(They just went to sleep like this yesterday… but they’re all… still asleep it seems… Yesterday must have been really tiring. Let me get some air.) Sufian thought as he left the classroom he was sleeping in and went to the school front yard.

  "Morning," Zayn greeted them as they walked in.

  "Oh, good morning…" Sufian responded, glancing over.

  "Wait, why are we being so polite to the little kids?" Ali said with a grin.

  "... morning," Layla murmured, her voice quiet.

  "Oh! Good day. M’lady," Ali said with exaggerated politeness.

  Sufian raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you always talk to girls?"

  "I’ll have you know I’m a gentleman!" Ali replied proudly.

  "Um… Layla, was it? Morning. Sorry for mistaking you for a ghost yesterday," Sufian said, his tone apologetic.

  "No worries. It didn’t bother me," Zayn answered, his voice calm.

  Layla remained silent, staring at the ground.

  "And Matt… oh, are you still scared?" Ali teased, glancing toward the corner.

  Sufian chuckled. "Guess those two still weird him out, huh?"

  "Yeah, he screamed and fainted, so yeah!" Ali laughed.

  (He did faint after all.)

  "He’s not exactly hiding it. Look at him staring at them from over there," Ali said, pointing discreetly.

  "Good morning, you two. Did you get any sleep?" Malak asked, her voice soft and considerate.

  "Yeah…" Zayn replied, glancing at Layla.

  "Yeah…" Layla echoed, her voice faint.

  (There they go again. Are they on the same wavelength, or is she just parroting him?)

  "I see," Malak said, giving them a sympathetic look. "Well, let us know if you need anything, okay? We’ve got to stick together."

  Layla remained silent as Zayn spoke. "Thank you. We appreciate the sentiment."

  "Sentiment…" Layla repeated quietly.

  "Ah… that’s a big word for a girl your age, isn’t it, Layla?" Malak said, a bit taken aback.

  (Malak is always considerate, but I guess she has some trouble with people like this.)

  Zayn nodded. "Please don’t worry about her. She’s been like this for a while now."

  "I see…" Malak responded softly.

  "She went through a terrifying ordeal," Zayn said, his voice quiet. "I was able to protect her, but ever since…"

  "A terrifying ordeal?" Malak asked, her concern growing.

  Zayn hesitated. "I don’t remember… sorry."

  (Man… I don’t know what happened, but it must’ve left some deep scars on them…)

  "Poor thing…" Malak whispered, looking down.

  (One wrong move, and the same thing could’ve happened to us. If we hadn’t met Boots and the others… I shudder to think what would’ve happened. This was supposed to be just a fun camping trip. Why’d it have to turn out like this?)

  "Moving on… is there anything else you wish to discuss?" Thoren asked, breaking the somber mood.

  "Let’s see…" Ali said, thinking for a moment. "Oh yeah. What’s up with that fog outside?"

  "Boblin told ya!" Snagglix shouted, pointing at the door. "It’s DANGER! No go close!! Who KNOWS what happens if you sniff!! It’s like—POOF! Gone, no trace-trace…"

  "Oh? Maybe we can make it back to our world if we go into that fog, then?" Ali said, raising an eyebrow.

  "No-no! You can’t-can’t!!" Snagglix said, shaking his head vigorously.

  "Just don’t!" Pimi added firmly.

  "You really shouldn’t," Thoren advised, his tone serious.

  "They’re right," Malak said with a frown. "Trial and error could lead to irreversible consequences!"

  "Indeed," Thoren agreed. "I cannot say for certain, but my instincts speak to the potential threat."

  "Well, it was the fog that made us pass out, and got us lost in the first place," Sufian said, rubbing his temples.

  (We’ve all experienced that. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely dangerous.)

  "Right," Sufian agreed. "Well, no matter where we go, we’d better avoid the fog."

  "Sounds about right," Ali said, crossing his arms. "But look, the entire school is surrounded by that stuff."

  "It’s pretty hard to tell when and where the fog will spread to next…" Sufian muttered, staring at the window.

  "So where are we supposed to go? We ain’t got a clue!" Matt said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

  "True…" Ali said, shaking his head. "We can’t go anywhere the way things are going! We haven’t even eaten since yesterday."

  "Something edible would be good…" Sufian said, his stomach growling slightly.

  "Why don’t we split up and search the school?" Malak suggested, her voice calm but firm.

  "We need to see if anyone else is here," Ali pointed out. "We’ve met others like Layla who got stuck in here. It wouldn’t be too surprising if there were others around somewhere, too."

  "True…" Malak agreed. "And now that you mention it, where did you two come from?"

  "Umm… over there," Zayn said, pointing vaguely.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Over there," Layla echoed, her voice barely audible.

  "And where exactly is… over there?" Malak asked, her brow furrowing.

  "Over there," Zayn said again.

