Mortality

Chapter 26: Savannah

I was there, stuck in that awful place, for two days before there was any sign of Cole. No one had bothered me, but there was a near constant stream of people being taken in and out of our holding area. An elderly Asian man was led away by two armed guards only a few hours after I arrived, and he never returned. Two others had disappeared since then.

They mostly left Zack alone, but they would occasionally send someone in to check all his symptoms and see how he was doing. I was so glad they never tried to take him out of that room, as that definitely would have led to me kicking some science geek ass, which probably wouldn’t have ended well for anyone.

Between the crying and the coughing, it was hard to get much sleep, so I spent a lot of time trying to decipher the limited clues I had to work with towards figuring these people out. Like the rest of the militia, they were mostly calm and efficient, but I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to what their endgame was. What did they have planned for me?

It was strange though. For all of the people they seemed to be keeping prisoner, there wasn’t much of a military presence. I only saw three of the same soldiers and two different doctors coming in and out when I saw anyone at all. I had expected a militia medical base to be swarming with people, all trying to work towards a cure, a vaccine… something! Instead it was a handful of people who seemed bored or like they had somewhere else they’d rather be. I was convinced I was still missing part of the puzzle, but I couldn’t make any progress. Every time I asked one of the other prisoners, they’d glance up at the cameras before telling me to get lost. Not surprising I guess, but not remotely helpful.

The soldiers weren’t any better. Even this one woman who seemed sympathetic, almost guilty, refused to acknowledge me, let alone answer my questions. But every time she came in to remove another prisoner, it felt as though she was purposely avoiding looking at me.

People suck.

I’ll admit I was starting to worry Cole would never show up. I couldn’t stop picturing how my parents would look at me if they ever found out I’d purposefully put myself into a potentially deadly situation. Even though my intentions were decent enough, I spent most of the time sitting in that room feeling like an idiot. I knew he wouldn’t intentionally leave me there. It would have been a really complicated scheme just to get one teenage girl into the hands of a militia who had pretty much ignored her so far. But with the way things are now, nothing is certain. Something could have happened to Cole only moments after we’d separated, and I might never know.

At least I’d managed to find Zack. I couldn’t do much to help myself at that point, but I spent my time trying to find ways to help him.

He was in rough shape and getting worse by the hour. I didn’t know if it was that he had the same cough that seemed to be spreading rapidly in this poorly ventilated room or that he really had been infected by those bastards. It seemed absurd, but I couldn’t ignore the signs. Every time I pressed my hand to his head, he seemed a little warmer. Even if he hadn’t been given the virus, he could be killed just as easily by infection from any one of the injuries he’d sustained since being taken.

“Savannah,” Zack whispered as he gently poked my ribs. “Are you awake?”

I was. It felt like I always was. I opened my eyes and turned my head towards him, eyebrows raised.

“Do you think your friend will be here soon? I don’t want to die in this place,” Zack said as I pulled myself up into a sitting position. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t be sure he was still coming, and I couldn’t be sure Zack wasn’t dying.