FILE 003: DRILL PROTOCOL // THE MISSING

SUBJECT: MANDATORY SAFETY SOURCE: MILK IS FOR GHOSTS

The announcement clicked on at 10:04 a.m. "This is a drill. Repeat: this is a drill."

Ms. Alvarez rose from her chair and locked the classroom door. She counted—twenty-four students. When the intercom clicked off, she counted again. Twenty-three.

Jordan was gone. His desk was empty. His pencil rolled slowly toward the edge as if nudged by an unseen hand.

The administration called it preparedness.

"We're leaders in safety," the superintendent told them in January. He stood at the front of the library, a man with a flag-patterned tie. "Ninety-eight percent of students report feeling safer."

Ms. Alvarez raised her hand. "What about the missing students?"

"Look at the data." He tapped a cheerful bar graph. "No one is missing."

Around her, teachers scribbled notes. One leaned in, whispering, "Stop. They'll notice you."

"But I've—"

"Don't," the colleague muttered, voice trembling. "That's how it happens. The drills eat the noisy ones first."

[ Excerpt from Milk Is For Ghosts ]