Pam took a left down the hallway and frowned when she saw it was just a closet for the custodians, a set of vending machines, the administration office and a fire exit. "Great, I thought I had it right," she said, grumbling.
"Counselor, you shoulda asked Ralph to give ya better directions or seen if there was a map of the classrooms," said Bill.
"Bill, what are you still doing here?"
"Well, it's easy to get lost here. You need a map to find the bathroom," said the agent and shook his head. "Then again, even if they had a map, there'd be no numbers, only the little arrow saying 'you are here.'"
"Funny, Bill. Come on, let's go back over to Ralph's classroom and see if he can help me out," said Pam as they turned back around and headed out of the hallway.
"Good idea. He probably is the only one here who could tell ya where the cafeteria ladies keep the plastic dinnerware," said Bill, only to see Pam glare at him. "C'mon Counselor, that's a compliment. 'Course, with that class he has, probably a good thing to know in case he has to hide somewhere."
Pam shook her head. "True, especially since they're the reason he's been tired ..." she stopped when she felt a little dizzy and staggered.
Bill, frowning, steadied her. "Counselor, you all right? You look a little pale."
"Fine, Bill. But it was funny," she said, slightly confused. "Feel like I have butterflies in my stomach..."
"Don't blame ya, given you're going to talk to a buncha debaters..."
Pam rolled her eyes. "We'd better head over to his classroom before he gets into his lesson. If he does... it's too hard for anyone outside the class to talk to him until the bell rings."
Bill chuckled and the two headed back toward Ralph's class.
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Ralph was discussing the Spanish American War when he felt dizzy and sat down hard on his desk.
The class jumped up when they also saw him pale and lean over slightly, rubbing his eyes. "You all right Mr. H?" asked Cyler, concerned.
The blonde-haired man nodded. "Yeah, fine Cyler, just a slight dizzy spell. It's been a long day on top of the fight, but if I feel worse, I'll let you guys know. Now, everyone, please sit back down..." he paused when he saw the picture frame on the wall move back and forth slightly.
The class saw it too and froze. Rhonda swayed slightly, and Tony steadied her. "You all right Rhonda?" asked Ralph.
"Mr. H, I'm feeling a little dizzy myself," said Rhonda. "That and like there are butterflies in my stomach..."
"Me too," said another student.
Listening, they heard the birds abruptly stop chirping. It was as thought the world outside was silent. "What the..." said Tony, just as the ground started to shake.
"Earthquake, everyone under your desks," shouted Ralph as the shaking intensified. Everyone scattered, and Ralph himself ducked into the door jamb, just before the light fixture crashed on his desk. He turned at the sound, only to receive a blow to his head from the debris falling around him. Vision dimming slightly and feeling dizzy, Ralph slid down the edge of the jamb, sitting down and vaguely hearing the class yelling over the sound of the quake...
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Pam and Bill stopped when they felt the ground shake. "Hold on Counselor," said Bill as he dragged the two of them under a door jamb, just as the lockers started to move around and fall. Bill shielded Pam from any debris that was falling.
After a couple of moments, the ground rolled, knocking the two of them out from under the door jamb into the nearby classroom. Bill was thrown into an open area, rolling into a duck and cover position under a classroom desk...
Pam, however, was not so lucky as she fell into the teacher's desk. She felt a sharp pain in her ribs and head when they made contact with the edge of the desk as she fell to the floor. Groaning, she managed to crawl under the desk, rolling up into a ball for protection before mercifully passing out from the pain...
