“Casey, it’s starting to sound like you think you can make a difference in this situation, but you shouldn’t have to be the one responsible for him. You’re not the parent, here.” Harley’s voice softened. “I know you care, but you deserve to have a normal teenage life.”
“Um…shower gel?” I countered.
Harley pursed her lips, and her eyes narrowed. “That’s different, and you know it. I just need time. What I’m dealing with is more or less normal. Your situation is definitely not normal. You, on the other hand, need to give your mom a reality check,” she advised. “She’s been relying on you too much. Tell her, Jordan.”
“Look, I don’t want to get in the middle of no family drama,” he said, shaking his head. “But, I do kind of agree with Harley on this one. You haven’t had much of a life since Derek came to stay with you all.”
Matt was crunching on kettle cooked chips with a faraway look on his face. “Jordan, we can’t tell her what to do. She has to live with her decisions, not us.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Matt,” I offered. “I appreciate that.” I looked at Jordan and Harley. “You guys are trying to help. I get that. I’ll think about what you’ve said but I’m not ready to make any promises on this, so can we just let it go for now?”
I searched their faces, and they both appeared to understand, which was reassuring. Even though their comments had made me uncomfortable, it felt good to know they were concerned about me. The truth was, I did worry about what Mom might do and whether or not I could deal with Derek. I was torn in a way I’d never felt before. Keeping him in the family could mean months, years, or maybe even a lifetime of my being responsible for him unless mom stepped up. That didn’t seem likely. But when I thought about Derek and how life had been so unfair to him, I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to be just another person in his life who turned their back on him.
◆◆◆
The energy boost I got from lunch was wearing off by the time my last class rolled around, and I nearly fell asleep at least twice. I had no idea what to expect in detention, but I doubted they’d let me sleep through it. I made my way to room 109, and about ten other students were already there. I recognized the teacher, Ms. Pines, who was monitoring detention. I walked to her desk and stood there waiting for directions.
“New here, huh?” she asked, not looking up from the papers she was grading.
“Excuse me?” I asked. “I think I’m supposed to give you this.” I handed the pink detention slip toward her that Mrs. Hoffstedder gave me this morning.
For a long moment, Mrs. Pines said nothing and didn’t look up. I edged the slip closer to her, and her head snapped up. She pointed her chin to a bin on the corner of the desk that was filled with identical pink slips and then regarded me with an expectant expression.
‘Well all righty then,’ I thought. This was going to be such fun. I put the slip in the bin and moved to an empty desk, the closest one to the door. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing, but I guessed if there had been instructions, Ms. ‘Personality’ Pines would have said so. I glanced around the room and noticed some appeared to be doing homework. One guy stared into space looking terminally bored. A girl was holding the edge of her jacket around her phone, and it looked like she was sending text messages. Smooth move, hiding it that way, but then I didn’t think Pines really cared what was going on. I watched the other students for as long as I thought I could get away with it without looking like a creeper, and then I pulled my copy of Beowulf.
God, I hated Old English. My teacher seemed to think we should be able to read this, but seriously, how could this even be considered English? I made a mental note to see if the library had a modern translation, or better yet, maybe I could find the film version online. I took out my notebook and began trying to figure out the poem, line by line.
What felt like years later, it was almost time for detention to be over. I gathered my notes and the textbook and slid them into my bag. I was ready to roll with my jacket on and backpack in hand when the bell sounded, signaling the end of my confinement.
I’d just stood up when I felt a strange vibration, like the floor jolted beneath me. For a second, I thought it was just my fatigue, but when I looked around the room, other students were standing around with looks of surprise and confusion. Again, the floor jolted and began to shake. The windows rattled, and a pencil holder jarred its way off the edge of the teacher’s desk, spilling its contents across the floor. It ended as quickly as it began.
“Nothing to worry about,” Ms. Pines advised. “Probably a small earthquake. You’re dismissed.”
So, at least she could speak.
Nervous laughter filled the classroom as students gathered their belongings and began leaving. They chattered in voices tinged with excitement.
Trey Bronson, one of the class stoners, sauntered up to me.“Not something you experience every day here,” he commented.
“No, it’s not,” I agreed. Already on edge and concerned about Derek, I thought I heard a low rumble, or what is a boom? I tensed and stood, listening and trying to identify the sound. It was the kind of noise that could have been a far-off train or piece of heavy equipment running. My imagination may have blown it out of proportion.
“What’s the matter?” Trey asked. “You’ve never felt an earthquake before?”
“No.” I was only half listening to him. My senses were on alert for a reason I couldn’t quite pinpoint. Again, the rumble. No. It sounded more like booms this time. Distant, low-pitched booms. I could barely detect them beneath the street noise outside the school, but there had definitely been distinct explosion-like sounds. Hadn’t there? “Did you hear that?” I asked Bronson.
“Chill, pretty girl. Probably just aftershocks.” The faint scent of cannabis escaped from his jacket as he extended his arm and touched my shoulder. “You okay?” he asked.
I didn’t have time to respond.
