Dead Quarantine (6 page)

Lauryn put her hand on his. She felt warm.
It was as pleasant as it was worrying. He liked the girl, but that
warmth was not healthy. She certainly was running a fever.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“This is the worst flu I ever had.” She
touched her chest. “It hurts here.”

She coughed. The sound she made was like
when his uncle, Lester, coughed after having smoked his second pack
of cigarettes for the day. He had died last year. Too old and too
worn out for a lung transplant, the doctors said. There was nothing
good about that cough. It wasn't just Lauryn who coughed like that;
the others had a similar cough.

As he patted her hand, another jock was
pushed inside. He walked to the back. Spitting down as he went. A
yellowish muck mixed with red. They kept coming and taking their
places in the back, filling the places the freshmen occupied
before. Finally, Anton came out last, escorted by two soldiers,
each gripping one arm, rough handling Anton under his loud protest.
The big guy didn't look that fearless now; his youthful face was
set in hurt disdain. Still, he kept up the charade of being this
tough juvenile.

Just like his friends before him, he looked
bewildered, and just like them, he noticed Ralph sitting in front.
Anton’s fearful eyes set in anger.

“What you looking at?” he yelled.

Ralph chose to ignore him. He whispered
something in Lauryn’s ear and she giggled. This upset the big guy.
He dashed forward, fist raised. Ralph raised his own fist high,
covering his face, ready to take the brunt of the attack. It never
came. Anton fell to his knees, retching coughs that made his body
shudder. He spat blood.

“Hey, man, are you okay?” a jock asked from
the back. Another came running and helped Anton up.

“We'll get you later,” Anton said while
being helped to the back. They were fighting words, because all
fight had left him. Anton looked scared, very scared.

“You shouldn't have done that,” Lauryn
whispered.

She was right; he shouldn't have. He didn't
know what was up with him being so defiant all of a sudden. He
liked keeping out of sight of everything not directly concerning
him. Could it be that this restlessness gnawing at him about his
immediate future after high school finally had gotten to him?

“Well, you thought it was funny,” he
said.

She giggled until a cough stopped her. “God,
this is getting worse.”

It was a concerto of coughing in the bus. He
was the sole person not contributing to the orchestra. It ought to
be noticed. He looked at her. It would pain him to leave her, but
he had to try. Wherever this bus was going was not meant for him.
He did not like the way this quarantine was going. It was unlikely
they would drop them at home. More than likely, they would be sent
somewhere far away so they could not infect anyone. A concentration
camp for the sick.

Soon, the bus filled up. The first one had
driven away a while ago and an empty bus took its place. Kids
continued to walk out of the school, though less frequently now,
and were escorted to the other bus. They must have almost been done
with herding sick people. After fifteen minutes, a driver appeared.
He was a middle-aged man, who was balding and plump at the waist.
He was also healthy, and the sole adult without a hazmat suit on.
He wore plain clothes instead of combat fatigues.

He took his place behind the steering wheel,
said nothing to anyone, and didn't even look at his passengers. He
closed the doors and started the engine, but before he could drive
off, Ralph dashed to his side.

“Sir, I have to get off.”

The man sighed. Still staring ahead, he
said, “No one is to get off until we reach our destination.”

“I'm not infected.”

He looked at Ralph and at the others behind
him.

“I guess you are not, but you most likely
will be by the trip’s end. Go sit down.”

Why was the driver so smug? “Won't you get
the flu?”

The driver chuckled and tapped his forearm.
“I got the vaccine; that bug won't get me. Now go sit down!”

The driver pushed the gas pedal and the bus
spurted forward, sending Ralph stumbling back to his seat. All the
while he questioned what he had gotten himself into this time.

