April 29, 2024
Cafeteria
Quinn's POV

Screams erupted in the Cafeteria as Students scramble to get away from the shooter. I standed there frozen in place, Jeremy tugged at my arm to try and get me to follow him. "Quinn We have to go!" He screams

A boy fell right by me. A sophomore his name was Alex I think. He quit band after the first day. But he was the top of her class, smart. He was getting out of high school early. He was shot in the leg, blood dripping down.

I reached down trying to help him up, Jeremy came by my side and helped me, we finally started walking fast, trying to move as quickly as we can while helping Alex. More shots rang out.

Bang, Bang, Bang.

More screaming, I looked back to see a few people who were injured trying to get away. We didn't follow the crowd that was pushing to the classroom hallways by the office. We tried going to a janitor's closet or to the gym where classes were going on.

Bang, Bang, Bang.

Alex screamed out as he dropped to the floor he was shot again, Jeremy and I scrambled to help him, he was crying now. "Go! Hide! I'll only slow you down!" He tells us

"But-"

"Go!"

Jeremy grabs my hand and we start running down a nearby hallway. We can hear Sean laughing. We tried every door, they were all locked until a classroom door was open. We went inside and no one was there. We tried to find a door lock that every classroom had but this one didn't have one.

This classroom has not been used ever since my freshman year. We went to the back of the classroom and hid behind some desks. Breathing heavy. "Are you okay?" Jeremy asks.

I didn't say anything. I just looked at the door, waiting for it to open and the shooter to enter. "Quinn!" Jeremy whispered-yelled again.

I turned to him, "What?" I whispered

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asks, looking me in the eyes. Shots still could be heard.

"No im not okay! There a fucking shooting!" I yelled at him. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand." Jeremy says.

Just as he finished his sentence, my phone buzzed, I looked at my phone, it was an Instagram notification.

'Anonymous4756392 tagged a location you are always at.'

I opened the app and there was a post, a guy in a mask took a photo with a body. "Oh God." Jeremy says.

"Today will go down in history as the worst school shooting after my favorite Influencers, the Columbine high shooters. #LOL #SchoolShooting #History #McCullumhigh #Columbine"

"What the actual fuck." I say as I can hear more shots and screams but this time it's very far. I put my phone back into my pocket.

Jeremy goes to check the door and make sure nobody was coming this way. "I think we should be okay here. We need to call 9-1-1."

I took out my phone again, my lock screen showing. A photo of our marching band at band camp, my last ever time there. I unlocked it to see another photo, Phoebe and I when we are little. I hit the phone app and dialed the number and put it up to my ear. "I'm Sorry the number you put in is not available." An automatic voice said.

I ended the call and tried again but got the same automatic voice. "It keeps telling me the number is unavailable." I whispered to Jeremy as he came back to me.

"Let me try." He takes out his phone and does the same. "Shit, I have no signal." I looked back down at my phone to see that I don't have a signal either.

Jeremy looms at me. "Come help me move some desks in front of the door." I slid my phone into my pocket, and followed Jeremy. We moved a desk in front of the door, then put two on top to block the door and did it again so there were 8 desks in front of the door.

We made our way back to the back of the classroom, I opened my messages and tried to send a message to Phoebe.

"There's a shooter somewhere, tell the teacher. Where are you?" I sent it. It failed to send, so I did it again. It failed again. I clicked the message and put it as 'send as a text message.' It turned the blue message into a green one, and this time it was sent through.

"I got a message through." I whispered to Jeremy as he tried the same on his phone.

"Who did you send it to?"

"I sent it to my sister to make sure she was alright, i'm gonna try to send one to my mom." He nodded and I looked down on my phone and found Mom in messages, and typed out a message.

"Mom, There a shooter in the school, call 9-1-1, I don't know where Phoebe is, I love you, please tell Dad I love him too." I sent out the message as a green one, and slid my phone into my pocket. I told Jeremy that I sent a message.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A voice came over the speakers, "Staff and Students we are in a lock down. This is not a drill. Stay in your classrooms, This is an active shooter in the building. I repeat, there is an active shoo-"

Bang!

A shot could be heard over the intercom, there were screams and even more shooting, and laughing. "Hello McCullum High." A different voice came over the intercom. I thought I could recognize the voice but I didn't know. "Yes Indeed I am shooting up the school." The person laughed.

"You should call your family and tell them you love them. You won't make it out of here alive, instead you will be carried out in a body bag." He laughs, Shivers went down my spine. "I will go to every classroom shooting until every one of the classroom, I was in."

He sighs. "And of course you guys will try to escape but I barricaded some of the doors shut, during the early school hours while everyone was in their classes, before Senior Celebration." He paused for a moment.

Another voice could be heard pleading to the shooter he laughed and said something to the person and a shot rang out, the person screamed. "That's what you get for snitching on me." I put a hand over my mouth trying not to scream as a tear came rolling down my cheek, He shot again. "That's what you get for never shutting up." The wasnt a scream or anything, the person was dead.

There was breathing over the intercom and the person laughed again. "Good Luck."

Word count: 1163