Gone

It wasn’t a good sound. It was frightening all by itself, that sound.

“What do we do?” more than one voice asked.

The hall was as full of kids as it would have been during a class change. But people weren’t rushing to their next class, or playing around, or spinning the locks on their lockers. There was no direction. People just stood there, like a herd of cattle waiting to stampede.

“Try 911,” a scared voice demanded

For the first time Sam felt the edge of panic, like a tingling at the base of his spine. His heart was thumping in his chest, laboring as if he’d been running.

“Cable’s out,” Sam said, aware it was kind of a stupid thing to say.

“You can’t tell us what to do.” Belligerent, but not sure of himself, not sure he was right.

Patrick, her yellow Labrador, was in the back, ears streaming in the breeze, tongue hanging out.

Brothers and sisters were together. Friends were together. Some of the really little kids, the kindergarteners, the first graders, were wandering on the grounds, not really going anywhere. They weren’t old enough to know their way home.

Perdido Beach School was a small-town school, with everyone from kindergarten to ninth grade all in one building, elementary and middle school together. High school was an hour’s drive away in San Luis.