The Seventh Day Read Online Free PDF Page A

dinner here.” I plate their food and eat mine from the pizza pan. The hot
cheese burns my mouth, but I can’t stop from wolfing it back. All the labor and
stress has made me hungry.
    I watch the TV from my spot, hovering over
the pizza. The girls take theirs and sit on the huge shag rug in front of the
TV. Joey turns the volume up and each of us is locked on the screen as a woman
with glassy eyes and a lost look shakes her head, holding a microphone. “The
last transmission we got out of Europe was a massive distress call from Scotland.
A fog had been covering areas as far as we can tell, making it hard to send and
receive transmissions. The virus, being labeled a rage flu, has been coursing through cities for as long as a week. Reports were
hushed as it was assumed to be viral terrorism at first. Now, as it has spread
worldwide, we are assuming it is just not the case. We don't know where the
first case of the rabies-like virus was found. Some are saying the Middle East.
The CDC is no longer making statements or taking calls. They are standing by
the final statement that came from them just ten hours ago. The recommendation
is still to stay home, isolate your sick or wounded, and ride it out. Do not
leave your homes. The hospitals have closed their doors and the clinics are all
shut down. We have reports of mass hysteria in all of the major cities where
martial law is now being enforced. If you are in a city, leave. That is the
recommendation from the military. People are being permitted to leave during
daylight hours only, after they pass through a designated checkpoint. The
symptoms of the flu are instant onset. The footage we have seen shows a person
contracts the virus within moments of contact with a sick person. The president
is scheduled to have a press conference in one hour’s time. Please stay tuned for
that. We will have safety tips and advice streaming live over the next hour as
we wait for his speech.” She smiles, but I can see she is close to tears. “God
bless you all.” The broadcast changes and it’s a streaming list of all the
things sitting in my kitchen.
    Julia looks at me and then to the items on
the floor; each one is on the list of things on the TV screen. “Did you know?”
    I shake my head. “No. Dad texted me a list
after we saw the man at the school.”
    We stare at the list as it changes to other
advice: stay home, fill tubs with water, fill all pots and pans, water is essential , water is life .
I remember this from cadets and Girl Scouts.
    Water. It is the thing that keeps everyone
alive.
    The door to the garage opens, startling us
all as Mom walks in. She looks funny, distant again. I almost roll my eyes at
her dramatics but this time they’re warranted. We are actually in a moment
where being dramatic is completely called for.
    She climbs the stairs, not saying a word to
any of us. I hurry to the garage, closing the door she’s left open like an
idiot. The neighborhood is still but the sound of banging is in every corner of
the street. People are doing what we have already done. I press the button for
the garage door, still noticing the scent of bleach in the air. I close the
lock on the garage door so it can’t be opened manually and lock the adjoining door
to the house when I go back inside.
    I grab two pieces of pizza and walk to the
stairs, contemplating not taking them upstairs, but I know she hasn't eaten and
she tends to get meaner without food. When I get to her room, she is curled up
on her bed, sleeping. I’m pretty sure she took something, since she only came inside
five minutes before and is already out like a light. I wish I could just take
something and sleep through all of this.
    But one of us has to be responsible for the
kids.
    Clearly, she has no intention of being that
person.
    I leave the pizza on the bedside table and
sit in the corner, watching her sleep like she is dead. She doesn't move or
even inhale loudly. The sun is setting outside, but from her