The morning inside the school was strange, cold, and too quiet. Sunlight was coming from the broken windows, but it wasn't the warm sunlight everyone knew. It felt weak… tired… like even the sun didn't want to shine on this world anymore.
In the staff room, Teacher Salina was standing in front of a metal box filled with many colorful buttons. Some were old, some were scratched, but one blue button still looked new. She slowly pushed that blue button forward.
A small click filled the room.
Right after that, the whole building came alive. Loudspeakers in every classroom, corridor, and even washrooms started crackling. A green light on the microphone turned on, showing that everything was connected.
Salina pulled the mic closer.
Her heart was beating fast.
Her hands were shaking.
And her lips were almost touching the mic when she finally spoke:
"Hello… everyone."
The second these words left her mouth, her voice broke. Tears filled her eyes so quickly she couldn't stop them. She tried to speak, but for a few seconds nothing came out. Her throat felt tight.
Behind her, Lena stepped forward and placed her right hand gently on Salina's right shoulder. It was like giving her silent courage.
After taking a shaky breath, Salina tried again.
"I… I don't know how many people are hearing me.
And I don't know… how many are still alive."
Her voice trembled, and the whole school heard it.
"This is your teacher, Salina.
I know today's sunlight doesn't feel beautiful… not like it used to before the Z virus came."
She looked at the stack of letters lying on the table — pink, red, and white envelopes that her students had written with excitement only days ago… before everything changed.
"Today is different.
Everything is different.
But since it's Thursday, and our school always starts mornings with a loudspeaker announcement…
so we will start this morning the same way too."
Her eyes suddenly softened with sadness.
"But still… this morning doesn't feel beautiful anymore.
Not like the mornings before all this."
She swallowed hard.
"If anyone is hearing my voice…
and if you are still alive,
if you are not infected by Cyrus…"
Her voice shook even more.
"…then I want you to know something.
Please… stay safe.
Don't lose hope.
The army will reach us soon. They are coming.
Just stay strong for a little more time."
A long, painful silence spread across the school building.
Every speaker, every empty classroom, every corridor absorbed her trembling tone.
Then her voice returned, much softer.
"Today is a very special day.
The day I told all of you to write letters to the ones you love."
She touched the envelopes with trembling fingers.
"And fortunately… I still have them with me.
Every letter you wrote."
Lena silently placed the remaining ones on the table.
Salina took a breath that hurt.
"Today is Valentine's Day."
The words echoed across the dead-silent school.
"My real plan was to read these letters in front of a happy school…
but I never imagined I would be reading them like this…
in a place where so many love stories ended before they even had a beginning."
Her voice finally broke.
And for a few seconds, the whole school fell into a deep silence.
Then, she slowly opened the first envelope.
Scene Change
On the other side of the school, inside the boys' washroom, the loudspeaker fixed in the top corner crackled softly.
Hasnain was standing there with his group — Sana, Afra, that quiet boy who never spoke much, Saim, Borak, Saad, and Ghani.
No one said a single word.
Afra's tears were falling without stopping.
Sana stood beside her with serious eyes, clutching her own hands tightly.
Hasnain stood behind them, his jaw clenched, trying to stay strong even though fear was heavy in his chest.
The quiet boy stood in front, as if ready for anything.
All the other boys were standing in a line behind him, listening carefully, their eyes fixed on the speaker.
Then the speaker crackled again.
Teacher Salina's voice returned.
"I am going to read the first letter now…"
Every student in that washroom looked up.
All of them froze.
No one even blinked.
Somewhere deep inside their hearts, something moved…
Hope.
Fear.
Memories.
Love.
Loss.
Everything mixed together in that one moment.
Because even in a school filled with silence and danger, that voice… that one trembling voice… reminded them that somewhere, somehow, they were still human.