The giggling ceased when the class realised their teacher wasn’t joking. A chemical attack had infected a student. The virus was highly contagious, and the school would go into immediate quarantine. Anyone attempting to leave would be shot on sight.
 The teacher instructed the silent, dumbstruck faces to write letters to their parents.
‘It may be the last contact you have, so make the words count.’
 The hard kids failed to hold it together. Pens scrawled. The clock ticked and tears dripped onto paper.
 This would make up for all the times they had locked her in the stationary cupboard.