text: [Themes: male protagonist, elementary school]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  With the overhead fluorescents out, it's particularly dim at this end of the hallway, but the flashing fire alarms illuminate the door labelled "KITCHEN STAFF - NO STUDENTS". The door is partly open, wedged in place with a serving tray.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > look at the lights
  (the fire alarm)
  They're really not helping your headache.
  
  > go east
  You've never been in the school kitchen before. The kitchen has no windows, and without the overhead lights, it's seriously dark here. Counters and shelves are barely discernable glints in the blackness.
  
  Why isn't there a fire alarm in the kitchen? It would make sense -
  and it would mean you could see, no matter how poorly. But there are only flickering reflections from the west doorway, almost worse than nothing in the darkness.
  
  > examine the shelves
  The shelves are barely a glint of steel in the darkness.
  
  > examine counters
  It's barely a glint of steel in the darkness.
  
  > Go north
  This part of the hall has been plastered with signs in unsubtle red, white, and blue, occasionally accented with yellow smiley-face stickers. The overhead lights are flickering weakly here, and the power probably won't last long. The hall continues south toward the school kitchen and north toward the classrooms.
  
  The cafeteria doors are to the east, but they're closed and locked, since lunch ended hours ago.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > Go west
  The locker-lined hallway stretches from east to west. Pictures of famous Americans gaze starchily down from above the dull brown
  lockers, almost successfully concealing the old water damage on the walls. You can smell something burning.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > look at the lockers
  The lockers are narrow, brown, and about four feet tall. Every
  student gets a locker on their first day, along with a lecture about how they are strictly forbidden to decorate the lockers or change
  their locker combinations.
  
  > open lockers
  You check one of the lockers, but, as you suspected, the locker is locked.
  
  There's a combination lock that could be used to enter a combination, if you knew any of the locker combinations - which you don't right
  now.
  (Enter combinations on a combination lock with TURN DIAL LEFT
  
  > examine the americans
  The most prominent image is George Washington (complete with horse and saber). His anachronistic companions include Thomas Jefferson,
  Abraham Lincoln, the Wright brothers (complete with plane), Charles Lindbergh, Buzz Aldrin, and John Glenn.
  
  > go west
  Emily's classroom is - was - to the north, marked with a construction paper sign reading "Ms. Wagner's room - Come In!" To the south, there's an alcove that splits off toward the bathrooms. The hallway continues to the east and west, decorated with inexpertly drawn
  posters about When I Grow Up.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > examine the posters
  The posters are from Emily Wagner's class. At the top, each one bears the crooked heading, "When I Grow Up, I Will Be A...." followed by a crayon-and-marker drawing to represent the aspired profession. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of airplanes and little stick figures with carefully drawn insignia, including an unlikely number of
  generals and chief master sergeants. However, you also see a ballerina, a firefighter, a teacher (William Bradley is a notorious suckup), and a unicorn rancher.
  
  > think about William
  William Bradley, notorious suckup. Either he'll grow an opinion of
  his own someday, or he has a glowing future ahead as President of the United States.
  
  > think about Samir
  One day, he's helping Dylan cement his reign of terror, and the next, he's helping George build the ISS out of Tinkertoys.
  
  Left to his own devices, you think he might be a bit of a bookworm,
  but it's hard to tell. Despite your best efforts, school is a poor place for self-discovery.
  
  > think about Dylan
  It would be an easier world if the bullies all had names like Biff and Brick and Grunt. Dylan Rierson is your least favorite kid in school right now, and you predict a round in juvie for him before he's sixteen.
  
  > think about George
  His mom was an astronaut candidate. She died in a car crash, which is why George lives on base with his dad, but George either forgets that or won't admit it most of the time. His art projects are littered
  with women with recognizable cornrows waving hello out of rocket ship windows.
  
  > go to the north
  Ms. Wagner's Room
  This classroom is reasonably undamaged, apart from a fallen ceiling tile. The decorations are straight out of the 70's, all giant cardboard apples and smiling cartoon children, occupying not only the walls but the front of Ms. Wagner's desk. The air smells of markers and chalk dust.
  
  You can see a closet door and an enormous blackboard here.
  
  > open the closet
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > look at the desk
  This desk is smaller than most teacher desks at the school, but it's sturdy and well-made, which is more than can be said for a lot of the furnishings. Also, it's possible to remove the desk from the room without disassembling it.
  
  On Ms. Wagner's desk are a decorated mug (in which are some pens and pencils) and a round blue tray (in which is a tangle of paper clips).
  
  > take the paperclip
  You fish a striped green paper clip out of the tangle.
  
