Эбби Луби - Nuclear Romance

Diana had just finished her rounds, checking in with all the second-floor teachers, making sure they were ready to spring onto the evacuation buses, even if their arrival was questionable. She went downstairs and navigated through the hallways toward the back door to the playground.

“Diana?”

She reeled around and saw Jane walking out of the teacher’s lounge.

“Oh, Jane. Everything seems to be okay upstairs.”

“Good. Let’s head back to the office. There are more parents outside, and they are getting out of control. The cops are outnumbered.”

“Maybe we can speak to the parents, calm them down about the kids…”

“What would we say?”

“Assure them their kids are alright.”

“It could work. Maybe if they see us and we say something, they won’t be so crazy.”

I have to get to the back door….

“Oh gee, Jane. I forgot to check on Mrs. Aron. She’s a little upset with the prospect of going on the bus—you know—she’s very pregnant and doesn’t want to chance exposure. Let me just run up and reassure her, okay?”

“Okay. But hurry back.”

Diana whisked down the hall, refusing to deal with the number of lies she would be telling before the end of the day. She got to the back door, turned the bolt open, and quickly dashed away, reaching for her cell phone. When she finally got through, Jen answered.

“Diana?”

“Jen. The door’s unlocked.”

Click.

“Diana? Hello? Are you there?”

Jen and Ralph sprinted out to the playground and reached the back door. When they got inside, they saw the Diana retreating down the hall. She glanced back at them and disappeared.

Ralph and Jen bounded up the stairs to Mrs. Aron’s classroom.

“And what do we tell Mrs. Aron when we get there?” said Ralph.

“We tell her we want our kids. What else?”

They got to the top of the stairs and looked down the hall. It was empty, but they could hear the echo of children’s voices from the classrooms with the doors open. “Wait,” said Ralph. “Maybe we can knock on the door and get her attention first, without the kids seeing us.”

“Then what?”

“We can try to convince her, but Jen, I don’t think she’ll give us a hard time. She’s about to be a parent herself, and I think she would understand.”

“Let’s hope.”

They refined their strategy and then checked the hallway. As they walked down the hall, one of the teachers saw Jen through her door. Jen waved and kept walking, relieved that the teacher just nodded, but didn’t get up.

When they got to Mrs. Aron’s room, the door was closed. Just then, Diana came jogging down the hall.

“I’m glad I caught you,” she said, breathless. “Can you take Mrs. Aron with you? She doesn’t want to go on the bus, and I have to stay with her kids.”

Jen and Ralph nodded. Diana said, “Let’s make this fast.”

Diana knocked on the door and walked in. The teacher immediately stood up and grabbed her bag and a satchel of books.

Diana faced the students.

“Hi, kids. I will be with you on the bus because Mrs. Aron has to leave. I want you to all be ready when Mrs. Bigley calls us to get on the buses, okay?”

Some of the kids shifted in their seats and looked from Diana to Mrs. Aron. Diana nodded to the teacher who brusquely moved toward the door, but she stopped and faced her class.

“You will be fine with Ms. Chase, and I will see you tomorrow. Don’t forget your homework and your study sheet for the test on Friday.”

Diana looked at Ricky and Julie. Here goes. She held the door open for the teacher, and, as if she almost forgot something, she said, “Oh, and Ricky and Julie, can you come here?”

Confused, the two kids gathered their stuff and followed the teacher out the door. They were surprised to see their parents. Jen held her finger to her lips and pulled them out of view of the rest of the classroom.

From inside the class a kid raised his hand and didn’t wait to be called on.

“Where are they going?”

“They need to go on a different bus,” Diana said. That must be lie number 400. She propped the door open with her foot so the students would see her and stay in their seats. She turned to the teacher who started to walk down the hall.

“Wait, Mrs. Aron. Please come back,” Diana spoke just above a whisper.

“Why?” the teacher inched back to her.

“I think you may want to go with Jen and Ralph. They are leaving out the back.”

“What do you mean? Why can’t I go out the front and to my car?”

“You can try, but you’re going to have a problem,” Diana said, glancing in to the students. “The police are here, and they’ll give you a hard time. Besides, if the other teachers see you leaving, it could cause more trouble. They’d see you abandoning ship.”

“But they know that I’m pregnant. They would understand, wouldn’t they?”

Diana gently placed her hand on the young teacher’s shoulder.

“Folks aren’t too understanding right about now, Gail. You will attract the least attention if you went with these folks. Please go, and here.”

Diana pulled a small bottle of pills out of her pocket and gave them to Ralph.

“Here, take these pills, directions on the bottle.”

“What are they?” asked Ralph.

“K-I pills. Potassium iodide. It prevents thyroid cancer. All of you should take it. Now go!”

Jane’s voice came booming through the speakers.

“Attention all teachers: we just heard that the buses will be here in about ten minutes, so make sure you and your students are ready. Again, we are evacuating the building so each teacher needs to be with her students. We will call classes one at a time to board the buses when they arrive. That’s all for now. Everything is under control.”

Right, Diana thought.

The five hustled away through the hall and bounded down the stairs. When they got to the first floor they paused and listened. The back door was at the end of an adjacent hall. Surprisingly no one was in the hallway, and they quickly walked past the long line of classrooms. Luckily all the classroom doors were closed.

They slowed as they got to the end of the hall, and Ralph peeked around the corner down to the back door. Many teachers had their doors open, which was against security rules, but this wasn’t your ordinary school day, was it?

“Okay kids. Let’s just walk regular—like we’re not in a rush,” said Ralph.

As they headed toward the back door, the hall seemed to get longer. One teacher looked at them from her desk and started to get up, but Jen nodded at her and kept going.

“Just keep walking like you’re doing,” Jen whispered.

Finally they got to the door and quickly stepped outside.

“Our cars are a little less than a mile away,” said Ralph. “Can you walk that far Mrs. Aron?”

“I’ll try.”

“Okay. Let us know if you need to stop.”

From the TV news helicopter the five-mile gridlock looked like a giant mass of metal. The raging horns, the futile blare of chaos, had died down. An occasional beep echoed in the sprawl. People jumped out of their cars and fanned out, frantic to get to their kids or to the safety of their homes. Cars were locked and left on the shoulder and on the road, which added exponentially to the expanding traffic jam.

At the newspaper, reporters were at a standstill, and they huddled in front of the TV. They needed to jump on this story, talk to folks who were stuck. But how? Cell phone connections were intermittent, unreliable. Forget driving anywhere.

The ire of bus drivers attempting to rescue students was growing; getting stuck in traffic was their worst nightmare. Fearing exposure to radiation, they tightly shut all the bus windows and sat in a tomb of airless heat.