• The lecture hall had begun full, one of the few instances the class had turned out almost in totality all semester. Nothing brought out the unfamiliar faces like turning in an assignment! Some tried unsuccessfully palming their assignments off on a TA to hand in for them before the lecture started, while others accepted their lot and sat quietly, waiting. Class protocol was there for a reason, and the exhausted TA’s were going to see that it was followed. However, the professor’s folly was soon made apparent, and freed unwilling students from their entrapment in the lecture: the essay drop box was produced immediately, and as they handed in their assignments, they headed for the doors.

    Numbers rapidly dwindled.

    The professor had been around the department for years, and did not find the mass exodus of students unexpected. It was, after all, the end of term and first year students have a high value placed on their time. Lecture is beneath them when they could be using that time to finish off another essay that had been neglected in the name of their social calendar. Heaven forbid they realize that time goes into preparing a lecture, of that it offers no benefit to any of their professors to hear themselves talk in a scarcely populated lecture hall. What bothered her was that fifteen minutes into the lecture there were still students leaving. It finally cracked her veneer of calm.

    As the door audibly closed yet again, she called “Thanks for dropping off the essay!” bitterly at the retreating backs of another group of students. What remained of the class laughed at their classmate’s expense, but it was futile. Students would continue to filter out to finish other papers, or to simply protect themselves from boredom. The TA’s were discouraged, and her heart went out to them. They were sharing the same frustrations, and would sacrifice time that could have been spent working on their own papers, their research, or enjoying the downtime graduate students so rarely find. Instead, they would be marking assignments for students who clearly found the class beneath them.

    She continued on with her lecture, wishing all the while there was a way to make the students stay.

    ***

    They had laughed.

    They were likely all still laughing after the abysmal seminar presentation. The whole class would have known by now how poorly it had gone, how foolish it had been.

    Squeeze the trigger.

    Another one down. One more classmate’s laughter silenced.

    The lead sniper had a perfect view of the retreating students, and the homemade silencer was perfect. Thanks to the internet, the students didn’t know what hit them, and the bodies were quickly dragged away. The students were too self-absorbed to notice the bloody smears growing on the floor. It paid to have good friends. Reliable friends.

    The plan had been to burst into the class and start shooting, wasting as many people as possible. But this was better. This was more fun and so convenient. No screams. No eyes that might imply humanity. This way, they simply died.

    A scream from further down the hall, quickly silenced, signalled the beginning of the end but it didn’t matter. There was still time to get a few more.

    ***

    The ringing of the built-in phone interrupted the lecture. The professor frowned, but knew from experience that it never rang unless it was important. Excusing herself, she answered the phone.

    “Don’t let any of the students leave!” a voice said urgently. “For the love of God, find a way to keep them there! Help is on the way, but there’s a shooter watching the exits.”

    She went numb. As she hung up the phone, she looked out over her students. How many had fallen? Fifty? More? All in thirty minutes. She couldn’t tell them, not yet. There was so little she could do about it.

    “Sorry about the interruption.” She was rigid, her voice mechanical. “I have to ask those of you who are still here to remain in your seats for now. There’s a situation out there, and when we’re able to leave, the university will let us know. I cannot stress to you how important it is that you remain where you are.”