  > unlock the closet with the paperclip
  (the striped green paper clip)
  There's no way you can pick a lock. Your hands are trembling far too much.
  
  The striped green paper clip falls from your shaking hands to the floor.
  
  > take the paperclip
  (the striped green paper clip)
  Taken.
  
  > put the paperclip in the pocket
  (the striped green paper clip in the left pocket of your slacks)
  You put the striped green paper clip into the left pocket of your slacks.
  
  > look at the pocket
  These aren't very good pants - they're a little faded from repeated washing, and there's a hole that makes the right pocket unusable. You still wear them because at least the hole isn't visible.
  
  > look at the mug
  The red and blue lettering proclaims "#1 Teacher!" It's full of pens and pencils.
  
  > Go south
  Emily's former classroom is to the north, marked with a construction paper sign reading "Ms. Wagner's room - Come In!" To the south, there's an alcove that splits off toward the bathrooms. The hallway continues to the east and west, decorated with inexpertly drawn
  posters about When I Grow Up.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > go to the east
  The locker-lined hallway stretches from east to west. Pictures of famous Americans gaze starchily down from above the dull brown
  lockers, almost successfully concealing the old water damage on the walls. You can smell something burning.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > go south
  The failing fluorescent lights illuminate a kid-height drinking fountain in the south wall. The boys' bathroom is to the east and the girls' bathroom is to the west, both marked with Happy Hygiene signs reminding everyone about handwashing.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  It's hard to be sure in this light, but it looks like there's a wet spot on the carpet by the door to the girls' room.
  
  > examine the wet spot
  That spot is definitely wet.
  
  > look at the happy hygiene
  It's in the style of those old recruitment posters - "Harry the Happy Hand wants YOU to wash your hands!" There are happy girls waving at Harry on the girls' room sign and happy boys waving at Harry on the boys' room sign, just to avoid any mixups.
  
  > Smell spot
  It's actually hard to inhale on purpose - memories of the toxic gas, probably.
  
  A burning, acrid smell overlays the usual odors of the school.
  
  > Shout
  You call, "Hey, can anyone hear me?"
  
  A student calls back from the girls' bathroom. "Mr. Ginsberg! I can't get up!" It's Keiko, and her voice sounds tight and strange.
  
  You also get a response from the boys' bathroom. "Help me!" a boy calls, "That asshole Dustin wedged me in here!" It sounds like Tyrone - he's supposed to be in Emily Wagner's class, not yours.
  
  (You can ask students to perform tasks with [student], [command].
  For example, KEIKO, LOOK will ask Keiko to tell you what she can see right now.)
  
  > think about Keiko
  Keiko is the oldest of your students. She's been held back twice now, not because she's stupid, but because the school isn't prepared to handle a kid with dyslexia. They're moving her up this year come hell or high water... or so you would have said, before the school was bombed. Right now, you don't even know who's alive, let alone who's graduating.
  
  > think about Tyrone
  Tyrone isn't one of your students. You know him because he's been giving Emily a headache and a half, not to mention the recess
  monitors. He's bright enough to get pissed off and destructive in a classroom geared to the lowest common denominator, and he pounds back on the kids who try to pound him, which doesn't help anything much. He's pretty well-behaved in detention, though.
  
  > think about Dustin
  If Dustin weren't so quick to help beat people up, he'd be the one getting beat up. You try to keep this in mind, but you still don't feel much sympathy.
  
  > look
  You call, "What can you see, Keiko?"
  
  Keiko shouts back, "Can't you just come in here? The door's open!"
  
  > go to the west
  You call, "I need to do something, but I'll be back as soon as I can."
  
  "Come back soon!" Keiko calls. Tyrone doesn't answer.
  
  (first opening the girls' door)
  The door has a push panel, so you lean on the door, but nothing happens. Briefly, you wonder if the door is blocked - but it's just a measure of your weakness. The hinges yield a moment later, and the door opens.
  
  You've never actually been in the girls' bathroom before, but it has the same ugly cream-and-black tile as the boys' room does, plus all
  the accoutrements you'd expect - sinks, a mirror, stalls, the works.
  Or so you surmise, because half the back wall collapsed in, and
  there's now water spraying across the room from a burst pipe and pooling on the floor.
  
  Keiko is sitting on the bathroom floor. Her hair and clothing are soaked from the spraying water.
  
  Keiko looks up at you miserably. "I got out from under the bricks,
  but I can't get up. I tried, but my leg won't work. It hurts so
  bad." She points to her right leg.
  
  You say inarticulately, "Keiko. It's going to be okay, I promise."
  But you don't know how, because you're pretty sure her leg is broken.
  
