Viral Nation (Short Story): Broken Nation Read Online Free PDF

you.”
    I’m hit by a sharp stab of anger that is made worse by the frustration of being stuck in my chair. “I’m not ready to be passed off yet.”
    “I’m not passing you off,” he says. “Leanne, I’m not—”
    “Fine.”
    “This isn’t permanent. You know that, don’t you? When you’re better, when everything in Colorado is settled, I’ll come back for you.”
    I want to believe him. “I really might learn something at the school that will help.”
    “I bet you will.” Relief brings his voice down an octave. “We need you. You’re the brains of the operation.”
     
    • • •
     
    They call the school the Waverly-Stead Academy, and for some reason that cracks me up every time I think about it. It sounds so posh, when really it was just me and exactly ninety-nine other kids in an auditorium in an old brick building on the University of Nevada campus.
    Everyone sits in stadium chairs with little pull-out desks. Everyone but me, anyway. I sit in my wheelchair at a table in the back. Teachers filter in and out of the room. All of us are in some stage of grief. Some of us are still recovering from the Virus. No one would have let us go to school just a few months ago, but here we are.
    I am uncomfortable knowing that I am lucky compared to most of the others, who were taken from the foster homes. I have Alex and Maggie, and that is so much more than many of the others have that I don’t ever talk about them.
    We’ve been coming five days a week, from nine to three because human beings are creatures of habit, for two weeks. I have five days left with Alex and Maggie, and I have so far learned nothing at all that might be helpful to them once they leave. I can feel my resolve to stay slipping away. I could talk Alex into taking me, even though it would be dangerous for all of us.
    All we have done at school is take tests. Hours upon hours of tests. I have just about decided that no one really knows what they’re doing here. They don’t know what to teach us, so they’re not teaching us anything.
    “I’m not taking another test.”
    I twist in my seat to see who spoke. The movement causes my prosthetic leg to cut into my stump. I want to agree with the girl who spoke up, but before I can our math teacher says, “You don’t have to.”
    The mood in the stuffy classroom elevates like it’s been given a shot of helium.
    “You get your assignments today.” Mr. Porter holds up a hand when several students ask what assignments are all at the same time. “You’ve all done so well so far. Now that we know your strengths, you’ll be assigned to a course of study that will help you succeed in the work that will help your city and your country the most. After you’ve been given your assignment, you may go home. Rest up, kids, the real work starts Monday.”
    One by one, he calls each student to his desk and speaks to them privately. I’m aching to know what the assignments are, but each student is sent out of the room immediately and I can’t hear a word from my place in the back.
    It takes most of an hour for Porter to get through the entire student body of the Waverly-Stead Academy, until there is only me left. Me and my wheelchair and my fake leg that probably came off a dead person. I try to convince myself that maybe I’m not last because of my leg. Maybe he’s going alphabetically and Wood is at the end of his list.
    Either way, he’s going to tell me I can’t stay. There aren’t any assignments that want a girl with one leg. I have this weird mix of irritation and a kind of deep relief. He is about to take whether or not I go with Alex out of my hands.
    “The best for last.” He comes up the stairs and sits on the edge of my table. “You’ve been assigned to the Mariner track, Leanne.”
    “To the what?” I am aware that my confusion is showing on my face, because I can see that Porter is amused.
    “The Mariner track. It’s the most prestigious we have.”
    The only thing I can