Chapter 51 - The Sixth Person

As I was wondering where the sixth person is, the Principal barged in the office looking worried.

"What happened…?" I asked.

"… He is gone," she said.

"Let me guess," I said, "There was a sixth person who you shot and you believed he died but now he is gone." But how did he escape, that's a question we need to know.

"That's right. There is a window almost double your height above the stairs, but it's not for opening-"

"Between the gunfight, they broke that window letting one of them escape. They already knew that they were going to die either way." Now I get it.

"Again. That's right," she said.

"But how come no one noticed this?" there were at least 6-7 people. If they are letting people escape like this then this secret organization is nothing but a cakewalk for the HYDRAs.

"Well… when my subordinates saw a hostage they panicked a little because I assured them that there will be no one on the school premises. Then all their focus was on saving the hostage. Also about the window, it was not there a week ago. They weren't told about the window at all. I installed a window for only sunlight purpose and even I forgot when those people came inside the school suddenly," she said.

The way she talked looked frustrated and that's a natural reaction since the enemy now knows all the approximate number of allies. They know how we are protecting the school and the survivors.

"We can't dwell on the past forever, right? So, what's the next plan? Are we still going to let these students in school or are we sending them back?"

"For starters, we are not letting them go home until it's completely safe." She said.

"But how are you going to keep us safe? The number of people, who are commanding, traps and now they even know that the survivors are in school," I said.

"What do you mean by 'they even know that the survivors are in school'?" she asked.

"Do you know Schrödinger's cat?"

"Yeah, I know. What has this got to do with this?"

"Schrödinger put a cat inside a black box, filled it with poisonous gas. We can't know if the cat is dead or not. It could be both dead and alive. I continued, "Similarly, let's just assume that the HYDRAs didn't know about the students and just sent them to confirm this. If they really wanted them to die they would have don't a better job. They only sent 5 people and they all died too easily. Let me rephrase it- They all were ready to commit suicide. Now they know for sure that these students are here in school and now they just need to send another group but with a better possibility of getting the job done. What's the point if your secret organization can't even think at least this much?"

"… Now then. In about 5 hours they will be waking up. Take them down in the auditorium. Everything has been arranged there." She easily changed the subject but she looked a little irritated. Maybe I was too harsh on the words. But I won't take them back. It's the truth.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked, "Also do I have to take them downstairs myself, or do I have to wait here 5 hours?"

"Whatever suits you," she said while she took both of the pistols and masks we have been wearing for a while and put them inside the same cupboard she took them out.

"Alright I'll do it my way but where are you going?"

"Do you want to come?" she asked as she was walking her way out.

"After this? No. I would prefer to watch these," I said to her. By 'these' I meant the students lying on the door.

I saw the door close slowly as she disappeared.

Now, what should I do with them? I don't really want to babysit and wait for them to wake up. I also don't want to carry them down.

*sigh*

Then something clicked on me. Why not just go downstairs by myself? She said I can do whatever I want. I can write a note saying that the Principal told all of us to come to the auditorium. Through this, I can say also add that I woke up early than them and came downstairs.

Ah, I forgot something. They all saw me spray the sleeping gas so after waking up they all will ask me why I did that and I need to answer them all. She should've told me to at least give me a reason to subdue this. That's why she said to handle this myself. That sly fox.

I'll think about it later. I just want to rest for a bit now. Seeing all this I need to rest.

I took out a piece of paper from the table and wrote a notice for all these students lying down on the floor-

From,

The Principal

I know you all are confused right now. Before answering your questions I want you all to go downstairs and standby at the auditorium.

Signature-

I opened a nearby file on the table to see how the Principal's signature looks like and I copied it on that piece of paper. It was not completely accurate but it's good enough to fool them.

I placed the notice at the center of the table and placed a paperweight on it.

Soon I left the room. I walked down the stairs but I noticed something down the way. There were no dead bodies or anything relating to the attack. I was like in there for 15-20 minutes and all the traces are erased this fast? That's awesome. I tried touching the place the bullet was about to blast my ear.

"Huh?" its color was similar to the rest of the wall but it was a little wet and some of it got in my hand. I guess they are not that awesome. To confirm I touched all the places where the bullet touched the walls. Almost half of it was wet.

