store and saw the others. We split the supplies and got the backpacks going.
"Nice job guys I'm impressed." I grinned. They smiled for the first time since this started. I noticed that it had gotten darker, I looked outside and my eyes filled with fear, the ash was falling. my friends stared in shock. We won't have long. I pulled my sweater over my shoulders, Scarlet did the same, Rochelle and Chris already had a sweater on. We finished packing our backpacks and I lead everyone over to the water fountain. I checked the water. It was still going. Chris handed me a knife that he grabbed. I poked a couple holes in all the wash clothes, then took some gauze from Rochelle. I tied it together then got the wash clothes wet. I helped everyone tie there's on and Scarlet tied mine on. Chris then passed out swimming goggles to us to protect our eyes from the ash. We were ready to go. The owner had already fled. I got a general direction of where to go then we walked out the doors.
If my friends die with in the next week, it will be my fault.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~Nik<3