Roderick jumped down from the box and stood, ashen faced, looking at us. His eyes were wide and the tears flowed down his cheeks.

“What did you see?” Reese asked, her voice trembling. I grabbed her hand and held it tightly, my own throat tight with fear. She gave my hand a squeeze and we stood together waiting for Roderick’s response. In the corner Georgie started to wail and fell to her knees rocking back and forth.

He put his hands up to his face in what appeared to be an attempt to wipe away the tears and what he’d just seen.

“Roderick, what is it? Please tell us, you’re scaring me.” I quivered.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at us and the tears started rolling again.

“Bodies…lots of…bodies.” He choked out. His hands went to his face again to cradle it as he sobbed.

Reese and I gasped in shock and Georgie started screaming. I quickly let go of Reese’s hand and ran to Georgie, falling to my knees to embrace her in a massive hug. She hugged me back and started crying into my shoulder, her tears wetting my t-shirt.

“Are you sure?” Reese asked.

He nodded mutely.

In disbelief Reese went to see for herself. Roderick put an arm out to stop her but she pushed him away. She climbed up on the boxes and tentatively looked out the window. I watched as her face turned pale and she wobbled. Roderick quickly grabbed her as she stumbled backwards, falling from the box she had been standing on. She turned her head away from him and began to vomit violently.

Taking a deep breath, I let go of Georgie and rose to my feet.

“I need to see for myself.”

“No Ariah, that really isn’t a good idea.”

Roderick embraced me and held me tightly. I paused and let his kindness comfort me, but I still had an overwhelming urge to see what had happened. Untangling myself from his arms, I moved towards the window. He grabbed my wrist in another attempt to stop me.

“Let her look Roddy, she’s going to have to eventually.” Reese mumbled before vomiting again. Roderick looked at me sadly and let me go.

I gulped and moved forward. My throat felt tight again. Shaking, I climbed up on the box and looked out. I was definitely not prepared for the scene before me.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The words ‘oh shit’ escaped my lips and I felt tears prickle my eyes. One word described what I saw - carnage. Absolute carnage.

Bodies littered the courtyard in front of the school. Partial bodies at least, most of them looked like they had been vaporised and many parts were in piles of what looked like dark dust.

I started to hyperventilate and my vision started to blur. Putting my hands out in front of me, the concrete wall felt cool unlike what Roderick had encountered with the wooden door.

My stomach started to churn and I felt the bile rise and burn the back of my throat. I turned my head and vomited down the side of the box.

“Are you okay?” Roderick asked quietly, as he came over. He stood beside me and rubbed my back gently just like he used to do when I was sick when we were younger.

I nodded, still looking away from him. The nausea rose again but I managed to suppress it. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, then nonchalantly wiped it down the side of my pants without thinking. I kept rubbing the seams down the sides of my jeans, the feeling of friction under my fingertips had a strange calming effect.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked again, looking at me strangely while I stood there rubbing myself.

I looked at him and stopped the motion. My hands felt hot and clammy, looking down at them they suddenly felt foreign like they belonged to someone else. The room started to spin and I stumbled. Roderick grabbed me and held me gently. Swaying, my legs felt like jelly and I had trouble standing upright. They buckled underneath me and I went to the floor with Roderick supporting me.

“I think she’s in shock.” I heard Reese say.

“I knew she shouldn’t have looked.” Roderick said angrily.

“If we’re going to get out of here, she’s going to see worse I imagine.” Reese replied gently.

Taking a deep breath in, I closed my eyes to calm my racing brain and heart. It was a technique I had learned from a therapist I had been seeing to help me cope with my feelings about Dad’s disappearance.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

I opened my eyes and felt much better.

The high pitch noise started again and I felt my heart drop.

“Quick!” Roderick yelled as he grabbed me and pulled me back into the corner to hide. Reese hurried over to us and fell into Roderick’s arms as we huddled on the floor. I went to grab Georgie but she was no longer beside me. Looking up I saw her running towards the stairs.

“No Georgie, come back!” I screamed. She ignored me and in her panic started crying uncontrollably as she scrambled up the stairs on her hands and knees.

A vibrant pink light came through the window, like a laser it scanned up streaming through the glass in what seemed like waves of light. I saw it scanning up the stairs behind Georgie.

“Georgie! No!” I tried to get up but Roderick pulled me back down.

“Georgie!” I screamed again as Roderick held me. It was too late. The light hit her feet first and she screamed in pain when it made contact. As it rose, her body began to turn to dust and disintegrate into nothingness. Her screams reverberated around the room and I watched in horror as she started to disappear before me.

In a few short seconds she was gone.