Taken by surprise, Brian was nearly pulled out into the open after Noah before he released his friend’s arm and stepped quickly back into concealment.
“Don’t be rash,” he hissed, but Noah paid his warning no heed. He smiled reassuringly at them and began crossing the short stretch of grass towards the nearest line.
His friends watched on in frozen alarm, certain he was about to eat someone, or at the very least be caught and questioned. Instead, without anyone else the wiser, he calmly stepped into the throng of bodies and attached himself to the end of line like he was just a regular student doing as he was told.
“What should we do?” Leah asked, gripping the edge of the truck as she stared out at him.
“I wasn’t planning on jumping into this mess until I knew exactly where everyone was being sent,” Brian said. “But now I have no idea what to do. How about you?”
“Whatever you decide,” Leah replied quickly. “I just want to stick together.”
“Well, it sounds like there might actually be a cure,” he said hesitantly. “Maybe Noah has the right idea. My only concern is what the cost could be.”
“It looks like everyone is being treated, or at least being sent somewhere to be treated,” his sister observed. “So they might be doing it for free.”
“Oh, sure, but what I’m really worried about are the side effects, lingering symptoms, that sort of thing. Do we really want to be treated with a cure that they somehow came up with overnight?”
“It’s better than nothing,” May opined.
“This is Insight we’re talking about,” Leah reminded her. “Their idea of a cure could be murder.”
May raised an eyebrow. “They might be able to get away with a few losses here and there, but no way would they massacre a whole college. As unusual as it is for them, they might really be trying to help here. Also, it’s possible the government is forcing them to provide aid. We don’t know what the situation is.”
“So, are we going to trust them, or not?” Brian asked impatiently. “Noah’s going to end up on a bus if we don’t move quickly. I don’t want to just abandon him like that.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” May said.
“Noah made crossing look easy, but we’re still only one startled soldier away from getting captured or shot,” Leah warned.
They craned their heads around the vehicle to peer at the nearest uniformed figure looking dutifully out over the assembled students. He was tall enough that even from behind, he seemed likely to be a man.
“He’s not paying us any attention, let’s move,” Brian muttered.
They stepped out of hiding as one and walked briskly towards Noah’s line.
Almost at the same time, the soldier began to turn their way.
Leah cursed under her breath. “Turn around and walk towards the soldier, now,” she ordered.
“Why?” Brian demanded, but he and May both did as she directed.
Half a second later, the soldier caught sight of what looked to be a couple of students who had broken away from their line. He subtly adjusted his grip on his weapon.
“Halt!” he called, and the three of them instantly obeyed.
“What now?” Brian muttered.
Leah ignored her brother. “We want to know what’s going on,” she said to the man. Her voice was hesitant at first, but she quickly gained confidence as she continued. “Why do we all have to line up? Where are they sending us?”
For a moment the soldier only stared suspiciously at them, but he finally seemed to realize they were just a few harmless kids. “There’s a sickness going around,” he allowed shortly. “We need to make sure you’re not a carrier.”
“Oh, no!” Leah cried, hands moving to her cheeks. Brian somehow managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. “What if we have it?”
“Then Insight will take it out,” he answered.
“How will they manage that?” Leah tried to ask, but either the man was fed up with her questions or he didn’t know the answer. “Get back in line, you’ll find out.”
A few nearby students who had clearly been eavesdropping turned away in disappointment.
“Okay. Thank you for your time,” Leah said obediently.
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The three of them scampered the rest of the way to the lines and slid into place behind Noah.
“Quick thinking,” Brian praised.
“Thanks,” Leah said, looking relieved.
“Hey, Noah, fancy seeing you here,” Brian joked.
Noah didn’t seem to hear him, so Brian took him by the shoulders and turned him around. “Hey, man. You doing alright?”
Noah jumped at the sight of them. His eyes moved constantly, darting all around in nervous fluttery twitches. “There’s a lot of people here,” he muttered.
“Obviously,” Brian said, raising his brows. “Will you be okay?”
Noah shrugged. “Most people are infected, to the point that I’m surprised chaos hasn’t broken out yet. The uninfected people are just standing around with everyone else. Like her.” He pointed at a girl in a nearby line who was wearing a surgical mask. She was looking at something on her phone with earbuds shoved into her ears, seeming wholly unconcerned that she was surrounded by potential zombies. Either she was extremely uninformed, or she had perfect confidence in the security provided by the military presence.
Brian gazed around, realizing almost everyone had a mask. He touched his own face and hoped nobody would single them out for their lack of respiratory protection.
