Hot Heels

Chapter 3

I scrabbled to get my phone out of my pocket, and clicked the answer button. I didn't even look at who was calling.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Is this Megan Bryewood?" The voice on the other side asked. It was a teen male, or at least, that's what it sounded like.

"Y-yes, who are you?" My hands started to shake, not knowing who this guy was, but he obviously knew who I was.

"That doesn't matter right now. Are you headed to a purification site?" He asked.

"Yeah..." My heart beat faster. Everyone in my car was silent for a moment.

"Good, I'll see you there. Bye for now," he said.

"Wait hold on-..." He hung up.

I shut off my phone and shoved in my pocket. I put my arm on the small space below the car window. I didn't want to say it was a window sill, because technically I don't think it was. I rested my head against the cold glass since it had started to rain.

"Who was that?" Magerette asked, obviously startled. All I was able to do was shrug in response.

"What did they ask you?" My father asked from the drivers seat.

"He asked me if my name was Megan Bryewood. Then asked if I was headed to the purification site, and then said he'd see me there. It sounded like a boy around my age." I mumbled slightly.

My dad went silent and so did Magerette. All we could here is the music to my brother's game and the sounds of the buttons being pressed. We just say in silence.

"How about we listen to the radio before we get there?" Magerette tried to break the silence, "We still have about two hours before we get there."

My dad flicked through radio stations, most of which were offline. Static fled through the radio. None of the radio stations were still up. Even the news station. Cars fled past our car, most likely headed for the same place as us. My dad flipped off the radio.

"Well, it was worth a shot." Magerette shrugged. At least she was trying to be positive.

We sat in silence for about thirty minutes. In the distance we saw a giant building. I'd seen it before, but I never knew what it was for. It was built shortly after my mom left us.

"Is that it?" Allan asked, looking around my dad, since he was sitting right behind him and he was trying to get a better view.

"Yes," my dad replied.

"So, that's where we'll get 'purified'" I put it in air quotes.

"That's the plan, but only if we're infected.

We parked in the grass like we were instructed to do. We exited the car and were lead in by guards. We got there thirty minutes earlier than we intended to, because it seemed like most of the people came there before us.

We entered the building and there was a medium length line of people. The guards had bullet proof vests, helmets, and some pretty big machinery.

"You'll be getting a blood test to determine whether you're infected or not. If you're infected you'll be sent to the purification site. If you're not, then you're welcome to stay in the guests quarters while your parent or children are being purified," a lady in a lab coat explained.

I didn't get a good look at her, before my father started talking to her, and my attention fell from her to the line. He asked her about cost, and she said it was mostly a voluntary position and that they still had plenty of room, so it was first comes, first serves, with no money needed.

She hurried to the front of the line, probably helping with the blood tests to make the line go faster.

My thoughts fell back to the boy that called me out of nowhere. I still didn't know who he was, and it didn't seem like any of the people from my school were there, from what I could see. There probably was a couple people there, but they probably were either being treated or waiting for someone to be treated.

The line was getting shorter and there only seemed to be three family's in front of us.

A kid with his mom and dad, a little girl hanging onto her father's hand as her mom tried to quiet the baby in her arms, and a boy being scolded by his mother for running off a little while ago.

It almost felt like we were at a grocery store. I decided to check my phone, something I'd do if we were at a grocery store. I looked to see if I had gotten any panicked texts from Kathy, but I was met with no notifications. There wasn't any reception.

"The government cut the reception about an hour ago," a guard said, from behind me.

Without looking up at the guard, I gave a slight nod, and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Sooner or later they would cut the power. Heck, they could have already cut it and the building was using a generator of some sorts.

There was only the women and her son left. The boy got on the table and the doctor took a blood sample with a syringe. Instantly, I didn't want to go any further. I hated needles.

The boy yelped and hoped of the table, pouting. The doctor smiled and handed him a sucker. The lady went soon after he did.

My dad jumped up on the table and pulled up his sleeve. The doctor took his blood and patted his back, then Magerette went. After they were finished, they were sent to the waiting room to wait for their results.

Allan got up on the table and she asked for his name.

"Allan Bryewood," he mumbled. She checked off his name on the list. The confusion on my face seemed to be aparent.

"They gave us a list of the residents that lived in the surrounding areas and were the most likely to show up here with a list of phone numbers." She explained. I nodded.

Allan flinched as the needle pierced his skin, and the red fluid was injected from him. He hoped down, and she handed him a sucker.

"Can I get one of those?" I laughed, as I jumped on the table.

"Sure." She shrugged.

I pulled up my sleeve and flinched at the pinching of the needle. It stung like mad, and tears burned in the corner of my eyes. I whipped them away quickly, and jumped off the table.

"Here." She smiled, as she handed me a sucker.

I chuckled slightly and took it, saying my thanks. I grabbed Allan's hand and we headed into the waiting room to look for our parents.