Death's Awakening

Chapter Sixteen: Noah

Noah stood at the door to the basement.

He'd reached his limit. Enough already. His dad must have come out to get food at some point in the middle of the night because he left his dirty plate in the sink, but Noah had been asleep and missed it.

His father had also left a note on the bar telling Noah not to go outside or leave the house for anything. Not even school.

Noah had gotten similar messages from his dad in the past when a new strain of the flu would show up or there was some kind of other virus or threat, but he usually ignored it. His dad could be really paranoid about this stuff ever since his mom died.

But between the man who collapsed and died on their street and seeing Parrish's mom the other night, Noah decided he better listen to his dad. He skipped school on Monday. Tuesday, though, school had been canceled. Too many students and teachers were sick, they said. It gave Noah the chills just thinking about it.

How serious was this thing?

He'd obviously already been exposed. He'd carried Madelyn Sorrows down the stairs, his face close to hers when she coughed. If he was going to get sick from it, how long until symptoms started showing up?

He needed answers.

Being the son of someone who worked directly for the CDC should mean easy access to answers. He knew his dad was busy trying to come up with a cure or a new vaccine or whatever it was he did, but the man should have taken at least an hour to come talk to his own son about what this sickness was really all about.

His dad didn't know he'd gone out to help with Parrish's mom the other night. He was going to be pissed when he found out.

Noah stared at the door again, then stepped forward and knocked.

He waited, his heart racing. If his dad didn't answer the door, then what? Should he knock it down and go demand some answers? Or just keep waiting? This whole thing was driving him crazy.

He knocked again. Louder this time.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of waiting, the door opened slowly.

Noah's father appeared in the crack of an opening, his head down. "I'm busy, Noah," he said. He glanced up for only a moment. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," Noah said. "I just needed to talk to you. Can you come up for a minute?"

His dad looked away and cleared his throat. "I don't think that's such a good idea," he said. "You aren't sick or anything right? You're staying home like I asked you to?"

"Yes," Noah said.

His throat tightened. Something was definitely off here. Why wouldn't his dad look at him? Why wouldn't he at least come up into the kitchen for a minute to talk to him?

"I should get back downstairs," his father said, already beginning to close the door.

Noah stuck his hand between the door and the frame, then pushed it open a little further. "Dad? What's wrong?"

"Don't come in here, Noah, I mean it," he said. "I don't want you to be exposed to this."

Noah pushed the door open more. "What's going on?"

His dad pushed against the door, but Noah wouldn't give up.

"Dammit, Dad, I've already been exposed," he said.

"What?" his dad asked. There was such sadness in his tone. "When? You didn't get too close to that man the other night, did you?"

"No," Noah said. "But I helped Parrish carry her mom to the car in the middle of the night a couple days ago, so you can stop trying to protect me. Whatever this is, I've already been exposed to it."