  > look at the bricks
  This morning, there was a solid, sturdy wall here, and now it's a shattered heap of masonry. It hardly seems real.
  
  The girls' room door hisses closed on its hinge.
  
  > look at the leg
  Which do you mean, Keiko's right leg or Keiko's left leg?
  
  > look at right leg
  There's a nasty scrape partway down Keiko's right shin, and a gruesome bulge in the flesh beneath it. You're not well versed in first aid, but you're pretty sure that it's broken.
  
  Keiko breathes through her teeth for a moment.
  
  > talk to Keiko
  What do you want to talk to Keiko about?
  
  > Right leg
  You ask, "Keiko, what happened to your leg?"
  
  Keiko says, "I tried to hide in here, like during a tornado drill, but the ceiling fell on me. I got my leg out, but it really hurts and I think something's really wrong."
  
  > ask Keiko about the teacher
  Which do you mean, the half-buried corpse or the teacher desk?
  
  > ask Keiko about the desk
  Which do you mean, the cheap wooden desk, the massive steel desk, the teacher desk, Ms. Wagner's desk, or the desk drawer?
  
  > get Keiko
  You take Keiko's hand, squeeze it reassuringly, and then let go again.
  
  Keiko breathes through her teeth for a moment.
  
  > Drag keiko
  In the movies, people always pull the leg straight before splinting
  it. In real life, you're not so sure about this at all. You'll need something long and straight (a broom, maybe?), and something to fasten it in place. You also need something to use for a crutch, because Keiko is the biggest of your students, and you're too weak to support her yourself.
  
  > go to the east
  (first opening the girls' door)
  With a massive effort of will, you pull open the door to the girls' room.
  
  The failing fluorescent lights illuminate a kid-height drinking fountain in the south wall. The boys' bathroom is to the east and the girls' bathroom is to the west, both marked with Happy Hygiene signs reminding everyone about handwashing.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  There's a wet spot growing on the carpet near the door to the girls' room.
  
  > go east
  (first opening the boys' door)
  You pull, but the door won't open. Looking down, you see a small rubber wedge jammed under the door.
  
  > take wedge
  The small rubber wedge is jammed tightly under the door, and your shaking fingers don't have the strength to pull it out.
  
  You hear a hard thump from the boys' bathroom door, suggestive of someone kicking it from the other side.
  
  You shout, "And lay off kicking the door!"
  
  Tyrone says unrepentantly, "Yes, Mr. Ginsberg."
  
  > Kick wedge
  You think dark and terrible thoughts about the small rubber wedge.
  
  > get the wedge
  You shout, "Tyrone, can you please grab that wedge?"
  
  Tyrone calls, "How'm I supposed to get it from this side? It's on
  your side of the door!"
  
  > look
  You call, "Tyrone, tell me what you can see around you?"
  
  Tyrone yells back, "I see a wedge! A wedge that won't let me get this damn door open!"
  
  > push the wedge
  You shout, "Tyrone, can you push the wedge out from your side of the door?"
  
  Tyrone calls back, "I tried, but I can't get it to move!"
  
  > Inventory
  You call, "Tyrone, what have you got with you?"
  
  Tyrone calls, "I don't think I have anything."
  
  You call back, "Okay, that's fine. Let me think for a minute."
  
  > tie the tie to wedge
  You'd give a lot for some rope right now. But lacking any, you'll
  have to proceed without it.
  
  > remove the tie
  You struggle with the knot, but your hands are shaking so much that
  you can't loosen it. You give it up as a bad job.
  
  > give the paperclip to Tyrone
  (first taking the striped green paper clip)
  You give the striped green paper clip to Tyrone.
  
  > push the wedge with the paperclip
  Tyrone shouts, "I don't know how to do that, the wedge is bad for pushing!"
  
  Tyrone calls, "I don't know how to do that, the wedge is bad for pushing!"
  
  > give the clip
  (to Tyrone)
  You shout, "Tyrone, please hand the paper clip to Tyrone."
  
  Tyrone shouts back, "Mr. Ginsberg, who did you want me to give it to?"
  
  You call, "Sorry, must have been a bit rattled."
  
  > give the clip to Ginsberg
  Tyrone won't understand those instructions. You need to rethink your strategy.
  
  (Reminder: If you just saw a "What do you want Tyrone to ?" message, please reenter your second command now.)
  
  > look
  You call, "Is anything broken, or leaking, or on fire?"
  
  Tyrone calls back, "No, nothing like that. Just the wedge." He sounds worried now. "Is there, like, fire and stuff out there?"
  
  You call, "I'm going to get you out safe. Hang on." It seems better than answering his question.
  
