‘How should I do it?’ Mathew thought.

He gripped the handle of his weapon tighter, hesitation filling his mind.

‘I’m about to turn myself into a terrorist,’ he thought blankly as the reality of his plans started to dawn upon him.

‘Worst of all, I’m pulling her into all of this,’ he thought, glancing over at the girl’s face.

She managed to somehow keep her cool despite how weird the situation was.

Her obedient and trusting silence was like a nail right down Mathew’s heart.

‘But there is no other choice if I’m right!’ he protested in his thoughts as they neared the principal’s office.

Mathew stopped before the doors.

‘Everything that I did so far could still be fixed,’ he thought.

An irrational hope appeared in his heart.

‘If it’s just me going crazy, I can still stop it,’ he thought.

The chance that it was nothing but a bad dream still existed…

The tock in the corner of Mathew’s vision continued to tick.

Mathew took a deep breath. And then he knocked on the doors before intruding.

“Huh?” the middle-aged man raised his eyes from the newspaper he was reading. “Who are you?” he asked, annoyed by the unannounced visitors.

“Excuse me, sir,” Mathew stepped forward, humbly bowing to the man. “I promise, I mean no harm,” he added before pulling out the ax from behind his back.

He then took a step forward to the right of the principal’s seat.

Mathew swung the weapon…

The ax’s blade dug deep into the wood of one of the principal’s cabinets.

Mat reached out with his hand into the destroyed piece of furniture.

And there it was.

The same pistol that Mat could recall from his earlier experience.

The gun that gave his group hope back in his apocalyptic memories.

But for now, what was most important, was that the details of Mathew’s memories adhered to reality.

This was the confirmation he needed.

Because Mat had never been to the principal’s office outside of that time in the apocalypse.

“Once again,” Mathew turned his face to the principal.

The man was so shocked he was stuck in a weird pose on his chair.

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Mat bowed his head again as he picked up both the gun and the bullets.

“What the hell is going on?” the principal muttered, glued to his chair.

“I will be calling the police myself,” Mathew informed, picking up the phone and showing the screen.

The alarm number was already connecting.

“Mat…” Nadia muttered silently.

Up to this point, she still believed. She still believed that there was a reason behind Mat’s actions.

She was simply too stunned to react and too lost in how to react.

“Dispatcher,” the voice on the phone rang. “What seems to be the issue?”

This single line suddenly turned the atmosphere even tenser than it was before.

If Mathew’s attack at the principal’s office and the act of stealing his gun wasn’t serious enough, the voice from the phone now elevated it to another level.

By announcing himself to the police, Mathew turned from a hooligan into a terrorist.

“I will burn this whole place down!” he shouted into the phone, moving his head away from the microphone. “A phone?” Mat sounded surprised for a second. “Give me that!” he then shouted again before waiting for a second and ending the call.

“Cough…” Mathew cleared his throat and shook his head. He then looked at the principal and the girl.

“I’m sorry for that little act. Once again, I will surrender myself to the police on the first-moment notice,” he said.

For a second, Mathew closed his eyes. He had to collect his thoughts.

“Mat… Please, tell me,” Nadia pulled on Mathew’s sleeve, desperately trying to gain his attention. “What’s going on?” she cried out in a low voice, scared shitless.

She didn’t care about his actions or his gun. Nadia was worried about losing her dear friend.

“I still find it hard to believe. But so far, every single thing that I check does check out,” Mathew said, lowering his hands on his face and taking a deep breath. “My one and only aim are to bring heavily armed police to a certain point in the school,” he explained in a single breath.

The room tensed up even further.

“Wait, the infirmary?” Nadia quickly caught on.

She wasn’t one of the top students just for show.

“That’s right,” Mathew nodded his head only to glance over at the phone’s screen.

‘Call made two minutes ago…’ he thought, calculating everything in his mind. ‘I guess we should go, now,’ he decided, raising his eyes and looking at the girl.

“Principal, once again, I’m sorry for the entire commotion,” I said, lowering my head in apology. “I wish with all my heart for my fears to prove wrong. I won’t hurt anyone, and I will pay back for the damage I made,” he added before raising his head again.

“But for now, I need to go,” Mathew said, grabbing Nadia’s hand and pulling her out of the room. “To that end, I hope you will remain in your office,” Mat added in a low tone before closing the doors.

“Mat, what the hell is going on?!” Nadia finally took a stance, refusing to just tag along. “What’s wrong with the Infirmary?” she asked, pressing the issue she figured out earlier.

“There is a reason why I only looked through the window,” Mathew replied, turning his eyes away.

Nadia’s face turned white as her eyes widened in terror.

“What’s wrong with the infirmary, Mat?” Nadia asked, her eyes tearing up. She then raised her hand and placed it on Mathew’s cheek. “What did you do?” she whispered through her tears.

“I didn’t do anything,” Mathew shook his head and closed his eyes. “But I know something very bad is about to happen in less than an hour,” he added, placing his hands on Nadia’s back.

For a moment, Mathew simply hugged the girl.

It was a sole refreshing moment of the past two weeks. The one moment of relief.

“What are you going to do next, then?” Nadia asked, wiping the tears off her face as she looked deep into Mathew’s eyes.

“I’m going to invite one of them inside,” Mathew said, regaining his composure. “I need to have an officer to witness what I believe is about to happen.”