Chapter 23: Dino Drill
Ethan did not know what the siren meant. He was just aware that sound exploded in his head. A repeating, high pitched, loud sound that caused him to bury his head in his arms to escape it. Only moments later, he felt a hand rubbing his back.
"It's just the alarm," Teacher Dex's voice was calm. "We have done drills before, we know what to do." Ethan was aware of movement around him and then felt the hand that was rubbing switch to lifting. He allowed himself to be pulled up and looked around him. All the kids were in a line at the door, Sienna was the one, pulling him to his feet. They joined the line, though Ethan's hands were still pressed against his ears. It was just so loud!
"Are there dinosaurs attacking?" He heard a boy's voice between the wails.
"We're going to assume it's a drill, but treat it like it's real, okay," Teacher Dex responded. "That means, we are going to be super careful, but we're going to be okay." He led the kids out of their ground level classroom, across the grounds and up a stairway that spiralled around a tree that was so wide it would take ten kids to encircle it. Before climbing, Teacher Dex paused for a head count, then led them upwards. The kids followed in a straight orderly line. Another class of kids mirrored them, climbing up the next tree over. It was all so smooth, that if it hadn't been for the blaring siren, no-one would have guessed that there was anything to worry about.
At the top of the stairs, there was a large room suspended between four trees, each one as substantial as their own. Even with his ears buried, Ethan noticed the supports keeping it in place. Considering it was suspended between four trees, it looked pretty secure. The trees were huge and each bridge across to the balcony that surrounded it was short, wide and flat - no crazy swinging suspension bridges here - all supporting the structure in the middle. The wide bridges meant the whole class was sitting cross-legged, in a line, in the room in less than a minute. It didn't take long before several other classes had also sat in their own lines. Each of the teachers were busy calling names and checking all the kids were accounted for.
It didn't take long for the excitement of the drill to fade into boredom. Many of the kids turned to their devices to keep them amused. Several kids called their parents, but most parents either didn't pick up or told their kids to "listen to your teacher", "stay safe" and "I love you", before hanging up. It wasn't until Ethan's sharp ears heard a scream in the background of one of the calls, which cut off almost instantly, that Ethan even considered there might genuinely be a problem. Where they sat, they could see a nice view of a cloud strewn sky, with a couple of treetops poking into sight. But they had no idea what was happening on the ground.
The sirens continued. The teachers started fidgeting. Several bunched together whispering.
"Never go on this long."
"...something serious."
"...safe up here."
Ethan couldn't quite make out whole sentences because of the sirens, but caught enough to alarm him. He wanted to share what he'd heard with Sienna, but didn't want his classmates to hear. Without realising it, his foot started beating a regular rhythm.
"Stop it," Sienna hissed, placing her hand on it. He stopped. "What?" she asked. She knew him too well and could see the anxiety on his face.
Silence.
The cessation of that blaring, constant sound was almost deafening in itself. It was several moments before the kids started stirring, and the teachers gathered together.
"Can we go home now?" More than one voice whispered variations on this theme. Ethan, however, inhaled deeply, feeling his ears sooth. His foot no-longer needed to tap. There was just glorious silence. Even the movement of kids' bodies, their whispers, the sound of the wind outside, the rustling of leaves below - none of that disturbed his feeling of peaceful silence.
"We think that means that everything's going to be fine," a tall lady addressed the room. They had been introduced back on the day Ethan and Sienna had come to visit the school. She had had loads of questions and seemed really important, but they hadn't seen her since. "We're going to sit tight a little bit longer though. We want to be really certain everything is safe before we head to ground." She gave a big, warm smile that reached her eyes, but it dropped maybe a second early.
Ethan's ears, still relieved, curiously attended to one soft noise after another. He would have noticed the thuds outside anyway. Lots of thuds. Climbing to his feet, he headed down the line of his classmates to stare out the window. Closer to it, he could see the trees below. Trees that were shaking and jerking. It was not the gentle rustle of a breeze, but sharp motions of things knocking against them. Many things.
Ethan startled as Teacher Dex rested a hand on his shoulder. He had been aware of footsteps approaching, but had been too focused by what was happening below.
"What is it?" Teacher Dex asked, eyes scanning the view.
"Dinosaurs," Ethan whispered. He didn't want the other kids to know. "Lots of dinosaurs."
"How about you keep a watch here, Ethan," Teacher Dex spoke aloud. "It can be your special job." He then stepped carefully across the rows of kids and made his way towards the important lady. They whispered together, then Teacher Dex crossed to another teacher.
Ethan was only kind of paying attention, so was a little surprised when one of the teachers started playing a guitar. It was just a gentle strumming at first.
"I can't seem to get anyone on the phone just yet, so we're going to stay up here for a while." The important lady's voice rang out across the room. "Teacher Tru is going to play for us so we can have a sing-along."
The strumming got louder and soon several kids started singing. Slowly, others joined in until almost everyone was singing. Ethan was surprised they all knew the words. He definitely didn't. It also made it harder for him to hear what was happening below.
Not that it mattered. A second later, the floor juddered beneath them. A kid squealed, but Teacher Tru played louder. A second judder. Several voices started singing really loudly, but some stopped. One even started sobbing. The important lady and a couple of other teachers stepped outside, and returned moments later. The important lady - Principal Laura - the name just popped into Ethan's mind - Principal Laura made a back and forth motion with her hand at her throat, and Teacher Tru stopped playing.
Another shudder.
