Shatter

Shatter. *Thwack.* The heavy steel door slams home. The vibration rattles the basement pipes. A dull, metallic ache in the air. *Beep. Beep.* The electronic keypad pulses a rhythmic, mocking red. Ethan grips the handle. He wrenches it. Muscles strain; the metal doesn't budge. [Locked. Dammit. They changed the protocols that fast?] Sweat stings his eyes, hot against the unnatural chill of the sub-level. *Shhh-h-h.* His own ragged breathing is too loud in the cramped space. He stumbles back. His heel catches on something solid. Not the wall. Something yielding. Something heavy. Air dies in his lungs. His heart hammers a frantic rhythm against his ribs. *Thump. Thump.* Ethan looks down. His pupils dilate. Mr. Miller is sprawled across a graveyard of shredded exam papers. White sheets stained a blooming, violent crimson. Miller’s face is waxen. His eyes are wide, fixed on the concrete ceiling, staring at nothing. *Squelch.* A dark, viscous pool expands beneath the teacher's head, soaking into the edges of the documents. [Impossible. This is wrong. Minutes ago, he was screaming at me in the hall. Just minutes.] Ethan’s hands shake. He clamps a palm over his mouth t…