The day was overcast. The clouds above ranged to a darker almost black colour as they cast darkness in the air.
It was just after dinner around 1 pm and the wind had started picking up from an otherwise mild kind of day. The windows had been open at the college the students on the second floor were returning to their last lesson of the day.
Carmel, the class teacher arrived in the lesson followed by Linda the class sat down by the computers and logged on. '" I am going to call you one at a time." Linda Said. By now the clouds had given way and the wind had grown fiercer, rain poured from the sky.
Downstairs on the first floor the window flung open this morning was now bringing the wind and rain inside to the open electrical wires that hung down. Rain touched the wires dampening them causing them to spark. The billboard on the first floor read.. "Make the most of life once it is over, it is over."
Back upstairs unbeknownst to everyone the lights were flickering on and off and dimming down to almost darkness but because the windows in the room were open no one noticed.
With the radio on and the class working no one noticed the gust of wind and rain spray over the computers in front of the window. The first song came on the very popular radio station while Shaun turned it up the class enjoyed the music while Linda called them up one by one. First Kathryn, then Ellie and the girls that were in the corner. All until It was Alex and Jodie's turn. One of the girls was missing from the room she had wandered out a little while earlier and came back just as Burn had finished playing on the radio and the class were now picking what they were playing. From the lifts you could hear music coming from the staff room. No one else was in the corridors the only sounds were the music playing in each of the classes and the staff room. As the lights continued to flicker on and off but not go out completely.
Back in the room Carmel was writing the weekly plan on the board while the class swiveled in their seats to face it. Chatter from the girls made Carmel turn around and say. "I got my eye on you girls." They just laughed and noted down the information.
Jodie felt uneasy. The breeze wasn't as warm anymore and the rain was heavy and loud. She looked around the room as everyone was getting on with their work. Carmel was writing the schedule still on the board and handing work back to everyone. After 4 different songs on the radio one of the girls in the corner stuck a song on YouTube "Love the way you lie." Boomed through the walls making the building shake. There was nothing out of the ordinary but she just couldn't shake off the feeling. "Jodie?" Alex had come and sat down beside her with her work that Carmel had just given back. "Jodie, Vicky, Leah, Brittany." Carmel was calling everyone.
Just as Jodie stood up she felt something sticky on her chair. Chewing gum had stuck to her hooded top and she wiped it away. Great. She thought.. She got her work and sat down at her computer just has it frozen. She sighed and rubbed her head stressed and tired. The computer showed a blank black screen. She turned it off and on and it still wouldn't work. Alex was still working on her computer that seemed to work fine.
Downstairs in the canteen the kitchen was in full blow the kitchen staff was all cooking. But one of them had left one of the gas hobs on that they used to cook and had gone outside for their break. The others hadn't noticed the hob on and continued working in the hot kitchen as the cool windy air flew through the window. The rain still strong outside as they cooked and prepared meals for the evening students. the cook turned the dial on the hob on and placed a pan on top of the fire. He then walked away and left the pan to boil as the wind blew the flame it split onto the other hob creating a second fire that no one noticed.
Back upstairs the lesson was slowly coming to an end. Paige had left the room to go to the toilet and all but one window had been closed. Everyone had a choice to which song to put on from No air to solo and finally stand by me which was a teacher's choice.
The smoke drifted upwards from the canteen hob where everyone had left to go and have a break. This set the fire alarms off in the building.
Upstairs the fire drill ringed and the class stopped what they were doing. Carmel waited for the ring to be continuous as they sat next to their computers. By now three of the computers had stopped working and the students had to move seat.
The wind blew a lone leaf through the window and onto the floor as the fire alarm continued to ring and by now everyone scrambled out of their seats and out of the door. Kathryn took longer than anyone else grabbing her back and phone and making her way to the door. On her way out she slipped on the leaf placed on the floor and fell flat on her back. Laughter erupted from the class as Kathryn still in shock lay there on the floor. It was obvious she was alive but she didn't move in time for the light to flicker off and spark. The attention then went to Shaun who took his phone out as Burn played through his pocket. He quickly turned it off as the light fell from the ceiling still sparking and electrocuted Kathryn.
