The Morgan Strain Series (Book 2): Point of Proximity

by Max Lockwood

  Chapter Thirteen

  Natalia wasn’t sure if it had been minutes, hours, or days since they were picked up by the anti-military organization. She was starting to feel carsick and desperately wanted to get out. As time wore on, the passengers were becoming increasingly agitated. She didn’t blame them for being frustrated—they had been in the dark about where they were going for much longer than she and Will had.

  Will did his best to keep Natalia entertained. They talked quietly, imagining what Elaina and Alec were up to at that very moment. The longer they talked, the crazier and crazier their stories became until they were creating their own wild interpretation of the events they had experienced together thus far.

  “Then, they rammed their Hummer through the pylons, escaping the border,” Will joked. “They high-tailed it to Florida, got on a boat to Cuba, and lived happily ever after in a one-room condo on the beach. They’re probably drinking daiquiris on their balcony as we speak.”

  “If they managed to get to Cuba in that short amount of time, then why aren’t we there, too?” Natalia giggled. “Your story doesn’t make any sense.”

  “How do you know we aren’t in Florida now?” Will asked.

  She thought for a moment. “I guess I don’t know that,” she replied. “Do you think we’ve been in here for that long?”

  She saw heads shake out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t realized their conversation was audible for the rest of the group.

  “That’s embarrassing,” Will whispered, nudging Natalia with her elbow. “I really envy Elaina and Alec right now. They’re probably on their own private island right now, and there’s no one around to listen in on their conversations.”

  Natalia stifled a laugh. “This is ridiculous. There’s no way they’re lounging around on hammocks together. If anything, Alec’s trying to construct a home out of nothing but coconut shells and Elaina’s built a lab and is exploring the healing properties of sea kelp. They probably haven’t even spoken in days.”

  “I don’t buy that for a second,” Will smirked. “You’ve seen them together, they’re totally into each other.”

  “Do you think Elaina’s ever kissed a guy before?” Natalia asked.

  “I should hope so. She’s been out of college for a few years now. I assume she at least went to a few parties in her time.”

  “Yeah, but I think she was like twelve when she started high school. That would be a really creepy age difference if she kissed anyone in her classes.”

  “Oh, true,” Will said, scrunching up his face. “Now that I think about it, maybe Elaina and Alec hooking up is the most absurd part of this entire thing.”

  They quietly giggled, nearly forgetting the fact that they were still passengers in a military vehicle, headed somewhere mysterious.

  “Have you ever kissed anyone?” Natalia asked Will once they were silent.

  “Of course,” he laughed. “I would never claim to be a ladies’ man or anything like that, but sure, I’ve kissed a handful of women. What about you?”

  Natalia blushed. “A couple. Nothing serious, though. I’ve never really been in a relationship with anyone.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  Will smiled. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

  “Why not?”

  The truck suddenly came to a halt, shifting the other passengers in their seats. Will held onto Natalia to steady himself.

  The truck fell completely silent. There had been no new information from the drivers and no one had any idea where they were. There was no information to prepare themselves with.

  The back door swung open, blinding them with sunlight. Through her squinted eyes, Natalia could see the shadowy outlines of three people, two men and one woman.

  Once her eyes adjusted, she noticed that they were all wearing matching uniforms. They looked like army fatigues, but all black, instead of their regular camouflage. They wore stern looks on their faces. On first impressions alone, Natalia did not trust them one bit.

  “Welcome to camp,” the man who earlier spoke through the truck window said, his face perfectly expressionless. “This will be your new home for the foreseeable future, until we’re ready to move forward.”

  “Where the hell are we?” the older man shouted from the back of the van.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but there’s some information we need to keep secret to protect everyone involved,” the short woman spoke, her combat boots tapping on the ground.

  “Can you believe this?” the old man murmured.

  “I understand there is some concern surrounding our mission,” the tall, lanky soldier said. “We’re going to address some of that now and fill you in on the itinerary for the next few days.”

  Will and Natalia exchanged nervous glances. These soldiers appeared much more organized than the official military, but Natalia didn’t think they were much different.

  “Unlike the United States military, our mission is to help as many healthy people as we can find escape the dangerous, disease-ridden areas.”

  Natalia looked at Will. They had heard that before.

  “That was the Washington National Guard’s plan, but they soon found out that this was too much for them to handle. We think it was cowardly for them to abandon so many of their citizens and leave them for dead, so we decided to carry out the original plan to the best of our abilities. We are going to round up as many people as possible and keep you protected at our camp. Once the border opens back up, we will transport you all to safety. If the border doesn’t open by the time our camp reaches capacity, we will charge the border and get you to safety.”

  Natalia looked around at the group. Most of them seemed impressed.

  “But because we are working against the government’s wishes,” the muscular man said, wiping sweat from his forehead, “we need everything to be in working order. We want to treat you like normal citizens, but the three of us will be in power. We will be fair, but we must be obeyed. This is for your own good. But, as long as everyone follows orders and behaves properly, there should not be any issues.”

