Escape the Virus

by Ryan Westfield

  “But this isn't like that,” said Jamie. “This isn't something that we're nervous about... like a big presentation. We already know they're taking busloads of people there... My thinking is that once we get there, it's going to be too late. There are going to be guards keeping people in line. They're going to force us to enter the building and stay there. We're not going to have a choice. And that's not something I like. I like having a choice.”

  “So then what are our options? We can't just tell the driver we want to get off.”

  “Why not?” said Jamie. “It's a free country, right? It's not like we're under martial law or anything.”

  “Yeah, but it's a quarantine.... the whole city is on quarantine, I mean.”

  “Laws are still laws,” said Jamie. “We can't be detained without good reason. I forget what the actual term is. Come on. Move over. I'm going to go talk to him.”

  “I think it might already be too late.”

  “Too late? What do you mean? There's still a ways to go.”

  “Look. That guy's gone to talk to the cop up front.”

  Jamie looked. Mia was right. The seat in front of her was empty, and the man that had been sitting in it was up front, speaking to the driver.

  There was a cop in the seat behind the driver, who was talking animatedly with the other two.

  The cop turned and looked back at Jamie.

  Now normally Jamie had no issue with cops. In fact, she respected them. Without them, it seemed that the world would descend into chaos quickly.

  But she wasn't naive enough to believe that everyone was good, no matter what their profession. There were always bad apples in every group.

  And based on the way this cop up front met her eyes, she had a gut feeling that he was one of the bad apples.

  She knew that it'd sound crazy if she tried to explain it to someone.

  But she also knew that it wasn't crazy to trust her instincts. To go with her gut feelings. In fact, in the women's self-defense course that she'd taken about a year ago, they'd learned that simply following one's instincts was often more important than any actual moves.

  The idea behind it was not that there was any “woo-woo” stuff going on. There wasn't anything psychic or weird about following gut instincts. Instead, the idea was that “gut feelings” were really just the brain's way of expressing its analysis of all sorts of data. The brain was constantly analyzing things like the body language of others, and sometimes it channeled the results of its analysis into “gut” feelings.

  “I don't like the looks of that guy,” said Mia.

  The cop had a mean face. Maybe it was something about his eyebrows, or the way his eyes were set, but it was hard to imagine him ever not looking angry.

  His eyes wouldn't leave Jamie's. And she didn't take her eyes off him.

  Suddenly, his mean face broke out into a grin. But it wasn't a normal grin.

  It was a grin that made her feel bad and scared.

  “I don't like the looks of that...” muttered Mia next to her.

  “We've got to get off this bus,” said Jamie.

  As soon as she spoke, the grinning cop stood up.

  His head nearly scraped the ceiling of the school bus. Now that he was standing, it was obvious how large he was. His head and face didn't seem proportional to the rest of his gigantic body.

  The driver said something that was only vaguely audible, and the grinning cop let out a little laugh.

  The rest of the bus had fallen silent. Everyone was watching the cop, except for the few who had turned to look back at where the cop was looking, his gaze still never leaving Jamie.

  “This isn't good,” whispered Mia. “Looks like we're going to get in trouble.”

  “I need you to listen carefully and do what I say,” said Jamie, taking charge, realizing that if she did nothing they'd end up at the convention center, likely getting infected.

  It was a matter of life or death.

  The law didn't matter now.

  It didn't matter if he was a cop. If he was going to forcibly detain them, that was as good as a death sentence.

  And Jamie would fight death with everything she had.

  “Listen carefully to my instructions before you act,” said Jamie. “I'll tell you when it's time to act. OK. You're going to get up. Then you're going to step back, towards the front of the bus. This will let me get to the back door. I'm going to open it, and then we're going to jump out.”

  “Are you nuts? The bus is moving. We're going to get hurt... that's a big drop down to the ground...”

  “It's just like when we were kids,” said Jamie. “Didn't you ever ride the bus?”

  “Of course.”

  “Remember the fire drills we did? We'd have to jump off the back of the bus.”

  “Yeah, but there was always someone helping us.”

  Jamie knew that she might start to get frustrated with Mia. But she also knew that her frustration wasn't going to help her accomplish anything.

  So instead of reprimanding Mia, she decided to try a different tactic.

  “There's nothing to worry about, Mia,” she said in her most soothing voice. It was hard to speak this way, since the cop was getting closer by the second as he strode down the narrow aisle of the school bus. And when Jamie glanced over, the cop was reaching for something at his side. Either a gun or a nightstick or a taser. Maybe cuffs.

  No matter what he was reaching for, it meant that somehow Jamie was going to be physically restrained. Physically trapped and taken to a place where she was convinced that she'd die.

  “I'm going to jump out first, Mia,” said Jamie. “And I'm going to be there for you. You're going to have to trust me on this one. When the bus driver was there for you as a kid, well, I'm going to be doing the same exact thing...”

  She tried to speak soothingly. There wasn't much time. Everything hinged on convincing Mia. If Mia froze up, there'd be no escaping.

