FAGE… The 13th.
Title: Through the Glass Darkly
Written for: EternallyCullen
Written By: PurlySurly
Rating: T (for language)
Summary/Prompt used: Prompt: Isolation. Summary: Being separated from the ones you love is hard enough, but when you discover those you trust have been lying to you? Well, then you see the world in a whole different light. Edward and Bella find each other at the height of their loneliness and work together to get back to the sane world
If you would like to see all the stories that are a part of this exchange visit the facebook group: Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps, or add the C2 to get all the stories direct to your inbox.
This fucking virus.
Edward hadn't been out of his apartment building in fourteen weeks. That's right. Three and a half fucking months. Ninety-six fucking days.
Oh, limited quarantine started even before that. At first, they were able to run minimal errands. Then, officials determined that it came from a bioweapon and they were afraid of further attacks, so residents were confined to their homes. Fortunately, Edward's apartment building had its own fitness center so he could use that, but only on a tightly controlled schedule with state-of-the-art disinfecting protocols between visitors. He hadn't seen another living soul in person for weeks and the last time he did it was because his neighbor, old Mr. Banner, was confused about his assigned time to go to the fitness center. He and Edward found themselves in the hallway at the same time. It was such a foreign experience that they were each momentarily startled. They'd been told daily how important it was to avoid interpersonal contact of any sort. But, after the brief awkwardness, they smiled and greeted each other like they had in the past. A quick conversation cleared up Mr. Banner's confusion and he went back inside his apartment while Edward continued downstairs to spend an hour on the treadmill. They never got closer than 15 feet from one another. Bunch of fucking bullshit.
The news, running the same 60-minute program exactly three times each day, shared the latest on the government's response to the crisis. That's how Edward learned it was believed the weapon was intentionally unleashed in the community. No nation, group or individual had yet claimed responsibility and no viable theories on a motive had been shared. More B.S.
According to reports, the government's containment efforts had been surprisingly effective. Edward's community was apparently at the edge the attack, just within the radius of the most critical infections, which was believed to be less than twenty miles. It's called the Red Zone. There's a Yellow Zone of about eight miles surrounding the Red Zone. Residents there lived under far fewer restrictions. After that there was NML - No Man's Land - an area of about thirty miles wide circumventing the entire region. No one lived there and the Samaritans who aid the quarantined community passed through military check points before entering or exiting the Yellow Zone. NML was meant to ensure the virus didn't spread any further because beyond NML was the Green Zone. The place where people lived normal lives untouched by this swift and cruel illness that kills with impunity.
Food and necessities were delivered twice weekly to his door by the Samaritans who volunteered to enter the Red Zone wearing full hazmat suits with respirators. Per protocol, they would ring his doorbell and announce themselves. Edward would then knock on the inside of his door and reply that he was well. If he didn't answer, they would assume he needed medical attention and call for aid. After answering the Samaritan Edward must wait at least 15 minutes before opening the door to collect the items. This would give them time to conduct necessary sanitation of the hallway and remove themselves before Edward opened the door. It was designed to protect him from infectious materials that may have hitched a ride on them into the building and limited their exposure to potential carriers of the virus.
Communication was spotty. The cell towers had been inoperative for weeks. Edward had started to suspect that other communication was monitored, but now he was certain of it. He was allowed to send emails, on those occasions when electricity and internet were both working, and he could send actual letters through the Samaritans. When a letter arrived, it would be bagged and labelled that it had been sufficiently disinfected prior to being packed. His suspicions were confirmed with the most recent letter he received. It was from his sister, Alice, who lived on the East Coast and one entire paragraph had been blacked out. It was impossible to make out any of what was obscured. He had tried. Ultimately, he had to take context clues from the rest of the letter and what he knew of his sister.
She shared that her husband and kids were well. There were no known cases of the virus beyond the NML, but a vaccine had been developed that would be available to the entire population. It was supposed to have extraordinary rates of success against infection. She said they were excited to get the vaccine when it was their turn.
But Edward knew his sister, and that was a fucking lie. She was an anti-vaxxer through and through. Don't get him started – he loved her but that doesn't mean they agreed on everything. It's hard to believe they came from the same family with such different views. Fuck, their dad was a doctor and she's anti-vax? Made no sense to him.
But all of this begged the question, what did she write in the next paragraph that the censors had to remove?
He had guesses. Conjecture. But no real knowledge of what it was.
The letter arrived three weeks ago, and he hadn't heard from her since.
He sent her an appropriately bland email in response, making no direct acknowledgment of the censored letter, hoping to get an equally bland reply. There'd been nothing, though. Complete radio silence. And that's bullshit, too.
He got an email from his employer encouraging him to continue his academic research while in isolation and assuring him that his job awaited him when things returned to normal.
Then there was a letter from his parents that came right after he was restricted to the apartment. It didn't appear to be censored, but it was pretty standard. They were worried about his health and how he was faring in the trying circumstances. His Mom wondered if he had any friends he could keep in touch with (typical). Dad, ever the medical researcher, asked questions about what he had observed. He also provided helpful suggestions for homeopathic treatments in case he or anyone he knew became ill and lacked proper medicines. Edward had emailed a reply answering their questions and assuring them that he was well.
