Hunger

The sound of Mr. Monty’s monotone voice droning on and on about the Second World War filled the classroom. “In nineteen thirty-nine...” Sabrina sighed, listening to her teacher's speech about history, her eyes flicking out the third-story window. Outside, it looked sunny, not a cloud in sight. She could imagine there was a soft breeze down where gym class was taking place. She could imagine how the soft spring breeze mixed with her own speed would feel as she ran. The air wrapped around her and passed by her as she ran. She could smell the fresh new life of flowers starting to bloom again after the long, hard winter months. The ground beneath her feet felt semi-soft but not so soft that her shoes would leave an impression on the ground. She felt free; she always felt free when she was running. “Sabrina, can you answer the question?” Mr. Monty asked, having a bit of an annoyed tone to his voice. Sabrina was ripped from her happy place and dragged right back into reality as she heard her teacher's voice. The sweet smell of fresh air was replaced by the smell of a musty school room, the scents of sweaty peers assaulted her senses, and the vast opposite of too sweet-smelling perfume from a girl a few rows away. Sabrina’s green eyes shot from the window to her teacher and then to the empty whiteboard with nothing written on it. She mentally hit herself; she should have been paying more attention. “I'm sorry, Mr. Monty. Can you please repeat the question?” she asked Mr. Monty’s brown eyes seemed to narrow in on Sabrina for a moment before he repeated the question for a third time. “When was Auschwitz established?” Sabrina thought for a moment, racking her brain; she knew she should have been listening to the teacher instead of daydreaming about running. “I believe it was in May? Or April? The month, that is.” Sabrina paused for a moment before continuing with her answer, knowing her teacher wouldn’t believe her answer was sufficient to prove she was paying attention when, in fact, she wasn’t. “Nineteen forty was the year,” she said a bit more confidently. Mr. Monty nodded. “Correct, Sabrina, and the month was May,” he corrected before going back to his lecture content with Sabrina’s answer. Sabrina waited a few moments before looking back out the window; at last, she could try to return to her daydream. However, the moment she looked outside, she was greeted by a sight she could only describe as something straight out of a horror movie. From what she could see, the gym class that had been out in the field was now running or fighting for their very lives. From what Sabrina could see, the once-green grass was now painted crimson. It looked like someone had walked up to random areas or people in the field and thrown a coat of red paint on them. From what Sabrina could tell from what she saw, paint wasn’t what was on the ground or over random occupants of the field. It was, in fact, blood. The movement made her eyes shift from the blood to a student of the class knelt over another student who was motionless. However, the one kneeling above the other had something hanging out of its mouth. Something that Sabrina could only imagine was its victim's intestines. After all, the thing hanging from the peer's mouth looked like a long row of little sausages, all still tied together with the thin material it would have been packaged in for sale. Sabrina blinked and rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was seeing things. At last, even with her futile attempts at clearing her eyes, she was still met with the c*****e below. ‘Umm Mr. Monty?” she asked her tone pitching a bit high. Her eyes never left the grim scene; it looked as though the students were attacking and biting each other. While some fled and were chased, she couldn’t help but think that she was seeing things. ‘Zombies?’ She thought. Zombies weren’t real; they were emarginated by those who loved horror; this couldn’t possibly be happening. Maybe it was just some pre-planned flash mob? Sabrina tried to rationalize her thoughts as she continued to watch the scene below unfold. Mr. Monty wasn’t too keen on being interrupted during his speech, especially since his student hadn't raised her hand first or been called on. “What is it, Sabrina?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the workbook he was reading from. “I, um, I need to go to the nurse's office. I think I'm seeing things unless you see them?” A shrill scream interrupted Sabrina’s rambling. The brunette with green eyes who sat in front of Sabrina screamed when she looked out the window to see the scene. “What the hell is going on!” Emily screamed Sabrina shrugged. “Guess I’m not seeing things,” she said casually, not seeming at all panicked that the gym class three stories below were eating one another. After all, it was still in Sabrina’s mind that this was just a flash mob. A prank the senior class had decided to do. Mr. Monty was about to yell at the two before he looked out the window and cursed. “This classroom is officially on lockdown,” he said, pointing at Sabrina. “Close the curtains, Sabrina, class. Stay calm and in your seats; I'm going to phone the office to inform them that something is going on in the field,” he said, keeping calm even though the students could hear the fear and uncertainty in his voice. Sabrina got up and started to close the curtains, which they would commonly do during active shooter drills. The curtains would be closed; the door would be locked inside with a chair; though something wasn’t right, they weren’t told they would have a drill. Sabrina made her way back to her assigned seat after completing her tasks of closing the curtains and using two free chairs to lock the doors from the inside. On her way back to her desk, she couldn’t help but notice that most of her peers were on their phones, probably texting friends and family about the senior prank going on and how it caused their class to lock down. Her eyes met those of Matt, her friend. His brown eyes stared back into hers. His eyes pooled in worry and fear. He knew if this were actually an emergency situation, he would be a very big, easy target. Sabrina sighed. She knew what he was thinking, but she wasn’t about to let one of her only friends give up hope. She whispered to him, “I won't let anything happen to you; well, I will try my best to protect you.” She said, “I know you are scared, heck, I think we all are, but I'm not going to let one of my best friends get hurt or worse without giving my all to protect you first.” she explained.