  "Over there," Layla repeated.

  "I see…" Malak said, looking confused.

  "This is getting us nowhere!" Ali groaned, throwing his hands up.

  "It ain’t like brats are gonna be straight with you. Anyway, the girl acts like a baby," Matt muttered, walking away.

  "That’s going too far, Matt!" Malak snapped, her face flushed with anger.

  (They’re an odd pair, but it looks like they’re lost in here same as us.)

  "Anyway, we still don’t know whether or not anyone else is actually here," Ali said, shaking his head. "Considering how those of us who got lost ended up at this school… I bet Bayan, Jeremy, and the professor are somewhere nearby."

  "Nearby…" Sufian said, his mind racing. "You mean at the shrine?"

  "Yeah," Ali said, nodding. "So why don’t we look there, too?"

  "Now hold on," Malak interjected. "We still don’t know if this is another world, do we? And even if we assume it is, it would have to be connected to our world somehow, right? Otherwise it would be weird to find a human building here."

  "I think I get it," Sufian said, nodding. "You’re saying whatever boundary there is may be weaker somehow…"

  "If that’s true, it’s possible that someone may come looking for us," Malak said thoughtfully. "I think it would be best to stay here for help instead of wandering around."

  "…I agree," Matt said quietly, nodding.

  (Wow, Matt is not arguing.)

  "Then in the meantime, we should find some kind of food—" Malak began.

  "We can’t rely on help showing up!" Matt interrupted.

  "Huh!" Malak said, startled by his sudden outburst.

  "You think Jeremy and that egghead are out there?" Matt scoffed. "How d’ya plan on looking for them?! There ain’t nothing we can do but sit tight and wait it out…"

  "That won’t help anything!" Malak shot back.

  "You got any suggestions?" Matt asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "It ain’t like moving around will do us any good. We got wrapped up in all this without doing anything, right? Runnin’ around blind just puts us at more risk for no reason."

  Matt smirked. "But hey, it’s your funeral."

  (… His attitude still needs some work, but I see his point. Ali and Malak are only talking about possibilities. Doesn’t exactly help us… he speaks the truth. No point in searching if it puts us in danger for no reason. Still sounds like he’s totally given up… Malak at least wants to look around a bit for food and supplies. Ali wants to go out and see if we can find anyone nearby. And Matt thinks it’s all pointless, so he wants to hole up here. Well then, what should I do?)

  "I’ve got to agree with Malak on this one," Sufian said, making a decision.

  "Thank you, Sufian," Malak said with a small smile.

  "It’s just Malak’s opinion, right?" Pimi said with a cheeky grin. "Sufian made the right decision."

  "Hang on, Pimi…" Malak said, giving her a side-eye.

  "I just thought Malak was right too," Sufian explained.

  "Me too-too!! Boblin too!!" Snagglix cheered, bouncing around.

  "Thanks anyway, Sufian," Malak said with a smile. "And thank you too, Loudboots."

  "So, we’re searching the school then? I’ll help," Sufian said, already ready to move.

  "We need to find some food," Malak said. "Let me know if you find anything, Sufian."

  "Okay, then…" Sufian said. "Having said that, I wonder how we should go about this…"

  "Let’s peek here-here, yeah?!" Snagglix suggested, pointing excitedly.

  "Sounds good to me. Let’s do it!" Sufian said with a grin.

  "Damn, out of range, just like I thought," Matt muttered, shaking his head. "We could’ve called for help. I don’t see any cell towers…"

  The Gnath looked on silently.

  Matt glanced at Sufian. "And your phone?"

  "It’s no good. No signal," Sufian replied with a shrug.

  "That right… I figured there might be a chance, given the message I got," Matt muttered.

  "What?! You got a message?!" Sufian asked, surprised.

  "I mean, but… it’s a bunch of gibberish. And I’m out of range, so I can’t send back," Matt said with frustration. "Dammit, what’re we supposed to do here?"

  "What’s he blab-blabbin’ about?!" Snagglix asked, looking confused.

  "He got a message on his phone, but it’s indecipherable. He’s just a bit frustrated," Sufian explained to Snagglix.

  Snagglix ignored Sufian and looked at the shiny screen in his hand.

  "Wow! Show me!" Snagglix said, his eyes wide with excitement.

  "It’s not for you, Boots!" Sufian said, swatting Snagglix’s hand away. "It’ll break if you toss it around!"

  "Hang on… my phone hasn’t lost power…" Matt said, his eyes narrowing.

  "What? You’re right. I’m still at full charge, too," Sufian said, impressed. "Good job noticing that the power level hasn’t changed…"

  "Of course I was trying to call for help," Matt said with a smirk. "I’ve been much calmer than all of you."

  "Who’re you calling?" Sufian asked, eyeing him.

  Matt crossed his arms in frustration. "What? Does it matter?"