  What Jamie didn't mention was that the bus would be moving, and that the impact from the jump off a moving bus would be far greater than if it had been stationary.

  “Plus, you're not a kid now... it looked like a huge leap when you were a little kid. But now you're an adult... it's not going to be that bad. OK, you understand everything I said?”

  Mia nodded silently. But she looked worried and hesitant.

  “OK. Time to roll. Time to move. Come on.”

  Mia just looked at her.

  Jamie gave Mia a forceful shove. “Come on,” she hissed.

  Now everyone in the bus was looking at them.

  The cop was closer.

  Mia stood up jerkily, then stepped forward towards the cop, giving Jamie room to maneuver.

  Jamie stood up, grabbing hold of the tops of the bench-style seatbacks to pull herself up more forcefully.

  Behind them was the emergency exit. And there was that big red handle that she expected.

  There was a warning sign that she ignored. No time to read it.

  She didn't bother looking to see where the cop was. Speed was what was important now. She couldn't let anything slow her down.

  Jamie grabbed the handle and pulled.

  At first, nothing happened.

  Was it stuck?

  No, she just needed to pull harder.

  She positioned her body so that she could really use all her weight to her advantage. Not that she was heavy, but her body weight was enough.

  An alarm sounded, but it was barely audible over the rumbling of the bus engine and the moving of the shocks on the road.

  A weak red light began flashing somewhere off in the periphery of her vision. It was hardly what you would call a proper warning light. Just nothing, really.

  Jamie pushed against the door, and it swung open, revealing a gaping chasm of nothing behind the school bus.

  She stood there on the edge.

  She didn't turn around. She knew she just had to jump.

  She just had to do it.

  The cop
had been close enough already. If Jamie delayed too long, he'd catch Mia. Put her in cuffs. Or whatever he was going to do.

  And then what? Jamie would be responsible for her friend being carted off to somewhere where she'd likely be infected. She'd be responsible for her friend's death.

  She couldn't have that on her conscience.

  But she also didn't want to jump.

  The bus was going faster now. And the pavement seemed to be rushing behind the bus.

  She'd thought it'd be easy to do. To jump.

  But it wasn't.

  She couldn't even tell herself that it was all mental, that it'd be alright, because she really had no idea if that was the case.

  For all she knew, she might break a bone when landing. People had broken bones doing a lot less. And their necks, as well.

  Whatever.

  If there was anything that Jamie was good at, it was making herself do stuff she didn't want to do. It was how she'd been successful in her studies and her job.

  She didn't count it off.

  She just did it.

  She jumped without thinking about it for another moment.

  The seconds were long as she fell to the ground.

  She landed, her knees buckling under her, taking more of the shock.

  She felt the impact in her feet and her shins, as well as her knees.

  But she didn't stay upright. Instead, because of the speed of the bus, it felt as if she was falling backwards.

  She still had momentum, and she lost her balance and tumbled into the ground, splaying out on her side.

  A car horn blared. Then a second one.

  Someone was holding onto the horn.

  There was pain in her thigh. Her work pants were torn, and there was a large road rash across her skin. A decent amount of blood. But it wasn't freely bleeding.

  She scrambled to her feet, not wasting any time.

  A sedan skidded to a stop about a foot away from her. The driver had his windows up, but he was clearly screaming something at her from inside the vehicle. He slammed on the horn, which blared loudly.

  Jamie ignored him and turned around.

  The bus was rapidly leaving her behind.

  From where she stood, Jamie could see Mia perched on the edge.

  She couldn't see the cop behind her.

  Mia looked like she wasn't going to do it, like she wasn't going to jump. If she was going to do it, she would have done it by now.

  “Come on!” shouted Jamie. “Jump!”

  Mia had a terrified look on her face.

  Ignoring the pain in her leg, Jamie started running after the bus, waving her hands. She needed to get Mia to jump.

  She knew Mia well. She knew that Mia wasn't always good at getting things done. After all, they'd been roommates now for a year, and there'd been plenty of times when if Mia had let something like the dishes go undone for too long, then they'd never get done.

  “Jump,” she shouted again.

  Suddenly, the cop appeared behind Mia.

  Jamie was running fast now, her arms pumping at her sides to keep up with the bus. But it was still getting away from her.

  The cop's hands appeared on Mia's shoulders, grabbing her. Jamie could see his big mean face framed behind her, over her shoulder.

  Jamie shouted again.

  Mia's look of terror turned more severe as she spun to see who had grabbed her.

  Then she did it.

  She jumped.

  Or she tried to.

  What happened instead was that she launched herself forward, but the cop managed to hold onto her with one massive hand caught under her armpit like a hook.

  Mia wasn't large, and she looked like a doll as she dangled out the back of the open bus emergency exit. Her hips and legs banged against the metal below the doorway.

  Mia yelped in pain.

  Jamie kept running, trying to keep up.

  Mia seemed to hang there forever, suspended in the air. It seemed as if the cop was too strong, as if he would simply hang on to her, never letting her go. It seemed as if he might just pull her up back into the bus.

