A land divided

Chapter 1

 Hi, my name is Elijah and I live in what was once the healthy lands. I know, I know that sounds strange, but let me try to explain. The COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020 but was still around in 2028. Over 31 million people died, or 1/10 of the population, and they decided to take extreme measures. They had everyone in America get tested, and depending on the result you would either go to the healthy lands or the sick lands. The state was divided in half through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The sick lands are the left half of the U.S., and the healthy lands are the right half of the U.S. My family tested negative, so we lived in the healthy lands, at least, for a while.

I was simply going about my daily life when I noticed a woman running with guards chasing her. I lived near the border so this isn't uncommon, but what was strange was that she was running towards me. She stopped, handed me the child she was holding, and ran away. She made it about 15 yards away when a guard tackled her and took her across the border. After the guards caught her they confronted me.

"Do you know who she is?" the guard asked.

"No sir, I've never seen her before."

They looked at me and said, "Sorry, but you have to come with us."

I didn't realize quite what happened until they said this. This woman, who was infected, ran and touched my hand, handed me her kid who was probably also infected, and now I would probably be sent to the sick lands.

The guard who knew me from our daily conversations said "don't worry, we just have to keep you nearby for a few days to make sure you don't get sick. Here I'll take the baby, I promise to care for it." I handed him the baby and we continued walking.

They sent me into a room that looked like a normal bedroom. It contained a blue bed, a bookshelf with no books, and a side table with hand sanitizer, tissues, face masks and gloves. There were also two doors. One door led to a walk-in closet with a few clothes, and the other door led to a small bathroom with a shower, toilet, sink, and cabinets. I sat down on the bed and thought about my family. I pulled out my cell phone and called my mom. She immediately picked up the phone and said,

"Where are you? Are you hurt? What happened?" I calmed her down and said, "I had some contact with an infected woman, I have to be quarantined, but I'll be ok, don't worry." She freaked out some more, but eventually calmed down. We talked for a bit before I hung up.

I played some games on my phone before my friend guard walked in. He said,

"come on, we need to get you and the baby tested." I followed him into the doctor's room.

"Sit."

They had me sit down on a chair. I looked across the room and saw the baby lying in a crib. In front of me was a woman in a doctor's coat. She had brunette hair that was up in a bun, blue eyes, and a warm smile. She pulled on a mask and walked towards me with a cotton swab in both hands.

"Hold still, this may feel a little funny." The doctor said.

The doctor swabbed me and put the swab in a container before going over to the baby.

"Guard, can you make sure the baby holds still, I'm worried I may hurt him if he moves."

The guard held the baby's head as the doctor swabbed him. She walked over to a door and handed the swabs to someone behind it. I couldn't see who it was, matter of fact I only saw an arm. We waited a bit before we got the results. I tested negative, but the baby tested positive.