CHAPTER SIX

He was
now sure that they weren't going home. An hour had passed since
they left the city limits. This was turning out to be the
nightmarish situation he feared it would be. They would be
quarantined in concentration camps like the Japanese Americans were
in World War II. A fact he learned for his stupid history test in
his last ditch effort to learn anything, but he was sure now it
didn't matter. The test would be waiting for a long time—that was
if he ever made it back from whatever hole they planned to put him
in. God, for all he knew he would be away for months and would have
to do the year over.

Lauryn fell asleep with her head resting on
his shoulder, drool seeping out of her mouth. He didn't mind.
Before she dozed off, they had talked about everything but the
situation they were in. He knew now that she was an orphan living
in foster care. Too old to be adopted. When she turned eighteen,
she would be on her own. She had not gone into detail, but she had
told him enough that he had this picture of who she really was. A
nice girl, whom he could really like if circumstances were
different.

Maybe once this was over he would ask her
out on a date. He already had shared her bodily fluids, being as
she had sneezed, coughed, and drooled all over him. It would be a
mere formality getting to know her better on a date. Ralph huffed.
He had never been this close to a girl before. Maybe he'd finally
get over his crush on Sarah and trade in a blonde for a
redhead.

After the first hour, the bus had grown
silent once they had noticed that they wouldn't be returning to the
safety of their homes. Only their coughs, sniffles, and sneezing
broke the silence. Ralph looked out the window and saw the
almost-deserted interstate. It was empty of everything but yellow
buses going the opposite direction and military vehicles at each
exit and access. The general populace was denied access to the
interstates and who knew what else. He wondered where they were
being taken.

“Driver!”

He had not gotten a reaction from the man
before, but he had seen the man growing weary as the day
progressed. The military presence and empty roads must not have sat
well with him.

“Hey, man! I have question.”

Balls, he was still ignoring him.

“Where are you taking us?”

No answer. Lauryn stirred. Great, he woke
her up. The moment she closed her eyes and fell asleep, she had not
coughed. It was a weird thing that once humans sleep some of their
discomfort felt during the waking hours seemed to disappear. She
coughed, raised her head, and wiped the drool from her mouth. She
pushed away from him and looked around with her dilated eyes. He'd
thought she would feel better after a nap, but she looked
terrible.

“How are you feeling?”

She shook her head, not giving him an answer
and not needing to, the misery on her face said enough. He pressed
his hand to her forehead. He knew already she had a fever, but she
was really burning now. Something had to be done.

“You need to get to a hospital.”

She nodded. She tried to say something but
winced. It must have been painful for her to talk. He shifted his
attention back to the driver.

“Driver! We need to go to a hospital.”

The driver shifted in his seat. No one else
on the bus was active or in any way helpful. Half were asleep, the
other half awake, coughing and feeling miserable. Even the jocks,
who had been boisterous the first hour, especially in insulting him
and Lauryn, had fallen silent in the second hour. They had been
driving for a little more than three hours now at about sixty miles
per hour. That was close to two hundred miles from home. Something
had to be done. No one else was able enough to do anything.

He stood up. He should have done this way
before.

“Sit down,” the driver said.

Ralph held the support beam near the
driver’s seat, standing to the man’s right a little behind him. He
had a full view of his bald spot, an island in a sea of black
hair.

“Go sit back down. Now!”

“No!”

“You better do as I say or—”

“Or what? What can you do by yourself? Turn
the bus around.”

“I can't.”

Ralph went for the steering wheel. The
driver pushed him away. “Have you gone mad?”

“Turn around!”

“I can't do that.”

Ralph stepped forward, intent on getting him
to stop the bus.

“Okay, okay, stop!” the driver yelled. Ralph
halted. “We are almost there. The quarantine center has the medical
staff you need. To turn around would take more time to get you
anywhere remotely able to help you.”

“I don't believe you.”

They passed a stationary military hummer,
which started after the bus.

“Why wouldn't you? Besides they would never
allow us to return.”

The driver was sweating. He gripped the
steering wheel tightly and still refused to look Ralph in the eyes.
He got the feeling that the man didn't know much. But if he was
right and they were close by and there was a medical staff, then it
would be a waste of time to turn around.

