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Quarantine Blues

Chapter 3

By Vida J. MalonePublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Quarantine Blues
Photo by Ali Soltani on Unsplash

The meeting hall was almost empty when she walked in. There were a few chairs put out - each almost 1,5 meters apart all facing the small stage. She could see Jacqueline with the rest of the med students sitting in the first row. There were some foreign exchange students sitting as far apart from each other as they could. Some even had masks on. It seems that the rest of the students already left last night after the announcement, and the rest followed this morning. She didn’t blame them. Everyone, even she, feared the virus.

The stage, usually source of delightful entertainment, seemed terrifying. Instead of a small student band or a not-so-funny comedian, the stage was occupied by representatives of the student council. All equipped with masks. She could spot Tobias among them holding some papers, talking to Mrs. Harrington.

Their eyes met and Tobias nodded her to sit down. He then spoke to Mrs. Harrington who stepped in front of the microphone. “I guess we are all here now.”

“Thank you for gathering here on such short notice. If you have been watching any news you have already heard: the government has issued an order to close all student dorms in the country by tomorrow.”

“They can’t do that!” Screamed Adi, theater student from India. The commotion startled among the exchange students. They were all on their feet, feet screaming at Mrs. Harrington. They might have been screaming in English, maybe in their own languages, but it didn’t matter. Ellie wouldn’t be able to understand a word. Her brain went into overload of utter shock and panic. “What will she do?”

“Please! Silence! Please!” Mrs. Harrington tried to calm the exchange students down. “We understand. We understand. I understand.” She tried to regain the control. “NO ONE is getting kicked out the dorms.” The students finally sat down in their chairs.

Ellie noticed something interesting - all the med students sat silently in the front row trough all the commotion, even more; some seemed kind of annoyed by all of this. But she could have been just imagining all of this.

“No matter what the government says, we are NOT going to kick you in the streets.” Mrs. Harrington assured again. “We are already taking all the measures to assure you are all going to be taken care of.” She said calmly. “However, we are going to make some changes in our dorm rules. In accordance with the newly established ‘Pandemic clock’, you are expected to be in your dorm rooms after 9 pm. Common rooms are off limits, and cafeteria is closed till further notice. You are expected to wear masks inside dorms except in your own rooms of course. Common rooms must be disinfected three times a day. You all will be responsible for this, and Tobias will send out timetable who disinfects when, with detailed instructions on how to do it, and where the supplies will be stored…”

“You did consider some of us will be working.” Jacqueline raised her surely perfectly disinfected hand. “WE were going to be working in the first lines, fighting this pandemic…” She said almost like reciting previously written speech.

“Of course, of course.” Answered Mrs. Harrington, slightly annoyed. “We did consider that. All med students and all the working students are an exception; And all students involved in the disinfecting the dormitory will receive some financial compensation for their time. All the information will be in the email Tobias will sent out.” She took a deep breath trying to remember what she was saying before interrupted. “No outside people, friends, partners are allowed in the dormitories. You will have to provide your student ID every time you enter. The security guards will be extremely strict with this from now on.” She stood silent for a second, looked deeply at every single student in the hall. “And I expect from each and everyone of you to report if you are ever in contact with an infected person or show ANY signs of an infection. I ask of you to be responsible. Be responsible and protect yourself.”

With those words, Mrs. Harrington closed her speech.

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Thank you for your read.

This is the 3rd chapter of the novel I am currently working on.

You can read the 1st chapter here and the 2nd one here.

fantasy
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About the Creator

Vida J. Malone

A wannabe fiction author.

Right now, I am creating my first novel about living trough quarantine - Quarantine Blues. I will be publishing one chapter at a time. And maybe some other stuff if they pop up in my mind.

Hope you like it.

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