Six Feet Apart

2 - Running

ELIZA

Finally, the truck comes to a stop.

A man wearing a hazmat suit opens the backdoor. "Get out," he says in a gruff voice. When one of the "patients" doesn't stand up fast enough, he shoves them into the corner.

I want to spit on him.

"Hurry up!", he yells.

We do exactly just that.

I don't know why, but this reminds me of first grade. Single lines. Just trailing through the school onto the next class, marching together. Except without the loud whispering. And back then, we didn't know we were going to die.

He takes us into a building. Everything there is blinding white. Clean. Not a speck of indifference on the walls.

I look down at my shoes, studying the laces. I don't want to look at whatever they're doing here. In the distance, I hear a person screaming for help. I flinch, and so do the others. The man in the hazmat suit doesn't blink an eye.

The screaming does on for a couple of minutes. Then there is dead silence. My hands start to shake again. Is that it? My future? To fight, to kick, to scream, then nothing?

Is there a way around this?

I feel my eyes start to water. At first, I'm hesitant to do so, but I wipe my face.

"What did you just do?!!", the hazmat man barks. It's a bit hard to take him seriously. He looks ridiculous in that hazmat suit, like he's about to topple over any minute.

"Nothing", I mutter.

Everyone stares at me at first but quickly looks away with widened eyes. Are these strangers worried for me? Are they as scared as I am? Or do they just want this all to just end, quick and painless?

Why did I do that?

Thankfully, he just turns around. Just leading us to our deaths. Six feet away from us, of course. Because like us, he doesn't want to die.

RENAE

I don't want to get up.

Why does everything feel so weak? Like the world's in my hands, but it's slipping away from my grasp, one grain at a time.

I want her here.

I want to find her.

I will find her.

My heart pounds with just the idea of it. I put my hand on my chest, waiting for the drumming to go down. Waiting for this unsettling fear in my stomach to calm down. I inhale and exhale, taking deep breaths.

It's just an idea. Unless I do it. Then it'll be a failure, because I'll get caught and die.

I don't want to live without her anyway.

I have to go. But first, I need to visit someone. I open the door, and it creaks loudly. I wince at the noise. "I'm going out", I muttered to Mom. "To visit Azarius". At first she looks like she's about to say something, but then she just nods.

I put on my face mask and make sure my gloves are secure. Putting my hood up, I walk outside, peering around to make no one's near me.

It doesn't matter. The streets are empty anyways. Dead. Everything looks like it's covered in a thin sheet of dust. If someone from the past saw how this town looked, they would assume it was abandoned.

I knock on the door, then quickly back away.

Azarius opens it. He looks tired, and his eyebags hang from his face.

"Hey", he says. I can barely hear him. I doubt he can even hear himself.

"Hi"

What am I supposed to say? That I'm sorry for your loss? My loss? Whose loss is it anyway? What are words compared to this?

Why did I go here?

"She was great", I blurt out.

He nods. And then he slams the door in my face. I quickly go home.

When I arrive, Mom looks at me. She still looks concerned, but she doesn't say anything and instead continues scrolling through her phone. I walk to the kitchen, taking my backpack with me.

In it, I stuff cans of food. I also take a kitchen knife. A few water bottles. And hand sanitizer. Lots of hand sanitizer, as well as a few extra masks and plastic gloves.

"Where are you going?", Mom asks. I don't answer.

Instead, I run. I run, and I don't look back.

ELIZA

He takes us into a room full of lab tables and all sorts of random bottles. A woman there is holding a needle. Of course, she is wearing a hazmat suit.

I doubt we are even that contagious. But oh well.

She gives us all a shot. It stings, and I am about to rub my arm, but I quickly stop myself. It burns so much, like there's electricity running up through my arms.

Behind me, a person gasps loudly and points.

I look.

There, my eyes see a dead woman. Her body is still, and her skin is grey. Her face looks like itś been ripped out from her, and the only thing left of it is bits of flesh and her insides spilling out. Blood splatters stain everywhere.

I close my eyes, and turn away quickly, but it's no use. The image keeps flickering in my mind, like I'm about to push it away, but it keeps coming back. Like it just won't leave. My legs feel wobbly, and the world is dizzy.

I feel horrified. Scared. Disgusted.

That could have been me.

Was that supposed to be me? Will that be me? Is my fate to just lay down in a pile of blood, face disfigured, body torn apart? The only thing remaining of me that is still somehow human looking is patches of rotting skin?

The people are whispering. They peer over at us, every few minutes, like they're afraid we can hear. Not that it matters. We'll all be dead anyways.

I'm scared.

What happens next?

Do I end up like her?

Finally, the man walks over. He motions us to follow him, and we do.