Everyone followed Malak into the school building.

  Sufian stepped through the gate and was immediately faced with a dusty wall. A little confused, he turned to his left, then back to the others.

  "Yuck, I thought it looked bad on the outside! Try not to fall through the floor, okay?" Ali said, looking visibly bothered.

  The inside of the school was just as rundown as the outside.

  "Yeah. I could see that happening. Everyone, watch your steps," Sufian warned.

  Suddenly, Malak cried out, "Pimi? What is it?! Are you okay?!"

  Sufian looked down and found Pimi crouched next to Malak, wincing.

  "Uuungh!" Pimi whimpered.

  "Does it hurt? Hang in there, okay?!" Thoren said, worried.

  "Piiiiimi?! Pimi, you okay-okay?!" Snagglix shouted, rushing forward.

  Sufian thought to himself, (Pimi fell down wincing... Looks like she was putting up with the pain all this time.)

  "I'll go look for the first-aid kit! I bet there's one in the nurse's office!" Malak said urgently.

  "Let's start on the first floor!" Sufian suggested.

  They quickly reached the nurse’s office.

  (There's a first-aid kit! That was easy. But of course a nurse's office would have one. I'd better bring it back to Pimi as soon as I can,) Sufian thought.

  "Hold on, Pimi, we'll fix you right up!" Malak said, opening the kit.

  Malak’s eyes widened. "Hey, you two... something's not right," she said, peeking at Sufian and Ali from the side of her eyes.

  She pointed into the kit.

  Ali leaned in without hesitation. "With the school all messed up like this, I wondered, is the medicine even still good?"

  "The thing is," Malak said slowly, "the bandages still look clean, and the disinfectant seems okay. It all looks brand new to me... Something isn't right, but at least we can use it."

  Malak crouched to help Pimi.

  "... Okay, how’s this, Pimi?" Malak asked gently.

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  "Wow, this is perfect! Thank you so much, Malak!" Pimi said with a small happy grin, looking up.

  (Pimi’s happily grinning... She's basically Malak’s kid now,) Sufian thought.

  "NnnnnngaaaAAAH, I just don’t get it!" Ali groaned, pulling at his hair. "For a second there, I thought we’d traveled through time or something... but we didn’t get into a time machine, and this first-aid kit looks brand-speaking new!"

  "Only the building itself is weathered to hell... This makes no sense," Sufian said.

  "I don’t understand. Hopefully, we’ll run into someone else around here," Malak added.

  Ali frowned. "...Hey, Sufian. This is like some kinda bad dream, you know?"

  "Sure, I can feel the same way. But we can't say if it's a dream or not unless we wake up," Sufian replied.

  Ali lowered his head. "Yeah. Even if it hurts to pinch your cheek, it might still be a dream... But then the school’s all messed up, and we've got these strange shorties..."

  Sufian glanced at Snagglix. "What in the world happened here...? Do you guys know anything, Loudboots?"

  "Uhhh... Boblin dunno what you mean. It always like this here, right-right?" Snagglix said, scratching his head.

  "Always? What are you talking about?!" Sufian asked sharply.

  Thoren stepped forward calmly. "Ah, but it is as Snagglix says. This area has been this way forever—from the moment we were all born into this world. We cannot grasp what you find dubious about all of this."

  (Forever, he says... but that's impossible. The school looked normal before... Isn't this the same school building? If not, then what is this place?) Sufian thought.

  "What is going on...? What..." Malak muttered.

  "Please, Malak! Cheer up!" Pimi said, tugging on Malak's sleeve.

  "Um... sorry-sorry, Sufian..." Snagglix said sheepishly.

  Suddenly, a loud wail echoed through the school.

  "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

  Snagglix jumped dramatically, throwing his hands into the air, startled.

  "Hey! That was Matt’s voice!" Sufian said, alarmed.

  "He's here too?!" Ali said, panicking.

  "I'm pretty sure that came from the first floor," Malak said, looking up at the ceiling.

  Ali faced the stairs determinedly. "Okay, it's hero time..."

  "Ali...?" Sufian blinked.

  "I won't run away this time. I'm gonna go and save Matt!" Ali declared, clenching his fists.

  "Good. Then allow me to offer my assistance!" Thoren said firmly.

  "Let's go, Malak! I'll keep you safe!" Pimi chimed in.

  "Thank you, Pimi! But don't push yourself too hard—we only just finished treating you," Malak said with a smile.

  (I'm a little uneasy with all of these things up in the air, but let's save it for later. If I focus on what's in front of me, I can keep my mind off of it for a while...) Sufian thought.

  "Let’s go-go, Sufian!!" Snagglix cheered, pumping his fist.

  "Yeah," Sufian nodded.

  Taken by adrenaline, Sufian sprinted toward the stairs.

  He reached the first floor, immediately spotting the dusty water dispensers. He glanced left, then right, trying to find Matt.

  "The voice came from the first floor... but where, exactly?" he muttered.

  A faint scream rang out.

  "Yeeeeek!"

  Snagglix walked up behind him, pointing toward one of the nearby rooms. "Quick-quick, Sufian! This way!!"

  "Yeah, it definitely came from a classroom! Let’s go!" Sufian said, running up.

  He placed his hand on the classroom handle—and dragged the door open.

  ?????