The doors emit a squeak as they close behind me. I stride down the corridor, checking my watch, which reads 4:10pm. 'Shoot" I think to myself, picking up the pace. 'I'm late, this is the fifth time this month.' As I approach the end of the corridor, I start to hear murmurs and other noises, filling the hallway. Listening closely, I can hear the beats of music, probably coming from the radio. But it isn't just the music I can hear, no, there are other sounds. For example, I can hear Nyx practically screaming the lyrics of the current song playing, as Emma provides backup. I can hear Matthew and Nate basically beg for the singing duo to stop. And on top of all the pandemonium, I can hear snores, probably coming from Jacob, who is always extremely tired at the end of the school day.

Walking through the door, I stand in shock at what I was seeing in front of me. Nyx and Emma have pushed desks together and are prancing around on top of them, as if they were performing at a concert. Matthew and Nate have deserted their complaining and have put their earphones on to block out the commotion around them. Matthew is working on crazy comic strip, while Nate is looking up videos on Youtube. And finally, Jacob is lying on the counter, beside the radio. His face is covered in doodles, done in marker, and his hair is covered in glitter, as he lies, dead asleep in the middle of the hubbub.

The first to notice my arrival is Matthew, who takes out one of his earphones and waves me over. "Hey Asteria, late again?" He smiles.

"Yeah, Mr Boguedouix kept me behind again, apparently I had a break time detention scheduled for Monday past that I 'skipped'. He must have forgotten that today was our first day back from half term, a Wednesday. Anyway, where's Kirsty and Zoe?"

"They've headed down to the kiln, the clay pieces we put in three days ago are ready to be painted."

"Ok, and where's Miss Tabolt?"

"I believe that she headed to the shops quickly, we have no milk."

"Good, I don't think I can handle another hour of school without a cup of tea. Anyways how was your day?"

"It was fairly good, nothing very exciting happened though."

Before I could continue the conversation, I'm tackled by a brunette blur, landing on my back, underneath somebody. "Hello to you too Zoe." I groan, short of breath.

"Asteria, are you ok? I tried to stop her." Kirsty inquires as she tugs Zoe off of me. Matthew reaches out his hand, helping me up. I dust off my skirt before replying. "I'm good, nothing's broken thankfully. Be a bit more careful next time Zoe." Kirsty nods before noticing the two monkeys on the table tops. She gives them a sharp glare, before starting to yell at them to get off the tables. Once the commotion had settled down, we all got to work. Some of us were working on our art diaries, while others were working on sculptures or paintings. The radio singing gently in the background combined with the relaxing, peaceful sunset that glitters through the windows, creates a soothing atmosphere in the room. Then, in a split second, it's not so peaceful.

The music from the radio changed into static, and within seconds, a loud "BOOM!" echoed through the empty corridors of the school, as the building shook to its foundations. The lights flicker, before an electrical surge causes them to shatter. Almost immediately, we drop to the floor, clambering under the desks, Matthew managing to pull Jacob under one. Once the shaking had ceased, we go to get out from under the tables, when Zoe stops us. "Have you guys ever watched the news? If an earthquake has just occured, there is the potential for aftershocks, which are almost as deadly as the main event." She explains. Everyone crawls back under the desks. Everyone except Nyx. "Nyx! Come back!" Nate yells, as Nyx goes running out of the classroom, however, no one wants to follow him.

No one except me. I run out after Nyx, down the twisting corridors, before catching up with him at his locker. "Come on! Open!" He growls. Finally, after it takes a good bashing, the locker door swings open. Nyx quickly grabs a plastic bag that was at the bottom of his locker, before slamming his locker door shut. "No wonder your locker door is hard to open, you keep slamming it shut." I sarcastically exclaim. Nyx just rolls his eyes, starting the walk back to the classroom. We enter the classroom, immediately walking into the crossfire of a raging argument. No one noticed our return, caught up in their yelling. Finally, Nyx had enough of the loud shouts. "QUIET!" He exclaims. The shouting stops momentarily, before it starts up again, this time, aimed at us. After we had settled the others down, and we get back under the tables, I turn to Nyx, who was fishing about in the plastic bag. "What's so important that you had to grab that bag anyway?" I inquire.

"It's a windup radio. I kept it here incase of an emergency." Nyx replies, finally pulling the radio out of the bag. Everyone observes Nyx as he winds up the radio. At first all the airwaves were static, no stations broadcasting, then, suddenly, a broadcast from the local radio station comes through, full volume, making me jump. We all listen closely as Nyx turns the sound down to a reasonable volume.

"We interrupt your normal broadcast for some breaking news." The radio hosts voice says. "We have reports that parts of Great Britain have just been hit by a number of bombs. No ordinary bombs, no! Scientists have studied footage of one bomb dropping and have announced that it was a special bomb designed to hold a disease or some form of chemical. These bombs have caused a minor earthquake and power outages nationwide, however the power is reportedly going to be back soon. As of yet, we don't know what kind of disease or chemical was in the bombs, but from what I hear, the scientists are working to classify how threatening it is to the population. Officials have stated that the best thing to do is to stay indoors and to close all windows and doors. This station will keep you updated as news comes in. Goodnight and stay safe." The voice fades off before the music resumes, sounding overly cheerful for what news had just been announced.

We stood still for a few minutes, shocked. Our normal evening had just been interrupted, and I doubted that it would ever be the same again. Jacob was the first to shake out of his shock. "Alright, you guys heard the man! Seal up any open windows and outer doors. We meet back here in 10 minutes." He commands. "Emma, you take the HE and RE corridor. Asteria, you get the IT and Art corridor. Kirsty, you and Matthew tackle the Girls gym. Zoe, you and I will take the Boys gym. Nyx, you take the Geography and History corridor and that leaves Nate with the PE corridor, ok?" The seven of us nod before we head out into the significantly darker corridors.

Using the flashlight on my phone, I check every classroom down the corridor, closing any open windows. I then lock the entrance that I had walked through, quite literally, less than half an hour before. Once all outer doors and windows had been secured in my assigned corridor, I wandered off to aid Kirsty and Matthew. Once the entire upper building was secured, we regrouped in the art classroom. After an anonymous vote, Jacob and I were voted as leaders, so we sat in the art store room planning out what to do next by torchlight. The rest of our group sat in the candlelit classroom, continuing their artwork, every so often winding the radio up a bit.