Strain 7

Chapter Eight

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay! 

One thing, the masks look like the mask in the book cover. And the picture is of Frankie. :) Enjoy!

Janie’s POV

            “Chow time!” I called, pulling the van into the Hardee’s parking lot. Everyone cheered before climbing out. We had been cooped up in the van for 8 hours straight. Nick and I had already changed out drivers twice.

            “Hardee’s? Really Janie?” Chandler joked. He loved to mess with me, pretending like he didn’t approve of any of my choices. I just gave him a half-convincing smile before walking in behind everyone else. Humor didn’t really appeal to me anymore. My mind was still running the Psychic’s words through my head. Nick had tried all night to convince me that she was just a fake. She didn’t know what she was talking about. She was just trying to scare me. And so on and so forth. But none of his words stuck. They went in one ear and out the other as her words rang clear. I shook my head at the thought and focused on the menu.

             We all got in line and ordered our food, Nick paying with his card. The lady behind the counter coughed. My head snapped up just as Nick’s hand froze as he was placing his card back in his wallet.

            I turned in a complete circle, checking out the whole restaurant. The lady wasn’t the only one coughing. “Actually, we’ll take that to go, thanks!” Nick started grabbing the burgers off the trays. I followed by grabbing as many fries as possible. Nathan was right behind me. I watched as Brittany and Ronnie ushered Frankie and Sarah out the door, Chandler and Haven right on their tail. Next out was Nathan, then Nick. I stopped at the door, and looked back. “Come on Janie!” Nick called. I shook my head sadly before rushing out the door.

            We all piled in, Nick in the driver’s seat. He poured the burgers in my lap as he turned the key and threw it in reverse. “I thought it was okay here.” Frankie whined. Both he and Sarah were shook up. Then again, who wasn’t?

            “Um…yeah. I thought so too.” I croaked, running my fingers through my hair and squeezing my eyes closed. This could not be happening.

            “They were wrong…weren’t they?” Haven whispered. I turned around to face her. Her eyes were filled with tears just waiting to spill over. Everyone was looking at me, grimly, waiting for an answer. Even Nick was taking his eyes off the road everyone few seconds to look at me. But I couldn’t answer. What was I supposed to say? Yes, they were wrong. It’s not coming in waves. It has hit everywhere, and we are all going to die. Yeah…that’s what I should say.

            “I don’t know Haven. Maybe. Maybe it’s just sweeping through faster than we all thought.” I rationalized before turning back in my seat. We were at a red light and Nick was looking at me, but I refused to meet his gaze. I didn’t want to talk about any of it. Personally, I just wanted to sleep.

            And that’s what I did.

Nick’s POV

            I drove on as everyone slept, thinking about this puzzle so hard that it hurt. Was there really no pattern? Or are we all just off a little bit? Maybe it’s going faster? Or…lasting longer? I didn’t know. And it was driving me crazy. I envied Janie and her ability to sleep while I drive.

            I couldn’t stop thinking about Janie’s parents. It made me wonder where mine are. Are they okay? I couldn’t stop praying that they were both still alive. What would I and my brothers’ lives be like without them? I couldn’t imagine surviving only to discover that my parents were gone.