World Population
3,001,598,414
Change
— 2,842,431,503
22
Something pushed against Brandon’s back. More asleep than awake, he scooted to the edge of his bed to get away from whatever it was.
Another nudge. This time he flopped his arm behind him to push it away. When he realized he was touching someone, he jerked back his hand and twisted around.
“Loni?” he whispered.
She was lying in the bed next to him, her lips trembling.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I…I’m scared. I didn’t know where else to go.”
“We’re all scared,” he said, trying to calm her down.
“No. I mean someone in my cabin is…is…”
“Is what?”
“Coughing.”
He sat up. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Across the room, somebody turned in his bed and sniffled.
Loni’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
Brandon waited to see if a cough would follow, but none did.
“You’re sure you weren’t dreaming it?” he said.
“I’m sure.”
“Which cabin are you in?”
“Six.”
He swung out of bed, slipped on his shoes, and grabbed his jacket.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To check.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do, but…just come with me.”
Quietly, they crossed the room and went outside. Brandon let Loni lead him to her cabin. They cracked open the front door but remained on the stoop. At first all was quiet, and he started to think what she’d heard was probably someone clearing their throat while they slept. His dad did that all the time. But then someone coughed. Deep and wet.
A moment later there was a second cough, only this one came from the other side of the room.
Loni pulled at his arm. “Close it.”
She didn’t need to tell him twice.
“See, I was right,” she said. Her lower lip began to tremble. “That means we’re all going to get it, doesn’t it?”
One of the videos the Resistance had made explained what to do if someone thought they’d been exposed. Brandon had seen it multiple times. “Go to the showers,” he told her. “Scrub yourself as hard as you can.”
“The showers?”
“Right now,” he said. “If any got on you, you might still be able to wash it off.”
It took her a second before she seemed to get it.
As she was turning to run to the showers, he said, “Don’t put those clothes back on, and don’t touch them after you’re done. I’ll bring you some clean ones.”
She nodded and left.
The first thing he needed to do was wake up Mrs. Trieb and tell her what was going on. Maybe they could separate the sick ones and save everyone else. With the exception of Miss Collins, who was sleeping in the cabin with the younger children, the supervisors were in cabin number eight, two down from Loni’s. He ran there and was about to pull open the door when someone inside broke out in a coughing fit.
Backing away, he heard more coughs — not just from numbers six and eight, but from all the cabins except his and the one the little kids were in.
There would be no isolating the ill, but maybe there were a few others he could get out before the infection reached them.
He entered his cabin first and grabbed his pack, but just as he was about to start waking his dorm mates, the person he’d heard sniffle earlier coughed.
It’s everywhere!
He headed for the door, but stopped before he reached it. Maybe there were a few here he could still save. He shook the feet of the boys in the four beds closest to the door. Only two opened their eyes.
“What’s going on?” a kid named Vincent said.
“We’ve got to get out,” Brandon told him.
“Why?”
There was no need for Brandon to answer. Another cough did the job for him.
Vincent and the other boy, Carter, jumped from their beds.
“Grab your bags but don’t open them,” Brandon said. He explained about taking showers, and getting rid of the clothes they were wearing. “Wash off your bags first, though. Then you can take something out to wear.”
Another head popped up, this one a sniffling mess. “Shut up, huh? Trying to sleep.”
Vincent and Carter snatched up their bags and headed for the door. Brandon surveyed the room, but knew there was no one else left he could help, so he followed a few seconds after the other two boys.
He headed for the little kids’ cabin, and paused outside. No hacks or sniffles coming from inside.
Good.
He reached for the handle, but stopped himself before grabbing it. There had been coughing in his cabin. Was it possible that though he couldn’t get the flu himself, he might be contaminated? If so, while he tried to save the kids, he would actually be killing them.
He took a step back. “Don’t let them catch it,” he whispered. He spun around and ran for the showers.
Entering, he could hear Loni washing off on the other side of the partition.
“I’ll bring you something to wear as soon as I’m done washing,” he shouted loudly enough for her to hear.
“Okay,” she replied.
He scrubbed himself raw, and repeated the process with his bag. When he was done, he pulled out a set of clothes for himself and one for Loni. She was smaller than he, but it was the best he could do for now.
“When you’re done,” he said to Vincent and Carter as he finished dressing, “meet at the cafeteria. If I’m not there yet, gather up some food. Enough for a few days.”
“Where are you going?” Vincent asked.
“To check if there’s anyone else we can help.”
He tossed the other set of clothes through the opening to the girls’ shower, and gave Loni the same instructions he’d given the boys. He then jogged over to the little kids’ cabin.
Once again, he paused outside. No sniffles. No coughs. No clearing of throats. Only quiet.
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
He opened the door and eased inside. Miss Collins’s bed was easy to pick out. Though she wasn’t a tall woman, she was twice the size of the kids in the cabin.
Kneeling beside her bed, he shook her shoulder. “Miss Collins? Miss Collins, wake up.”
She took in a deep breath and rolled onto her back, but didn’t wake.
“Miss Collins, please.”
Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. A second passed before she noticed he was there. “Brandon? What are you doing in here?”
“We have to get the kids out.”
She blinked, and rose on an elbow. “Why? What happened?”
“The others are sick.”
She stared at him as if she didn’t understand. “They…can’t…be. We’ve taken precautions.”
“Yeah, I know, but people are coughing in all the other cabins. If we don’t get the kids in here out right now, they’ll catch it, too.”
She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. “What about the staff cabin? Mrs. Trieb? Have you let her know?”
“I couldn’t. They’re sick, too.”
She took a step toward the door before looking back at him. “I…I need to check.”
“We don’t have time.”
“You get the kids up. I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t go inside,” he called after her as she ran out the door. “Just listen from outside.”
Whether she heard him or not, he didn’t know.
Brandon moved quickly through the room, checking each of the kids to make sure they didn’t have a fever. When he was confident the flu hadn’t infected any of them, he turned on the cabin light and said, “Hey, everyone, time to wake up.”