Just as we got comfortable, at least as comfortable as you could on a rock they tried to tell us was a bunk, a girl came up to me. She hovered over me before gently tapping me on the shoulder.

“Excuse me?” She spoke softly. I stared at her as I waited for her to say what she wanted. Her curly blonde hair hung down just above my face. Her face was almost flawless. I couldn’t take my gaze away once her piercing blue eyes met with mine. The beauty mark below her right eye tied it all together.

“Did you hear me?” She asked sweetly. When I realized that I was so busy staring at her that I completely missed what she said, I was more than embarrassed. “I, uh, Sorry, I got distracted.” I stumbled. I heard John scoff and she giggled. “I asked if you had seen my father, he’s really tall, has glasses, gray hair,” she went on. None of had a clue, so I shook my head. She thanked me for my time and then immediately moved on.

Not long after the room was silent, besides the occasional creak of a bunk or a cough, I was once again tapped on the shoulder. This time it was John. “Eric,” he whispered before shaking my shoulder. I looked at him to show I was awake, and honestly I had been awake the whole time. “I need to talk to you.” He insisted. I let out an irritated groan before sitting up in my bunk. Reluctantly, I followed him outside.

“Look,” he began. “We need to get out of here.” He stated. I crossed my arms, signaling for an explanation. John looked at me like I was stupid and glared. “Seriously? Our parents are stuck in some other shithole quarantine camp and you want to sit here, not knowing if they’re safe?” He growled. I took a moment to think it over.

“Alright,” I finally answered. “Let's say, as a group, we decide to go check out that other camp, how in the hell do you expect us to sneak out of this one?” I asked skeptically. “This place is crawling with military guys.” I reminded him.

“Whatcha’ talking about?” The blonde from earlier asked innocently. John and I both looked to the girl in surprise. “I’ll go over it with you and the others in the morning.” he hissed and walked back to the bunk house.

Big blue eyes pierced through me. I felt as if she was looking straight into my soul, examining every inch of who I was. Frantically, I looked away, avoiding her stare. This girl gave off a rather unsettling vibe.

I made my way back into the building I had came from. I leaned my back against the cold metal of my bunk. I had no interest in sleeping.

The next morning was awkward. The blonde, whose name I still hadn't caught, decided it was a good idea to sit on one side of me, and John glared through me on the other. Even after an entire sleepless night I couldn't come up with anything to help us escape. Now I had the pleasure of dealing with this girl.

Emily and Jack had caught onto the awkward vibes the moment they got out of their bunks. Neither dared to ask what was wrong knowing John would probably make a scene.

“So Sandra,” Emily started. Ah, so that's her name.

“What did you talk to Eric about last night?” She asked curiously. Oh no. John shot a glare towards Sandra. I didn’t quite understand why he was so pissed at the girl.

“Eric and I were just discussing how I was coming with you guys when you escape.” She beamed. I nearly choked to death on my own confusion. I felt an elbow jab me in the side.

“Excuse me?” Emily crossed her arms. What a coincidence. I was just about to say the same thing.

I sighed and John groaned angrily. “Me and John were talking about finding the overflow camp. It’s the best chance we’ve got at finding our parents. I was going to tell you guys.” I swore but Emily looked unconvinced. She relaxed a bit with a sigh and leaned back in her seat.

“I didn’t know we were allowed to bring a date.” John hissed. I rested my head in my hands and ignored him. I really wasn’t in the mood to argue with the devil.

The four of them were silent as I mumbled into my hands. John was right, we had to go find our parents. The problem wasn’t finding them, but how to get out of this prison. We were just a bunch of average high school kids. What could we possibly do to outsmart a bunch of military trained men? I mean, we didn’t even know how to use guns for christ sake.

The rest of the day was long and excruciatingly painful, mentally and physically. After breakfast we were forced into another search for infection. We still didn’t know what caused the infection and how long it took to lose control of yourself.

I desperately wanted to get out. Not necessarily to find my parents, but to leave this over crowded hell hole.

Once the searches were over I planned to go back to my bunk, but of course, John had other plans. I heard the familiar sound of his voice coming from behind one of the buildings. I should have left it alone but my curiosity got the best of me. I couldn’t help but wonder why he sounded angrier than usual. When I turned the corner, John was challenging an officer. I cursed under my breath as I watched the scene play out. As soon as the officer shoved John I knew this wasn’t going to end well. He immediately fought back. Damnit. Instinctively, I rushed over and tried to separate them, resulting in an undeserved baton to the side of my head.