Song: The Words by Christina Perri
Day 12:
For about ten minutes Katie and I have been looking at the surveillance footage from when the virus first broke out. I was sitting in the chair with Katie looking over my right shoulder when the door opened. "Hey" Jake said as he closed the door and walked up to us.
"Hey" Katie and I said tiredly in unison.
"I see you got it." I felt Jake peer over my left shoulder at the tape.
"Yup." Katie said running a hand through her brown hair.
"The password was Password." I said chuckling a little.
"Wow, I gotta hustle if I wanna make detective before you." Jake said causing Katie and I to laugh.
"Better keep hustling then." I turned my head and looked at Jake .
"We think we found the right footage." Katie said making Jake nod in approval.
"Tuesday, Eight am." Katie read off the top of the tape. She looked at the screen and pointed out Sanders and Patient Zero. "Here's Dr. Sanders and that's Siede. Okay so Cannerts says that Siede is 'Patient Zero' but we all know that he died after Sanders. That means she must have infected him."
"We just need to prove it." I looked at Katie who sighed tiredly and gave a half smile.
"What about the boyfriend? They died around the same time." Jake said as I turned my gaze back onto the footage. "I went back through the old sign in ledgers. Henry Berns, signed in at five am." I nodded and switched to the camera facing the reception desk, I rewound the tape to five am and saw who I assumed to be Henry signing in. "That's our guy." Right then Dr. Sanders came into view and put her hand on his back. They both then walked out of view.
I switched to another camera that was facing a hallway door. The two went in front of the door and started kissing, they then went into the room. "There's the quickie." Katie said as I fast forward until Sanders opened the door and walked away.
"5:15, that was a quickie." Jake said, I was the tiniest bit tempted to elbow him in the gut but I restrained. I fast forward until Henry came out which was eight am. "Where is he going?" Jake asked as Henry disappeared.
I switched around a few times until I saw him go up to the sink in the washroom. I peered in closely and saw him sneeze. He looked at his hands and then examined his face. "Oh my god, he knows." I stated as my eyes widened.
Henry ran out of the bathroom causing me to loose him for a second. Quickly, I found him turn a corner with his hand to his ear. "Is that Sanders?" Katie asks before he hang up and grabbed his wallet. He then stuffed it in a small trash box on the wall.
"That explains why he didn't want anyone to know about him." I said before following him back to the room where he had a quickie. He then bent over something that was next to the room. "What's he doing now?" I asked as he got up and stuck something on the door before going inside.
"He's quarantining himself." Jake said a little shocked.
"We were right, he's the real Patient Zero."
Jake, Katie, and I decided to go back to our room. We were walking down one of the main hallways when Dr. Cannerts walked out of a lab room and quickly walked out of sight. "Do you think we would get out?" I asked curiously to both of them.
"I'm nervous...afraid to get my hopes up." Katie said as we all walked up to the window and looked at the lab rats. "What about you two?"
"No I'm not afraid to get my hopes up. I'd probably take a sick day, or five. Go to a baseball game, have beers, not deal with responsibilities." Jake said as he looked down at his feet.
"I would be with my family, have a barbecue, go see new movies, and also go to baseball games." I said sighing and watching the white lab mice run around.
"That sounds nice." Was all Katie said.
A while later Jake left to go talk to Lex, leaving Katie and I to ourselves.
Day 12 of Quarantine
Dear Hannah,
You will never guess what happened this morning! We found out who the real p
Patient Zero is! The first day of the quarantine Katie and I lost Quentin and Thomas (for a short time) while we were looking we saw two dead bodies. They had died before Siede! Apparently the man (Henry) infected his girlfriend (Dr. Sanders) who then infected Siede. This whole time we have been lied to, this is why I don't trust the government. Jake, Katie, and I still don't know how he got infected but we will find out. On the back I drew mom and dad, I really hope they like it. Well I'm gonna go so I love you and miss you!
Forever and Always
Iris
I turned the page and set my journal down so I could get the photo out of my wallet. I know what they look like but I just want to make sure I have everything correct. I start drawing my dad with his arm slung over my moms shoulder. I then draw the clothes they're wearing. Lastly I draw all the creases in their faces and shade everything.
By the time I'm done Jake is back and setting up the quarantine model we made. "Hey Jake!" I said as I put my journal away and moved to sit on the floor next to him and Katie.
"Iris, as I was telling Katie, Lex wants to send Thomas out of the cordon so the doctors could figure out how he is immune." Jake said before finishing the model.
"Won't that be risky? Trying to get him out without anyone seeing?" I asked concerned. People could see and start a riot or something.
"It will be risky but we can do it." Jake said as he examined the model. "Okay so we hit the extraction point at 7:00am and then we get back here."
"Then what?" Katie asked unsure.
Jake sat for a moment thinking. "Then eventually, life goes back to normal."
I bit my lip and looked at the model. "When this is all over, I don't think we'll see each other. I know I'll see Katie but not you. If it's just a moment in time, I want you to know that I like it." I said a little sad. Why would Jake wanna see me again after this?
"Don't you want us to see each other?" Jake asked concerned. I looked over at Katie who nodded and got up, probably going to find her son.
I sighed running a hand through my black hair. "Back in the real world... I have to deal with debt, lots of it, living paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by, and the secret shame that my family has for me. I don't want you dealing with the responsibilities in my life."
