Chapter 3: The First Night of the Apocalypse

The classroom was a tomb of silence, broken only by the occasional rustling of phone screens and the soft scrape of a chair leg against the floor. No one spoke, not for a long while. The chaos of the past few hours had left them all stunned, shell-shocked in their own way. The reality of what had happened, the destruction, the monsters, the screams—everything felt too surreal to grasp fully. Yet, the longer they sat there, the more it settled into their bones like a creeping cold.

Ash sat quietly by the window, his gaze fixed on the world outside, where the remnants of the day’s horrors still loomed in the distance. The hallways were eerily deserted now, save for the occasional figure that staggered by—a lone survivor, or perhaps one of the monsters, still wandering aimlessly. The air was thick with the weight of uncertainty, the kind that makes a person’s heart feel like lead in their chest.

They had long since stopped asking if help would come. No one was in the mood to entertain false hope. The phones in their hands had become nothing more than lifelines to their families, each call a desperate attempt to hold onto the life they once knew. Some were crying, some were still numb, and others, like Ash, were lost in their own thoughts, trying to process it all, trying to think through the next move, the next step.

Around thirty students were in the classroom now, scattered in their seats, each of them consumed by their own minds. Some sat hunched over their phones, muttering in hushed voices to loved ones who were either unreachable or too far away to help. Others stared blankly ahead, their eyes vacant, as though any attempt at rational thought was too much to bear.

It was strange how quickly they had all adapted to the new reality. The shock had worn off, replaced by a weary acceptance. The apocalypse was no longer a far-off concept—they had become a part of it. The silence grew heavier as the minutes dragged on, each tick of the clock resonating like a hammer against the chest. No one spoke. There was nothing to say.

Ash sat back in his seat, his eyes flicking between his friends—Ben, West, Tony, Angelo, and Jeremy—each one deep in their own thoughts. The weight of it all hung over them, suffocating. The hunger was starting to gnaw at him now. His stomach had settled into that hollow feeling, the kind of emptiness that made every thought harder to hold on to. He wasn’t the type to panic, but the realization had slowly crept into his mind that food would be their next greatest challenge.

A flicker of memory surfaced as he thought about the novels he had read in his spare time, the ones that dealt with apocalyptic worlds. They always said it was survival first—food would follow. In the stories, the characters would fight over scraps, hoard provisions, and barter with what little they had. Ash knew it was inevitable. Hunger would break them before the monsters ever had the chance.

He rummaged through his bag, pulling out a small packet of biscuits and a few candies. Just a handful of things that had been there for when the school day ended, snacks for the walk home. They weren’t much, but in this world, they might be worth their weight in gold. He tucked them back into his bag, making a mental note to keep them for now. He would only share them when it became absolutely necessary. He couldn’t afford to be generous with his rations—not yet.

Ben, who had been pacing the room, suddenly perked up, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade. "Anyone got any food?" he asked, his words almost too casual, but there was a hint of desperation in his tone. The moment he spoke, the others seemed to snap out of their own reverie. It was as if his words had unlocked a primal need that had been sitting dormant in the back of their minds. A wave of murmurs swept through the room, as people started to rummage through their bags, looking for something, anything to stave off the hunger gnawing at them.

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Ash watched as Ben made his way around the room, asking each student in turn, his voice growing more insistent as the minutes passed. Some pulled out packets of chips, granola bars, even fruit. Some shared what they had, others hoarded their food like it was a treasure they couldn’t afford to part with.

It didn’t take long for the whole class to realize that hunger wasn’t just an inconvenience—it was a threat. Without food, they would break. Slowly, but surely, their unity would crumble, and once that happened, the monsters wouldn’t be the only thing they’d have to worry about.

Ben eventually returned to their corner, his face a mixture of frustration and relief. He had a packet of biscuits in his hand, something that seemed insignificant but felt like a small victory. His eyes lit up, and without thinking, he tore the packet open, offering it to Ash and the others.

“I got some,” he said, his voice thick with anticipation, “Finally, some food.”

Ash nodded, but didn’t take any. “I’m still fine,” he said, his voice steady, though his stomach told a different story. He wasn’t going to indulge just yet. Not when he knew how little there was.

Ben, not one to care much for the subtleties of rationing, popped a biscuit in his mouth and chewed it with relish, the crumbs falling onto the floor like wasted crumbs. “It’s better than nothing,” he muttered, then looked at West, who had barely said a word since the chaos began. “You want some?”

West, who was normally laid-back, seemed to consider it for a moment, his eyes flicking toward the offering. He reached for a single biscuit, his hand trembling slightly as he took it. He wasn’t hungry, not yet, but even so, there was a faint, hollow emptiness that was starting to settle in.

The room was quiet again, the only sounds were the faint crunching of biscuits and the soft clicks of phone screens. Everyone was trying to distract themselves from the harsh reality, from the hunger, from the fear. But in the back of their minds, they knew they were running out of time.

Ash’s thoughts drifted back to the situation at hand. He looked around the classroom. The others were too consumed by their thoughts to notice his scrutiny. Some were hunched over their phones, trying to reach someone, anyone. Some were staring blankly at the wall, the hunger in their bellies mixing with the fear in their hearts. It wasn’t just the monsters they had to worry about now. It was the slow, inevitable collapse of their willpower. And that, Ash knew, would be a far more insidious threat than anything else.

The tension in the room was palpable. People were no longer just worried about surviving the monsters outside—they were worried about surviving each other. If food became scarce, if this continued long enough… How long before they turned on one another?

Mia, the class rep, finally spoke up, her voice breaking the oppressive silence. "We need to start thinking about what comes next," she said, her tone sharp, though there was an edge of uncertainty behind her words. "We need to work together. Some of us should stay alert while others sleep. We can’t afford to be careless."

Ash watched her closely, her voice steady as always, but he could see the crack in her armor. She was scared, too. Everyone was.

"Yeah, you’re right," Ben muttered, still chewing, his mouth full. "But... who’s going to keep watch? We can’t all be asleep. Someone has to be awake."

The room quieted again, everyone contemplating the suggestion. In the end, no one volunteered immediately. The weight of the decision was too much. So, the group stayed as they were—silent, fearful, but too drained to think clearly.

Ash, not one to waste time, knew it was time to sleep. There was nothing more to be done tonight. His mind would not be productive in the silence of their hunger, and he could only force himself to wait for tomorrow.

With a deep sigh, he leaned back in his chair, forcing his eyes closed. He didn’t know if sleep would come, but there was nothing else left to do. He couldn’t solve this tonight. Not when the world had shifted so violently, when everything familiar had been ripped away in an instant.

But in the stillness of the room, amid the hushed murmurs of his classmates, Ash made one silent vow to himself: he would survive. Whatever came next, whatever horrors the night would bring, he would survive.

Because in this new world, it was either that... or perish.

And Ash wasn’t ready to perish just yet.

Unknowingly Ash began to feel excited and scared for the future, his adventurous Spirit taking over, kinda forgetting the horror of this apocalypse.