Tick.
I pulled my fingers back, as if trying to peek through curtain blinds. The water drawn from the surrounding air floating between my hands followed my movements, elongating itself, forming a nice smooth arc.
Tock.
I pushed my palms closer together, forcing the carefully curved arc of water between them to form a smooth round ball instead. I laid on my white sheets, staring at the white ceiling blankly, my mind everywhere but here.
Tick.
It's been slightly over a day since the announcement that followed the sudden quick teleportation and separation of students by the school faculty. It was explained that the school was investigating the incident in the Mess Hall, and that all students would be quarantined and isolated till it was sorted.
Tock.
I snuck a quick glance at the digital alarm clock that sat on the bedside table beside me. 21:33. The red digits blinked steadily, mocking the turmoil brewing within me. 27 hours and 14 minutes since the door to my room was replaced by a blank white concrete wall.
"Ugh!" I shouted. I flung the water floating above me into the air and dispersed it. No matter how much the school may try to hide or deny it, it was obvious that that first year from dinner last night had MHF. There was no doubt about it. Blood was literally spewing from her mouth.
And god. Layton essentially had it too. Layton had MHF. There was no way he didn't have it. The bleeding from his eyes, the muscle aches, the fatigues. He had the symptoms. Why didn't I notice them earlier? Why did he get it? He didn't deserve it.
The image of his lost and fearful blue eyes remained etched in mind. It was the last thing I saw. I hope he was coping alright. I couldn't even check on him. I couldn't be there for my best friend. The internal school messaging system was down. When the academy said quarantine, they really meant complete isolation. They had completely taken down the internet access within the first hour of quarantine, as a means to end the chaos happening on the school forums.
How did the virus even get into the school? Didn't the school run a blood test on every last individual entering the compound, and didn't everyone clear that? It's supposed to be the most accurate measure of whether someone had the Mutant Hemorrhagic Fever. It was never wrong.
A soft ping from my desk caught my attention. What? Wasn't the internet down? Maybe it was the blood test result? Just an hour after the Mess Hall incident, a blood test kit appeared on my desk with specific instructions. I had assumed our whole cohort got a kit each and that the school was doing a round of MHF testing on everyone. I did as instructed and as soon as I put all the equipment back into the tray, it vanished. That was the last sign we got from the academy.
With absolutely nothing else to do, I decided that there was no point procrastinating getting out of bed. With a swift motion, I pushed myself up and out of a perfectly comfortable position, and shuffled across the freezing tiles and towards the tablet. A few mindless taps later, the messaging app was open and there were two messages from the academy.
[ACADEMY MODERATOR]
You have tested NEGATIVE for the Mutant Hemorrhagic Fever. - 9.35pm.
A relieved sigh escaped my lips. The virus spread through fluid. I hadn't shared any drinking water or food ever since MHF started. I guess it paid off.
Please report to the Fields with your essentials immediately. - 9.36pm
I stared at the screen blankly. Is this a joke? It's late into the night and it's freezing! Are they joking?
YOU ARE READING
Pestilence Plagues | ONC 2021
ActionHayley Clarke was doing so well. Her secret was deeply buried. Nobody suspected a thing and that was how she would very much prefer to keep it. Unfortunately, things did not seem to go her way when a deadly virus began wreaking havoc upon the world...
