A problem

Gabriella here.

Our escape attempt turned out pretty badly. So instead of being free from this quarantine we're in handcuffs instead. Well not literally. At least not anymore. They took those off after a few hours. Wasn't my first time in handcuffs but normally they're part of something more pleasurable.

Both of us were put in a dark room. Handcuffs tied to the table in front of us. Only one door in or out. Completely empty aside from that. I'm not sure how long we were in there. Michael fell asleep eventually.

I suspect they were watching us. Because not long after he started snoring the door suddenly slammed open. They probably wanted to scare him awake and intimidate us. If that's what they were trying to do they failed on both counts.

Michael slept through an earthquake once. A little door slamming isn't gonna be enough to wake him either. Nor are we that easily intimidated.

Two men came walking into the room. One was an older guy with grey hair. The other seemed younger than the two of us. Perhaps just out of High school. They both sat down across the table from us. The older guy sat in front of Michael, the younger one sat in front of me.

When they saw Michael hadn't woken up the older man slammed his fist on the table. This managed to shake Michael awake. Awake might have been an exaggeration though. He yawned and looked like he could fall asleep again at anytime. Which the older guy didn't seem to appreciate.

He started talking to Michael. He didn't get a response. So he raised his voice. Still nothing. Michael loves messing with people. Except this time he wasn't trying to. The guy was yelling at him in French. Michael barely understands French.

It was quite funny seeing Michael sitting there with a confused face while this large dude was yelling in his face.

The following conversation was in French. But I'll just be translating it. That way Michael can actually read it.

After a few minutes the old man sighed and stopped yelling. He grabbed a glass and took a sip of water. I figured that was my cue to speak. “Sir, my partner does not speak French. He did not understand a word you just said to him.”

The man turned to me. Then looked back at Michael. Then back at me. “You're not from here then I presume?”

I nodded. “We're from Antwerp.”

“Ah, Flemish then. What are you two doing here in the middle of nowhere then?”

“Just passing through.”

The guy looked at his younger colleague and asked him to switch places. They did. Once they sat back down they both looked at me. “Where are you traveling to?”

I shrugged. “To be honest we don't really have a plan.”

“Then why did you try to escape?”

“We can't stay in one place for very long. It's not safe.”

“You're runners then? What are you running from?”

“Red cap.”

“That's unfortunate. You have gotten caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“It would seem so.”

He then turned to his colleague. “Your turn.”

The younger guy nodded and turned to Michael. He began asking him questions in Dutch. Seems like the older guy doesn't speak Dutch but the younger one does. He asked all the same questions to Michael. I assume they were trying to catch us in a lie.

After that both of them left the room again. Michael was about to go back to sleep. I shook my head. “Dude, you can't be that tired.”

“I'm not. Just bored.” He yawned.

“Stop that.” I said after I had to suppress a yawn of my own. “So how are we going to get out of this one?”

Michael just smiled at me.

That's when the two men walked back in. The younger guy spoke first in dutch. “Good news, we won't be putting you in a prison cell. We can't let you out of the barricade though. If this disease happens to get out of this village it would be disastrous. Once the quarantine ends you'll be free to leave. We can't be sure when-”

He was interrupted by a cough.

My cough.

Everyone in the room looked at me.

I looked down.

There was a bit of blood splattered on the table.

My blood.