(Rian’s Point of View):
“I want to know everything that you guys know- Right now.” I spit out at the other three guys, firmly. Waking up from a nap to see that my hometown of Baltimore was being closed off due to something that apparently everyone knew about but me, was not the way I wanted to start off my Saturday night. I let out a deep cough, as I searched all of their faces. They all looked frightened, but I knew that they at least had an idea of what was happening outside. “Huh? Why did they just put everyone on lockdown?” I raised my voice, and it made Zack jump. As much as Jack and Alex looked spooked, they were nothing compared to Zack.
“Keep your voice down, man.” Alex stuttered, as he kept his gaze focused on the window. The ground gave a quick shake, before everything went silent again. They must’ve sealed the container they forced us in.
“We don’t know what’s going on…” Jack finally spoke up, but his voice didn’t go above a whisper. I watched as he backed himself away from the window, and pressed himself up against the opposing wall. “The News wouldn’t tell us anything-“
“Fuck the Government.” Alex piped in, while shaking his head.
Jack gave him a look, to make sure he was done commenting on the situation before he continued. “No one knows whats going on. All they told us was that we needed to keep away from any windows, and stay hidden.” As Jack spoke, I felt my heart rate rise. All of a sudden, a sharp pain attacked my chest and I grabbed onto Alex’s shoulder to sturdy myself. I pressed my palm against my chest, and gritted my teeth.
Alex directed his attention towards me. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
Zack pulled himself up from the floor and raced over to me. “What hurts?” I clenched my fist into a ball.
“My chest.” I breathed, as him and Alex stumbled me over to the couch. As they did, I watched Jack rush to every window and door in the house, and lock them. He closed all the blinds, and threw sheets from our beds over the windows that didn’t have anything to cover them.
“Try to relax. Your chest is probably congested.” Alex said quickly. His eyes were big, like Zack’s and they were feeling on my chest.
I swatted their hands away, and shook my head vigorously. Every time I took in a breath, the pain would occur. I groaned, as I grabbed my head. “No. No… This feels like something different.”
Jack leaned over, and pressed the back of his hand against my forehead. He pulled it back almost immediately. “He’s burning up.” He ran his hand through his matted hair.
“What do we do?” Alex’s voice rose timidly. I could tell he was scared. Hell, we all were. But, as my chest throbbed, I couldn’t think clearly. All I wanted was this pain to subside.
“Uh. Uh…” Zack trailed on, as his eyes searched my face. “Take some deep breaths.” I took his advice, and as I slowed my breathing, the sharp pain started to dull. My whole body slumped, as I relaxed.
I grinned in exasperation. “Zack, I’ve never wanted to make love to you as much as I do right now.” I wiped the sweat from my head. While rubbing my hand across my face, I heard them all give an uneasy laugh. My body felt like it had been ran over by a transfer truck. My tongue was dry, and it hurt to blink. I had a pounding headache, but at least the horrendous chest pain was dissolving.
“I can feel the heat radiating off you.” Alex stated. I glanced in his direction, and I could see the worried expression scribbled across his face. I did feel extremely hot, but I didn’t have enough energy to take my shirt off, or do anything for that matter. A lump rose in my throat, and as much as I swallowed, it wouldn’t budge.
