Influenza Z

9. Relief

Chapter Nine ● Relief

            Mrs. Hartell, Mr. Hartell, and Liliana stood among the crowd outside of the school. They watched as an impatient mother threw herself at the three police officers guarding the door. She tackled the female cop, who was now squirming underneath her attacker.

            A few feet away from the debacle, Mrs. Hartell put her hand on her heart and took a step back. “Oh my god!” she cried. “Is she infected?”

            Mr. Hartell shook his head. “I don’t think so. That’s the same woman that was demanding to be let in before,” Mr. Hartell explained.

            On the front steps of the school, the large cop unveiled a Taser that was resting in his belt. He brought it closer to the woman, but the tall cop stopped him.

            “Simon, you can’t do that!” scolded the taller, tanner police officer. “There are cameras everywhere. Do you know how bad that will look?” he continued in a quieter tone.

            The two males looked down to see that their coworker was winning the brawl. However, the mother incessantly continued to flail her limbs.

            “Well what am I supposed to do, Jonathan?” Simon responded.

            The blonde police officer rose and brushed off her uniform. She scowled at the mother, who was also regaining her footing. “I could have you arrested for assaulting a police officer, you know!” she yelled.

            Jonathan sighed. “Open the doors,” he said.

            The female officer stopped in the middle of her speech and turned to face Jonathan. “Excuse me?!” she cried.

            “Are you crazy?!” added Simon.

            Jonathan glared at his two fellow officers. “Look at all these people!” he screamed. The news reporters gravitated toward him, intrigued by the drama. Cameras were moved so that they violated Jonathan’s personal space. Nevertheless, he did not let his discomfort mar the intensity of his words. “These are the families of the kids trapped inside that school! If my daughter was in there, I’d want to be let in, too. Let’s just open these damn doors,” he finished.

            The crowd cheered at the conclusion of his announcement. Simon eagerly nodded. While the blonde cop crossed her arms and looked away, she stepped aside to make room for Jonathan to kick the door down.

            Right in the middle of all of the commotion, Mrs. Hartell excitedly squeezed her husband’s and daughter’s arms. “They’re gonna open the doors!” she yelped.

            “I hope Levi comes out okay,” Mr. Hartell declared. Mrs. Hartell whipped her head to the left in order to face her husband.

            “‘Comes out?!’ We have to go in and find him!” Mrs. Hartell shouted.

            This time, Mr. Hartell turned to stare at his wife. “Are you crazy?! We’d be risking our lives. We’d be risking our daughter’s life. Call him and tell him to come outside,” Mr. Hartell rationally directed.

            Mrs. Hartell shook her head. “And what if he doesn’t answer? We give up and go home?!” she countered.

            Liliana anxiously watched her parents argue. Her nervousness increased as she watched Jonathan kick down the front doors. People swarmed into the school, and some Septics attempted to swarm out. Many were in other parts of the building, so there was no flood of Septics. Furthermore, the Septics were contained fairly easily, since three police officers were on the site. However, some of the Septics bit innocent people before dying.