[40] The List

"What the hell?" I yelled, covering my ears at the loud, abrupt ringing of a bell through the main lounge -and possibly through the entire building.

I looked over at Leith, who'd been sitting beside me near the glass doors for about ten minutes now. When he heard the noise he didn't exactly budge; instead his smile slowly dropped, and his face became blank as he stared into space.

People were beginning to panic, and when the bell had stopped ringing after about ten seconds, I dropped my hands and searched around me, for a reason why everyone was running about. "What's going on? Is this some kind of drill?" I asked.

Leith didn't answer me. He sat there motionless for a moment, lost in thought.

"Leith," I placed my hand on his shoulder to snap him out of it. He turned his gaze on me.

"This... is the sad part of the job," he said, turning back to the view through the doors.

"Where's everybody going?” I asked. “They're headed for the main hall... what happened?"