The Survivors (Book 1): Summer Read Free Page B

turned to look at me fully with that same strange expression.  "Sandy, I'm home today because they've quarantined the central business district."
    " What? "  
    I was just a kid, but even I knew what a big deal it was if they closed down the centre of Auckland City.  It was the biggest financial hub in the entire country, where more than 80,000 people lived and worked on any given day.  I could not believe my ears.
    " Well, a quarantine is when they—"
    " I know what a quarantine is, Dad."  I rolled my eyes.  I swear, sometimes Dad still thought I was five.  "I mean, why?"  
    " Oh."  There was a pregnant pause, and then he sighed deeply.  "The infection is here, sweetie.  They said on the news last night that there is someone being held at Auckland Hospital that tested positive for the disease."
    " Oh, shit."
    " Hey, language.  But— yes.  This morning my supervisor called me, and told me no one was to come into work today.  The next thing I knew, it was all over the news that the council had declared an emergency, and set up a quarantine zone around the hospital.  The authorities just extended the zone to cover the entire central city and the surrounding suburbs.  No one goes in – and no one leaves."
    My brow furrowed.  "No one leaves?  But doesn't that mean that the people stuck inside the zone are at risk of infection?"
    " Yes."  He grimaced and looked at me, and there was a flicker of something in his eyes that I barely recognised – fear.  "The authorities have been talking about it all day on the news.  They say the risk of exposure to anyone inside the zone is pretty much guaranteed, but if they let anyone out there's a risk to everyone else in Auckland – maybe even the entire country.  Anyone that’s inside that zone, stays in that zone."  
    " But what about my friends?"  I stared at my father wide-eyed.  "They all live in the city.  I haven’t heard from them since we left school.  When did they extend the quarantine?  Do you think they might be inside the zone?"
    Before Dad could answer, the front door opened; we both nearly jumped out of our skins.  Mum shuffled in, struggling to juggle a couple of very full grocery bags, with my eight-year-old sister, Skylar, whining for attention behind her.
    " Mum!" I squeaked in alarm and jumped up to go help her with the bags.  I snatched a couple from her hands before she could drop them, then almost did so myself.  "Whoa, these are heavy.  What have you been buying?  Rocks?"
    Mum looked up, and shot me an uncomfortable smile.  "Canned food and bottled water.  A lot of it."
    " Geez, is the apocalypse coming or something?"  I asked.  My parents exchanged a glance.
    " I was just about to tell her," Dad said, and then looked back at me.  "Sandy, they're going to lock down the whole city soon.  They haven't told the public yet, but you remember how your uncle Rick works for the council?  He saw the plans on someone's desk to extend the quarantine zone.  So you, me, Mum and Skylar, we're going to go for a bit of a road trip.  We’re going to get out of Auckland tonight, and try and get as far away as we possibly can.  We'll go to Palmerston North and visit Grandma, and see where it goes from there."
    I looked at him for a long time, and then I switched over to stare at Mum instead.  I could see in both their eyes that they were deadly serious, and that they were scared.  Really, really scared.  As much as I wanted to ask about my friends, the look in their eyes made me think better about pushing for an answer.
    Then I looked down at little Skylar, and saw that she wasn't oblivious to the mood in the room either.  She sensed the fear Mum and Dad were trying to hide, and clung anxiously to our mother’s hand.  With no other safe recourse but a healthy dose of sarcasm to try and lift everyone’s spirits, I looked over at Mum and quirked an eyebrow.
    " Uh, Mum?  If we’re leaving again in a few hours, then why did you bother