Suddenly, the building began to vibrate. This time, the shaking was more intense. Violent. I grabbed a desk to steady myself. Bronson just stood there and chuckled in a spaced-out way. He waved his hands in the air with a kind of tipsy bravado that reminded me of that scene from The Matrix where Neo is learning to dodge bullets. I suppose he was trying to make light of the situation, but it annoyed me. I wanted to focus and listen, and he was a distraction.
“Relax, Casey. It’s no big deal. They’re not even blowing any sirens. Want to go for a dube with me?”
“What?” I rolled my eyes at him. “No! Shut up, Trey.” I held my breath and glanced around to see if Ms. Pines had heard him. The last thing I needed was for someone to think I was involved with Trey and his recreational pharmaceuticals. Pines was busy at her desk, talking with someone on her cell phone, so luckily, she wasn’t paying attention to us.
Trey moved closer to me and gave me a suggestive, lazy stare. “I’m just sayin’” he whispered, “we could celebrate losing your earthquake virginity.”
How, exactly, does one respond to that? I just shot him a ‘not in this lifetime’ look.
“So, you’re not saying no right away,” he said with a come-hither grin.
“Sorry, dude. I’ve got to go pick up my brother. Have a great life.”
Bronson wasn’t a bad guy and seemed harmless, so I felt a bit guilty for blowing him off, but he had to learn his boundaries. This wasn’t the time or the place, and Trey definitely wasn’t the guy.
◆◆◆
I left the room, hurried down the hallway, and bounded out the front door of Carver High School. I jogged down the steps and felt in my pocket for my cell phone. My hand found it and then curled around something long and round. Crap! It was Derek's inhaler. At least he had one at school, but I always tried to make sure he had one on him. I clicked my phone to call my mother's number as I slipped an earbud into my other ear and scrolled through to shuffle. Lovelytheband’s Broken blared from the earbud. I listened to the song and the ringing for several seconds. Mom wasn’t
picking up and hadn’t answered the texts I’d sent earlier to her. She’d probably felt the earthquake and was freaking out. I tried not to think about the fact that she hadn’t called to check on me. Hopefully, she was okay. I’d try again later after I found Derek.
I lowered the phone and put my other earbud in place. I turned in the direction of the junior high and walked at a brisk pace as I scrolled through my Instagram feed, stealing glances at the pictures as I went. Harley’s photos from lunch showed up in my feed and made me smile. Some new photos of what looked like basketball practice were popping up. I guessed Harley decided to hang out at practice and wait for Jordan and Matt. I was tapping out a heart emoji in response when I felt a hard, sudden blow. I stumbled backward as a man ran past me.
“Excuse you, jerk!” I called after him. I shrugged off the startled feeling and turned to continue my walk when another blow and another hit me hard, causing me to fall and drop my phone. My earbud fell out, and that’s when I heard the screams and blaring horns. I looked up and saw people running wildly in the streets, knocking each other down. Some were running inside buildings, and a traffic jam was forming up ahead. Shrieks and cries echoed and bounced off the buildings from far down the street.
A shrill emergency siren began to wail in the distance. It wavered in pitch from low to high and back again as it did during tornado drills. What was going on? Was another earthquake coming?
I yelled at a woman I saw running across the roadway. “What’s happening?” I shouted.
The expression on her face was one of absolute terror. She looked at me and mouthed something I couldn’t hear over the noise. A man ran up behind her and pushed her into the door of the closest building. She stopped and pointed to me. He turned toward me and yelled, “Get inside!”
“But what’s going on?” I screamed, struggling to be heard about the blaring cacophony of horns and screeching tires.
His head gave an emphatic shake, and he pushed the woman through the door. “There’s no time! Get inside!” he shouted. He gestured toward downtown.
I looked in the direction he’d pointed and saw a massive, low-hanging cloud. It barreled forward, engulfing buildings and cars as it came. What the hell was it? I turned back, and the man and woman were gone. Fear gripped my stomach. Derek! I have to get to Derek! I broke into a run toward the junior high, and a police car cut me off as I tried to cross the road. A cop jumped out of the car and rushed toward me. He grabbed me around the waist, and the force of my body against his forearm knocked me breathless. His grip was a vice around my waist as he pulled me back toward the high school.
“Wait! What are you doing?” I screamed. “I’ve got to go get my brother! Let me go!” I squirmed hard in an attempt to loosen his hold on me. He pulled me up the steps as I pushed against him. I had to make him understand. “My brother is by himself at the junior high. He’ll be scared and won’t know what to do. I have to get to him.”
“Get inside, or you’ll die!” he said, his voice steady but fierce with conviction. “Now!”
He halfway dragged and halfway pushed me up the steps as I fought to get away. He shoved me inside the front door of the high school and stepped in the doorway to block me from getting out. He brought his whistle to his lips. He began blowing in frantic bursts as he waved to people in the street, signaling for them to come inside the high school.