They had emailed him a few times since then, it was all conversational and showed appropriate concern for his well-being, offering assurances that things would soon be well. And that didn't seem exactly like his parents either. They were too nosy to be placated by such messages.
Edward had started to believe there were too many odd things going on. He had questions. So many questions. But there was no one to answer them. Sure, he could send letters to health officials through the Samaritans. Of course, none of the six letters he'd written had been answered.
He could also send emails to their office when internet was working. The first two he sent received standard 'we'll get back to you' replies. Surprise – they never did. The next five emails didn't get any reply. He'd sent fifteen emails since then – one every three days – and each time he received a message that the email bounced. He kept trying, though, because it was the only recourse he had.
He thought about confronting a Samaritan during a food delivery. He even opened the door as they entered the hallway one day. The Samaritan froze as soon as he saw him standing in the doorway.
"You're not allowed to be out of your dwelling while I deliver," the man said.
"I have questions and none of the health officials are replying to my inquiries!"
"I'm sorry but I don't know anything about that." The Samaritan glanced to the ceiling and Edward had followed his gaze. He was astonished to find that cameras had been installed in the hallway and one was currently pointed directly at him, the red-light blinking.
"You must retreat to your dwelling immediately or I will not be able to make your delivery," the man had said harshly.
"Okay, okay, I'm going in." Edward closed his apartment door and followed protocol, sitting out the prescribed waiting period before he could collect his delivery.
Two days later he was surprised to receive another delivery, two days ahead of schedule. It wasn't a full delivery, however. It had partial rations, less than half his usual, and a letter from the health department. It was a warning to Edward that he must follow the rules or risk losing delivery privileges. To make the point, they informed him that this would be his last delivery until ten days hence.
"What the fuck?" he had exploded. "Privileges? Privileges? You deny me any ability to take care of myself and you dare to call the delivery of life sustaining food a privilege? Fucking bastards!"
The message was clear though. While Edward usually received food every 3-4 days, he would have to make partial rations last a full ten days. The health department was not messing around.
Edward learned the lesson. He hadn't considered interfering with a Samaritan since then. He tried to keep busy within his home. He spent time cross-referencing academic texts as part of his research. He wrote letters and emails to family. When the internet was working, he scoured the web for more support of his research, but his searches only brought in limited results, probably due to further censoring, he thought cynically.
He experimented with different ways to prepare the meager groceries he was provided. He worked out religiously every day. Not because he was a fitness fanatic but because it was something to do. He also became intimately familiar with the sounds of his building. Mr. Banner listened to the news so loudly that Edward could hear it in his apartment. In fact, sometimes that was what he would do, turning off his own television and imagining that he was sitting in Mr. Banner's living room enjoying a beer and watching the news together.
That was why Edward was quick to notice when Mr. Banner stopped playing the news. Days passed without a sound from the apartment and Edward began to fear the worse. He wondered how in the world Mr. Banner could contract the virus given how completely isolated they were. But then, he realized there were lots of ailments outside of the virus that could afflict the elderly gentleman. He was sad, but not surprised, when he heard a team of people traipse down the hall one day and go into Mr. Banner's apartment. Edward went to his door and watched the activities through his peephole. The team was fully protected in hazmat suits, just like Samaritans. Mr. Banner's body was transported on a gurney, covered in a white sheet.
One of the medical team members stared at Edward's door as he went past. It was disconcerting.
As he went down to workout the next day, Edward inventoried what he knew of the building. There were fifteen apartments: one on the ground floor, four each on floors two through four, then just two on the fifth floor. He understood that the building manager who lived on the first floor, was killed when the bioweapon was first released. He knew that two of the apartments were currently unoccupied, including one on his floor. Another neighbor was out of the country when the attack took place, so now, with Mr. Banner gone, Edward was completely isolated on his floor.
He was confident his upstairs neighbor was still there as he could hear him moving around regularly. He had also heard noise from the apartment below him. Beyond that, he didn't know who was or wasn't still in the building.
As he'd said, it was fucking bullshit. If hardly anyone was still living in the building, why couldn't he freely roam about? If the other people in the building were healthy, as was he, why couldn't they visit one another? It's not like they could infect each other, none of them were sick!
And how long were they going to be stuck like this? If they were the only location in Washington state to be hit by the virus and the government was working to ensure that the virus was eradicated from the city, as the news claimed, how come they were not yet able to leave? Sure, it was a tedious process, going block by block to clear the contamination from every place it could be hiding. There were always progress reports and promises of one more month or two more weeks until it was safe to leave. But those seemed like empty promises.
Plus, if it was safe for the Samaritans to travel to and from the Red Zone, why couldn't healthy citizens exit the Zone the same way. That was the most important question he had asked the health officials in one of his unanswered emails.
Why wasn't anyone answering his questions? Why wasn't communication more reliable? If just their city was attacked, why couldn't they hear directly from other people about what was going on?
