“Hi, Ms. Chase. Thanks for telling us what’s going on at school. Is there any way we can get in the building to rescue our kids?”
“Look, we never spoke, get it? I can try to unlock the back door in the next ten minutes, but no promises. I can’t believe I’m saying this.”
“Thanks, Ms. Chase. Your secret is safe.”
He gave Jen back her phone. “She’s a good one, that Ms. Chase. We should have no problem if she can unlock the back door.”
“Then what?”
Ralph didn’t answer. He hadn’t considered where they would go, or even a safe place to go. Could they get to their cars and drive far away from the plume? And where exactly was the radiation at that point? If the roads stayed as jammed as they are now, where would a safe place be within walking distance?
“I don’t know, Jen. We’ll cross that bridge….”
Chapter 21
The policemen spread out, trying to cover a wider area in front of the school doors. One pressed a walkie-talkie to his ear.
“Can’t get through,” he said.
“What are we supposed to do?” asked a younger cop.
Earlier, when the police were sent to the school, they had strict orders not to allow parents to go inside. It was the law, and they had to maintain order.
But in the last fifteen minutes, a mob of angry parents had marched down the driveway and closed in on the cops who were trying to hold the line in front of the school. If they let them inside, it would be pandemonium, something they were explicitly told to avoid. Why couldn’t parents just drive to the reception center to get their kids?
They needed some direction but couldn’t get through to their lieutenant. Cut off from the outside world meant they didn’t have a clue what was going on. For now, they would just have to hold their ground, no matter what.
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.”