We are still trapped in here. No word on when we’re getting out, but they did finally bring us some food. They have to feed us through a hatch they constructed out of the lobby doors. It wasn’t much of anything, but some bread, meat, and cheese. We ran out quickly. Mrs K says they’re bringing more later tonight, but we haven’t heard anything since around noon today.
We found an old phone charger in Mrs K’s office. It works to like half the phones here, but the others are scrambling to find a cord before their only line of communication is cut off. I was lucky, I bring my laptop charger with me everywhere, so we have the select few who need the C charger covered too. But that also means I can keep updating the situation from the inside.
First of all, there’s been no update on Mel. We keep asking, but no one will tell us anything. They’ve sealed off the classroom so we can’t go look for ourselves. Some of our parents have stopped answering our calls. My mom is still picking up. I hope she can come up here. She told me her and dad were on their way. Some of the other parents are coming too. So we hope that we can be out by tomorrow. We hope so.
This morning we were roused by Mrs K and a few other hazmat guys. They had us line up in the black box in alphabetical order and they took our names, ages, and date of birth. They then made us spit in a little test tube thing before they sent us to wait in the auditorium. After everyone was cataloged, Mrs K decided to do a run of the show. We happily obliged.We were about a quarter way through the first act when the double doors in the back of the theatre flung open. Three men in hazmat suits filed in, followed by a man in a suit wearing a mask. He was tall, almost towering over our entire department. Though he was wearing a blue paper mask, I could tell he was smiling. He addressed us as a whole, making sure to stay a safe distance away.
“Hey everyone! How are we doing?” I don’t know what it was about him, but I didn’t like how he talked to us. He spoke to us like we were small children, and he was trying to find a way to dumb it down. “I know we aren’t doing too good right now, huh?” The he took a breath before continuing. “Well we want you all to know, that we are working on the situation and we are very close to getting it under control.” His eyes lost the smile. I could tell he was about to deliver some not-so-great news. “Be that as it may, as you know this virus is nothing to play around with. And when one of us gets infected, they have to be removed to protect the others.” Emersons hand shot up, catching the attention of the man. “What about Mel? Is he infected? Is he okay?”
I’m not completely sure, but I think I saw one of the hazmat guys take his name down.
The masked man smiled again. “Mel is sick, yes, but he is not infected as far as we can tell. But, that’s not the problem. One of you is infected. Now before we panic, here is what we know. The pathogen is not airborne. It can only be transferred through bodily fluids. So as long as no one swaps spit, we are in the clear!” His attempt at a joke fell on deaf ears as we all eyed each other. He cleared his throat to recapture our attention. “Anyway, don’t drink after each other, don’t eat after each other. Disinfect the water fountains and use water bottles. Be extra diligent!”
I finally decided to speak up. “So who is it? Who’s got the virus or infection or…whatever?” The masked man sighed and shook his head. “I wish I knew, sister. But the tests that we have are in their early stages. We may have to wait a few days.”
Emmerson raised his hand again. Mrs K moved to stop him. “What are the symptoms? We need to have something to look out for.” Mr Suit fixed him with a look, and for a moment, I could almost see the facade slip. “At this current moment, we aren’t entirely sure the exact symptoms. But don’t worry. We will know for sure once your blood and saliva samples come back. There will be a few more specimens gathered, as we are covering all of our bases.” Mr. Suit turned to once again address us as a whole. “And, If any of you feel like one of your classmates or yourself is getting sick, we want you to immediately alert your teacher or one of these nice men in hazmat suits. They are here to help you. Please do not hesitate to ask them for help.” He concluded his speech by clapping his hands together. “Well! I must go! I will be in contact with your teacher and we will get you all out of here shortly.” And with that, he left. Mrs K tried to finish the run, but it didn’t work out. How can we focus on our lines when we’ve been left in here to die?
So after that we just sat around. Playing on our phones and computers. Some of us did homework. Some of us slept. I made notes. How many hazmat guys came in, what they were carrying, what they did. They didn’t ever talk around us. They barely acknowledged us unless we approached them directly. In that time, here’s what I’ve seen.
Between the hours of 10Am and 12Pm.
-Three hazmat guys came in at 10:15, carrying nothing. Left at 10:20
-One hazmat guy came in at 10:57 and went into room 124B. He hasn’t come out
-Four Hazmat guys came in at 11:34 carrying medical equipment? They left five minutes later
-Two hazmat guys brought us lunch at 12:00 on the dot. This time it was just potatoes. They left once we were all fed at 12:06.
Between the hours of 12:07Pm and 5:00Pm. (I was exhausted.)
-Mr Suit called Mrs K at 12:45. She seemed upset. Won’t answer when questioned.
-Two hazmat guys brought in more medical equipment at 1:30. They went into 124B. They left at 2:00.
-Mr Suit spoke through the door at maybe 3:30. We weren’t supposed to hear it, but she started yelling. She came back at 4:00
-Seven hazmat guys gave us all a little white pill at 5:00. Mrs K. said it was an antibiotic. They left at 5:30 after turning out the lights.
We are all scared to cough now. Or say we don’t feel good. Or seem like our energy is down. We need to get out of here. We need to figure out who it is.
I don’t want to die in here. Please if you have any information, it would be very much appreciated. I will keep everyone updated.