Then again, Edward had been alone and isolated for a long time. Maybe he was going crazy. Maybe these questions, which seemed so vitally important to him, really meant nothing to other people in the world. Sometimes it made his brain hurt trying to puzzle it all out. And that lead to a cycle. Each day he would become more convinced that something wasn't adding up, then he would convince himself that he was just stir crazy.
Then he met Bella.
The fact that they had lived in the same building for years but never met until they were trapped there just illustrated how isolating his life had been even before this madness happened.
He had finished his allotted time in the fitness center, initiating the automated sanitation process then locking the door before leaving. He always took the stairs up to his apartment, preferring the few minutes of extra exercise to standing in the elevator. He was between the first and second floors when he heard a door slam shut above him. It was close by, probably the third floor he guessed. It had been so long since he'd heard another person moving around that he was startled for a second and stopped in his tracks. Then the advice that was ingrained when this all began bubbled to the surface of his brain.
"Coming up," he called out as he had done a few times when they were allowed to move around more freely so many weeks ago.
"Oh shit," a woman remarked. "Sorry, I'm scheduled in the gym and just wanted a few extra minutes outside my apartment. I'll go back in so you can pass."
He picked up his pace, taking the stairs two at a time to get a little closer. He leaned over the railing and could just make out her figure as she reached for the door.
"Wait," he called out quietly, noting her shoulders go rigid. "I won't come any closer. I mean, I'm perfectly healthy, I promise, but I'll stay down here. I haven't seen or spoken to anyone in person in so long, can we chat for just a second?"
Though she held her position, she turned her head slightly so she was talking in his direction.
"It's really not a good idea," she replied, just as quietly.
"Are you ill?"
She huffed out a laugh. "No."
"Good. That's good. I'm Edward. I live up on four."
"My name's Bella."
"Have you heard anything from any neighbors?"
"No, but one of mine, Mrs. Cope, was removed by medical earlier this week. I'm pretty sure the other two places on my floor are empty but I don't know how or when that happened." There was a note of fear in her voice.
"Oh man, so you're alone on your floor?"
"Get real…we're all alone, Edward."
"Have you heard from any family outside the Zone?"
"Listen, Edward, I appreciate being able to talk with a real person, but I think we should wrap this up." She dropped her voice even lower and he struggled to hear. "Did you know they installed cameras? I don't think they have audio, but I'm not positive. They're dead serious about keeping us isolated from each other."
She pulled the door open and was about to walk through when Edward called out to her. "Bella, what apartment are you in?"
She paused and glanced back at him. "304," she replied.
His eyes lit up. "I'm directly above you in 404. If you need anything, just tap on the ceiling. We'll figure something out."
She gave him a small nod and slipped through the door.
The day Edward was informed via email that the building's fitness center was being closed was the first day he heard from Bella. It was in the form of a tapping coming up through his kitchen floor. He quickly grabbed his broom and tapped back. They did that for a few minutes, tapping out and repeating some short patterns before Bella stopped. It was a connection of sorts, but nowhere near satisfactory. He needed to figure out a better way to communicate.
He started investigating the heating and plumbing more closely than he'd ever had reason to before. Out of sheer desperation he pulled up the carpet in the corner of his spare bedroom and whooped for joy. He knew the building was older and was thrilled to find the subfloor was wooden. If it was okay with Bella, he could try to make a hole in the floor so they could actually talk.
The next morning, Edward was greeted by tapping on the kitchen floor. He tapped back, then took a few steps toward his spare room and tapped again. It took a few tries before Bella seemed to understand and she followed his tapping. The carpeted hallway was tricky, but he tapped along the baseboard and she caught on. As soon as he entered his spare room, he ran to the corner and started tapping on the uncovered floor. Bella tapped back and he smiled in excitement.
"Bella?" he yelled out. "Bella, can you hear me?"
"Edward?"
He could barely make out her muffled voice, but it was there. He kneeled on the floor and yelled directly into the wood. "Bella, I have an idea."
There was silence for a moment, but then he heard her voice more clearly than before.
"Edward, can you hear me? I'm on a chair so I'm closer to the ceiling."
"Yes. Yes, I can hear you! I have an idea."
"What's that?"
"My subfloor is wooden, and I have some tools up here. Would you mind if I tried to make a hole between our apartments?"
She didn't reply immediately.
"Bella? What do you think? I promise I'm healthy. When I saw you in the stairway that's the only time I've seen anyone in-person for weeks and weeks. Bella?"
"Yes! Yes, please try to do that, Edward."
Her voice was muffled, but if he had to guess, his idea may have made her a little emotional.
"Okay. I'll get to work. I'll let you know when I get through my floor."
"Okay. Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Edward jumped up and pulled his toolbox out of his storage closet. Bringing it back to the room, he dug to the bottom and pulled out a crowbar. Back in the corner of the room, he pulled up more of carpet, looking for a seam where he could wedge the crowbar and force loose a section of the floor. But the seams were tight, and he couldn't make any progress.
"Damn it!" he said, throwing the crowbar onto the bed. He went back to his closet and grabbed his drill, pawing through the toolbox for his largest drill bit. He drilled a hole through the flooring, then another adjacent to it, and another and another. Soon he had an opening big enough to see through.
