Dead Quarantine by A. Rosaria Page A

through this nastiness.
    “I'm glad,” Lauryn said, “that you are here
with me, that I finally dared to speak to you.”
    “You wanted to speak to me before?” She
nodded. “Why me?”
    “Silly, is it not obvious?”
    Could it be? Nah, it couldn't. It would be
too ironic and tragic at the same time.
    “I like you and now that I know you better,
I know I was right in liking you.”
    He turned away; he didn't want her to see
him blush. He hated compliments, though he liked it coming from
her. He still hated how they made him feel like an impostor. She
cupped her hand on his chin and turned his head to her. She really
lacked the strength to do so, though he caved in and let her do it.
He locked eyes with her feverish ones. What if it was all fever
delirium that made her feel and talk like this?
    “I know you like that blond girl, but I had
to say something, to do something...”
    She cut her eyes away from his to the
outside. He followed her stare. The soldier, accompanied by
another, came around the bus. They carried no stretcher with them
or any medical equipment or supplies. Were they intent on carrying
the boy like a sack of potatoes? The soldier aimed his rifle at the
door.
    “Everybody, listen up. No one try to leave.
Don't be a hero and there will be no unnecessary blood shed.”
    The other solder had a torch in his hand and
started welding the door shut. Sparks flew from the outside to the
inside. The few kids awake reeled back in their seats and uttered
protests. The driver looked shocked. The courage, the hope dropped
in Ralph. Lauryn started crying.
    The door welded shut, the soldiers walked
back around the bus. The one with the welding torch got back in the
hummer; the other came around at the driver’s side.
    “Keep them inside. Anyone trying to get out
the windows will be shot,” he said to the driver.
    The soldier immediately turned and strode
back to the hummer, not waiting for comments or questions. They
drove back to where the came from.
    The silence returned in the bus once it had
been settled that they were going nowhere. The silence was only
broken by the continuous coughs and the revving of the diesel
engine each time they had a gap in the line to fill. Ralph rocked
Lauryn in his arms. She smelled of illness, a pungent smell close
to puke. He felt sorry for her, worried about her state, and
guilty. He of all people had stayed healthy and this stuck out. The
sullen eyes of his companions weighed heavily on him. Not hers
though. Hers were caring in a way he so far had only seen in his
friend, Tom, and his family.
    He wondered about her. What would happen
after this was over? How would he go about it? He hadn’t really
known her for long. He never knew she had a crush on him. The thing
was he had been so fixated on Sarah that he didn't, but Sarah was
with Jake. He wasn't even sure she had noticed him; he was at most
more like a friendly acquaintance. Lauryn liked him, she said so
herself, and so far she showed nothing to make him doubt her, but
was it fair to her that he had feelings for someone else? He wished
he could make up his mind.
    “What are you thinking about? You look so
far off,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
    “Nothing...no, not nothing. Lauryn, I like
you too. Sure I only got to know you today, but I feel there is
much to like about you.”
    She managed a weak smile.
    “I want to do right by you,” Ralph said.
“After this is over, we should go out on a date.”
    A tear rolled from her right eye. He
followed it down her cheek until it formed a drop at her chin. Did
he say something wrong?
    “There might not be an after this,” she
said.
    “Don't say things like that. Sure there
will. This thing will blow over eventually.”
    The tears streamed out of her eyes. He did
not want to think about the possibility that this was a more than
just an epidemic. What if very few people survived this infection?
What if only those few people who were immune survived it? That
meant they