But half of it was already dried so in about another 5 minutes the other half also will get dried. They concealed it nicely.

After taking a short look around the area I decided to walk down to the destination.

The sky was crystal clear and soft shades of purples and light blues, and the sun was emanating vivid shades of red and orange. If I told anyone about the incidents about this evening no one would believe me not because it seems fake but the place that I'm seeing right now is so quiet and pleasant that even I would doubt myself one time if I didn't experience it firsthand.

…

I reached the auditorium 5-6 hours earlier than everyone else. Well, it's not that I am early it's that they all are sleeping.

When I reached the auditorium I saw 5 tents which could take 2 people.

I peeked inside the tents out of pure curiosity.

A couple of mineral water bottles in each tent with some store-packed food inside. Then I guess it was true that when the Principal said everything was down here prepared.

"Now what should do…? I said to myself. I couldn't think of anything else except to just sit here empty-handed and wait for them to arrive. But I guess this is also good for now, the silence I loved so much.

…

After waiting for 5 hours I hear the sounds of footsteps. Maybe they woke up.

For the past five hours, I was sitting here thinking about the excuse I should say to them when they arrive, and I gave some serious thoughts on that also.

Yet… I couldn't think of anything. Let's see what happens now. To be honest I was not that much tense about what to say to them rather I was having some different kind of feeling swelling up.

"… What happened back then…?" I heard a faint voice before the door to the auditorium opened.

"Brace for impact," I said to myself.

"Y-you!! What did you do to us…?!" the first one to react after seeing me sitting beside the tents was Roy. He looked so angry right now that the face he was making was kind of funny.

"What do you mean…?" I tried playing the dumb faced.

"Huh! Tell us the truth…!" the yelling was continued by Anna.

"… I don't know what you are talking about…" I said.

"Allen tell us why you u-used that gas and after that, we all fell unconscious," Noah said to me.

Everyone's gaze was at me. All their eyes were filled with suspicion and few of them even showed hatred. Well, it's obvious that only Roy and Anna showed hostility towards me but the others were in doubt.

"I even don't know myself. The Principal asked me to spray that bottle inside the room and I did. After that even I lost consciousness. I don't know after how much time passed but when I opened my eyes I saw myself lying on the floor beside you all," I continued, "I was confused at first but the Principal came into the office right at the same moment and handed me the note that I placed on the table above. So, in conclusion, I was directed to do this and I don't know anything about why she told me to do it." Hmm… I'm kind of amazed at myself. I just thought of this right at this moment and I don't think this seems false either. It's a win-win situation.

"As if we would believe that…!" Roy exclaimed, "Right…?" he looked around to see.

"I don't think he lied," Liz said.

"I also think so," followed by Lily and Harry.

"Wha! You got to be kidding me!" he didn't expect anyone to believe me but instead there are few who took my side.

"M-me also," Selene said in low voice.

"… I also think he is telling the truth," Noah said.

After arguing for a minute or so it was settled as I am telling the truth and not to talk about this again. In the end, Roy had to agree with everyone. The look on his face was worth seeing but what I don't understand is why he is so hostile to me? I don't believe or recall anything I did to him.

All of us took a tent in pairs, of course, boys and girls were separated. I was paired with Peter. I was a little bit frustrated but in this situation, if I took a fight with him it would be too much of a hassle to handle it.

While everyone was talking and laughing I was sitting inside my tent alone. No, it's not like I was being excluded, it was my own choice.

But one thing to take notice of is that the Principal never showed up again. Was it because the HYDRAs sent a real group of mercenaries or were it because she was busy guarding the students. Whatever it was I would ask her in the morning.

As for these people, I ignored them. I ate my food and went to sleep. I'm sure everyone was having bliss. Staying at school without a supervisor and all alone is the best thing that ever could happen to a student. It was a little bit noisy but I still managed to sleep.

…

I don't know the exact time I slept but when I opened my eyes I saw Peter sleeping beside me and a few rappers outside the tent. Maybe the food wrappers. But even in the morning, the Principal was not around rather a huge note was pasted on the wall saying that we can go home now. She never showed up.

This is definitely suspicious. I would definitely as her in the morning.

TO BE CONTINUED…