Dead Quarantine by A. Rosaria Page B

all could die, including her.
    “No, Lauryn, don't cry.”
    He brushed her tears away. “It's just like
the cold, the common flu.” He could feel the fever on her. It was
bad, but nothing some medicine couldn't alleviate.
    She shivered. “I'm cold.”
    This was wrong.
    “I see the gates,” the driver yelled,
excited. “We are almost there.”
    God, it was about time, They had been going
at a snail’s pace for a few hours now. “You heard him; we are
almost there. Things will turn out all right.”
    She didn't look convinced but at least she
stopped crying. He felt a part of the burden was alleviated from
his shoulders. Now, at least, they would soon find out what was
going on. He worried about the military presence, but they were
there to protect them, so whatever they did and would still do was
with their best interest in mind. Wasn’t it?
    She raised a hand to his lips. “I have a
favor to ask.” He raised his brow. “Kiss me.”
    He had never kissed a girl before. He didn't
count Mandy in kindergarten. He sure didn't liked being kissed as a
kindergartener. He felt ashamed not having kissed anyone at
eighteen. He didn't know how. It was embarrassing. No matter how
much he wanted to kiss her, he hesitated.
    “Please, Ralph. I like you. I don't want to
lose this chance and die never having kissed a boy.”
    He pressed his lips to hers and gave her a
dry kiss. She held her eyes closed. Her face looked so serene, and
then she coughed and spat blood on the floor.
    “Lauryn!”
    “I'm sorry...I held it in so
long...but…”
    He kissed her again, tender, long. He had no
idea if he did it right, but it felt great. In that moment, he
didn't mind her germs. He didn't mind the taste of blood. He only
minded her and the miracle of meeting someone for the first time
and already feeling like this. He let go of her. She smiled at
him.
    “Thank you.”
    She rested her head against the window and
closed her eyes, falling asleep.
    “Boy,” the driver called him over.
    Up ahead the gates loomed tall. Above, the
sky went from orange to yellow. Something was burning. Would they
be stripped naked and anything on them burned down. How many people
had it taken to collect this much material to built this huge fire?
How long had this been going on? He had many questions and no
answers. It didn't help that he couldn't see beyond the wall.
Another yellow school bus was being led into some cradling device,
clamping down on the front and sides like a wrench on a bolt. The
bus was being tackled up the slope toward the tall, steel gate. It
must have been more than thirty feet high.
    “Listen, kid, I can see you are not
infected. You're immune or something. I'll try convincing the
soldiers to let you go. You can come with me once I drive
back.”
    Lauryn slept peaceful with a tiny smile
despite how awful she must have felt.
    “No need to do that; eventually we all get
quarantined anyway.”
    “Ralph is it? Listen, Ralph, girls come and
go. You better go stay with your parents instead of some girl you
may not be with tomorrow.”
    An old man trying to give him advice. He
didn't get the notion that the man cared all that much about
others. The way he had been, not telling them anything, not
offering any comfort, was a sure sign of that. The driver had been
distant. Maybe he knew more than he let on. Ralph appreciated the
offer; it was a step in the right direction for the driver to be
less of a douchebag.
    The gates opened and the bus in front of
them was led upward. They could see the back of the bus go up
higher through the door. Suddenly, a girl was beating on the rear
window. She was quickly pulled back and disappeared from view. The
bus started rocking and the gates closed, blotting the bus from
their view.
    “What was that?” Ralph said.
    “Just a kid that panicked.”
    Ralph didn't believe the man; he was
sweating too much and gripping the steering wheel too tight.
    A soldier signaled the driver to drive the
bus forward and