Rough Road Ahead (In Progress)

Chapter 26

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            The red light blinked brighter and brighter, the flashes blinding me as my hearing became muffled. The sounds seemed rounded, having no rough edges to them, as if they had been sanded down before entering the canals of my ears. Then it all changed, the rounded edges became rough, a ear piercing screech sounding around me as ten men clad in army attire filled the space around me, throwing hand cuffs on my wrists and dragging me by the arms back to the quarantine room that we had been in before. "No!" I screamed, seeing two men tackle Brad to the ground, "what are you doing?"

            "What we have to." One of the men said, throwing me limply onto the ground, my arms flipped around my back, hand cuffs still on. Brad was thrown in a moment later, a bloody nose and a black and blue face that was already partly swollen.   

              "What the fuck is going on!?" Brad cursed, shimmying across the floor so he was leaning against the wall, "we are allowed to leave, that is our right as Americans!"

            I stared out the glass, "I don't think they care about our rights. They are the army, they are the rights." My eyes started to make their way around the room, seeing that everyone that had been in quarantine with us was gone, all of them disappeared into thin air, the only thing left of them a messy, white sheeted bed.

             "Why do we need to stay is we aren't sick?" Brad questioned, " if we are immune like he says, we can leave!" Brad smashed his back against the wall a few times in frustration.

             "No Brad, don't do anything stupid. We should just stay, maybe we can help them find a cure with our blood." It was true, I was looking at the bigger picture, what was important. If we could save people, it was worth staying in quarantine for awhile longer.

             "Iris, these people might hurt us. They aren't on our side." Brad said, arching his back and looking out the glass, seeing the army men crowding the area, their guns at their sides.

            I sighed, feeling like a fool for siding with the CDC, "I know, but it's worth it. We won't be here that long, maybe a few more tests on our blood and then we can leave. It's the least we can do, we were the ones who shipped this virus over here." Brad gritted his teeth, looking at me. "I thought you said that this yellow chip was the cure." He said, quoting me.

             "I know, but you heard him, it's impossible." I shrugged my shoulders, shuffling across the floor to the wall beside Brad, leaning my head against him. After a few minutes of us laying there silently, Brad spoke.

            "Ok. Fine. But if they hurt you, we do it my way." He said gruffly.

              "That's all I ask." I bit my lip, my hand resting on his knee. For some reason it felt at home there, like it was made to fit in that exact spot.

             "Iris?" Brad asked suddenly. I yawned, nodding. He paused, then pushed my hand off, moving a few inches away from me, "nothing."

            I was slightly hurt, "what?" I asked angrily, "I was trying to comport you!"

             Brad didn't answer, he just leaned onto the wall and closed his eyes, "I'm tired. Go away."

            I was appalled, "go away?" I paused, "really? Are we reverting to this childish play? I just don't understand anything with you! I have no idea where we stand." He didn't answer, he just laid there, his eyes shut, ignoring my plea.