The Player's Twins (Book Two of The Great Age Plague series)

Chapter Nineteen

In the back of Cally's SUV, Keon and I played footsy under the seat. Josh was in the front, scrolling through his phone moodily, and Cally was jamming out to an old Backstreet Boys CD she got from her mother, so Keon and I had relative privacy. It had been awhile, since him and I talked or spent any real one-on-one time together.

"I'm reading a new book," I informed him randomly, pulling out my library copy of Throne of Glass. At this, Keon's eyes lit up, and he smiled broadly in a way I hadn't seen for quite some time. 

"I didn't know you were reading again! I thought you were still in your slump," he said. It was true, I had been in quite a reading slump since my birthday, and it had been terrible. It was funny, though, because out of all of the problems in my life, that was one of the ones that Keon remembered. It was one of my favorite things about him, I found-- how he remembered the little things.

"Nope, not anymore, apparently. Have you read this one?" I asked. He shook his head. 

"No, but I've had it recommended to me a bunch. Isn't that the one about the female assassin?" he asked. This soon led to a discussion my reading, starting with me launching into a long rant-synopsis about the book and then delving into Keon's latest read, which was an old copy of Dante's Inferno. The usually quiet Keon suddenly became quite animated as he pulled out his leather-bound copy from a satchel at his feet. 

"I've been reading it while sitting at the desk at the auto shop," he explained. Flipping through the pages, I noted how his fingers were stained with black from either ink or oil from the auto clinic. As he talked, I watched how the dimple appeared in the corner of his cheek when he got really excited, and how he sucked his lip ring between his teeth when he mentioned something scandalous about the book. 

"And you know, the whole point of this book was how Dante was just trying to get back at a bunch of Italian politicians who made him mad! It's pretty much a giant angry fanfiction," concluded Keon. I laughed, leaning against him in the back seat. We cuddled in comfortable silence for a moment when he spoke. 

"Hey, you know, that's a good name," said Keon. 

"What?" I asked. 

"Dante," said Keon "It's a good name, for a boy. Strong, interesting."

"Bookish," I added. Keon nodded, then leaned his head against mine. 

"If I had a son, I'd name him Dante," said Keon sleepily, letting his eyes flutter closed. I glanced up at him before pulling my legs up onto the seat, letting him get more comfy. Soon he was asleep, but I was not. All I could thinking was about how Keon didn't have any children of his own, and never would because he was infertile. 

I was also thinking about how possibly, Dante would make a very good name for a little boy.

***

The safe house was something else. A converted mall, I found myself shuddering in dismay as I walked past the empty shells of Claire's and Bath and Body Works. They were not looted, but rather cleared out. Cally, Josh, Keon, and I were the only people heading down this corridor of the mall. We had parked outside. In the distance, we heard voices, which indicated we were going the right way. I saw Cally bite her lip nervously and rest on hand on her stomach. Keon reached over and took my hand in his. Josh held onto Fitzy in one arm with Lilac's crate in his other hand. I was shaking. 

Something about the whole situation was terrifying. The first round of the Great Age Plague had felt apocalyptic enough, but being able to stay in my home and get lost in a world of books made everything a little easier. This felt like something out of a horror movie or disaster novel. Life imitating art, opposed to art imitating life. 

We silently approached the end of the corridor and were met with a converted Marshal's. The front entrance was covered in plastic, with white shapes moving behind it. Guards in hazmat suits with guns flanked the entrance, and beyond them appeared to be a check-in desk with another hazmat suited person manning it. Noise came from behind the plastic of voices, teenage and adult alike, and even a few dogs barking and children crying. My stomach clenched because I knew beyond that plastic there were people-- whether they were sick or healthy would come out in quarantine. A quarantine I was about to enter before being admitted to the safe house. 

To no one's surprise, bold Cally led the way. She walked up to the front desk like it was a school desk and it was time for check-in. She smiled at the monstrous looking person in a hazmat suit. 

"So," she said "What do you need us to do?"

A/N-- Hey guys! Only a few more months until summer. As a college senior, I'm counting the days. Updates will be spotty until then, but I'm really excited to write the next sections of the book. I plan on writing 3 books in total and I've already began editing the first one for publishing purposes. Anyway please leave some feedback down below, love you all lots!