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THREE 「wasteland, baby」 ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚
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THE NEXT TWO hours were chaos. Everything the Rat Man had told them whirred through Sylvia's mind, like gushing wind through the branches of desolate trees. She felt as if the information was swirling around her and she couldn't grasp one bit without another hurtling in. It was all too much to process.
She had the Flare, a virus that had struck civilization after solar flares scorched the Earth. The virus was deadly. What did it do to people? How did it affect them? How could she know if she was getting worse? And the others had it too—her boys. She had to be separated from them because she had a rare strain of the strange virus, and she was a danger to them. As much as it pained her, she was glad. Glad she wouldn't be able to hurt them and glad it was her who had it instead of one of them.
Both Sylvia and Hayden frantically packed whatever they could. They ripped the sheets from the beds, tying them into makeshift knapsacks. They started by stuffing the sheets with food from the pile that had been left for them. As they packed, Hayden picked up conversation. "You really think they'll kill us if we don't go through?"
"Would you like to stay behind and find out?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Alright, could you stop being such a smart aleck for one second? We're being kicked out. I think we should discuss, at the least."
"There's nothing to discuss," she said, shoving crackers, granola bars, and fruit into the knapsack she'd made. "We have to go through, and that's that. We can't stay here. Whatever's on the other side, we'll deal with it."
Hayden stuffed a few apples into his bundle of sheets frustratedly. "Aren't you worried about your group? Don't you want to find your way back to them?"
"What a stupid question." She spat. "Of course I want to find them. Staying here won't help us! If anything, we could search this 'Scorch' place. Maybe they're being sent out too, just like us."
