Chapter 1

A High School in North Carolina, October 23rd, 2025

“Happy Mole Day, everyone!” Barot exclaimed to his 4th-period AP Chemistry class.

The spirits were high. Some of these students only took the class to celebrate the most wonderful of school holidays. That and Mr. Pignota was a great teacher. The material might be difficult, but they all made it fun together. They tried their best to understand the material and to pass the class.

Barot Pignota loved being a science teacher. It was the best of all worlds. He could still be the math-loving scientist that he had always wanted to be, but he could share that love with high school students who, in his humble opinion, were reaching out for something that would interest them educationally.

High school was his favorite group to teach, too, because they were learning so much about who they were and who they wanted to be. There was a lot of heartache with this age group as well considering the home situations that some individuals came from. Barot believed that school and being away from everything else could be a great equalizer if the kids allowed it to be that way.

Barot had made dirt cake for his students to help celebrate Mole Day, a weird celebration of Avogadro’s number. It was Chemistry’s version of Pi Day on March 14th. His delicious vanilla-flavored dirt cake and those amazing sour gummy worms sticking out of the Oreo “dirt” had everyone very excited!

As he was scooping out portions of the dirt cake for his students, Sarah came walking up to him to ask him about her Lab report when the announcement came out over the intercom. “Teachers, we are going into a lockdown. Please lock your doors and get all students out of the hallways.

Barot was confused. They had just had a lockdown drill a week ago and they only had to do those once a year. Then it dawned on him. They only did a drill once a year…

“Everyone move to my storage room, now,” Barot said, looking around calmly at his students. There was no way that he would show his fear of what could be happening.

Barot raced to the door and set the lock. He looked in the hallway to make sure that the hallway was clear of students. Angie was talking to her boyfriend, Kyle.

“Y’all heard the announcement. Please, hurry up and get in my storage closet with my class.”

The couple decided it wasn’t worth arguing about, so they sauntered over to Barot’s class and slowly made their way back with the rest of the students.

Barot watched them go in and stood outside his door for one more long second before he closed his door. Well-intentioned as that long pause was, it allowed for a dark Fate to begin unraveling.

The stairway door slammed open as a figure in a dark mask burst forth. The person was carrying a 12-gauge, sawed-off shotgun in one hand and a Glock with an extended mag was held in the other. The figure swung his firearms toward Barot and the long hallway.

Seeing the weapons, Barot had not hesitated and rushed into his classroom, closing the door and setting the siege block. It would take a lot of time for the attacker to make it through to the inside of his classroom. Barot had been seen, though. His dark room with a table in front of the door window wouldn’t hide the knowledge that there was someone in that classroom.

Barot knew that his classroom would be a target.

He couldn’t let his students get hurt.

That was all that was going through Barot’s mind as he went to his chemical storage and started looking at the substances that he had on hand. He knew that he had a whole bunch of flammable alcohol, but he didn’t want to burn the school down, so he kept looking.

That is when he saw it. His huge container of Calcium turnings. Barot’s mind started whizzing about and an idea started to form in his mind. Maybe the threat of the unknown could scare off this intruder.

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BANG!

Someone had just tried to break down his door. Thankfully the locks were all holding…for now.

Barot reached for about 10 balloons and started filling them each with small handfuls of the calcium metal. Grabbing an equal amount of flasks, he filled each with about 100 mL of concentrated hydrochloric acid.

BAM!

Barot looked up and saw wood chips flying around around the handle of the door. Holy Shit! Barot though. This person is really coming after us! I have to move faster.

Barot attached the calcium-filled balloons to each of the 10 flasks and flipped them upside down so that their contents could reach the acid below. The balloons began to grow as hydrogen gas began to fill them all.

POP POP POP!

The handgun was going off but in a different direction than his door. Maybe they had given up?

BAM BAM!

Two more shots rang out and more door buts were flying away. Barot was running out of time and he knew it. He reached for the flask with the largest balloon and pulled out his lighter.

“Stay back… or I’ll …I’ll shoot!” Barot exclaimed to the intruder. “I am alone and armed. This is not a fight you want to pick.” Barot lied to the air.

“Ha! Mr. Pignota. Who da fuck are you trying to fool. You are a fuckin’ pussy ass bitch and you are next on my list, mother fucker.” a muffled but recognizable voice rang out from outside.

Barot knew that voice but couldn’t remember the face that went with it. Too many things going on at once. He knew that he had to continue to try. Barot crawled forward with his balloon-flask and when he thought he was close enough, he clicked on his lighter and put it next to the balloon.

BOOOOOMMMM!

A deep exploding noise and a bright flash of orange-red light emanated from where the balloon used to be as Barot had created a small hydrogen combustion reaction that sounded like the blast of a firearm.

“Fuck!” Barot heard from outside the room. He smiled to himself. Maybe his ploy would work.

“Don’t attack a science teacher in the heart of his kingdom, asshole!” Barot shouted out at the young man outside his door.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three more shots rang out from the shotgun while Barot ran to get the other flasks and some nitric acid from his storage area. He looked at the students in his large storage room. They were terrified. Barot knew he could and would defend them.

“Stay here and don’t make a sound! He doesn’t know that you are here!” He shout-whispered. He slammed the door shut after turning the light off and tiptoed back towards the front of the class. He lit his remaining hydrogen balloons as a deterrent and then waited for the intruder to do something stupid.

That’s when Barot saw a small green eye flit through one of the holes that had been made from the shotgun blasts. Knowing that the eye had seen him and would likely retaliate, Barot splashed the caustic Nitric Acid toward the small green target. Nitric acid burns suck when they are just on your regular skin, but coming into contact with the soft jelly-like structure of the eyeball, Barot knew that he had just permanently blinded this individual forever in one eye.

“AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!” Barot heard out in the hallway as he knew that his maneuver had succeeded.

Barot stood up thanking God himself that he had been able to press through. Surely, whoever was outside wouldn’t be able to continue through that pain.

Barot made a big heavy sigh. He had been able to protect his students and he was going to be able to go home and see his family tonight, both of which he had been unsure of 20 seconds before.

POP! POP!

Barot heard the click and firing of the weapon way before he felt the pressure and pain in his gut. Barot sat down in his favorite chair in front of this closed storage room door and put his hands down toward his belly. His hands came back wet and sticky.

Barot chuckled. This was one of my wife’s favorite shirts. She is gonna be pissed that I got two holes in it.

Behind the classroom, new noises were starting to ring out.

“Chaz Underwood, we know who you are. This is the Kernersville Police Department. You need to put your weapons down before you hurt someone. Do it now and you might still have a life after today!”

“Oh shit, he reaching up!”

POW! POW! POW!

The sound of a sack of potatoes being dropped outside his door rang out. Chaz? Barot thought. Chaz graduated. Why is he in the hallway?

There was a knock at the door.

“Mr. Pignota, are you there?”

Barot tried to stand, tried to respond. Nothing came out. Then all he knew was blackness and three words flashing across his vision.

YOU HAVE DIED!