  She had to fall. She had to somehow wiggle free.

  And she did.

  It seemed to take forever, but she squirmed like a wild animal, her hands moving wildly, fighting back.

  Then it happened. Mia was free. She fell.

  The fall was fast.

  She hit the pavement hard.

  The next thing Jamie knew, the bus was speeding up even more, pulling away.

  And Jamie had caught up to Mia, who was lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

  Jamie stood there over her, protecting her from the traffic.

  Horns blared. Vehicles rushed by them.

  Mia's legs were at funny angles. It seemed as if she was in no position to move herself.

  Jamie reached down and did what seemed impossible. She grabbed Mia with both hands and lifted her up.

  Mia was by no means large.

  But it was still quite a feat for Jamie.

  Jamie had been meaning to start exercising again for months now. But somehow, with work, with groceries, with everyday life getting in the way, it had never happened.

  Her muscles burned as she held onto Mia and walked across the road.

  The traffic didn't stop for them. It just went around them.

  Horns blared. People screamed out of windows.

  It was all a blur.

  A painful blur.

  When she finally got the roadside, she didn't think she could take one more step.

  She practically collapsed, but instead managed to set Mia down somewhat heavily and jerkily.

  Jamie collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Her muscles burned. She didn't know if Mia would be able to walk.

  But they were safe for now. They weren't going to be taken to the convention center. They weren't going to be infected. At least not yet. Not if they could help it.

  The bus was already far off in the distance. It hadn't stopped. Jamie and Mia evidently weren't worth it to the driver and the cop.

  Good.

  But now the reality was settling in.

  Jamie and Mia were on their own.

  “You OK, Mia?”

  “I'm OK. We got off.”

  “Yup. We made it. I cant believe you got away from that cop.”

  “Me neither. Thanks for carrying me.”

  “Sure.”

  “I just have one question.”

  “What's that?”

  “What are we going to do now?”

  The question really sank in.

  What were they going to do now?

  Where were they going to go?

  If the convention center was dangerous because it had too many people, then what place in the city of Albuquerque wouldn't be dangerous? After all, there were people everywhere.

  To stay safe, they'd have to get somewhere where there weren't any other people.

  But where was that place? Where would they go?

  Did they need to get out of the city? Far away?

  “Can you walk, Mia?”

  “I don't know yet. I'm going to try.”

  “OK. I'll help you. Just give me a minute. I need to rest.”

  As she lay there resting, the traffic streaming by noisily, Jamie's thoughts raced with plans and potential places to head to.

  5

  Matt

  Matt had finally made up his mind.

  He hadn't had much time.

  He'd just had to make a decision.

  “We're going,” he said, speaking quickly and decisively. He didn't want Damian to argue with him and screw everything up. After all, there wasn't much time. “Hold onto your stuff. Open your door when I do. Then run backwards away from the rear of the car. Follow me.”

  Matt was in decent shape. Over the last couple years, he'd taken several small twenty-minute time segments out of his week, dedicating them to keeping himself in reasonable physical condition.

 
He'd never cared much about how he looked, as long as he could fit into his clothes.

  Matt happened to care more about being “functionally” fit. He didn't like the idea of not being able to do things. And eventually, if his muscles deteriorated in the way that happens to a lot of people with desk jobs, he knew he'd end up old and incapable.

  He hadn't liked the idea of not being capable. He wanted to be able to take care of himself for as long as possible. It was part of his whole self-sufficiency dream.

  In devising his workout plan, he'd intentionally shunned the internet, which was full of gimmicks for creating big bulky muscles that didn't do anything. Instead, he'd taken the boring, long route, heading to the local university library to read scientific papers on muscle development and strength improvement.

  Eventually he'd settled on a simple program, basing it mainly on old-school strongman workouts, which seemed to be closest in line with the facts that the research papers presented.

  He did sprints weekly. And the rest of the time, he trained with weights. Not actual weights bought in a store, but simply improvised things like five-gallon buckets filled with water, bags of sand, and cinder blocks that he'd tied together with chains from Home Depot. Those ideas, he had to admit, he had gotten from the internet.

  He hadn't trained with the “standard” exercise movements. He'd shunned anything that worked a single muscle, like bicep curls.

  Instead he'd done things like pick up the cinder blocks with one hand and walk up and down the steps.

  He'd done things like hoist a sandbag high above his head, and do squats.

  They were exercises that worked multiple muscle groups at the same time. Compound movements.

  This is what all that training had been for.

  Hopefully. Hopefully, it helped somehow.

  So he knew he was up to the task of sprinting away from the car. He knew he'd be faster than Damian. He needed to make sure Damian didn't chicken out.

  “You got this, Damian?” he said. “You going to follow through?”

  “Yeah,” said Damian, nodding his head very fast. But he looked scared. He looked like he might puke, and his eyes didn't leave the sick man who was walking towards them.

  “Come on, Damian,” said Matt, changing his mind and changing his plan. “You're going to go first. I'll be right behind you.”