I haven’t heard any animals since everything started. Usually you can hear the birds from classrooms on a good day, with how thin the walls are, but I can’t even hear them from the roof. And trust me, I tried. I went up their last night to get some sort of air away from the mugginess of a hundred sweaty teenagers. But the silence was even worse. God, I have a cat at home. I keep thinking about her. I hope she’s okay. I don’t remember anyone leaving any windows open when I left for school, but it’s been a couple days, so my memory is questionable at best.
This morning, ten of us woke up sick. Myself included. Fever, nausea, congestion. I overheard Ms. Whittaker talking to Ms. Young. She thinks a few of us have pneumonia. As soon as they found out we were sick, a mass effort was made to tape off any vents and doorways to the outside. A sort of makeshift quarantine, school-wide. I heard they managed to reclaim the cafeteria somehow, but I honestly don’t want to go there.
I don’t think all the bleach in the school could clean up that much blood, and god knows what they did with the bodies. They did, on a brighter note, get the generator up and running. It’s nice to have light again, especially in the bathrooms. Pissing in the dark is no easy task, let me tell you that. I got urine on my hands and pants more than once. Never more have I wished I had a dick, but I think even if I did, it would’ve still been a hassle. We only have about a weeks worth of gas, so we shut it off during the daylight to conserve it.
Audrey won’t talk to me about her hand. I’ve tried asking her what Mr. Wardell told her, but she won’t budge. She just stares off into the distance, and gives a small shrug of her shoulders. Whatever it was, I can’t imagine it was good news. I would’ve given her a hug, but it was advised we avoid physical contact with those ill for the time being. Which unfortunately, once again, includes me. I can’t count the number of times I’ve dry heaved on my own snot. I woke up around three in the morning, gagging and coughing. I was hesitant to fall back asleep. There isn’t enough room to sleep on our side in the auditorium, and aspirating is a very real fear of mine. I doubt it’s realistic, but it’s a fear nonetheless.
I’m burning up at 102 last we checked, which is just perfect. A few of the students are rambling about the fog and this being related, but there was a pretty bad bought of the flu going around my town before we got locked up in here. I have no doubts that some kid’s asshole parent made them come to school and they managed to infect us all.
Ashley’s finally stopped crying. I think she realized that it won’t do her any good, and was actually doing the exact opposite- I noticed a lot of the students avoiding her last night. Emotions can be caught just as easily as a virus. I think most of us have shut down to avoid that at this point. No one wants to be exposed and vulnerable at this point in time. That being said, there are a couple students who aren’t keeping to themselves. Bringing water to those of us that are sick, blankets to those shivering, and at one point a couple kids got some instruments out of the band room and played a couple songs. It was actually…really nice. It makes you forget, at least for a bit, the severity of the situation we’re in. The ones helping are trying to do more than survive- something that a lot of us aren’t attempting at this point in time.
The situation has reached a pinnacle of severity, though. We only have enough food for a couple weeks. A few of us are diabetic, or have chronic or mental illnesses. Medications for which, we don’t keep at school. I haven’t had Ambien in three days. The nightmares for me are horrific. I would do anything to make them stop, and I know this is only the beginning for me. I can’t imagine what withdrawals some of us are going through, especially the drug dealers. I’ve seen a couple people pace down the hallways when they thought no one was looking, or slither off into an empty room. We’ve had a couple kids have complete breakdowns, be them sobbing or fits of anger. We had a panic attack or two last night. On top of those fucky issues, two of the kids had a fucking fistfight in the hallway. I heard the shouting. It kept me up. At some point, the teachers broke it up, but it’s clear tensions are building fast.
Too many hormonal kids stuffed in a room together without medication. I want to feel bad for my classmates, I really do. But I just find myself stuck on the most mundane things possible. I guess I’m avoiding the situation, in a way. On the bright side, we can’t exactly take finals at a time like this, so studying isn’t really necessary (though I have seen a couple of the AP students in the library hunched over stacks of study guides- weird kids, those are. Whatever helps you cope though, I guess.)
A lot of you wanted me to wander off on my own. I’m glad I didn’t, both because of my lack of skills and sudden sickness, and also because I spotted a familiar face in the crowd once the lights were on. Seth and I have been friends since Freshman year, so it was a happy reunion. He gave me back the book he borrowed a couple days ago (it feels like weeks as of now) and it was one of my favorites, so when I’m able to I’ve been reading that. I was fucking dying of boredom. Survival is really dull after a while of it.
I did find a couple manuals in the library for water filtration and shared them with Ms. Young. She agreed on both this and reaching out to the news outlet, so our day has mostly been focused on those two things. Audrey got in contact with her cousins, who finally got one of the guys at the blockade to talk. Somehow. He confirmed that it’s a chemical spill, and that they’re working on resolving the issue. They can’t, for their own safety, attempt a rescue operation until everything is cleaned up. There’s no telling how long it will take, though. I’ve heard they’re still trying to keep it on the down low, but I’ve been trying to avoid the news lately, so I don’t know for sure. I do know that the fog is getting worse, somehow. You can hardly see outside the second story anymore, and it crawls over the edge of the roof according to some band kid.
Some kid named Brady did go missing. They thought they managed to wall of the Language hall, but the stupid fuck went and opened the goddamn doors. Managed to shove the doorstop under it, too. We’re lucky the teachers walled off the separate hallways. They’re hesitant to let anyone wander near the outside doors now, and have set up a few posts of supervision. Mostly kids who have seen some shit and managed to keep their shit together in the past. They haven’t said that, but I saw Susan chilling in front of the doors to the Math hall, and I know for a fact her family life is fucked. She’s annoying as shit, but I suppose I trust her more than most of the rest of us. I did suggest before Brady went missing that we branch off into several rooms to sleep, so it’s at least less crowded and stuffy, but after everything went down that idea was quickly shot down as well. There goes some peace and quiet.
I heard Mr. Wardell is working with a few of the science buffs to figure out how we can stop whatever is outside from hurting us even more, along with possibly the pipelines so that we have (safely) more water, but between that and kids who were already injured, his hands are pretty full. I did write down all of your suggestions and share them with him, just so he had some sort of starting point. He seemed grateful, so thank you all. One of the kids mentioned that a few of them were trying out some sort of makeshift suit, so more on that later I suppose. I’m worried that one of the teachers will want to test it if he’s telling the truth. They always say women and children first to be saved, but truth be told, the teachers have degrees. They’ve taken a variety of courses and seen much more shit than we have, not to mention have some semblance of mental stability. They aren’t gods, but they’re far more helpful than most of us are. We can’t afford to lose them.
I can’t stop coughing. I need to rest for now. It’s still pretty early in the evening, so I’ll do my best to keep you all updated as the night progresses. In the meantime, if you guys have any advice about fevers, please let me know. We’re too low on Ibuprofen and Tylenol to afford using it just yet, but I’m absolutely miserable.