A land divided

Chapter 3

I wasn't swabbed for the next four days. They just dropped off my food outside the door, knocked, and left before I could get up to grab it. I called my mom every day just to have somebody to talk to. One day I found a piece of paper that had been slid under the door. I walked over and saw a hashtag drawn on it with a question mark next to it. I grabbed a pen and drew an 'X' in one of the squares before pushing it back. About an hour later the paper was slid back with an 'O' on it. Somebody was actually there. We played multiple games, I had no clue who it was on the other side of the door, but honestly, I didn't care. It was interaction with someone. I would have gone insane if I was left alone any longer.

Eventually, the paper was filled with games and the person on the other side left. I returned to my bed, smiled, and started watching videos again. My mom called again, but when I answered her tone was dark.

"Elijah... I'm sorry." She stammered a little when saying this.

"Mom? What's wrong? What happened?" I was worried. Mom was always happy, upbeat, and acted like nothing was ever wrong.

"We- Don't bother hurrying back home."

"What does that mean?" I became more anxious with every word she said.

"We all-" she suddenly started coughing violently, "We all have been infected."

It was like the world started spinning faster. I almost broke down. She told me not to worry, they would just have to spend time on the other side of the border. She coughed some more before we decided to hang up so she could save her lung power. What was I going to do? I was stuck here, and they were being moved to the sick lands. I started thinking and thinking until I eventually fell asleep.

I awoke to a knock on the door. It was the doctor. I told her she could come in, and she walked in and sat next to me. She wasn't distanced which confused me.

"So, we ran some tests and we believe you are immune to the virus."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, so we wanted to ask you a big favor. Would you like to become a guard in the sick lands?"

I thought to myself, 'If I say yes, then I might see my family again.'

"Yeah, I'll do it." I surprised myself with how confident I shounded. I was going to do this though, I had to.

"Thank you. We also want you to figure out where the mother of the baby is and bring her the child." The doctor said. I was surprised they didn't already know where she was. When I asked if they already knew her location, they told me her house was gone. It was total anarchy in the sicklands and apparently some people were mad because she got them sick, so they burned down her house.

"I know it sounds like a bad idea, but we can't keep the baby here any longer. We've already exposed some of our guards to him, we need him to be returned to his mother. Are you up for the task?" She asked.

"Running into a town full of anarchy and sick people? Of course!" I said, causing her to chuckle a bit

"You are definitely braver than I."

Next thing I know I was given some gear to keep me safe, along with a backpack with medical supplies, food, water, and a small tent in case I need it. I grabbed the baby and one of the sick guards went with me into the sicklands, he just took me to where it started before returning to where he needed to be. I started thinking about how crazy this was. How was I supposed to do this? Whatever, I had to do it, and as they say, you only live once.