The Disease

Chapter 7

                                                                                                  Astril

"I don't know who I am. Who am I? Did I have a life before this? Where am I? Someone please help me," I mumbled to myself for hours, rolled into a ball, rocking back and forth. "Who am I? What am I doing here?"

It was hot and I felt my skin starting to sunburn, but I didn't care, because the pain was almost numb. Everything felt numb.

"Astril, look at me," someone said from behind me. It sounded like they were talking to me, but the name Astril didn't ring any bells. I kept myself wrapped up tight.

"Astril!" His angry tone scared me, so I decided to look at him. The man was wearing a hazmat suit and his gloved fingers were curved in a beckoning motion. "That's better, now come here. This is a drop-off zone only." My body felt weak, so I half walked, half crawled toward the man. "That's it, keep coming." He walked farther and farther, towards a metallic fence that sparked with electricity. When he reached the fence, he opened a gate and I walked through. The man closed the gate behind us and he told me to head to the main office, which was in the tallest building, to get checked in. They're were a few buildings, but the tallest one was much taller than the rest, and luckily the closest. I continued my pattern of walk, fall, crawl, walk, fall, crawl, until I finally got to the main office. I stepped into the building expecting it to look like an office, but instead it was just a plain gray room with a desk in the middle, and a woman staring at me.

"Hello there, can I have your name please?" I racked my brain for a name. What did that man say? Astril?

"My name is Astril." the woman nodded and wrote something down in a huge book.

"Welcome to the Quarantine Grounds. This is where you will be staying while you have the Brain Disease. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

I did have questions, "Why can't I remember anything?"

"That's what the Brain Disease does, but if a cure is given, we are almost positive your memories will come back."

"Where can I stay?" That question had lingered in the back of my head.

"Anywhere! Any building inside the Quarantine Grounds is acceptable, though some are more full than others. Food, drink, and clothing are also provided, but only to those who work."

"Work?"

Yes," the woman smiled, almost sinisterly, "every day, a Medic will come to you and assign you a job. Some are easy, but some are a bit...harder." She gave me a long, hard stare, then finally softened her expression, "Anyway, I don't mean to prolong your stay in this room. You can go ahead and make yourself at home in one of the cabins."

"Okay, thank you."

I made it to a cabin that was completely empty. It had a small bedroom, with a bed and a cardboard box for belongings, and a main room, with a chair and table. The whole cabin was painted gray, which added to the bleakness of it. I sat in the chair, staring at the wall for a very long time, racking my brain for memories. Tears stung my eyes as I began to realize that I would probably never find them again, but I kept thinking, until I heard a knock on the door.

"Miss Astril, can you please open up?" I stood up, walked to the door, and opened it.

"Hello," a very tall, dark skinned man said, as he walked inside, "my name is Officer Quell, and I will be your boss. Please follow me, and don't ask any questions." I nodded and followed him out of the cabin.

We walked to an open field with four people pulling a chain. They all seemed exhausted.

"This is how we get our water. This chain keeps water flowing through pipes and rising up in a fountain a mile away from here. I need you to switch out with one of these people." Officer Quell said, then he walked up to an elderly woman. "You," he said into the woman's face, "switch out with Astril." I walked up and took the chain from the woman's hand, and as soon as I did, she collapsed to the ground. "Get up old lady! We got more work to do!" Officer Quell kicked the woman, which made her whimper, but she slowly stood back up. "Now go see your officer. GO!" The woman nodded and ran toward her cabin. Officer Quell mumbled something then told me to come back to my cabin when I'm told to switch off, then he walked away. The chain wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but I knew my strength would probably not last long.