Jake stared at me for a minute before whispering. "But what if I want to?" I felt something similar to a shock go through my hand and travel up my arm. I looked down to see that Jake put his protected hand on top of mine.
"You won't... and that is okay." I pulled my hand away and got up from the floor. I stepped over the model and started to walk out. As I got to the doorway I stopped for a second, internally battling if I should stay or go. Without a second thought I quickly walked out of the room and left Jake watching me leave. It's probably for the best.
"Goodnight, Superman." I said to Thomas before Katie walked up to his bed. As I walked away from his bed I saw Jake watching me. He quickly turned away and walked out of the room. I decided to follow him and he led me to an empty hallway, the same one where we lost power and went 'shopping.'
Jake stopped and turned to face me. He took a few steps forward causing me to take some back. "Iris, you think I'm going to run... I'm not that guy anymore. You think I can't deal with your crazy life but I can." He was down to a whisper now. "The thing that scares me the most, is losing you. There is no version of my life that doesn't have you in it."
At that point I wanted so badly to kiss him and tell him the same things but I couldn't, I couldn't let him see my struggling life. "You can't promise me that." I whispered, tears staining my eyes, threatening to fall.
"I just did."
Jake then decided to take a shower so I went back to the room. "I'm just scared that he would probably leave me once he's seen how I live." I was almost in tears as I told Katie.
"Iris take a chance, you might not get another one." Katie said before grabbing my journal and opening it up to the first drawing. "This is the same guy that has been protecting us. The same guy who you like, there's no denying it." I breathed in and out a few times before nodding and getting up.
"I guess I'll take my chance." I told Katie before running down to the showers.
When I got to the showers I debated for once last time if I was making the right choice. I decided I was so I walked up to the shower that he was in. I placed my left hand on the curtain then pushed the curtain until I felt his shoulder blade. I could tell he stopped and just stood in the shower. I then did the same with my right hand. I felt Jake turn around so now my hands were on his chest. I leaned my head in forward and felt his head do the same. Jake put his hands where mine were and we slowly moved them to the edges of the curtain. I pressed my forehead against his and just breathed. I wanted to tell him how I feel but I felt like this said it all.
Day 13:
Day 13 of Quarantine
Dear Hannah,
Today we're taking Thomas to the edge of the cordon so he can be transported out. I know it's a huge risk but he's the key to stopping this virus. The kids are playing superhero right now before Thomas leaves. Anyway I need to tell you about last night...
3rd person POV
As Iris was furiously scribbling things down into her journal, she didn't notice the way one man was staring at her from across the room. The man, Jake Riley, was in love with her. He watched from afar as she scribbled something down in her journal while blushing like a madwoman. He tore his gaze away from her and looked at Katie, who was looking from Iris-to-Jake, smirking.
Katie looked at Jake and winked. Of course she knew what went down in the showers, Iris told her once she got into the room. Jake blushed a little with embarrassment, it was hard to detect though with him looking at the ground.
"Okay kids, it's time for Thomas to go." Katie said getting up from where she had been sitting.
"Thanks for saving me Thomas." Said Mary as she pecked him on the cheek and walked away. Thomas then ran to Jake who was getting his helmet.
Iris signed the journal entry and put everything back into her bag. She got up and joined the three as they were walking out the door, careful to not make to much eye contact with the guy she was in love with.
Iris' POV
"Bowling?" Jake suggested as the three of us pushed the stretcher to where we were going to drop Thomas off. I chuckled as Jake tried thinking of dates that we could go on together. "Right, those shoes, not romantic"
I rolled my eyes and looked at Katie who smirked. "You okay Thomas?" She whispered at she looked inside the body bag on top the stretcher.
"I'm fine, are we there?" Came a quiet voice from inside.
"Almost, don't worry." I reassured him. We rolled him for a few more minutes until we came facing a wall of different colored containers.
"Ok, we're here, let's hurry and get this done." Jake said as I surveyed the area. "Put your masks on" he said as I noticed people walking around and searching for food. I pulled up my mask and started rolling closer to the containers.
Once we got there Katie unzipped the bag while Jake and I opened up the small square hole that Thomas would go through. "Remember your superpowers." Katie told Thomas as he was about to crawl through the hole.
"We did it." I said as Jake and I rolled the stretcher back to the hospital. Katie walked behind us, I bet she wanted us to talk about our date.
"I got it." Jake said happily. "A movie under the stars!" I heard Katie chuckle from behind me. "Literally the perfect date."
"Funny, that happens to be Katie and I's ideal date. Yeah I'll do it." Right after I heard someone shouting.
"MS. KATIE! MISS LITHE!" I turned around to see the hole propped open again and Thomas back inside.
"Hey! They're letting people out!" A random woman shouted as she noticed what was going on. Instantly people started walking towards the containers quickly.
The woman started banging her fists on the container and screaming to let her out. Jake, Katie, and I broke into a run for Thomas. I looked around to see more people coming, one of them stuck out. "DONT TOUCH HIM!" The man said, I realized it was Dr. Cannerts. I looked back at Katie to see she backed away from Thomas and was looking curiously at Dr. Cannerts. "I was wrong..." He said panting. "I was wrong..."