BLUNT. | Liam Dunbar

I Don't Know Her - Chapter Twenty-Five

L I A M

Annie ran up to the boarded off area around the school. The whole thing seemed like something out of a scary movie. There was plastic draped around the school, people in hazmat suits, and little tarp tents all over the school lawn. Annie stood on her tippy-toes, trying to look over the people in front of her, but eventually she gave up.

She grabbed my hand as she pulled me through the crowd, and she walked past the barrier, getting stopped by a cop. "I'm sorry, ma'am, you're going to have to back up. You too, sir."

I went to pull Annie back but she stood still on her feet, looking around the cop's shoulders.

"Ma'am," he insisted again.

Annie perked up, waving her hands. "Sheriff! Sheriff!"

"Hey," Sheriff called out, looking at us, "I know this girl, let her in!"

Annie exhaled as the cop let us pass, and she ran over to the Sheriff. "Has anyone gotten in yet?"

Sheriff sighed, "We're working on it."

Annie shook her head, "We need to work faster."

"Sheriff," a deputy called. Sheriff sighed before walking over to him, beginning to discuss something.

Annie inhaled, looking around us, and then started to run in place. I looked at her confused as she switched to jumping jacks. I raised my eyebrows at her, "What are you doing?"

Annie inhaled, "The one thing I could never get over was that these people were constantly over-cautious. If someone sneezes, they make them do an entire routine check up. For this, though, I need to be on the inside... in quarantine, but I can't do that without a fever."

I shook my head, watching as her face turned a vibrant pink and sweat beaded her forehead. Annie finally stopped, putting her hands on her hips, and taking a breath in. "Next up," she turned to me, "is the nose bleed."

I shook my head, "What?"

"Listen," she grabbed my hand, and put my two index fingers on the crook of her nose, "just press... hard."

"Annie, I'm not breaking your nose just for you to get inside there." I shook my head, taking my hands down.

She quickly grabbed them and placed them on her nose again, "You're not breaking it. There's a pressure point behind the cartilage, okay? When applying too much pressure, it may cause nose bleeds." she looked up at me, "So press."

I inhaled before I put pressure into my index finger and thumb, and held my breath as a drop of blood trickled from Annie's nose. She looked up at me smiling, and then brought her hand to her nose.

"Are you ready?" she gulped.

I raised my eyebrows at her, "Are you?"

Annie smiled, and touched my hand one last time, before falling to the ground. I looked around, "Hey, help! Help!"

A doctor in a hazmat suit ran over, crouching by Annie. "What happened?" he shined a light in Annie's eyes.

I shook my head, "I don't know, I don't know her. I just saw her fall."

The doctor stuck something into Annie's ear, and then grabbed her radio. "We have a code 11 on the west perimeter. Please check all outlet breaches and procedures... I think we may have someone infected out here."

I watched as more men and women in hazmat suits ran towards Annie, and then lifted her onto a stretcher, rushing her into the school. Sheriff ran over to me, confused.

"What the hell did she just do?" Sheriff he asked me harshly.

I sighed, "She just found herself a way inside the school."