  Natalia cringed. It all sounded too familiar. They would be stuck in a holding cell until everything went to crap, then there would be no one to protect them. If a whole team of soldiers couldn’t protect the handful of people in their care, then how did three soldiers think they could accomplish the same task?

  “Information will be given on a need-to-know basis,” the muscular soldier said. “First, everyone will enter a quarantine unit. This is just a precaution so we can make sure no viruses get into camp. This is only temporary. We’ll do our best to make sure everyone is comfortable and happy during this time.”

  “Now, everyone, please follow me to the quarantine unit,” the woman said, waving her hand.

  One by one, the crowd exited the dark truck into the light. Natalia and Will eagerly crawled out, trying to make some sense of where they were.

  From what Natalia could tell, they were in a real town somewhere, but it had been completely abandoned. It was a tiny town and probably had a population under a thousand people. But, it appeared that no residents lived there any more, due to disease, evacuations, or both.

  What was most disturbing about the empty town was the length of fence around the perimeter, topped with barbed wire.

  The woman saw Natalia’s horrified expression and clarified, “It’s to keep people out, not necessarily to keep people in.”

  “Sure,” Will whispered under his breath.

  “Everyone, please follow me to the recreation center for lunch,” the lanky soldier said.

  Everyone quickly followed behind. Apparently, the group hadn’t stopped for food more than once or twice during their trip. A few bags of cookies and chips made the rounds through the truck, but no one had seen proper food in some time.

  Once everyone was seated on the floor of the basketball court, the soldiers began to pass out sack lunches. Natalia opened her bag and found a turkey sandwich, an app
le, a bag of chips, and a chocolate chip cookie.

  She could tell who hadn’t been eating very well throughout the past few weeks by the excited exclamations when those people opened their bags. Natalia was happy with what she got, but the lettuce on the inside of the bread was wilted, and whoever was in charge of lunch made them with too much mayo. She scraped the extra globs off on the paper bag.

  The soldiers capitalized on the lunchtime silence to give instructions on the next steps. Natalia only half-listened to them talk, as she was more interested in studying the other people in the room.

  They talked about health screenings and blood tests while Natalia tried to glean as much information as she could while looking around. In the far corner, a woman sat with a young girl, most likely her daughter. She hovered over her as she ate, as if she were trying to protect her from a swooping hawk. Their bodies were turned away from the front of the room and as far away from others as possible. They would have no interest communicating with anyone else.

  In fact, everyone seemed to keep to themselves, yielding an even spacing between each body. Natalia guessed that no one knew each other until they were placed on the truck, and had no plans to make friends. The only exception seemed to be the athletic-looking woman with curly hair. Victoria was the only one who really seemed open to talking with others.

  There were even a few men who appeared to be homeless, even before the virus. They had frizzy, shaggy hair and wore baggy coats, smeared with grease and dirt. But, for all Natalia knew, they could have been CEOs in their lives before the virus. She pulled at a strand of her own greasy hair. Now there was absolutely nothing separating people of different economic classes, ethnicities, or levels of education. Everyone was on an even playing field now.

  Natalia started paying attention again when she heard one of the soldiers talking about registering with them so they could check out linens. She didn’t like the idea of her name being on a list, but she desperately wanted a shower, so she got into the line for the women’s restroom.

  “Name?” the female soldier asked. The embroidered patch on her uniform said Carter.

  “Natalia Vincent.”

  “City of residence?”

  “Seattle.”

  Carter raised her translucent eyebrows. “You must have seen some stuff. Any relation to Dr. Bretton Vincent?”

  “None,” she lied without skipping a beat.

  “Have you been in contact with an infected person in the last fourteen days?”

  “Not directly.”

  The woman handed her a threadbare towel and a linen bag full of bed sheets. “Proceed to the sixth shower stall. We will have your bunk assignment posted when you are finished.”

  “Thanks,” Natalia mumbled, nodding at Will in his line. She couldn’t wait to talk to him in private once the scheduled activities were over.

  The locker room was already damp when Natalia walked in. She found her stall, stripped down, and turned on the lukewarm water. Natalia didn’t care that they probably had restrictions on water usage. It was her first proper shower in days—she wanted to be thorough and savor it.

  She poured a heaping portion of shampoo into her hand and ran it through her hair. A week’s worth of dirt and oil was rinsed down the drain. She found a bottle of conditioner and let it soak on her scalp as she raked her fingers through her hair. Finally, she grabbed a tan bar of soap and lathered up, realizing she still had flecks of dried dirt on her body from falling in the forest.

  Once she was finished, she lathered up again, just because she could. After spending so much time in close quarters with Will, she was feeling self-conscious about her smell. She didn’t want him to suddenly decide she was repulsive and not want to spend time with her anymore. In fact, she hoped their bunks would be close to each other. She didn’t like being away from people she trusted, even if it was just for a little while.

