An Average Day at Laminax

Chapter 24

Waking up early the next day, I got up and was surprised to see James up, eating cereal. A packet of dry cat food was sitting on the kitchen table. "Breakfast for you." He said. Soon after we had finished breakfast, we waited around for a while, for either Henry and Morgan to return or dad to return. At around 7:00, a car parked in the driveway, and out of the car emerged Henry and Morgan. Morgan was holding a black leather suitcase, and Henry was holding a cup of coffee. They were both not wearing their blazers, instead opting for wearing a short sleeved white shirt with black tie and charcoal slacks. "Morning." Henry said. They both walked inside, and we all waited for a while longer. As I sat on the couch with James, he said "So, how do you think dad will react?" "I don't know, really. I want to see dad, but at the same time, I don't know how'll he will react to... me." I said. "Well... you're the same person as before, just in different form." James said. I nodded and said "Right." About an hour later, the load roar of a trucks engine coming down the street before it came to a halt outside the house. Looking out the window, I saw that it was a black semi-truck, but without the trailer attached to the end. On the door was the name of the trucking company that dad worked for: Sean Rivera Transportation. Morgan and Henry looked out the window with me, and Morgan asked, "Is this your father?" I nodded. I watched as my da walked up the path that led up to the door. There was the sound of knocking on the door, and James went over to answer it. I walked over to the front door, where my father stopped talking to James and looked at me. He was wearing a black cap with sunglasses, his short hair visible from underneath his cap. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt with the word 'Nebraska' in large white text on it, and he was wearing dark grey jeans. "Oliver... it's been a while." He said. "Hey, dad." I said. As he spread his arms out, about to hug me, Morgan practically ran over and said "Stop! Don't hug him, it's too much of a risk." Dad awkwardly put his arms down and said "Right, I forgot about that, sorry." There was silence, and James asked "So, where'd you get that shirt from?" "Oh, uhm, yeah... I got this when I was in Omaha, where I got the call that Oliver was... missing, from someone at Laminax, saying you were out lost somewhere in Colorado a month ago... I'm sorry I took so long to see you. The thing is... I had to deliver some agriculture equipment and supplies to Hattiesburg in the Magnolia State. That's right, my first trip outside of the Midwest. And when I got a call, saying that you were back... I drove all the way back to Indianapolis." He said. "Wait, how'd you know that I was back?" I asked. "Well, truth is, I got a call from Laminax. This was after the earthquake, after the Gootraxians were revealed. They told me everything about you, what had happened and that you were infected. I was... shocked, really, but I got over it pretty quickly. About four days ago, I was given the opportunity to drive outside of the Midwest and deliver some agriculture supplies to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and I accepted. After I had arrived and was staying at a truck terminal outside of Hattiesburg, I received another call from Laminax that you were going to be returned to Cambridge City, but they advised me not to tell anybody. And so, I got in my truck and left." I nodded silently, taking it all in. "I'm just glad you're back, Oliver. I missed you." Dad said. I felt a sense of relief knowing that my father still loved me, even though I had been infected. We spent some more time catching up, and I felt a sense of relief knowing I was back with my family, like so many others who were infected but had gotten the chance to be reintroduced into society. As I sat outside with James and my dad, talking to each other causally, Morgan opened the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, and motioned me to come inside. Henry was sitting on the couch, and he asked me to sit down. "Oliver. You may not want to hear this, but we believe that if you continue to stay here, it will have disastrous consequences for you and your family." "W-What? Why's that?" "Some people don't trust you, people who have gotten infected and retained their human mindset. One Gootraxian who also retained his human mindset like you living in San Francisco has already gotten severely injured from an attempted murder, and is currently recovering in a private, Laminax-owned hospital outside Portland, Oregon." "What are the chances of that happening to me? I'd say low, Henry." "What I am saying here, Mr. Davidson, that it is a threat of you and your family's  safety to continue living here. What we are proposing here, is that you get to choose where you go to. Could be a state bordering this one, like Illinois, Ohio, Michigan or Kentucky, or a state further away. You can still visit your family wherever you want. Keep in mind, this is a fairly new system, so we are just still figuring things out."