Mute (Muted Trilogy Book 1) Read Free Page B

they’d been watching the night before.
    There is no indication of this being caused by disease. Scientists have, so far, been unable to detect any changes in genetics or in white blood cell count, or any other physical reason nobody can talk , typed the female anchor, Gina.
    Further tests are being conducted, but results may be slow in arriving , added her co-anchor, Rob.
    If no further information is released, expect the driving restrictions to be lifted Saturday morning and schools to resume on Monday.
    Ambulances are still running, and hospitals are doing their best to keep Emergency Rooms open , typed Rob.
    Nurses have reported that they are trying their best to keep Labor and Delivery staffed, but some employees are understandably shaken by the silent cries of the newborns.
    Animals, meanwhile, seem unaffected, and we go now to Mike, who is on site at the zoo, where things feel largely unchanged.
    Matthew picked up the board and wrote, They either type very well or it’s pre-typed and they’re pretending.
    Jemma nodded, and her mother changed the channel, flipping past other news stations and channels that were off air until she found a mindless sitcom, the sound of it making each of them jump. They watched one episode, then another, the raucous laugh track repeating itself. Jemma retrieved her phone during an advertisement for a singing game, curling back up on the couch to check the news once more.
    County officials confirm that schools will reopen after the weekend. Attendance will not be mandatory until the week after.
    Jemma passed the phone to her mother, who nodded and passed it to Matthew. Jemma took her phone back when he’d finished, then grabbed the whiteboard.
    Know how you’re going to do your famous lectures if you can’t talk, Mom? she wrote.
    Her father laughed soundlessly for a moment before his face fell. He smiled again a few seconds later, looking at his wife. Carolyn was opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, eyes darting back and forth as she thought. Matt reached for the whiteboard, and Jemma handed it to him.
    Write REALLY quickly? He smirked at his wife, who gave him a mock scowl. He erased the board and wrote again. No, never mind. There isn’t enough space on the chalkboard.
    Carolyn elbowed him, trying to laugh but stopping as he had just done, bringing her fingers to her throat. The mirth left Matt’s eyes, the jovial moment lost. He took Carolyn’s hand, staring into her eyes, and Jemma looked away, feeling as if she were intruding.
    The rest of the day passed, an unremarkable, uneventful day but for the fact that the whole world seemed to have changed. When they finally bored of television, they played a few more board games, then spent the time between lunch and dinner doing separate activities in the living room; Jemma read her book, Jill texted on her phone, Carolyn put together a puzzle, and Matt read yesterday’s newspaper.
    Dinner was quiet, tense. Jemma had cooked hot dogs, and Carolyn requested the “girls” stay off their phones during the meal. With just the one dry erase board, though, conversation started slow and then petered out altogether.
    At day’s end, everyone retreated to individual rooms, Jemma taking her old room, ignoring the clutter of hastily-stored items. She lay in bed, breathing in deliberately and then letting the air rush out of her, taking the stress of the day with it.
    She couldn’t decide whether she’d rather be home by herself or here with her family. They helped in their ways, their presence reassuring, less overwhelming without the constant chatter. Their anxiety rubbed off on her, though, made it more difficult to pretend that nothing was wrong. If she’d been home with her phone off, would she even have realized anything had happened?
    She would head back to her own house after the driving ban was lifted, but in the meantime, she wondered, how much could she help her family cope without getting overwhelmed herself? How long would