The class screamed as they all stumbled out of the room where the rest of the college were now making their way downstairs. The halls were crowded and people were pushing as the fire drills yelled out. Ellie was in the middle of the crowd being pushed and scratched so much her face was cut and bloody but they managed to pull her hair tie out so her hair wildly flew around and got trapped in the doors which were now stuck tight. People were still pushing Carmel and Linda were shouting instructions but no one was listening. They were trying to pull the doors open while Ellie was struggling with her hair in the doors. Her head was now twisting at an angle as she tried pulling her hair out of the door. Eventually the doors were open and Ellie got her hair out of the way but the stress from holding the door was too much and the doors slammed shut crushing her head in the progress. Screams erupted from the crowds as people finally managed to break the glass and climb through the glass to the stairs. The stairs were already crowded and screaming could be heard from upstairs... the staff room still had the same song playing as it had been abandoned.
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
Just those words repeated on a loop as if someone had tampered with the radio or CD.
Carmel who had watched Ellie had decided to escape the other way down the fire exit route. She ran the corridors that were streaming of people and to the stairs at the other end. The stairs were still busy but not as busy and people were sensibly running down to the bottom floor as crashing from ahead motivate them to rush. Carmel arrived at the stairs her heel snapping from the tension of her running she didn't seem to notice as someone was humming. Let it slip from the toilets. Her heel rolled to the corner of the stairs but stopping before falling as Carmel ran to the stairs tripping on the heel and being flung to the bottom where she fell out of the 1st floor window and straight into the fence that sliced through her body killing her.
Brittany, Chelsea and Jess were pressing the lift button. The top of the lift scrolled across danger in bright red but no one noticed. The doors of the lift flung open and they got in pressing the ground floor. The doors shut as the lift numbers changed from 1 to 4 to 3 so the lift didn't know what direction to go by. It finally started going up so Chelsea jabbed at the button more to make it go down and the red digits read -1 no such floor existed!
The lift then started going down fast and faster as the lights flickered on and off and the girls screamed holding onto each other. Their phones fell from their pockets were one of them started playing. In my head
It collapsed to the bottom causing enough tension that the girl's bones came through their knees with an ear piercing crack. They fell to the floor scrambling as they couldn't walk anymore and looked up too late for the lift ceiling to come crashing down on them flattening them all.
The door was blocked; the kitchen staff could not get in all they could see was the glow of the fire spreading through the kitchen and into the canteen where the few students there fled the scene. Shaun Niamh and Linda all reached the stairs on the second floor as a crowd of people also reached the second floor. The stairs gave weight causing the screws to fall out and the stairs to crumble making naimh topple down them and break her neck. The radio from the kitchen played Love the way you lie
Shaun was trapped between the stairs. Linda was on the top half that were still stable and Shaun was hanging off the bottom half. She stretched her hand to him but it was too short he couldn't reach as he dangled on the stairs where a huge gap between the stairs and ground floor stood and Shaun was trapped. Everyone on the floor was trapped. The stairs were giving weigh again up ahead. The crumpling rubble covered Shaun as he hung on for life. It made the floor above come crashing down trapping Linda in place and crushing her legs.
The heat from the fire had almost destroyed everything as most of the staff and security had tried to tame it but failed and evacuated people from the building who scrambled in a panic. The fire extinguisher was shaking violently as the pressure from the fire lifted the extinguisher off its stand and made it shot off like a bullet through the open double doors to the empty corridor and through Shaun's body puncturing a hole through him. The sounds from outside as people witnessed this was deafening. The song playing in the air was can't say no.
Back upstairs on the second floor that was now empty except for Linda who was trapped. Linda tried to get out but struggled under the rubble half of the people trapped on the stairs had died under the stairs when they collapsed. Vicky had watched it all and even saw Shaun being punctured.
She knew she didn't have long to get out of the building before it all collapsed and she would be crushed. She had already tried some of the rooms but the windows were locked tight. Vicky got through the double doors where Ellie was still laying. The doors were covered in blood as she walked into the class she was in just an hour before getting on with her work and now she was trying to escape her death. She looked around the room at the computers that were still logged in. Carmel's work was still on her desk. She remembered Carmel telling her she was watching her and wondered if it meant anything. But right now she needed to escape. She climbed up on the desk where the computer behind her she thought was Jodie's but it had a blank screen and the wires in the back were twisted and tangled. Vicky flung the window open to see the roof below. She took a few seconds to analyse the situation see how far the roof was. Below she could see crowds of people rushing out of the college. Panicking she tried to lower herself but it was too high so she dangled from the window ledge stuck. She screamed for help clinging on and trying to get back up but the computer on the other side of the room started fizzing up and sizzling. Vicky watched as it suddenly burst into flames cracking the screen and sending the glass from two computers flying in Vicky's direction hitting her in the eye knocking her off the ledge and sending her crashing through the roof below.