"Bella!" He called out.
"Yes, I'm here."
"I've made a small hole in my floor. Do you know what your ceiling is made of?"
He heard her tapping on the ceiling. "I think it's just regular wallboard."
"Do you think you can make a hole in it? Maybe with a hammer?"
"Yes. I'll be right back."
A moment later, he heard Bella hammering against the ceiling and then she was coughing.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, just caught a mouthful of falling drywall."
He chuckled. "Can you see anything?"
"I can hear you much better, but there's insulation in the ceiling. I'm going to open this up more and pull some out of the way."
Bella made quick work of the task and soon Edward was able to see light coming from her room below him.
She glanced up at him with just his eyes visible through the tiny opening in his floor and chuckled. "Hi, neighbor," she said.
"Hi. Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not. I mean, I'm healthy, but not okay. My neighbor, Mrs. Cope, was removed by a medical team the other day, then I got the notice that the gym is closed. I feel like I'm going insane."
"I'm sorry about your neighbor. Do you know what happened?"
"The day before she was taken, she came to my apartment. We only talked through the door. She was desperate for a little food for her cat. I guess the Samaritan's stopped bringing her cat food a couple of weeks ago and her regular rations had been cut. I wished she told me sooner because I would have shared mine. Anyway, I told her I could give her some things. She went back to her place, I wrapped up the food and set it outside, then she came back to get it. We were never in contact. The next day Medical removed her. She was fine when we talked Edward. Fine! Something was wrong about it. Something about this whole thing isn't right!"
"I agree," he said. "Hey, is it okay with you if I make a bigger hole and maybe we can actually see each other."
"Absolutely!"
He used his drill to make the hole bigger, then Bella suggested making an opening large enough for him to drop into her apartment. She even had a small hack saw that she passed to him when his drilled opening was large enough. Once that happened, he was able to quickly saw out a large square big enough for him to pass through.
Bella offered to move the bed under the opening so he could jump down, but they quickly realized he would need to be able to climb back up. He fetched his small step ladder and handed it down to her. Bella pushed a dresser under the opening and positioned the step stool on top. After that it was easy for him to slide through the opening and climb into her place.
They stood and stared at one another for a moment. He was sweaty and covered in dust. She still had small ceiling particles in her hair.
Finally, she huffed out a laugh. "It's been so long since I've stood face-to-face with someone, I don't know what to do."
He smiled at her, then slowly reached out his hand offering a handshake. "Hi, neighbor. I'm Edward."
She stared at his hand before her gaze shot to his face. "I haven't…" she takes a deep breath. "Shit, it's been so long since I've actually touched another person… "
"Me, too," he said, his hand and gaze never wavering.
Slowly, she extended her hand and placed it softly against his. He waited for her to tentatively grasp it before he returned the gesture, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Phew," she said, as they released their grip. She sniffled a little and Edward found himself blinking furiously to ease the burn of threatening tears.
"I've been hoarding coffee, would you like some?" she offered.
"Yes," he answered with conviction.
They spent the rest of the day together, swapping bits of information and sharing about their families.
It became a routine. One day Edward would climb down into Bella's apartment and the next day she would climb up into his. Much of their time was spent trying to piece together the truth of what was happening since official information seemed highly limited. When the stress of that became too much, Edward would bring out some cards, or Bella would drop a board game on the table between them. They would also improvise exercise routines. Edward had some hand weights and Bella had some of those resistance bands and an exercise ball. Edward had to admit that Bella knew her stuff when it came to physical conditioning and, after just a couple of weeks, he felt he was in better shape than he had been in a long time.
"How many others do you think are still in the building?" Bella asked one day.
Edward sighed. "I have no idea. I think the guy upstairs is still there."
"There was a family who lived one floor down. They had two little kids. I think I hear them sometimes."
"Oh. I can't imagine going through this with two little kids."
"I know."
"Did you ever see anyone with the virus first-hand?" Edward asked after a moment. "I mean, shortly after this all started, I saw a guy collapse on the street. He was seizing right there on the sidewalk. I think the worst part was that, as soon as it was clear the guy hadn't just tripped or something, everyone ran away from him." He shook his head. "I mean, I get it, you're scared of catching it, but what happened to our humanity? I was in the park across the street and headed toward him. I don't know if I would have gotten close enough to help, but it just seemed that someone should be running toward the guy, you know? The emergency crew pulled up just as I was crossing the street and they put up a perimeter, so I have no idea what happened to him. That was the last day we were allowed outside."
"Wow. I never saw anyone get sick like that in person. The news coverage was bad enough. It was awful."
"Yeah, it was. Hey, have you tried to check email today?"
"Is there any point?" she asked.
"There's always hope. You should try," he encouraged.
"Okay." Bella opened her laptop and it powered on. "Here goes nothing," she muttered as she clicked the button to connect to the internet. "Huh, well that's something, internet's working."
"That's good. It's been about six days since I was able to get on. Check the news."
