Jack stood in the centre of the bubbling crowd. It had started off as one person from each classroom but others from different corridors and classes had left theirs and wandered until they were attracted to the phones like a moth to a flame. He was worried he had made the wrong choice. He wasn't particularly intelligent, like many of the people here who could sort this problem out by the end of the day and be home by supper. He wasn't stupid, he was smart in a technical, practical way, but this wasn't something you could unscrew and replace the battery. But you can't think like that when you're faced with what you're faced with. He was on good terms with almost everyone, which could make problem solving and mediating easier, he was good with people which would make crowd control simpler, he had some other, outside skills too, which could be handy. Jack repeated these things to himself in his head, over and over and over again until he might've believed it if the recurring question 'What's going on, Jack?' was a question he knew the answer to. 

"Alriiiight, one at a time people, one a time. This is tricky, bare with me," Jack said over the anxious chatter of the crowd. "Number one, I do not know what is going on. One of the science nerds said it was an eclipse, and he's currently brainstorming with the others. If anything comes of that, I will let you know," he said, over-pronouncing the last phrase of the sentence. The crowd were not best pleased by his response. [i]Like it or not, that's what you're goddamn getting[/i], he thought. "Number two, I do not know where the teachers have gone. They're just gone. Does anyone know if [i]any[/i] teachers are left? At all? Alright, can someone go check all the classrooms for me? Report back once you've checked every room in the building, clear?" Jack ordered into the darkness, and was sent back a high-pitched young boys voice then the rapid patter of footsteps. Some little kid who wanted to help the big kids. "Number three, I do not know why it's so cold. It's looking like everyone got the shiver at exactly the same time. It's a... [i]mass[/i] thing, I suppose, something that affected everyone. That's all we can figure out," he replied to the questions cawing out in the dark like crows trying to communicate. 

As the crowd quieted, and intelligent conversation started to take place begging the question of [i]what?[/i], Aria ran forth from the black velvet. A young kid who was crazy smart, Jack liked her a lot. When she first came to the school, she was bullied quite badly. He stepped in and said that it wouldn't be a good idea to continue on their current course (thankfully backed up by some jocks, because there was no way Jack could take on that crowd himself). They helped each other out now, like symbiosis, where he ensured she got everything she needed and she did the odd piece of homework for him. She spoke to him about the paper, laughably, and mentioned the computers. "Hey, look, don't worry about the homework right now. That's something to sort out when we figure this out, but the computers thing is interesting, as is the solar flare. So you're saying that the only electronics still working are ones that weren't plugged in?" Jack half-asked, half-pondered. It [i]was[/i] interesting. Maybe they could plug something in and see if it stopped working. If not, maybe it was just the breakers and that needed resetting? "Alright, Aria, listen to me carefully. You remember when you first got here and those assholes would bully you, yeah? Fuck 'em. You're a fully fledged badass now. I need you to be the voice of me for a while, and I need you to go to the library and take them to the auditorium. You [i]tell[/i] them I sent you. You get them to the auditorium, and then you come find me," Jack said. The authority growing in his voice felt comfortable, like it was a pet cat who had been lying still until you stroked it and it started purring, appreciating the comfort.

When he finished speaking to Aria, a familiar voice broke the black. Robyn was alright. She collided with him and sent him stumbling back, but he held his footing. "I'm glad you're okay too. Listen, I want you to tell me everything you know so far, but first we have to sort these kids out. Tell the leaders here to get their classes to the auditorium, and to wait there. Get them seated, and get them quiet. Wait there for me, and be careful. I heard you smash your damn hip from over here," Jack joked, grinning to himself in the darkness. 

Jack turned his flashlight to outside of the circle and saw two pale shades hanging in the air like smudges on the inky black canvas. "You and you, come here," he said as he snuck closer, extremely worried that some kind of angry ghost would leap out from its cover and attack him. But it wasn't. A sullen kid he didn't recognise who looked at Jack distrustfully, and Avi, a musician who Jack had spoke to a few times. "Avi, good to see you. Anything to tell from up your way?" Jack asked but he carried on before he could answer. Formalities, in this situation. "Look, we're getting all the students in the auditorium to keep track of them. Robyn is organising all the leaders the now, but can you go with her? Once you get to the auditorium, just, I don't know, occupy them. You're good with a guitar, think of something, would you please? I'd be eternally grateful, buddy," Jack said. He really wasn't asking, to be fair. This wasn't the time nor circumstance to be asking for a favour. It was a time where order had to be restored quickly so that the situation could be dealt with in a manner that allowed efficiency. And what everyone needed now was some order and efficiency. 

Jack turned to the other boy slinking in the shadows. "You, kid, you're being deputised. I'm going to need your help. Do you have a phone? We need to go around the school and clear the classrooms, and then bring them down to the auditorium. We gotta keep them close and quiet and chilled out, understand?" Jack asked, wondering why he looked at Jack like he was Pol Pot. 

Jack turned on his heel. The entire school had gotten quiet, not the students but the creaking of the structure and sound of the floors and doors had stopped. Pipes no longer had water running through them. Heating had turned off. The situation had gone flashing red button bad. And when the silence of the world had reached a crushing point where eardrums wanted to implode, a shriek sounded through the air, like a banshee, the omen of death. The cry wasn't one of terror or sadness, but it was angry and hateful and full of anguish, something that could only be made by searching the depths of a soul to find everything wrong with it. The cry whimpered and Jack's heart felt weak, like he had lost something important to him. and all he wanted to do was curl up and weep until his skin dried up and cracked and his bones crunched under footsteps. And at the moment when you thought the cry of evil would quieten to nothing, a thousand more voices joined its symphony and his body just wanted to tear itself apart to stop the heartache killing him first. The chorus softened until it had disappeared and Jack sat for a moment, simply wondering how anyone could live after that and want to keep on surviving when he remembered he had people to save, not that he felt it was worth it at all. Jack stood, knees weak, heart empty, soul vacant. "Let's go," he said feebly to the other boy.