Little Time Left

Alex begged me to let him go out. He said he desperately needed to get out of the house, that he needed air. I didn’t blame him. Our house was always abnormally hot, but I told him no.

“It’s a pandemic, Alex,” I reminded him. “Don’t you understand what that means? It’s contagious.”

“You don’t even know if I’m immune or how severe it is!” he complained.

“Neither do you!” I shot back. “Alex, listen,” I put my hands on his shoulders. “I don’t want you to get it. We don’t know anything about it; whether it’s a virus or if you can catch it, or even how the hell it came to be. I just don’t want you to get it.”

He sighed dramatically. “But Jack,” he whined. “I’ll be careful! I won’t touch anything or go near people. I just need to get out of my head for a bit. Please?” He jutted his bottom lip out in a silent plea.

I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. Should I let him go out for a bit and possibly contract this virus or disease (whatever the hell it is), or force him to stay in safety with me? Alex might be mad for a while, but at least he’ll be safe…

I only wish I had made him stay.

“Fine.” I exhaled.

He smiled. “Really?”

I nodded a bit, saying “Please be careful though, Lex. Only be like, 15 minutes.”

Throwing his arms around my neck, he said “I will. Don’t worry, Jacky.” He pulled away enough to peck my cheek and then he let go entirely, practically running to the front door. “I’ll be back in a few,” he said, tugging on his jacket and shoes. “Love you.”

Thirty minutes later and I was 10 seconds away from a panic attack. “Fucking Alex…” I grumbled, dialing his phone again. No answer. I flung the phone down on the couch in defeat. Where the hell was he?

I decided that it was getting too worrisome to wait for Alex, so I was left with no choice but to go out and look for him. I yanked my jacket and a surgical mask on. Just before I was going to leave the house, the lock clicked and turned. I pulled open the door and saw a worn out Alex standing there.

“Alex!” I pulled him into the house and shut the door behind him. “Christ, Alex! What happened?” I exclaimed when I got a good look at his face. There was dirt caked onto his entire right side of his body, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. He was also clutching the door handle to lean on a bit. His knuckles were white with the force he was gripping the handle.

“I… I was…” He was panting hard, as if he had just tried to chase a dog around the block to no avail.

“Were you jumped?” I asked cautiously. His gaze dropped to the floor. “Alex. Were you jumped?”

With a bite of his lip, he nodded swiftly. “I-I ran away, Jack. I made sure not to lead them here.” He tried to grab my hand but I instinctively pulled away. I saw hurt flash on his face. Being jumped often resulted in someone bleeding. Bleeding resulted in transmission of the virus. If any of the people who jumped him were infected…

“Just… Go upstairs, baby… Go clean up. I’ll get you something to eat.” I told him. He nodded shakily and took off his shoes before running upstairs. I heard a door slam and then muffled sobbing. He knew it as well as I did.

That was the day that Alex became infected.