Bella clicked the news icon and the scanned the headlines. There was nothing new and no word on when their quarantine may end.
"Why don't you see if your dad emailed you?"
"Yeah – there's always hope, right?" she remarked as she navigated to her email. Much to her surprise, a chipper 'ding' sounds notifying her of mail. "Holy shit," she said. "I have mail. It's from my dad. I can't believe it!"
She clicked the message, scanning it quickly then going back to re-read it, her brow crinkled in confusion.
"What is it?" he asked.
"This is weird. He starts telling me that he and Sue are fine, he's hearing that work is progressing here in the city, blah, blah, blah but then it gets strange. He tells me he has to find someone to watch the dog."
"What's strange about that?"
"Well, he doesn't have a dog, for one. But it's actually an old joke between us. When I was growing up if he was working on an important case, but couldn't share the details, he would just tell me he had to get someone to watch the dog. It was ridiculous and turned into a running joke. I haven't thought about it in a long time."
"Huh. So, what do you think it means?"
"It always meant he was working on something important, but he couldn't tell me about it."
"Do you think he knows how closely we're being watched? That mail is monitored?"
Bella thought for a moment. "I can't think of any other reason why he would send me that sort of message. It would make sense. I just wish I knew more of what he was trying to tell me."
As much as they discussed it, they couldn't come up with anything that made sense and finally dropped the topic for the time being.
Two days later Edward was back in Bella's apartment. Nothing new had happened and they were getting frustrated by their inability to figure things out. At about 11 am Bella's doorbell rang, and they heard "Samaritan Delivery" called through the door.
They looked at each other in shock. "They're a day early," Bella said. In a world so regimented by routine, anything out of the ordinary was startling.
"You better go reply," Edward whispered.
"They'll be going to your floor next. You need to go," Bella urged as she rose and hurried to her door. He heard her knock and reply to the Samaritan as he climbed through the ceiling into his own apartment.
He was only there a few minutes before his doorbell rang. "Samaritan Delivery!" was called out.
He went to his door and knocked. He looked through the peephole as he replied "I'm well. Thank- "
His thanks got caught in his throat as the Samaritan on the other side of the door stared back at him through the peephole. Edward's gaze locked with the ice blue eyes on the other side of the door.
"Be well, Citizen," the Samaritan said before turning and walking away.
"Fuck," Edward whispered, dumbfounded. "Jasper." He wanted to throw open the door and run after his brother-in-law, but he knew he couldn't. If Jasper was free to communicate with him, he would have. If he was pretending to be a Samaritan who didn't know Edward, there had to be a good fucking reason and Edward wouldn't screw that up.
After the required time had lapsed, Edward threw open his door and grabbed the box from the floor. He was just putting it on the table when he heard Bella climbing up the ladder.
"Edward! Edward, I got a letter from my dad and it didn't go through the authorities. It wasn't bagged with a sanitation seal or anything!"
He looked up at her. "The Samaritan who delivered is my brother-in-law, Jasper. And he didn't want the assholes watching the cameras to realize we know each other. We have to figure out what's going on."
He turned away to start unpacking the box. Underneath the standard supplies, he too found a letter, unmarked, just like Bella's. He ripped it open.
They stood there, each reading their own letters. The letters were lengthy, including several pages of cramped handwriting.
"Holy shit," Bella murmured after reading the last page, then she turned back to the beginning to read it again.
"Fucking Fuckers!" Edward erupted at one point before he continued on. After they were done with their own letters, they swapped and read each other's. When they finished, they sat on Edward's sofa and stared at one another.
"I can't believe it," Bella said.
"I can," Edward replied through clenched teeth. "Fucking mother fuckers!"
Edward's letter was written primarily by Jasper with a few brief notes from Alice and his parents. Bella's letter was from her dad. The two families had met about five weeks ago when Charlie got increasingly concerned about lack of communication from Bella. He used his police resources to find out who else lived in Bella's building and then tracked down family members. Carlisle and Esme Cullen were equally concerned about their son, Edward. As far as Charlie could discover, only two other building tenants remained. There was Leah and Paul Lahote on the second floor with two young children, then an older man, Alistair Volturi in one of the penthouse apartments.
That information was helpful, but it was the next bit that was truly shocking. Their city had been the target of a biological attack, that was true. Pretty much everything after that was a lie. Jasper and Charlie had scoured hours of news footage. They believed that as many as 5,500 people died from the virus. They also believed that the virus had been released by their own government.
While Edward and Bella, and presumably others within the Red Zone, were being fed stories about potential hidden dirty bombs still in the city and slow progress in declaring spaces safe, the rest of the world was being told a different story. They heard that nearly 100% of residents within the Red Zone were infected to some degree. Supposedly the government was learning more every day about the virus that was not fatal to everyone. Though the feds spun stories about grotesque deformities and city residents not wanting their families to see their disfigured conditions.
"It never occurred to me that they were altering our messages to the outside," Bella said softly. "I thought the censoring was just one way."
"But it makes perfect sense that they would do it both ways. If either side realized what was really happening…well, here we are."
