The Disease

Chapter 2

                                                                                          Ivaria

We left the orphanage about an hour ago and had just made it to the apartment building when we realized our plan wasn't going to work.

The building was closed.

The building was a complete disaster.

There were tons of medics rushing in and out of the building.

"Well, I guess we should go somewhere else," I said.

"Are there any other apartment buildings around here, or at least, in walking distance?" Tessa asked.

"Not that I know of. Do you know any, Zayden?"

"Nope, but I did bring my TouchPad. It has a map and will lead us right to the next apartment building." He pulled out a black square from his bag, and it lit up when he tapped the screen. Then he started typing something into it.

"How did you get one of those?" I asked. "They are so expensive these days." Once the virus started, things started getting more and more expensive because of how hard it was to find enough people to work for their production. Slowly, shortages of different items began to become more often, and people began fighting over little things--even toilet paper. The only reason apartments were so cheap was because they knew kids were losing their parents and needed somewhere to live.

"My mom gave me a TouchPad a year ago," his voice choked, "once the virus started. She said I would probably need it one day."

"Well, she was right," Tessa said with a grimace. She was still getting used to having a boy hanging out with us. I shot her a look, but she just shrugged. We waited for Zayden to tell us where the next place to go was.

"Great," Zayden groaned. "Sorry guys, but you're not going to like this."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The next apartment building is in Saninsville, which is 200 miles away."

"WHAT?!" Tessa and I both yelled at the same time.

"But, are you sure?" I asked.

"Yah, sorry. The rest closed down because of...well..." Zayden's expression fell into a frown. I knew he lost his parents only half a year ago, so he probably still was grieving from the loss. I felt a strong urge to hug him and tell him it was okay, but our friendship wasn't quite there yet, so I just put my hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, we can walk there. It won't be fun, but it's better than living on the streets for the rest of our lives." I let go of Zayden's shoulder. "So, what direction do we start in?"

"That way," Zayden pointed to the left of the apartment building in front of us. Tessa and I followed as Zayden led us to our new home that was 200 miles away.

Nothing happened for the first few hours, but when it started to get dark, we all began to panic...

"Where are we gonna sleep? Nowhere is completely safe from wild animals or the disease." Tessa said anxiously.

"Tessa, do you know how the disease is transmitted?" Zayden asked.

"No, and I'm guessing you do?"

"Actually, I do." Zayden said as Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Okay, go ahead smarty-pants, how is it transmitted?"

"You have to be in contact with their blood, so you won't get it by breathing or by walking in the same spot they did." I actually thought that was helpful to know, but Tessa just scowled. I didn't know what her problem was.