The hummer caught up with the bus and
maneuvered to its side. At the height of the driver, a soldier
sitting on the passenger's side signaled the driver to follow. The
driver was right; there was no way they would allow them to go
back.

“Ralph,” Lauryn called for him. Her voice
was croaked and low, all hint of the sweet voice he heard just
hours ago was gone.

He sat next to her and held her hands. So
tiny, so fragile.

“We are almost there. Someone is going take
care of you soon.”

She tried to smile but faltered. Jeez, he
hoped his mother and sister were doing better than this. Some of
the kids were only coughing but others were deteriorating fast,
like Lauryn, and some even faster. He wasn't sure all those
sleeping were sleeping or just passed out.

“Ralph.” She had tears in her eyes now. “I'm
scared.”

“I know.” In the distance, the sky had an
orange hue as if a forest was on fire. The sun hid behind dark
clouds. “I'm scared too.”

One kid, a freshman, got up. He walked a few
paces and collapsed. No one reacted. The driver ignored what had
happened as he focused on following the hummer. Clearly content
with the end of his trip. Ralph left his seat to check on the kid.
He was short and thin; he seemed much younger than the fourteen he
had to be. The boy made him think about Ginny. Would she be like
this? The thought gripped his throat. He tore his mind away from
his worries and focused on the boy. He felt for a pulse. Good. His
heart still beat, although his breathing was ragged.

The boy must have had issues with his blood
pressure and fainted. It had been a while since he had his first
aid class. Hoping he remembered everything, he positioned the boy
on his back and raised his legs above heart level. What was next?
He had to wait, but for how long. One or two minutes, he believed.
Ralph stuck his fingers in the boy's mouth. No vomit, which was
good. His collar was not too tight, but he still loosened another
button to no avail. The boy breathed but he did not wake up. The
next step was to call 911. Ralph laughed nervously. He had his
smart phone with him, but what would he say? That was if he had
reception. He had tried calling before; he suspected he wasn't the
only one that had tried, but it didn't work despite the signal bar
being half-full. He tried again. Same result.

“Driver! We have an emergency here. How much
farther?”

“Soon, it can't take much longer.

“Ralph,” Lauryn called out.

He looked at her. She had watched him with
her eyes wide and red, her lips trembling. He could do nothing more
for the boy. He put his feet on the seat, keeping them high. He
hoped that was enough. The other kids were coughing or staring
ahead sullenly. They were unresponsive or probably passed out. This
trip was turning out to be a catastrophe.

“Ralph, I'm cold,” Lauryn said when he sat
next to her. “It hurts breathing, talking, everything hurts.”

She sobbed. He hugged her. He didn’t know
what to say, so he chose to stay silent. What comfort could he give
if he knew there was none to be had? Who knew where they would end
up? He doubted it was a health facility; he suspected it was more
likely a military one.

The bus slowed down and stopped.

“Are we there?” Lauryn’s face lit up.

No, they were not. When she saw this, her
face soured. In front of them, buses lined the road to the horizon.
How long would they stay here, bottled up in this traffic jam?

“I've got to go look,” Ralph said.

Lauryn grabbed his hand. “No, please
stay.”

He tore away from her tears and went to the
driver's side.

“You better go sit down, boy.”

Ralph ignored the driver. Ahead of them all
types of buses idled. Every so often they moved a hundred feet or
more. The hummer came driving next to them. A soldier got off. He
was not much older than Ralph. He walked up to the driver.

“Follow the line; the compound is at its
end.”

“We got unconscious kids inside,” Ralph
said. “They need medical attention.”

The soldier looked at him as if he had only
now become aware of his presence. “Do they still breathe?”

“Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?”

The soldier turned his back to them and put
a finger on his earpiece. With a gust of the wind, Ralph heard what
he said:
...might have a situation...what orders...okay
understood.

“Stay inside. I'll be right back.”