The letters had gone on to explain that, while the initial bio attack was a true story, Charlie believed it could have been a government job and they were now using the opportunity presented by the crisis to conduct experiments. He theorized that some were social experiments, such as researching how behavior changed after prolonged periods of isolation. But he also believed that they were conducting medical experiments. Perhaps the reports of 'newly discovered' bioweapons, sometimes 'accidentally' activated, were just more experiments.
When he finally met the Cullens, Carlisle confirmed that he, too, had similar suspicions. Going one step further, he had contacts within the pharmaceutical firm that was developing a vaccine for the virus. He had heard rumors that it wasn't really a vaccine but another more invasive experiment on unwilling participants.
When Charlie and the Cullens put all their theories together, they realized they needed to get Bella and Edward out as quickly as possible, then do all they could to blow the lid off this crazy scheme. Alice, a respected writer, was already making contacts with journalists she knew, working to get them interested in a story that could potentially bring down the government. But first, they had to help their loved ones escape.
Jasper was an electrical engineer who worked his way through college installing residential alarm systems. He spent the past month working his way into the Samaritan volunteer corps. Today was not his first day delivering to Edward's building. In his letter he explained that he had been in twice before, using the opportunity to find out how the building was monitored. He didn't contact Edward earlier because they wanted to make sure they had a viable plan. The plan was outlined in the letters.
Jasper assured them that the camera system would be disabled on Thursday night, three days from now. Edward and Bella were to find each other – their families didn't know how easy that would be! They were also to find Alistair and the Lahote family to ask them to join the escape.
Jasper was hiding enough hazmat suits for all of them in a laundry cart in the fitness room. He had brought a hand-held air-tester with him into the building and said they would be safe until they went outside. In fact, he hadn't noted any airborne dangers on their block, but that could change, literally, with the wind.
They were to put the suits on, then leave through the emergency exit going directly from the fitness room to the outside. Jasper said the alarm was already disconnected. Charlie had provided a hand-drawn map of the city showing the route he believed would be safest for them. Their greatest advantage would be traveling at night. Since all remaining citizens in the Red Zone were in complete lock down, there were no patrols to speak of. The challenge would be getting into and across the Yellow Zone and NML.
In his letter, Charlie promised that he would have men in place to help them along. But, they had to leave on Thursday night. The camera system would be repaired by the next day and the vaccine would be administered on Saturday. This would be their only chance.
"Those damn Mother Fuckers!" Edward yelled, picking up a mug from the end table and throwing it against the wall. Both he and Bella watched as it shattered, and a few drops of coffee slowly dripped down the wall.
"Okay," Bella said. "Okay, okay, okay." She started rocking as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Ah, shit, Bella. Don't cry," Edward said, coming to sit beside her and pat her knee.
"You get to throw shit, I get to cry!" she yelled back.
"Fair enough," he said, standing and opting to pace the length of the room.
After a few moments Bella sniffled and blew her nose in the tissue Edward handed her.
"Okay, so let's put all that aside for now and figure out how we're going to do this. Because we are going to get out of here and, whoever the bastards are who did this to all of us, we are going to make them pay!"
"Damn, right, we are," Edward agreed.
They reviewed the letters again and made sure they were crystal clear on the plans. They decided what would be best to wear under the hazmat suits and packed some snacks for the Yellow Zone when they were out of the suits. They also gathered all the cash they could find. When Bella suggested the cash, Edward had questioned her. Then she pointed out that you never know when a bribe might come in handy, and he gladly contributed all he had to the stash.
Once that was done, they had nothing to do but wait until Thursday night. They tried to think of ways to contact Alistair and the Lahotes in advance but didn't have any ideas that wouldn't get them caught on the cameras. They would just have to wait.
Those few days of waiting were worse than the entire month before. They did their best to keep their anxiety and nervous energy in check. They exercised and played card games. Bella opted to sleep on Edward's couch instead of going back to her own place. And those two nights he just crashed in the big chair across from her.
They checked their emails, hoping to be able to send some sort of coded message to their families, but the internet was never available.
Finally, Thursday came around. Bella took her grandmother's earrings that had been a special gift, wrapped them in tissue and put them in her pocket. Edward made sure he had his dad's pocket watch and those were the only items of value they'd decided to take with them.
The sun went down around 7pm. Jasper had said they must travel at night and that they would know when it was safe to leave their apartments. But that was a fucking vague instruction.
They had just dealt some cards when the power went out.
"Fucking great!" Edward said as he got up to find his flashlight. He'd barely taken a step when the lights came back on.
They looked at each other.
"Do you think?" Bella asked.
"It's never done that before. Whenever it's gone, it's been out for hours," Edward replied.
"I think you're right. Let's go."
They put on their shoes and hurried to Edward's door. He looked through the peephole, but the hallway was empty. Slowly, he opened the door and looked out. Glancing up at the camera in the corner, he saw that the red light was not on.
"We're clear, come on!"
As they had decided previously, they went together, first upstairs to find Alistair. Charlie was able to provide apartment numbers, so they went straight to apartment 502 and knocked.
Not surprisingly, there was no immediate answer. As they both knew, anything out of routine was suspicious. And they were very much out of the routine.
