Contained (Jake Riley Fanfic)

Day 19: I Want You

Day 19:

Day 19 of Quarantine
Dear Hannah,
We had to wait a full day to make sure that no one was sick. Today is the day. I'm escaping with six other people-one of whom is pregnant-a child, and a newborn baby.... this will be pretty interesting. However, I'll get Quentin out and hopefully get to see you and everyone else.

"Iris." I looked up from my journal to see Jana walking towards me. "Get ready, we're leaving in five." I nodded and looked down at my journal.

Oh yeah! Remember the woman who took a photo of us at the baseball park the time when mom got angry at me for missing the home run? Well she's one of the six people. I also found out she used to date Jake! Only for a little while though. Well we're leaving now so wish us luck... see you on the other side.

Grabbing my bag, I stuffed my journal and pen into it and slung it over my shoulder. Time to go.

I held on to tightly to Quentin's hand as we turned another corner in the maze of tunnels. I was about to go into another section of the tunnel when I heard a blast that shook the tunnels. I shielded Quentin instantly and looked around. It sounded like a small bomb. "Sounded like outside the cordon, probably maintenance." Meese-the 'cop' leading us-stated.
"It sounded a lot closer than that." Jana said looking around. "I'm gonna speak with the rest of the group." Meese rolled his eyes but kept walking.
"Normally we'd weigh out risk verses reward. Everything is unknown, everything is risky."
"So let's risk down here instead of inside the cordon."Xander-the father of the baby-said.
"We can go back." I spoke out. I mean, everyone always has a choice.
"We'd like to go on, get our baby out." Teresa-the mother-said quietly, bouncing her baby.
"Then we go on." Jana said. With that, we went on through the dark tunnels.

A while later as we turned a corner, another blast went off. This time more powerful, sending dust everywhere. "What is that?!" Jana's best friend, Suzy, yelled out as she was on all fours trying to breathe steadily. Meese was about to say something but was cut off by the baby wailing.
"Is she alright?" Xander asked a little frantically as he checked his daughter.
I ignored them and focused on the cracking sound above us. I pointed my flashlight up and saw that the ceiling was indeed cracking. "We need to go!" I said before we all started walking faster.
Xander and Teresa turned a corner and a millisecond later, the far edge of the pipe above them fell down and brought up smoke and dust. Then rocks started crumbling down, separating the three of them from the rest of us.
Jana ran forward and found a space to look through. "Are you guys alright?!" She said frantically.
"We're fine. Just trapped." Xander's voice came from the other side.
"They're trying to cut us off from the outside. We'll circle around to try and meet up with you guys." Meese said.
"You guys go on! We'll be fine." Xander said disappearing from the space.
"What? No! We can't leave you guys!" I said shaking my head.
"It's okay, go. Your job is to get out. When you do get people to come in and save us." Teresa said. I love how brave she can be through all of this. "We're counting on you."
Jana and I shook our heads but Meese nodded and started walking. "Lets go!"
"Be safe getting back!" I shouted before grabbing Quentin's hand and walking away from the pile of rocks.

After walking for some time we reached another pile of rocks blocking our path. "Another one? How will we get through that!" Suzy said, frustration pouring out of her mouth.
"By this." Meese said as he opened a gate on the lower left wall, revealing a small squared hole.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing? We're paying you a lot of money for this." Jana said annoyed.
"I know what I'm doing. Look, I got a family I wanna get back to as well." After he said that, another blast went off and Suzy started screaming.
"What's going on Meese?" I asked frustrated as well.
"I don't know." He said looking around.
"Now you admit you don't know." Jana said even more annoyed.
"Iris" I felt a tug on my sleeve and glanced down at Quentin. "Are we going to be okay?" He asked scared.
"Yes. Don't worry, I am not going to let anything bad happen to you." I said reassuring him.

"It's been ten minutes since the last explosion." Suzy stated worryingly. I looked at Meese who just finished drawing a makeshift-map of the tunnels.
"We are here." He said pointing to one end. "And we need to get to here." He moved his finger to point to the opposite end. "We have to go this way since these parts are blocked off." He pointed to another part of the map.
"Are you gonna get us there safely?" Quentin asked.
"Yeah. Let's keep moving and don't stop." Meese said before ducking into another tunnel. I went in and then Quentin last. He was halfway in until another blast shook the tunnels again and his hat fell off. "Don't worry Quent, we're okay. C'mon." I said as I pulled him closer to me.

About twenty minutes later we made it into an open space. "Let me see if my contact is here." Meese said before rushing off down another tunnel.
A few minutes after standing around I saw a flashlight coming toward us, but it wasn't from the tunnel Meese went through.
"PEOPLE OF THE CORDON! DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER. For the health and safety of others, you are not permitted to leave the area." A stern voice said before I was able to warn the others.
"Lex?" Jana questioned as she took a few steps forward.
"Jana?" The officer questioned curiously. As she came into his view he lowered his gun.
"Lex?" A staticky female voice came through his wakie-talkie. "Come in, do you hear me?"
"...I can't believe it's you." Jana said breathlessly.
"I wanted to see you so bad!" Lex said. Jana started to walk forward but he took a few steps back.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry! We're not sick. We were quarantined before heading out." Jana said quickly, trying to persuade her boyfriend. "No one needs to know. We can hold up at your place until we figure it out." She pulled something out of her pocket and held it up. I was too far away to see what it was, plus the light we had was only from our flashlights. "We can be together!"
".....it's not that simpl-" Lex started to say.
"Why not!" Jana's voice raised and started to quiver.
"If I let you out, all of it... everything I've done will mean nothing. The sanctity of the cordon is what separates the city from its fo-"
"And the rest of us are left in here to die?" Jana cut him off again, this time she was angry.
"I know! This virus is unpredictable. One of you can be a carrier. This virus can mutate. If I let you out you could infect-"
"So you want us to go back?" I asked. To be honest I didn't even know what I wanted. I already missed Jake so much but the thought of finally seeing my family after two and a half weeks made me ecstatic.
"No. Hell no." Lex stated, his voice starting to quiver too.
"So what do you want Lex?....Lex what do you want?!" Jana shouted.
"What do you think I want. The only thing I've ever wanted.... to be with you." Lex stated. Everything went quiet then. And that's when I knew what I wanted. I wanted Jake.

When we got back into the cordon I felt my heart tug inside me. It took until now to know exactly want I wanted. Once we got out, Jana kissed Lex (who had decided to come inside with us).
I turned and took off running with Quentin. I ran and didn't stop until I was in front of Dr. Cannerts. "Hello Iris. What are you doing here?" He asked curious as to why I was still in the cordon.
"I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry. Do you know where Jake is?" I questioned quickly.
"I think on the rooftop." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before I took off again. I noticed that Quentin decided to stay with Cannerts.

I watched as Jake threw ashes into the air, and I watched as they dissolved into nothing. "JAKE RILEY!" I yelled from halfway across the rooftop. Jake turned around surprised and curious. I ran toward him until I was only a few feet away.
"Iris? What are you still doing here?!" Jake asked, his voice laced with shock.
"I thought I knew what I wanted, to get out, go home and see my family. To go back to a life where I would struggle everyday and have no fun. But I was wrong." I took a few steps toward him. "I don't want that. Jake Riley, I want you."
Jake was shocked to say the least. I just gave up freedom from a virus for him. I decided to break another few rules, but I knew we were safe.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. The kiss was sweet, passionate, and long awaited. When we broke Jake pushed my hair away from my face and cupped it.
"I love you, Iris Lithe."
"And I love you, Jake Riley."