  "Fine. I’ll try calling, too," Sufian said, getting out his phone.

  "Um, it’s my parents," Matt said, looking away. "They usually answer if I call around this time…"

  The Gnath looked on, silent as usual.

  "Oh…" Sufian said, his thoughts racing.

  "We can’t call the professor? What’ll happen to us? Why aren’t we getting a signal here?" Matt muttered under his breath.

  Matt then walked out of the room, followed by the others.

  In the corridor of the first floor...

  "Where would there be food?" Malak asked, looking around the dimly lit hallway.

  Drip drip shhhhhh...

  "Wha—?! You hear that too?!" Snagglix asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

  "Did you hear that, Malak?" Sufian asked, turning to her.

  "I did. It sounded like someone was turning off a water faucet…" Malak replied, squinting.

  "Oh, it’s you guys… what’re you doing here?" Zayn called out from behind them.

  "Zayn?" Malak asked, her voice surprised.

  "Zayn!" Snagglix shouted excitedly.

  "Zayn, did you just use the water faucet over there?" Sufian asked, his curiosity piqued.

  "Yes. Why, shouldn’t I?" Zayn asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Is there water?" Malak asked, glancing at the faucet.

  "What? It comes out like it always does," Zayn said, shrugging.

  "Which means…" Sufian said, his eyes lighting up. "We have plumbing?"

  "That was easy! We have water, all of a sudden!" Malak said, a little surprised.

  (Malak seems a bit deflated.)

  "Well, we met one of our goals, so let’s be happy about that for now," Sufian said, his voice light.

  "Okay, sure…" Malak said, her voice flat. "Drinking water is important. And it’s amazing that the water even works… it’s all good. We needed this lifeline."

  "Maybe that means there’s something we can use inside this building!" Pimi said, her eyes sparkling.

  "Anyway, let’s keep looking," Malak said, nodding.

  Sufian looked at the ceiling lights. "What’s the power situation? It’s getting a little dark in here…"

  "Power?" Snagglix asked, tilting his head.

  "There are lights in the ceiling, right?" Sufian asked.

  "Them thingies up top? Look all broke-broke to Boblin!" Snagglix said, pointing at the lights with a frown.

  "I see," Sufian said, nodding. "Well, you wouldn’t expect there to be power in this wreck of a school. If we need light, we can use the flashlights in our cellphones. Let’s check the area out near the woods."

  In the Woods by the school...

  "Hey, Sufian!" Ali called out, waving from across the clearing.

  "Sufian? What’s wrong?" Sufian asked, turning to him.

  "Check this out!" Ali said, his face lit up with excitement.

  "Food-food!!" Snagglix shouted, his eyes widening as he saw the pile of edible plants.

  "Me and Thoren found a lot of edible plants, fruits, and nuts around here," Ali said proudly.

  "Ali is showing his skills!" Thoren added, smiling.

  (Ali’s happy we found some food, but…)

  "That’s amazing, Ali! Great job!" Sufian said with a grin.

  "It was all a piece of cake! Were you looking for more peeps?" Ali asked, motioning toward the woods.

  "We found some food by chance at first, before focusing our efforts on finding more," Thoren said.

  "You idiot! Don’t tell them!" Ali said, glaring at him. "We can concentrate on finding people now! Let’s keep looking around here!"

  "Let’s head back to the classroom for now," Sufian suggested.

  In the classroom, a few moments later…

  "There seems to be some edible food," Ali said, rubbing his hands together.

  "Oooh! All look SO GOOD-GOOD!!" Snagglix drooled.

  "You’re drooling, Boots! That’s disgusting…" Pimi said, wrinkling her nose.

  "And yet, this Lalafell is drooling too," Thoren said, glancing at Snagglix.

  "Don’t go eating any of that, you too!" Sufian warned them both.

  "By the way… I can hear animal sounds from somewhere deeper in the forest. So we need to be careful searching for food too far from here," Ali said, his voice serious.

  "Scary!" Snagglix whimpered, looking over his shoulder.

  (Nothing is more scary than you in here…)

  "We’ve got water and some food," Malak said, nodding. "If there are spices and a grill in the cafeteria…"

  (We’ve got the minimum we’ll need to survive. But will this be enough?)

  "We won’t be here long," Sufian said, trying to stay hopeful. "This should be good for a while."

  "That’s na?ve, Sufian," Ali said, shaking his head. "This is no coincidence. There’re some unknown monsters wandering around out there."

  "They are not monsters! But we cannot let our guard down," Thoren warned.

  "And where are all the adults?" Matt asked, frustrated. "We didn’t get that far. They’ve got to be around here somewhere!"

  "You’re right," Ali said. "We woke up here, but maybe the others are just lost out there, too. We found our way back to the school…"

  "We should look around a bit longer for now," Sufian said, looking determined.

  ?????