  When she finally stepped out of the shower, Natalia saw the damp piece of paper taped to the door. She found her name on the short list with the other women’s names and tracked the line all the way to the right to find her bunk number: A6.

  She crossed her fingers, hoping Will would be nearby when she stepped into the hallway. Directly across from the showers was a room with a giant A taped to it. She started to push it open when she heard Will’s voice from down the hall.

  “Natalia,” he waved. “What’s your bunk number?”

  “A6,” she shouted. “You?”

  “B2,” he frowned. “Natalia, I think they’re splitting us up by gender.”

  A small crowd was forming behind the two. They were blocking the hallway from the restrooms to the bunks.

  “No,” she cried, realizing that they were going to be separated. What would they do if they had to run in the middle of the night? She couldn’t be away from him.

  “You can’t do this to us,” he yelled at no one in particular. “We didn’t do anything wrong. I want to be with my friend.”

  “Will Domenica,” the muscular soldier barked. “Come with me.”

  Natalia wanted to shout out a warning to Will. She didn’t know what the soldier wanted from him, but she was afraid that whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. Will looked at Natalia, nodded solemnly, and followed the ex-soldier down the hall.

  With nowhere else to go, Natalia entered her assigned room, found her bunk, and flopped down on the bare mattress. She already felt extremely lonely without Will and was worried about how he’d do without her.

  “Those guys don’t mess around,” a voice said from above her.

  “Huh?”

  Victoria leaned her head over her top bunk, her eyes just peeking from below her bed. “I still don’t know what to think about these people. I switch between being thankful that they picked me up and worried that I’ve gotten myself into something I can’t get out of.”

  “I don’t care what they want from me,” a soft voice said from the next bunk over. “I just couldn’t be alone again.”

  “I feel alone without Will,” Natalia sighed.

  “I know, girl,” Victoria said. “I felt completely lost when my partner got sick. She made me promise to run for it, so I never got the closure I needed. I’m pretty sure she’s gone, but it’s just hard not knowing exactly what happened.”

  “I would rather be tortured with other people than walk the streets alone,” the girl said.

  Natalia looked at her blankly. She didn’t mean to be rude, but she was in the middle of a crisis.

  “I’m Naomi, by the way,” the mousey girl mumbled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “It’s fine,” Natalia breathed. “I’m Natalia. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, stretching her arm out for a limp handshake.

  “I really hate being alone,” Naomi continued. “It doesn’t seem like a lot of people want to get to know one another.”

  “I think it’s because everyone has lost people close to them,” Victoria reasoned. “This has been a traumatizing time for all of us. This kind of thing can really change a person. But, I have no problem making new friends now,” she smiled.

  As sullen as Natalia was, she couldn’t help but like Victoria. She was just so kind and comforting. She would never replace Elaina’s companionship, but Natalia was happy to have her around.

  Naomi looked relieved. She appeared to be about Natalia’s age and was just as small. Her oversized clothes looked old and tattered. Natalia wondered if they had always looked that way or if something happened to her along the way.

  Natalia understood how the girl felt. She also hated being alone. Until that point, she didn’t realize how fortunate she was to have found three other traveling companions along her journey. She didn’t think she would still be alive if she hadn’t come across them. Now, she hoped her new bunkmates would be half as helpful as her old friends had been.

  “I’m just so happy to be here,” Naomi gushed again, looking around at the small, unadorned room. “Did you see the guns those guys have? Ther
e’s no way an infected person can get through their fence. Plus, if they do, they’ll be taken out by the soldiers. No one can hurt us here.”

  Natalia opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it. It wasn’t right for her to spoil the hopes and dreams of a scared woman who truly believed she was safe. For all anyone knew, they were safe. But, Natalia would not relax until they were truly safe. She needed to be reunited with Elaina, Alec, and Will, far from the heavily infected side of the country.

  “Does anyone need anything?” the female soldier asked, poking her head in the door.

  “Yes,” Natalia said, getting to her feet. “I want to know what you did with Will Domenica.”

  “He’s fine,” the soldier said flatly. “We warned everyone that we will not deal with insubordination. He is currently in isolation, so he will not be a threat to himself or others.”

  “A threat?” Natalia spat. “Will is the kindest, gentlest person I’ve ever met. You can’t just shut people in a closet for asking questions. What’s really going on, here? Are you using him for something?”

  The soldier wearily shook her head. “Miss Vincent, you need to calm down or you’ll be in isolation, too. Your friend is perfectly fine. He will be released back into the men’s dorm once he has calmed down.”

  “This is bullshit,” Natalia muttered under her breath.

  “Let me remind you all,” the soldier said, slightly louder so no one could miss the message, “we will not deal with insubordination. An irrational temper is one of the warning signs of the virus, and we will not let anyone under our custody infect others. This is your warning.”

  With that, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room. Natalia stayed standing, her fists balled. She didn’t know where Will was, but she was afraid for him. These people took their mission very seriously and Natalia knew they would go to extreme lengths to protect themselves from infection.