people they are saying are already sick, that
would mean almost everyone on the planet has probably been exposed by
now.”
His father met his eyes
and slowly nodded. The truth of what was really happening started to
sink in and Noah’s jaw dropped slightly. His breath hitched in
his throat.
“God, Dad, what’s
going on?”
“It’s
really bad, Noah. Never in my worst nightmares had I envisioned
something this deadly ever finding its way to us,” he said.
“Deadly?”
Noah asked. “So a lot of the people who are sick are actually
dying from this?”
His father took in a
deep breath, then let it out in a ragged sigh. “No, not a lot
of them, Noah.” He paused and shook his head. “All of
them.”
Karmen
“What do you
mean, you can’t get home?” Karmen asked.
Her parents had gone to
one of their inspirational retreats in the mountains for a long
three-day weekend, but they were supposed to be back by Monday night.
It was already Wednesday now and they were still in the mountains.
“I’m so
sorry, honey,” her mother said. “Rick asked us to stay an
extra day or two to help out after the conference was over, and you
know your father. He hated to say no to a friend in need.”
Karmen rolled her eyes
and had to press her lips tight to keep from saying something she’d
regret.
“We changed our
flights to today, but now we’re at the airport and they’re
telling us all flights have been completely grounded,” she
said.
Karmen wrinkled her
nose. “Grounded? For what? Is the weather bad there?”
“No, not at all,”
her mom said. “They won’t tell us why. It’s
complete chaos.”
She held the phone to
her ear and walked into the living room to turn on the TV. Had there
been some kind of terrorist attack? Or a plane crash?
“I’ve been
trying to get your brother on the phone, but no one’s picking
up at his house,” she said. “As soon as I reach him, I’ll
have him come pick you up and take you over to his house.”
Karmen groaned. She
hated her older brother and his perfect little family. He was eight
years older than she was and married to a bitch of a wife. They had
twin baby girls who were absolute terrors.
“I’ll be
fine, Mom,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”
She quickly scanned
through the TV channels, searching for news.
“Hang on, I’ll
have to call you back, sweetheart,” her mom said. “Love
you. And we’ll discuss staying with your brother when I call
you back.”
Her mom clicked off and
Karmen set the phone down and turned the TV up.
The local news station
was showing footage of airports across the country, packed with
people whose flights had been canceled. She listened for a minute,
but the stupid reporter never said what they’d been canceled
for. As usual, the news was completely useless.
Karmen walked over to
her laptop and started a Google search for “why have flights
been canceled?” A news story popped up near the top explaining
that the CDC had issued an order to stop all airline traffic in hopes
of slowing the spread of the latest outbreak of the flu. They were
urging anyone who was showing signs of the virus to stay where they
were and not to travel until they were fully recovered.
Holy crap.
Canceling flights to
slow an outbreak of the flu?
School had been
canceled for the past two days and now this? People got the flu all
the time, so what was the big deal? It sounded like your typical case
of people overreacting to the slightest thing. The country had gone
completely paranoid these days.
Karmen closed her
laptop and picked up her phone again. Well, if her parents weren’t
coming home for another few days and school was closed too, she was
going to make the best of it.
She texted her best
friend Kate. House 2 myself still! Want 2 come over?
There was no immediate
response, so Karmen sent a message to Melody, too.
While she waited to
hear back from someone, she went in to the kitchen to make something
to eat. Her mom
would mean almost everyone on the planet has probably been exposed by
now.”
His father met his eyes
and slowly nodded. The truth of what was really happening started to
sink in and Noah’s jaw dropped slightly. His breath hitched in
his throat.
“God, Dad, what’s
going on?”
“It’s
really bad, Noah. Never in my worst nightmares had I envisioned
something this deadly ever finding its way to us,” he said.
“Deadly?”
Noah asked. “So a lot of the people who are sick are actually
dying from this?”
His father took in a
deep breath, then let it out in a ragged sigh. “No, not a lot
of them, Noah.” He paused and shook his head. “All of
them.”
Karmen
“What do you
mean, you can’t get home?” Karmen asked.
Her parents had gone to
one of their inspirational retreats in the mountains for a long
three-day weekend, but they were supposed to be back by Monday night.
It was already Wednesday now and they were still in the mountains.
“I’m so
sorry, honey,” her mother said. “Rick asked us to stay an
extra day or two to help out after the conference was over, and you
know your father. He hated to say no to a friend in need.”
Karmen rolled her eyes
and had to press her lips tight to keep from saying something she’d
regret.
“We changed our
flights to today, but now we’re at the airport and they’re
telling us all flights have been completely grounded,” she
said.
Karmen wrinkled her
nose. “Grounded? For what? Is the weather bad there?”
“No, not at all,”
her mom said. “They won’t tell us why. It’s
complete chaos.”
She held the phone to
her ear and walked into the living room to turn on the TV. Had there
been some kind of terrorist attack? Or a plane crash?
“I’ve been
trying to get your brother on the phone, but no one’s picking
up at his house,” she said. “As soon as I reach him, I’ll
have him come pick you up and take you over to his house.”
Karmen groaned. She
hated her older brother and his perfect little family. He was eight
years older than she was and married to a bitch of a wife. They had
twin baby girls who were absolute terrors.
“I’ll be
fine, Mom,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”
She quickly scanned
through the TV channels, searching for news.
“Hang on, I’ll
have to call you back, sweetheart,” her mom said. “Love
you. And we’ll discuss staying with your brother when I call
you back.”
Her mom clicked off and
Karmen set the phone down and turned the TV up.
The local news station
was showing footage of airports across the country, packed with
people whose flights had been canceled. She listened for a minute,
but the stupid reporter never said what they’d been canceled
for. As usual, the news was completely useless.
Karmen walked over to
her laptop and started a Google search for “why have flights
been canceled?” A news story popped up near the top explaining
that the CDC had issued an order to stop all airline traffic in hopes
of slowing the spread of the latest outbreak of the flu. They were
urging anyone who was showing signs of the virus to stay where they
were and not to travel until they were fully recovered.
Holy crap.
Canceling flights to
slow an outbreak of the flu?
School had been
canceled for the past two days and now this? People got the flu all
the time, so what was the big deal? It sounded like your typical case
of people overreacting to the slightest thing. The country had gone
completely paranoid these days.
Karmen closed her
laptop and picked up her phone again. Well, if her parents weren’t
coming home for another few days and school was closed too, she was
going to make the best of it.
She texted her best
friend Kate. House 2 myself still! Want 2 come over?
There was no immediate
response, so Karmen sent a message to Melody, too.
While she waited to
hear back from someone, she went in to the kitchen to make something
to eat. Her mom
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