The Carriers

Chapter Three

Quarantine

Everything was a blur. My mind just went blank. The first thing I remember after being escorted out of my home was being locked in the back of a transfer van with other people. Their faces and how many of them there were I can't remember.

The ride felt as if it dragged on forever. The whole time I felt numb. I wasn't angry, I wasn't sad or scared; I was just.. numb. I felt nothing. I wondered if I ever would feel something again, but for now I couldn't.

After what felt like hours, the van pulled to a stop. Suddenly I could see the world around me again, but it didn't matter to me. Nothing mattered anymore. A woman and her husband sat hand and hand, a dark skinned man sat and stared blankly at the wall, an old lady stared at a picture in her hand. What stuck out to me most was a little girl about Ella's age who sat in the corner barely holding back tears. It was hard for me to imagine the pain her family must be going through and the horror she must be dealing with. She was so young.

    For the first time since I left my home I felt something, compassion. My heart broke for this poor little girl who had lost everything. At least Ella still had our mom and dad, but this girl had no one now. I also felt a sense of defensiveness for her, almost like I had to take care of her now. Which I realized was silly because the odds of me even surviving quarantine were practically nonexistent. Yet, I still felt the same.

    "What's your name?" I asked her.

    She blinked and looked up from her focus- less gaze. "What?"

    "I'm Olivia." I smiled. "What's your name?"

    She sniffed and looked back downward. "Luciana."

    "That's a beautiful name." She gazed intently, not responding. "How old are you?"

    "Eight."

    "I have a little sister that age." She then looked at me with a look that broke my heart.

    The tears welled up in her eyes again. "It's not fair." She wiped her eyes. "Why do the other kids get to stay home when I have to leave?"

    I didn't know what to say. There was nothing to say that could make this better. "I- I don't know." I looked at the floor. "It's not fair. I do know that that you will be taken care of here though."

    "You don't know that."

    She was right; I didn't know that. She clearly knew what was going on, and there was nothing I could do to comfort her. No matter how much I wanted to.

    The doors were opened by two men in surgical masks who then ordered us to follow them. We stepped outside to see a massive white building. The bottom floor had large windows that nearly covered the entire walls, but the top twenty something floors had smaller windows dotting the sides of the white walls. The smaller windows likely led to the cells where they would be keeping us. The whole building was perfectly designed. It was clear that the building had been created exactly for this situation.

    They led us into the main entrance, which was ironically decorated with plants and fountains to create a peaceful atmosphere. They then separated us into groups by age. I was placed with the other teenagers, a couple of which I recognized from my high school. I didn't know their names, I wish I did now, but I never cared enough before. They then separated us into four more groups and took my group to a large elevator. We crowded in. I was shoulder to should with other people but I still felt alone. Lonelier than I had ever felt before.

    The elevator came to a halt at the twelfth floor. The door opened to a guard who instructed us to follow him. I was the last one to be taken to my "room."