Population Zero

Chapter Nineteen

The fastest way to make someone believe you are ill, in my experience, is to make yourself throw up. Faking a fever is hard although I have found one tried and true method. If you breathe heavily into your pillow and then put the pillow directly onto your forehead it can sometimes be enough for a nurse to believe you are flushed if not feverish but it doesn't always work. Throwing up is simple though and easy enough for anyone to learn. You just have to stick your finger as far down into your throat as you can and your body does the rest. I learned this trick in the West Wing after the meningitis scare because everyone started doing it to get themselves out of their chores once they realized the sick kids just got to rest and relax. I tried not to do it too much though because kids started to get caught and I did not like getting into trouble. I showed Renzo and Fabian exactly how to do it and before we knew it, the night guards came rushing into the room in a panic. They called our youth officer, Zach, to ask him what they should do. I grabbed the telepad out of the night guard's hand and pleaded with him that we be able to walk to the hospital across the wing, alone. "There's no time to wait for you." I said in a panicked tone. "I think this could be meningitis!" 

"Oh, no. Go now! I'll meet you kids there!" He called out as I dropped the telepad and started for the door.

"Open it!" I called out to the night guards and they obeyed. The door buzzed and unlocked and the doors swung open as Renzo, Fabian and I rushed out pretending to gag and retch as loudly as we could. Out of the door safely and into the cold night we busted out in laughter so hard tears fell freely.

"Did you see their faces?" I roared in laughter.
"Did you hear Zach's voice?" Fabian howled.
"I can't breathe!" Renzo fell to the ground in a fit and we all piled on top. "You have the telepad, right?"

"Right." I opened up my jacket to show my friends the hidden pocket I stitched on the inside. "Genius!" Said Fabian looking at me in awe. "This kid is a genius!"

We all gathered ourselves together and hurried over to the ATV's just outside the hospital. "Didn't you say if we turned on the telepad it could set off an alarm?" Renzo asked.

"Yeah. It could." I said with my eyes shining brightly and I hardly recognized my own voice. "Hop on."

The three of us hopped onto the ATV and I felt the adrenaline pump through my chest. Me in front and Fabian in the middle with Renzo at the end, I pulled the telepad out from my pocket and switched it on. All at once the ATV's engine started and I realized I had never driven this thing before. I put my foot onto the pedal and we flew forward. I turned the wheel hard to head back towards the teenage wing and into the direction of the female compound. As we passed our cottage a siren began to blare. Uh oh. This must be the alarm I was worried about. In my rear view mirror I see an ATV barreling from a distance and I quickly recognize the angry face behind the wheel. "Eric!" I called out to my friends. "Go, go, go!!" I heard them crying out from behind me as the wind whipped into our ears. He was gaining on us quickly and my hearing aid was beginning to cause some serious trouble for me with the feedback until at a certain point I couldn't stand the sound. With one hand I popped my left hearing aid out and quickly grabbed the wheel before we veered into a building. With the other hand I popped out the right and hit a bump hard. My right hearing aid fell to the ground as I kept speeding along the path. "Shit!" I called out. The left hearing aid still wrapped around my fingers and my fingers wrapped around the steering wheel but the sound of the wind was gone. The trouble was, most of the sound was gone now and I could barely hear Eric's ATV close in on us or my friends screams. Fabian tried squeezing my chest and shaking me around to get my attention. I made a quick decision to turn my wheel hard into the thick brush and off of the path in an attempt to shake Eric off and it seemed to work. I felt Fabians hand scuffing the back of my head and patting my shoulder hard to let me know my trick had worked but he was celebrating too soon. The patch of woods I had drove through was bumpy and uneven and even on an All Terrain Vehicle I was having trouble steering and holding on to the handles as I bumped around in my seat. The thicket was heavy as leaves and branches skimmed my face and shoulders and I couldn't see more than a foot in front of me at a time. My friends were holding on tight and it almost sounded like a shriek came from one of them but before I could really make out the sound we flew over an embankment and collided with a tree.

I opened my eyes quickly instantly knowing what had just happened. The ATV was smashed beyond recognition. It had been knocked on its side and the windows were shattered and glass had been scattered all around. I sat up and assessed my injuries but thankfully it felt like I only had some minor cuts and bruises on my arms and legs. I saw Renzo out of the corner of my eye moving around but I couldn't hear if he was making any noise. My vision was blurry and I had a laceration above my left eye that was dripping blood and making matters worse. I tried to get up to walk over to Renzo but my legs were in too much pain to move straight away. I looked around until I spotted Fabian laying in the dirt face down and it was pretty clear that one of his legs had been broken. He wasn't moving. My head began to pound and I started feeling dizzy. I saw Renzo try to stand up and walk towards me. I looked up into the sky and saw a large vulture flying overhead. I heard the faint sound of a scream and the last thing I saw before the darkness consumed me was Renzo standing over Fabian's lifeless body. A silent prayer stayed with me long after I had fainted.