“I keep forgetting that you’re like a human diagnostic tester,” Leah said to Noah with an amused smirk. “How about that person? They sick?”
Noah reluctantly glanced over. “Yeah.”
“How about that one?”
“Infected.”
“That guy over there?”
“Infected,” Noah said, then looked back in surprise, perking up. “Wait, no. That guy doesn’t have it.”
“Okay, we get it,” Brian interrupted before Leah could point at another random person. “Let’s not forget that you’re essentially asking if he wants to eat them.”
Leah patted Noah on the back. “Aww, don’t listen to him. You’re doing great.”
“Thanks.” He smiled half-heartedly, already regretting his decision to place himself in the midst of such a large crowd. Every passing second was a battle to tamp down the urge to wander to one of the uninfected students and just chomp on them. His only saving grace was how rapidly the lines seemed to be moving along; every few seconds everyone would shuffle another few steps forward. Soon enough he would be within a tent and hopefully out of range of any uninfected bystanders.
As he waited patiently, doing what he hoped to be quite the excellent job of pretending to be comfortable and relaxed, a commotion several lines over made both him and everyone nearby look over curiously.
A student in an Oakridge hoodie was pushing people carelessly aside, bulldozing his way through row after row of startled students. His target soon became clear as the girl Noah had pointed out earlier as uninfected.
She didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss, although several people around her certainly did. Someone grabbed her arm and pointed towards the incoming student.
Noah couldn’t see anything visibly wrong with the kid, though clearly he had been injured in some way. It could have been anything from a twisted ankle to a brain hemorrhage.
Regardless, he was nearly to the girl before she finally realized she was in danger and stumbled away.
A couple other students tried to hold back the sudden assailant, but they only managed to buy the girl a few seconds before he broke free and lunged for her.
Mid-step, something appeared in his shoulder. A tufted dart with a bright green bush. The student came to an abrupt stop, nearly toppling forward, and clawed at his own eyes. Over the next several seconds he simply collapsed to the ground.
The male soldier with whom Leah had spoken earlier approached the fallen student, dart gun still held at the ready. When a moment passed with no signs of movement, he smoothly holstered the weapon and muttered into a radio clipped to his vest.
Noah couldn’t hear his exact words over the sound of everyone shouting excitedly, but it must have been some kind of call for backup, because before long a large cargo vehicle was pulling up alongside him and three soldiers hopped out. Two of them knelt to pick up the limp student and carry him inside the vehicle, while the original soldier worked with one of the new arrivals to push back the crowding students and generally exude a threatening aura.
Noah swallowed as their gazes passed over him and tried his very best to look as innocuous as possible. It didn’t help that he could tell they were uninfected even from where he stood a dozen meters away.
He needn’t have worried; as soon as the tranquilized kid was stashed away in the vehicle, they jumped back inside and it pulled away. The first soldier returned to his previous station and gazed around calmly as if nothing had happened.
The uninfected girl seemed understandably shaken. Despite this, she reclaimed her spot in line and had her nose back in her phone within the minute.
So that’s how this whole field hasn’t turned into a bloodbath, Noah thought. The problems are removed as they occur. He clenched his fists, freshly incentivized to be a good little harmless student. The uninfected boy who seemed to have spawned into existence next to him in line did not help matters.
“So, they know our weakness,” Leah mused. “I bet Insight gave them some kind of blinding agent. Damn! Why’d they have to sell us out like that?”
“You’re assuming that wasn’t just cyanide or something,” Brian said.
“Yeah, I am. If they wanted to kill us, why bother with a dart? They would have just used a regular gun.”
“Unless that’s what they want you to think.”
Leah huffed. “The kid was blinded. It’s obvious from the way he reacted.”
“If we don’t do anything dumb, then we won’t have to find out either way,” May interrupted cooly. “And when I say ‘we’, I’m talking to you, Noah.”
He ducked his head. “I know. I’m doing my best.”
She suddenly looked at Brian. “Where are you keeping the pendant? Don’t let them take it.”
He pulled the collar of his shirt aside to reveal the silver chain glinting coldly on his neck. “Don’t worry. I won’t give them any reason to steal it from me.”
Over the next few minutes they drew closer and closer to their tent. Noah grew nervous in spite of himself as they stood in the shadow of the looming structure, wondering if he had made a mistake to end up here waiting his turn to enter. The entrance was a draping cloth flap that somehow blocked all sight into the tent despite drifting around in the slight breeze. A soldier stood beside it, waving a student in every thirty seconds or so.
It came Noah’s turn to enter before he was able to comfortably prepared himself for whatever lay ahead. He pushed his way inside.