The waiting was unbearable and uncomfortable. Sleeping was impossible. We were starving and tired and agitated. If the cops were trying to break us down it was definitely working. I was ready to confess to anything and I didn’t really care what. I guess spending a night in a holding cell will do that to a person.

It must have been morning because my belly was growling at me, demanding to be fed. We were calling out for help but no one was answering. Outside, we could hear what sounded like helicopters and low flying jets and an endless convoy of trucks. Tommy was still passed out. He was now lying on the floor. Come to think of it, he hadn’t really moved at all during the night.

Now we were really starting to freak out. We started arguing.

“Why haven’t they come back for us?” Maria asked. “What’s taking them so long?”

Jack had a worried look on his face. He was biting his bottom lip. “This isn’t even legal. By law they have to let us go within twenty-four hours if they haven’t charged us with anything.”

“How do you even know that?” Maria fired back.

“I’ve watched enough episodes of Law and Order to know that if you don’t charge the bad guy with something, even if that bad guy is the big boss man himself, then you have to let them go.”

“That’s just on TV! And that’s American TV! How do you know that’s even what happens in real life, let alone in Australia?”

“We practically have the same legal system.”

“Jack, you are starting to get on my nerves.”

I’d never seen these two fight. Ever. They were always joking around, and even when they were arguing they were always pretend arguing. Maria was starting to lose her cool. She knew this was no time for jokes.

“Well, anyways, how long has it been?” I interjected.

Maria checked her watch. “It’s about 10am now, so we’ve been here at least ten or twelve hours. Assuming that we got here after curfew and around midnight. But I’m not really sure when we got here.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the quarantine?” Jack said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, do you think all the cops in town are off trying to help enforce the quarantine?”

“No. They wouldn’t send everyone. There’s no way.”

“But what if they had no choice? I mean, what if the virus from the immigration center was worse than anyone thought? What if it got completely out of control and it killed everyone? What if we’re the only ones left? Just the three of us and the drunk guy here.”

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“Shut up, Jack.” Maria and I said in unison.

He was making it all sound so terrifyingly real. I didn’t want to think about it. Because at that moment, it really did feel like we were the only people left alive on Earth.

“Guys, I’m kidding,” Jack said in an attempt to calm our nerves. “Look, if that was the case then we’d be dead. The virus would’ve killed us as well.”

His attempt to calm our nerves did not work.

“The curfew and the quarantine are just precautions,” he offered. “Everything is going to be fine. And it’s not like we broke any major laws or anything.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed, trying to sound positive. “And besides, Kim will get us out of here, won’t she? She works at this precinct, right?”

“Yeah. But like I said before, she’s been out on call. I don’t know when she’s coming back. But don’t worry, we won’t even need her help anyway. We’ll be fine.”

“I think it’s worth a shot.”

“That’s great and all,” Maria said. “But who knows if we’ll ever get a chance to play that card. Who knows if we’ll ever get out of this cell?”

“Now you’re just being silly,” Jack said. “They’re going to come back for us.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do.”

“How?”

“What do you want us to do, Maria?”

“I don’t know! But we need to do something! We can’t just wait here.”

Jack started biting his lip again. Even though he was saying we needed to calm down and that everything would be all right and they were totally going to come back for us, I could tell that he wasn’t so sure. I could tell that he was starting to think that no one was coming for us, that everyone had been killed, that we were the last survivors on Earth. He didn’t want to wait here anymore than Maria did. But that’s exactly what we did. It was all we could do.

We must have dozed off in the afternoon. A combination of boredom, hunger, and sleep deprivation was enough to do it. I woke to the sound of Tommy moaning in pain. It was the first sound he had made since he got here. He was doubled over; blood was dripping from his mouth.

I woke Maria and she immediately moved over to the bars and called out for help. I moved over to the opposite corner of the cell, as far away from Tommy as possible. Jack moved slightly closer to him and asked if he was all right. But Tommy didn’t answer. He just kept moaning, louder and louder.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Jack said.

I was still keeping my distance. “Maybe ask him if he wants some water?”

“Hey buddy, do you want some water?” Jack asked.

Tommy raised his head slightly. He was looking at Jack but his eyes weren’t focusing. I can’t really remember what happened next. I can’t remember if Jack asked him if he was all right, or if Jack said anything to provoke him or whatever, but the next thing I knew, Tommy had lunged for Jack with both hands and grabbed him by the shirt.

The weird thing was, it looked like Tommy was trying to bite Jack. Luckily, Jack has fairly long arms and strong shoulders from years of surfing. He was able to keep Tommy at a safe distance. It was so weird to see someone who had been completely immobile for so long, suddenly spring to life in a violent rage. He must have gone insane, which I guess is not that unusual for hardcore alcoholics. I remembered the crazy lady saying something about Tommy biting her before he ran off. I don’t know, maybe it was his thing.

Anyway, the two of them wrestled for what seemed like an eternity, and just when it looked like Tommy had the upper hand, Jack pushed him back. Tommy stumbled and lost his footing. He cracked his head against the concrete wall and fell to the ground in a heap. The insides of his head were black, almost solid, but oozing at the same time.

Maria was still yelling for help and I was still crouched in the far corner of the cell. I had my legs tucked up to my chest. I was completely frozen, unable to look away from the massive hole at the back of Tommy’s head.