  > Go west
  The wall buckled a bit here, but didn't collapse entirely - unlike to the west, where outright wreckage is visible by the gym entrance. Colorful leaf rubbings and magazine mosaics hang drunkenly off their moorings.
  
  The door to the art classroom - your classroom -  hangs open on its twisted doorframe.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > go north
  This was your classroom - the art room, mostly, but also where you had homeroom and study hall and sometimes detention. A gaping hole in the wall provides unexpected access to Mrs. McCaskill's room, where it looks like the sprinklers are going off. Tissue paper trees line the intact east wall of this room, striving to brighten the desolation.
  
  You left a long table shoved up against the west wall. Now, that
  table supports half the rubble from the collapsed wall and partially blocks your access to the gaping hole.
  
  The door to your classroom hangs open on its twisted doorframe.
  
  Jude sits on the ground beside the rubble-strewn table, peering miserably into the darkness underneath.
  
  Jude looks up at you tearfully. "I can't get him out, Mr. Ginsberg! He's stuck under the table!"
  
  > think about Jude
  Like several of your other kids, Jude is "suddenly military", and she hasn't taken the change well. Her mom has been at wits' end dealing with her, which is why she's allowed to keep her bunny in class for now.
  
  > look at Jude
  Misery crinkles Jude's face like an old woman's. Her dark eyes have swollen from tears, and her nose is smeared with mucus.
  
  Jude is wearing a lime green shirt, a brilliantly colored My Little Pony backpack, and a pair of flower-embroidered overalls.
  
  > ask Jude about Bunny
  You ask, "Jude, tell me about your bunny?"
  
  Jude sniffs, "His name is Mr. Bunny! He's very important, my dad gave him to me, and I really need him back!"
  
  > look at Bunny
  Jude's favorite stuffed animal is awkwardly big, purple, furry, and rather in need of a wash. He always reminds you of a prize from the fair.
  
  > look under the table
  Jude's Mr. Bunny is wedged far back under the table.
  
  It's easy enough to put two and two together - you told the students yesterday that there would be painting today, so she put Mr. Bunny somewhere safe. And then the wall collapsed over the table, and now it'll be a serious problem getting him out.
  
  > follow you
  You ask, "Jude, would you please hold hands with me?"
  
  Jude takes your hand.
  (To stop leading a student around, RELEASE that student.)
  
  > examine the trees
  It's not a complicated project - cut out brown construction paper trees, draw bark on them in black marker, and then glue colorful
  tissue paper leaves on the branches.
  
  > think about McCaskill
  Jenny McCaskill teaches English to kids being raised by TV. It's a thankless job and it's probably killing her soul, but she dutifully hauls out the latest Macmillan recommendations every year. She also performs a number of quasi-administrative tasks, such as collecting roll call sheets and handing out locker combinations.
  
  > open the backpack
  You say, "Jude, I need to see your backpack for a moment."
  
  You open the brilliantly colored My Little Pony backpack.
  
  > look in the backpack
  You say, "Jude, hold still so I can look at your backpack."
  
  The brilliantly colored My Little Pony backpack is empty.
  
  > Exits
  From here, you can try going south to the hallway or west through the hole into Mrs. McCaskill's room.
  
  > go west
  You say, "I'm going to need both of my hands for this," and drop
  Jude's hand.
  
  Despite your trembling hands, you scramble successfully over the table and through the gap.
  
  Mrs. McCaskill's Room
  Half the ceiling has fallen, crushing the west side of the room
  beneath debris and blocking the door entirely. The water sprinklers spew frantically, turning papers and decorations to mush, but it doesn't do much good - despite the acrid stench, whatever's burning isn't actually in this room. Still, the water might be reducing the smoke.
  
  A gaping hole in the east wall allows you back into your classroom, if you scramble over the rubble-strewn table in the way. The north wall is in similarly poor state, and you might be able to go that way.
  
  A crumpled poster projects from the rubble, mostly sheltered from the sprinklers by a fallen corkboard.
  
  Water flows down the legs of the cheap wooden teacher's desk to the growing puddle on the floor.
  
  > Examine poster
  It depicts all the past presidents of the United States. So far, the presidents have avoided death by water, but the delay of sentence is only temporary. Rutherford B. Hayes looks worriedly at the coursing droplets.
  
  > look at the desk
  Jenny McCaskill's desk is a cheap wooden affair. The locking metal drawer bolted onto the right side was clearly an afterthought, but
  it's all that saves her from having no drawers at all.
  
  > look at Bunny
  Jude's favorite stuffed animal is awkwardly big, purple, furry, and rather in need of a wash. He always reminds you of a prize from the fair.
  
