The five boys had left.

And the classroom was silent.

No one spoke. No one moved.

The absence of their presence felt heavy, as if the space they once occupied now carried the weight of their reckless decision. The door had closed behind them, sealing the choice that had been made—not just theirs, but everyone’s.

Some students sat stiffly, waiting. Others avoided looking at the door entirely, as if ignoring it would undo what had just happened. The oppressive air of hunger and fear continued to coil around them, a silent predator in its own right.

Ash sat by the window, staring out at the darkened sky. He exhaled slowly, his fingers gripping his wrist to steady himself. His body felt heavier than before, like a deep fatigue had seeped into his very bones.

He knew he should have stopped them.

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He should have said something. Anything.

But the words had died in his throat.

Was it because he agreed with them? Was it because deep down, he, too, was beginning to think that waiting here was no different from walking willingly into death’s embrace?

His stomach twisted painfully. The hunger was relentless. A dull ache that had started as an annoyance was now a gnawing void inside him. His limbs felt sluggish, his thoughts hazy.

He clenched his fists.

This wasn’t just hunger. This was something far worse.

The Desperation of the Starved Mind

Hunger wasn’t just a feeling—it was a force. A quiet, insidious killer that eroded the mind before it destroyed the body.

Humans were rational creatures, but only when their basic needs were met. Food. Water. Safety. These things were the foundation of thought, of reason, of civilization itself.

Take them away, and all that was left was instinct.

There had been studies on starvation before—cases where people deprived of food for long enough began to hallucinate, where their morality became flexible, their sense of time distorted.

People made irrational decisions under hunger.

They turned on each other.

They committed acts they never would have imagined.

Ash could already see it happening here.

Vanessa’s outburst earlier—the way she had snapped over food, the way no one had rushed to stop her—was proof of that. The human mind was strong, but it had limits. And once those limits were breached, all that was left was survival.

Rationality would crumble. Fear and desperation would take its place.

Ash exhaled.

We need a change.

If nothing changed, they would collapse under the weight of their own despair.

If no food came, if no plan was made, the fragile peace in this room would shatter.

It wouldn’tbe a monster that killed them.

It would be themselves.