As people rushed through the door, I looked down the hallway and saw our school safety officer, Mr. Woods, securing the entry at the opposite end of the building. He wrapped chains around the door handles and locked them with what appeared to be a large padlock. When I turned back, I saw a crowd of about thirty people had gathered in the hallway. Most were gasping for air, apparently having run as fast as they could to get inside. Some whimpered and shook. The officer at the front of the building had closed the massive doors and had placed a red, steel security bar over the levers. The people, a mixed group of men and women, some wearing business clothes, and others in casual clothes, stood looking at each other with stunned expressions on their faces. Some talked in hushed tones, and others were busy making phone calls. A woman held a baby close and sobbed into its blankets. A man who appeared to be homeless paced the hall and seemed to be talking to himself. “It’s a trick,” he mumbled. “Rich man in cahoots with Jesus!” He ran his hands through his mass of matted hair and kept looking out the windows as he walked.
The jangle of dozens of heavy keys announced Mr. Woods’s arrival to the scene at the front entrance. He shoved a massive chain and padlock into the cop’s waiting hands. The cop slung the heavy links over the door levers and began wrapping them around the bars. As the entry was being secured, the safety officer unlocked a metal box on the wall, revealing a set of switches. The officer’s radio blared. “All doors and windows are secure. Over.”
He pulled the radio from its clip on his belt and keyed a button on its side. “Roger, that,” the officer said, speaking into the unit. “Dampers closed? Over?”
“Affirmative,” another voice responded, presumably from another part of the building. “All clear to activate ESIP. Over.”
“Roger. Will do. Over,” the security officer responded. He turned to the control box and lowered a lever. I heard what sounded like the heating system’s ventilation blowers groaning to a halt. He pushed a red button on the panel, and several rows of green lights glowed. He ran a finger across each row, looking at each light before keying his radio. “ESIP activated,” he said. “Tell the principal to proceed with instructions. Over.”
“Roger that. Over and out.”
Sudden bangs sounded at the front door. A small group of people clamored over each other on the step and began beating their fists against the frame. Some pressed their faces against the small panes of bullet-proof glass. In one horrifying moment, their faces began to contort as if they were in pain. One man appeared to be drooling as he shouted, begging to be let in. His spit spayed onto the glass. A woman pressed her clasped hands against the door in a posture of prayer. Her nose and eyes were watering, and she seemed to be gasping to breathe. The policeman leaned close to the glass and looked into her eyes. I noticed his eyes harden. His face was stern as he stood like a statue, apparently unwilling to let them in.
“Hey!” a man beside me yelled at the cop. “You have to let them in!”
The officer didn’t respond but simply stood there, holding onto the chains that secured the door. His jaw tightened, and a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.
The man beside me let out a determined sounding breath. He lunged toward the policeman. “I said, you have to let them in!”
In one swift move, the officer drew his gun and aimed it at the man. “Back away!” he ordered. “We can’t help these people now. It’s too late. Step inside the building.”
“What do you mean?” the man said. He raised his hands in the air. “They’re right there! You can save them!” His voice made a hysterical crack.
“They were dead before they reached the door,” the cop said.
A teenager screamed.
That’s when I saw it. The thick, heavy-looking mist was rolling into the street.
Chapter 3
Principal Sutton’s voice sounded over the public-address system. “Attention. Attention, please. This is an official emergency announcement. The building is currently on lockdown for your personal safety. We are secure, and you are safe. Do not attempt to exit the building or open any doors or windows until we are given official notice it is safe to do so. Please proceed immediately to the cafeteria for additional instructions. Walk calmly. Do not run, push or shove. School staff is stationed throughout the ground floor to direct you where to go. Additional information will be provided in the cafeteria.”
My heartbeat throbbed in my ears as panic rose inside me. What was happening? I couldn’t stop thinking about the faces of the people who were locked outside the building and how they’d fallen, one-by-one, screaming and gasping. I couldn’t see what happened to the
m, but I knew with a sickening realization that they were dead.
Time and space around me seemed to flux, and people’s voices blurred in my mind. I was vaguely aware of tears on my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop shaking. I stood frozen in place as people shuffled past me and walked in the direction of the cafeteria. Mr. Woods gestured the way to go like an air traffic controller. As people filtered away, I felt my feet moving me toward him.
I felt myself quivering harder as I tried to speak. “Mr. Woods,” I mumbled. My own voice sounded foreign to me and disconnected. “Can you p-please tell me what’s happening? I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go get my brother, and I can’t get through to my mom.”
He looked at me for a moment, and I thought I saw fear flicker in his gaze. “I’m sorry, but you can’t leave yet. You’ll need to go to the cafeteria for more information.”
I started to speak, and he held up a hand to discourage me from staying behind. “Go now, so you don’t miss any important announcements.”
◆◆◆
My body became a vehicle driven by some force in my brain that took over whenever my emotional defenses kicked in. Depression was like that. It was kind of like autopilot for humans that made sure I got where I needed to go without requiring conscious thought. The cafeteria was nearly full, and I noticed five, maybe six uniformed police officers fanned out across the crowd. In my brain fog, I spied Jordan, Matt, and Harley huddled near the back of the lunch room. I felt myself weaving my way through the crowd to get to them. Being near them made me feel safer somehow, and my self-awareness and control were beginning to return.
I reached Harley, who looked terrified. Jordan stood quiet and unmoving, with a serious looking furrow on his brow. Matt looked more concerned than anyone.
Viral Series (Book 1): Viral Dawn [Extended Edition] Page 5