Read This Would Be Paradise (Book 1) for Free Online Page B

grey, his eyes almost sunken in. Rattling coughs were shaking his body.
    “Sorry, no one who is sick is allowed into the shelter. It’s to protect the others inside and prevent further spread of the virus,” the man tried to reason.
    Other emergency workers were called over to usher the distraught woman and her sick son off the premises. I felt bad for them, but at the same time I was relieved they weren’t going to be sharing any enclosed space with us. Like me, I’m sure there were a few people who hid their wounds from the emergency staff. I knew I was okay, but would the others be? No one looked sick at the moment, but I knew that could all change in a heartbeat. All it took was one to start attacking others for it to spread around like the flu during flu season in an office.
    Great. Suddenly I didn’t feel so sure about going to the school.

Chapter 5
    We had found our way over to a corner with a few cots and claimed it as our own. As I slid my backpack off my shoulders – much to my back’s relief – I looked around the area we had been ushered to. The main gym had been full so they started putting people in this multipurpose lunch room, which is where we were currently located. The cheap fluorescent lights made everything appear clinical, and I wondered how long they expected us to stay in here for.
    All the families and groups of people mainly stayed to their own area, no one was in the mood to socialize. It was extremely loud in the cramped area with kids screaming all over the place. It reminded me of going to the mall on a weekend; I hated malls for that same reason.
    “We should have just stayed at the hotel,” I said as a screaming herd of kids ran by. “At least it would have been quiet.”
    “Yeah, but at least we have supplies and protection here,” Zoe pointed out.
    That was true, but being around this many people was nerve-wracking in the best of situations. I was never a people person.
    Darren raised an eyebrow at me. “You keep looking at people like that, you’re going to freak them out.”
    “So? I don’t want to be attacked in the middle of the night. Not that I will be able to sleep in this anyways.”
    “I’d be more worried about getting robbed,” Darren said.
    “Thanks, now I really won’t sleep,” I muttered.
    A table was set up that had an emergency worker handing out wrapped sandwiches to people. Darren and I went to get in the line before the crowd of people amassed over to it whilst Zoe stayed behind to watch our stuff and hold our claimed territory.
    We grabbed our sandwiches, taking an extra one for Zoe and headed back to our corner. I took a bite and chewed, grateful for some real food. We sat in silence as we ate, just looking around. Cots and people were everywhere; the space was extremely loud as a result. I had hoped that maybe we could sneak off into a classroom to escape the noise that would no doubt carry on throughout the night. Why did I always seem to make these types of decisions and end up instantly regretting them? Kind of explains the Art degree .
    I pulled out my smartphone and tried dialing my parents again. Screw the long distance charges. Once again no one picked up. I tried my brother’s number last, and an operator recording played through the ear piece letting me know that there was an unprecedented overload of their system and that calling services may not work. I hung up and stared at the screen, the goofy face of my little brother peering back at me. He always hated that contact picture, which is why I still had it.
    “No one answering?” Zoe asked.
    “No, and I got some weird operator overload message,” I frowned.
    Zoe pulled out her own phone and tried her parents as well, but it was just as fruitful as my attempt had been. She shook her head.
    “This is ridiculous. In an emergency they should be focusing on keeping the phone lines up as long as possible.”
    “Who’s they ?” I raised an eyebrow.
    “I don’t know, the