Chapter 002: Without Light
The bus sat lifeless in the darkness.
There was barely enough light for eyes accustomed to daylight to see comfortably. Only the fading flame of a cigarette lighter flickered now and then before leaving faint shadows stretching between the rows of seats.
Amid the uncertainty, the tension hanging over the thirty-six vocational high school students, one teacher, one driver, and one bus attendant could no longer be concealed.
"Pak Driver, Bang... the three of us were all sitting up front," Rezvan said gravely. "We all saw what was ahead of us before we were swallowed by this darkness. Did either of you see us entering... anywhere?"
His heartbeat quickened.
Something was wrong.
His instincts had been telling him the same thing for the past several minutes.
"I'm sorry, Pak... I'm just as confused."
Pak Marta slowly shook his head, his pale face faintly illuminated by the lighter.
"I'm sure we were still on the highway just a moment ago."
"Pak... what if we ended up in Saranjana?"
Arka, who was sitting directly behind the driver's seat, suddenly spoke up.
He looked tense, yet there was a spark of excitement he couldn't quite hide—a mixture of fear and curiosity that often surfaced when someone came face to face with something that had existed only in stories.
"Come on, Dek, don't be ridiculous! Since when is Saranjana on a highway?!"
Pak Marta snapped reflexively.
Yet even his own voice sounded as though he were trying to convince himself.
"No one has ever proven whether Saranjana really exists," Rezvan replied calmly. "For now, we should regard it as nothing more than a legend, Arka."
Even so...
Deep down, he was beginning to doubt his own certainty.
Dina, sitting beside Arka, joined in.
"But, Pak Rezvan, we all know we were on the highway just a moment ago... so how could we suddenly end up somewhere like this?"
"She's right, Pak," Kirana added from several rows behind them. "Even if thick fog suddenly appeared... we were on a busy highway. If the bus stopped all of a sudden, another vehicle should've crashed into us. But we've been sitting here this whole time... and nothing happened."
Rezvan fell silent.
Reason was beginning to clash with reality.
As a teacher, he was accustomed to looking for logical explanations for everything.
Yet the longer this continued, the harder everything became to explain.
"Everyone... stay calm," Rezvan said.
He took a slow breath before continuing.
"You have a point, Kirana. But if what Bang said is true... if this was caused by an EMP... then maybe it's possible."
"Alright," the attendant interrupted politely. "We can think about all that later. Right now, what we need is light."
The students began searching through their bags and pockets.
Several minutes passed.
Nothing.
No flashlights.
No lamps.
Nothing that could help them pierce the darkness.
"Huff..."
Rezvan let out a long sigh.
"Come on. This is an emergency. I won't report any of you. I know some of you keep cigarette lighters because you smoke... take them out. We need them to see what's around us."
The result—
Nearly half the students immediately raised their hands.
Rezvan rubbed his temples.
He couldn't decide whether to be angry or laugh.
Pak Marta and Rafandra struggled to hide their smiles, reminded that their own younger days hadn't been all that different.
Some time later...
"Pak... Pak..."
A panicked voice called out from the middle rows.
"Pak... Pak Rezvan... please..."
Damar shouted, waving frantically.
Rezvan immediately hurried over.
"Ardi... Damar... is that you? What's wrong?"
Damar and Ardi were supporting Danang, whose entire body was trembling violently.
"We don't know, Pak... Danang's acting strange..." Damar answered anxiously.
"Danang..."
Rezvan crouched halfway in front of the student.
But there wasn't enough light to see clearly.
"I... can't breathe, Pak..." Danang gasped.
"My chest... hurts..."
"Do you have asthma?"
Rezvan asked immediately.
The bus attendant quickly approached with the lighter.
Its tiny flame revealed Danang's deathly pale face.
Cold sweat soaked his temples.
His chest rose and fell unevenly.
Danang weakly shook his head.
Rafandra frowned.
His expression instantly turned serious as he looked toward Rezvan.
Their eyes met.
No words were necessary.
Danang was in bad shape.
Both of them knew it.
"Pak..."
Damar called again, his voice shaking.
"I... I feel cold too... Just like Danang... it feels really hard to breathe..."
A few seconds later—
Complaints began coming from every direction.
Coughing.
Labored breathing.
Desperate gasps.
Panicked groans.
Everything blended into a suffocating chaos.
Danang wasn't the only one.
"Do any of you have asthma?"
Rezvan asked.
Desperation was beginning to creep into his voice.
One by one, students slumped back into their seats.
Flushed faces.
Heavy breathing.
Weakening bodies.
The bus had become a chamber of panic.
"Stay here. I'll go outside and find help."
Rezvan spoke firmly as he headed toward the bus door.
Then—
THUD!
The attendant instinctively grabbed his arm.
Rezvan turned immediately.
"What is it?" he asked in confusion.
"Don't go outside," the attendant said quietly, yet firmly.
"Bang, the kids are in trouble. The bus is dead, none of the phones work. I have to go out and get help..."
Rezvan replied, emotion creeping into his voice.
"Don't!"
The attendant's voice rose.
"I have a feeling... we must not leave this bus."
His words made the air feel even colder.
He didn't know why.
But every instinct inside him rejected the idea of leaving the vehicle.
As though something was waiting outside.
Something unseen.
Rezvan's eyebrow twitched.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
"I don't know what's happening to me... but I think I agree with him..." he thought.
But reason told him he had to act.
"Excuse me, Bang."
He gently freed himself from Rafandra's grip.
"I have to go. These kids need help."
Silence returned to the bus.
Only heavy breathing and faint heartbeats echoed through the darkness.
Beyond the windows, the pitch-black mist resembled an endless sea.
Rezvan strode toward the door.
Adrenaline surged through his body.
He forced himself to think rationally.
The students needed help.
He had to move.
But the moment he pulled the door lever—
It didn't move.
Not even a little.
Rezvan froze.
"That's impossible..."
he whispered.
He pulled again.
Harder.
Still nothing.
His heart immediately pounded wildly.
His entire body tensed.
The primitive part of the human mind—
the most fundamental survival instinct—
began taking over.
His brain interpreted the situation as a threat.
The attendant, standing several steps behind him, watched silently.
He noticed Rezvan's hand beginning to tremble.
The teacher's breathing had become ragged.
His shoulders were rigid.
Without a single explanation, the attendant understood something.
Rezvan's body itself was afraid to step outside.
His subconscious instincts were warning him of danger.
"Bang... the... the door won't open..."
Rezvan managed to say.
"The bus has no power, Pak Guru. That's why the door won't open."
Pak Marta answered from his seat.
Even in the darkness, he had heard everything clearly.
The attendant stepped closer and gently patted Rezvan's shoulder.
"I don't know what's happening either... but there's something out there..."
He stared into the darkness beyond the window.
"...something we can't predict."
Rezvan swallowed hard.
"I don't know why... but I feel like I have to trust him. The problem is... this situation is dangerous for the kids. Sitting here won't solve anything."
His neck and shoulders stiffened.
A dull throb spread through his head.
Inside him, reason and instinct clashed violently.
Meanwhile, the attendant remained remarkably calm.
The bus now felt like a fragile capsule, separating them from something vast, dark, and utterly unknown waiting beyond its walls.