The scene was nauseating. Human flesh was a pungent fickle. It crept o up to the nostrils of the people inside the classroom before unleashing a flurry of attacks.
A sickening presence. Only then did it become clear that cannibals were a while different class of people. Able to dull their instincts and gobble up at the plump flesh of their own kind.
Then, one by one, they broke from the trance, what had happened in a matter of seconds, seemingly millennia for the survivors, dawned upon the classroom as they all went by the window to take a closer look.
It was a brief site. Nothing more could be said. Jessy Lin, the only guy who could be considered to have been unmoved as they heard the screams outside still stood by the front, his body firmly planted on the ground.
Feet itching, urging him to move and see what the others saw. Curiosity already hijacking his mind, he was about to take a step forward when he heard himself say. 'I knew it would happen sooner than later.'
To him, it was expected. It was reassuring, he almost considers it a good thing. There was simply no way the world could ignore that the presence of his mother was the only thing that made the earth the peaceful entity it had once been.
Amidst the gasps, shrieks and cries of surprise, the students realized that there were people who had survived what they had not seen. They wanted to rush down and affirm it, but they knew not the danger and hence let their cowardice control them.
For them, fear became the vital force separating them from the world of the living and the world of the dead. How long it would last, no one knew. Whether it was good or bad was entirely up to them to decide.
"I want everyone to stay in here. No one follow me out. We don't know what exactly happened down there and we are not willing to put our students' loves on the line to prove anything." With that, the teacher inched closer to the door, hesitation lingering within him.
It was an obligation but not a directive to sacrifice himself for the sake of the learners.
Only then did everyone grasp the severity of the situation at hand. Cold sweat broke out on Mr Brent's forehead as the reached for the door, his hand trembling uncontrollably. He firmly grapsed the door handle, but the swart from his palm made it difficult for him to turn it.
He was no longer a man, all that was helping him maintain his composure and avoid wetting his pants at this time was the fact that he was the teacher and he still had to maintain his standard.
'Hell no, I don't have to do anything for them. Am out of here the moment I step out of this room. This wasn't part of my job.' He was clearly pondering on how he would abandon them and save his own skin. Such a setup was clearly the best to reveal the raw and cold human nature, the drive that had made them evolve into the current species.
With that, he slowly turned the handle and took a step forward, careful not to be too enthusiastic lest it would be taken for escaping.
He remembered how he always crossed the road when he was in a drunken stupor,
Look left for oncoming cars, then right for trucks, down for landmines and up for bombers in the sky.
In any case, he forgot the most important direction, the one we always take for granted. He forgot to take a look right in front of him.
And that's when he saw it. The sight that would make him scrub his eyeballs with sanitizer and still remain, lingering on his brain.
She sat there, clutching onto her phone, staring blankly at the oncoming teacher. Her eyes were dull and white, a shiny shade of grey. They could tell more than anyone expected.
A deathly stare. With her body crumpled over in a sitting position by the wall, Kim lay, her neck sprawled to the side as of it had been yanked there by force. A bloody concussion issued forth from her mouth which was now agape. There was no way Brent would say that she died a peaceful death.
Her tosro had a large chunk of meat missing, as if someone had snatched it. Brent instantly doubled over on his knees and grabbed onto the lifeless body as he let the tears wah through him.
He remembered how he used to clutch her waist. How good it felt to slide his fingers over the woman's body. How there were no flaws in her laughter. It made him feel loved, needed. She was the only person who mafe him feel this way.
The numerous dates they had been to, slacking off work and sneaking away to hug and tease each other during work hours. The only time they could not do this was when they were in the staffroom, and still then, they stole meaningful glances from each other.
He was at his breaking point. If his reason to be happy did not exist, it was only right that he didn't either. That's the only thing that made sense to him now. Everything else was a matter of classifying his thoughts as noise.
He let his head rest firmly on the cold body, his skull gently nudging the underside of her firm breasts. This was the only way he took wanted to leave this earth, by her side.
His mouth did not make any noise. He had long accepted it, for a man, letting tears flow from your eyes was a sin, let alone sobbing and making a flurry of animal like voices. If he had truly let them out, it would have sounded like a lions mating call. He decided to save himself some grace and perish peacefully in the comfort of his only love.
He closed his eyes and prepared to meet his executioner. Then, in a moment of supreme anguish, he felt something, Kim's finger, now in his arm, twitched. It meant a lot. It meant that now, they could go together. The long wait suddenly ended when the dark force descended on him from the ceiling, instantly wiping out the teacher and his love. It was a peaceful goodbye in their eyes.
Farewell, he seemed to say. The students stood back and watched, no sound coming from them, they could not understand what was happening.
At that moment, everyone had the same thought.
'Run. Get out even if you have to jump from the window'
Everyone thought. Everyone looked at each other in anguish, waiting for the other party to make a move. The first person to move would most definitely become a distraction. Everyone watched, everyone waited. Everyone didn't move.
Then again, in their eyes, Jessy Lin was a nobody. He charged straight at the darkness, not in a fit of rage, not fighting, but accepting.
A voice rang out in his head, 'so thats how you e decided to go. Not bad, not bad at all'