  > take Bunny
  There's too much debris in the way, and you can't fit your arm through the gap. Mr. Bunny is still out of reach.
  
  > open drawer
  It's either locked, or jammed beyond your current strength to unjam. Locked seems more likely.
  
  > pick the lock
  What do you want to pick the metal drawer with?
  
  > pick the lock with the paperclip
  (first taking the striped green paper clip)
  There's no way you can pick a lock. Your hands are trembling far too much.
  
  > put the paperclip in the pocket
  You put the striped green paper clip into the left pocket of your slacks.
  
  > Go north
  You lean through the gap into the north room - Mr. DeWitt's room, you think, but the chokingly thick smoke makes it hard to tell. The sprinklers aren't working in here, and there's even greater structural damage than you've already seen. This isn't a viable exit.
  
  You retreat back to Mrs. McCaskill's room.
  
  > think about DeWitt
  Paul "Do It" DeWitt teaches basic math at the elementary, and his wife Marianne teaches trig and calculus at the elementary.
  
  > think about Adam
  Thinking of your husband is both comforting and painful. He must be
  up in the air right now, raining righteous fury over whichever bastard was in that plane. He'll keep you safe, just like you'll keep your kids safe.
  
  > examine corkboard
  The sprinklers have destroyed whatever was pinned to this corkboard, leaving disintegrating pages and illegible smears of ink behind.
  
  > examine the puddle
  The puddle on the floor is growing by the minute.
  
  > go east
  Despite your weakened muscles, you scramble successfully over the
  table and through the gap.
  
  This was your classroom. A gaping hole in the wall provides
  unexpected access to Mrs. McCaskill's room. Tissue paper trees line the intact east wall, striving to brighten the desolation.
  
  You left a long table shoved up against the west wall. Now, that
  table supports half the rubble from the collapsed wall and partially blocks your access to the gaping hole.
  
  The door to your classroom hangs open on its twisted doorframe.
  
  Jude sits on the ground beside the rubble-strewn table, peering miserably into the darkness underneath.
  
  > Go south
  The wall buckled a bit here, but didn't collapse entirely - unlike to the west, where outright wreckage is visible by the gym entrance. Colorful leaf rubbings and magazine mosaics hang drunkenly off their moorings.
  
  The door to your classroom hangs open on its twisted doorframe.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > go to the west
  The air reeks of smoke and chemicals. To the south, two large double doors lead into the gymnasium. Mrs. McCaskill's classroom used to be accessible to the north, but there's no going that way now.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > Exits
  From here, you can try going south into the gym or east along the
  hall.
  
  > Go south
  Thankfully, one of the double doors is open.
  
  The elderly gymnasium looks relatively unscathed. Since this room doubles as an auditorium, stacked bleachers line the north wall. The door to the equipment room is west, and the locker room is south. The double doors leading back to the hallway are north.
  
  Blue exercise mats are piled to one side. Two have been separated
  from the pile and layered over the base of a pommel horse, and others are arranged around a balance beam.
  
  > examine the mats
  They're standard exercise mats, designed to protect kids when they
  fall down in gym class.
  
  > examine the horse
  It's a standard pommel horse - two handles, two poles, and broad metal feet at the bottom to keep it from falling over when it's being used.
  
  > examine the bleachers
  Stacked up the way they are, the bleachers form a solid extension of the wall. There aren't even any sizeable gaps between the bleachers.
  
  > get the poles
  Lifting the pommel horse would be far too taxing for you. However, it's narrow enough to go through the doorway, so if you got at least two students together, they might be able to drag it out of the room.
  
  around.)
  
  Lifting the pommel horse would be far too taxing for you. However, it's narrow enough to go through the doorway, so if you got at least two students together, they might be able to drag it out of the room.
  
  > go south
  Heavy wooden benches separate long rows of battered green gym lockers. Everything smells like old socks in here. The coach's office is over to the east, and the gym is back to the north.
  
  The gym office door is closed.
  
  A old boombox sits quietly on one of the wooden benches.
  
  > look at the boombox
  (the boombox)
  Straight out of the 80's - make that the 90's, since it has a CD
  player instead of a cassette tape. There's a battery compartment on the back.
  
  The boombox is currently switched off.
  
  > Shout
  You shout, "Hello! Can anyone hear me?"
  
  A shaggy boy's head pops up at the window of the gym office door,
  "It's me, George!" he hollers through the door. "I'm here!" His
  voice is a little muffled, but still quite audible.
  
  You say, "Let's get you out of there, George."
  
  > open the door
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > think about George
  His mom was an astronaut candidate. She died in a car crash