Edward knocked again.
Finally, a grumbly "Who's there?" came through the door. "Samaritan delivery isn't due till tomorrow and it's far too late anyway!"
"Mr. Volturi, I'm Edward Cullen and I live below you. I'm here with another of your neighbors, Bella Swan. We've been told by people from outside the Red Zone that things are not what they seem. The government is trying to run tests on us. We're leaving. Tonight. We have friends on the outside who will help us. Come with us. It's not safe here."
"Bah! That's nonsense! The government's been taking care of us. Just look at the food deliveries and medical crews if we need it. They don't do experiments on their own citizens. You're some crazy conspiracy idea nut jobs. Bye-bye, good luck, leave me alone."
"But Mr. Volturi," Bella called out. "We are not crazy. This is real. Please come with us!"
"No way, no how, lady."
"But – "
"I SAID SCRAM!"
"Come on, Bella, he's not going to leave," Edward said to her.
"But – "
"We can't keep wasting time."
She nodded but then called through the door. "Be well, Mr. Volturi. Don't take the vaccine, okay?"
"SCRAM!"
Bella shook her head as they went back to the stairs. "I hope the Lahotes have more open minds."
"We'll see," he said.
When they got to the second floor, Bella knocked on the door that was decorated with children's art. Again, there was a pause and Bella imagined she could almost feel the fear rolling out of the apartment. She knocked again.
"Yes?" a woman replied.
"Leah? Leah Lahote? My name is Bella Swan, I live upstairs."
"What are you doing?" came the hushed reply. "Don't you know they'll see you outside?"
"The cameras are off for now. I'm here with Edward Cullen who lives up on four. We're leaving here tonight. We have hazmat suits and friends who will help us. You can come with us. Please come with us."
To her surprise, the door creaked open. A woman peeked through the crack "You're leaving? Really? It's safe?"
"We can't make any promises," Edward replied. "But it's safer than it will be here on Saturday."
"Saturday? We're supposed to be vaccinated Saturday. They said we'd be able to leave 14 days after vaccination," Leah said.
"It's not a vaccination," Bella said.
"What?"
"They've been doing experiments – different sorts of experiments on people in different areas of the city. Our families got word to us earlier this week and made this plan for us to escape. But we must go right now. Will you come with us?" Bella asked urgently.
Leah chewed on her lip. "My kids, they're four and six – "
"We'll help," Edward said.
"What about your husband?" Bella asked.
"He snuck into the fitness room after they closed it," Leah replied bitterly. "The next day they came and took him. They said they needed to run tests to make sure he wasn't contaminated. He hasn't been back."
"Leah, come with us," Bella urged.
Leah nods. "Okay, yes, we'll come. What do we need?"
"Not much. Comfortable clothes and good shoes. Some snacks for the kids. If we're lucky, we'll be safe on the other side of NML before morning," Edward said.
"Give me just a few minutes," Leah replied.
She ushered Edward and Bella into her apartment where they waited inside the door for Leah to get her kids dressed with the promise of going on an adventure outside. Little Quill and Claire were cute and precocious, but well behaved.
They left Leah's apartment and made their way to the fitness room. Edward found the laundry basket and pulled out the hazmat suits, including the two child-sized ones. Bella helped Leah get them on the kids while Edward hid the extra one, meant for Alistair, back in the cart. It didn't take long for them to all be suited up, making faces at the kids so they became comfortable with the get-ups.
Stepping outside was surreal for all of them. The suits were strange, of course, but simply being outside the building was nearly overwhelming. They stood for a moment looking around at the few trees and empty park benches that were visible by the light of the rare unbroken streetlamp.
Then the moment passed, and Edward hurried everyone along the path that both he and Bella had memorized. They travelled several city blocks, sticking close to the buildings and crossing streets only in shadowed areas. They were less than a block away from the edge of the Zone when they heard a motor in the area. It took them a moment to recognize it as a car and they had to hurry down a dark ally to hide as it passed.
After waiting to make sure it was far away, they eased out of their hiding spot and continued on their way. They made it to the end of a block and looked across an empty four-lane highway. On the other side, just down the road bit, was a guard tower. A fence topped in razer wire ran out on either side of the tower and down the block as far as Edward could see.
"That's the checkpoint," he said. "You stay hidden. If this goes right, I'll signal you to come forward."
Bella swallowed and gave him a nervous smile. "It'll go perfectly."
He smiled back at her, winked at the kids and started a loping jog toward the checkpoint. When he was within sight, he started waving his arms to get the attention of the two guards.
The first guard moved toward Edward and raised his gun. Edward immediately stopped and raised his hands in the air. The guard started to question him but was stopped by a sudden blow to the head given by the other guard. The second guard disarmed the first and put him in a chokehold until he collapsed. As the second guard dragged the first back toward the checkpoint, Edward turned and waved for the others to join him.
Bella, Leah, and the kids ran to meet him. The guard motioned them into a small tent at the base of the check point.
"Okay, folks, strip out of the suits here, they aren't needed in the Yellow Zone. Here's some ID. Where's your sixth?"