Having finished in the bathroom Paige couldn't get out. It was like someone locked the door from the outside and no matter how she bashed the door it wouldn't budge. She could hear the commotion from outside and this made her panic as she called out for help but everyone else was trying to get out as well. She continued banging on the door as she heard her phone flash as she looked at it it started playing No air she stopped it as she banged on the door again and looked at her hands after which were covered in dirt which was not on the door already. Confused she turned the tap on to wash her hands and the water flowed wiping away the dirt. When she had dried her hands she tried to turn the tap on but it wouldn't budge no matter how much she tried. She didn't think much of it as she used her sleeve to try and open the door but still it wouldn't move. She looked out of the window but it was too high to climb down as the water was now filling up the sink and over flowing along the floor. Paige took out her phone to call someone but the signal on the phone wouldn't let her. Panicking now as the water continued to soak the floor and wash around her feet she screamed and made as much noise as possible hoping someone from outside would hear her but all she could hear was screaming and loud crashing noises. Unaware of what exactly was going on outside she went into one of the cubicles and sat on the ledge to avoid the water.
The ceiling creaked and groaned under the weight as rubble started falling through the ceiling and then part of the ceiling fell down blocking the door so Paige couldn't get to the door anymore. Rubble covered her in dust as she sat in the cubicle watching the water flood around her and realizing she had to get out otherwise she would be dead she came out of the cubicle and by now the water by the sink was knee length. The ceiling continued to crack and fall all around her as the water got higher up until it was up to her chest. By now the door was trapped by the fallen ceiling and now the cubicles had been covered by the ceiling that collapsed around her. The lights came crashing next all around her sparking in the water as they fell and Paige avoided it just. She tried to turn the tap off again but it wouldn't move and by now the water was close to her face. She tried to climb on the sink but it was slippy and wet so she fell back in hit her head and lay on the floor as the water covered her face and she drowned.
Stuck between the stairs injured on both sides of the college Amara and heather lay on the second floor all alone now everyone else had managed to get out but they were trapped by rubble and stone. On the other side of the stairs lay Linda barely conscious. She had seen Shaun be killed and some of her class gone and she were barely alive now to register any of it. She was just waiting for the building to collapse to take her away as all three girls had now witnessed half of the class being killed one way or another and they had heard Paige and the commotion from the bathroom as well they knew she couldn't be alive. By now half of the building had collapsed down most of the lights have sparked and fell off avoiding them but sending them into darkness. All of the windows had smashed and the commotion from outside was deafening people were screaming there were sirens everywhere but no one would come to rescue them they knew the building could collapse any second now there was only so much rubble that could fall and so much ceiling that could collapse before the weight got too much and the whole thing collapsed. Amara and Heather had heard no air in the bathroom while Paige was there but didn't think anything of it as the building creaked and croaked and crumbled even more. Linda was in the same position trapped listening to the cracking of the structure she was definitely trapped the more she tried to get out the more stuck she got and she too was waiting for the building to kill her. It was taking its time as she was now in darkness also but there was no window no glass and the lift was up in flames she could smell the smoke from the kitchen and from the lift.
Outside Leah had gotten out she was panicking about everyone else because she hadn't seen anyone else get out but she lay on the grass covering her face. She had escaped she was free and alive and not hurt at all. When she saw Alex and Jodie get out safely she breathed in relief that she wasn't the only one. Jodie and Alex sat on the bench just by the building while the survivors of the college surrounded the area answering questions from the police who were making rounds and now the fire engine had stopped just outside the college and rushed inside the building to save anyone they could while all the crowd outside could wish and hope their friends were alive.
From the car park the builders next door had their radio on. First I'm yours came on and then Stand by me. The wind continued moving the building viciously from side to side smashing all of the remaining windows and sending bricks flying off into the crowds of people killing them. One of the windows had come out of place and had fallen down right on top of Alex crushing her. Jodie stood there watching Alex's crushed body under the pane of glass until the whole building collapsed quickly falling to the floor sending bricks and rubble everywhere. Linda was dead; Amara and Heather were now dead. Bricks came flying in all directions hitting some people and missing others but one fell right down hitting Jodie in the head sending her flying until she had died..