"He refused to come," Edward replied.
"Okay then," the guard took the extra identification and lit it on fire, letting it burn in a small ashtray. "So, you'll need to hoof it a mile east. You have the map?"
"Yes," Edward says.
"Good. You'll see more activity in the Yellow, but folks shouldn't bother you, they're still pretty introverted in their behavior. You need to get to the NML checkpoint by 10pm. They have a shuttle that will take you to the Green, but if you miss it, you're SOL. Your ID is good for that shuttle and that shuttle only. Once you're in the Green, friendlies will be there to meet you."
He smiles at the kids who have wrestled out of their suits and hands them each a candy bar from his pack.
"Questions?"
"All we need at the next checkpoint is the identification? No more aggressive interaction like here?" Edward asked.
"Just the ID. As long as you're on time, you won't have any trouble."
"Okay."
"Thank you," Bella said.
The man looks at her and winks "You're welcome, Bella. Tell Charlie we're even." Bella's surprise was evident, but the man turned and walked out before she could reply.
"Let's go," Edward said, and they followed him out the far end of the tent. It took a few moments for them to get their bearings. The city had changed in the past several months and they were glad to have the map.
They walked through a couple of residential neighborhoods before the kids started to tire. Edward put Quill on his shoulders while Leah gave Claire a piggyback ride and Bella navigated the map.
A few cars passed them, but none even slowed down. "It really is different in the Yellow Zone," Leah said sarcastically.
"That's for sure," Bella replied. "Edward, how are we for time?"
He pulled out his father's pocket watch and read it. "We only have twenty-five minutes. Are we close?"
"I think just around the next corner. Let's pick up the pace."
The group sped up to cover the ground. They turned the corner and, as promised, the check point was there. It was more elaborate than the last one, like an old bus station.
They put the children down to walk, not wanting to make it obvious that they had been travelling a long distance. Leah placated their whines by giving them each some gum and they placidly walked along holding her hands.
There was a large ticket window in the wall of the checkpoint. Edward approached it. "We're here for the shuttle," he said calmly.
"Identification," the woman asked, bored.
Edward handed her all five cards. She glanced at them before turning them over and stamping the back of each.
"It leaves in ten minutes. Wait on the benches." She nodded toward the end of the building and the little group headed in that direction.
There were only eight other people waiting and Edward and Bella discreetly evaluated each of them, but none were familiar, and none seemed to pose a threat.
Leah sat on the bench, allowing her tired kids to lean against her.
The adults were too nervous to speak. Bella kept glancing at the clock on the wall as the minutes ticked by. At one point a police car raced by the checkpoint, siren blaring, and they all held their breath till it was gone.
A minute later an old Greyhound bus pulled up in front of the benches and the door opened. The other people waiting queued up and climbed on. Leah and the kids went on next followed by Bella and Edward.
There were hardly any people on the bus, and their group had some privacy in the back rows. Leah rocked Claire on her lap as Quill leaned against her and closed his eyes. Across the aisle Edward and Bella sat grinning like loons.
"Dial it back a notch, you two," Leah said softly. "Let's get there before you get all cocky."
They chuckled but agreed they weren't done yet.
The trip across NML, all thirty miles, took a while. They picked up passengers at two other checkpoints before heading across the NML and the road was in horrible shape, keeping their speed low. It was pushing midnight when the bus finally stopped at the Green Zone checkpoint.
Edward carried Quill and Bella picked up Claire so Leah could have a break as they exited the bus.
Upon entering the checkpoint, the guards asked for their identification. The guard who reviewed Bella's card seemed to read it twice. Then he showed it to his partner. Finally, they took it to their supervisor who read the card, looked at Bella, then disappeared through a door.
Bella smiled weakly at the remaining guard before turning her back on him and facing Edward.
"Fuck," she mouthed.
Edward leaned forward and pretended to kiss the side of her head while he whispered in her ear. "It's okay, keep your cool."
The supervisor returned from the back and called out, "Miss? Follow me please."
"What about the rest of my party?" Bella asked.
"They can wait over there," he said, pointing to a metal bench.
Edward gave Bella an encouraging smile, then she turned and followed the guard.
Once in the back, he led her to another door and she entered what appeared to be a police examination room, complete with what was likely a two-way mirror. The guard instructed her to sit and left her.
She was just starting to panic when the door opened again, and her father walked in.
"Dad!" She threw herself into his arms, hugging him as hard as she could.
"Bells, thank God your safe!"
"I am. I am safe. But what about Edward and Leah and the kids?"
"They're here, too?"
She nodded.
"Bunch of bumbling idiots," he mumbled. "You stay here. I'll be right back."
Charlie hurried out of the room and a few minutes later brought the whole group back to the room.
"I'm sorry you were left out there. Probably scared to death when they just grabbed Bella. But you're all safe now. Edward, we'll meet up with your family when we leave here. Mrs. Lahote, is there any family we can contact for you? I'd appreciate it if you could stay with us for a day or two while we figure out all that's happened, but then we'd be happy to transport you to family."
Leah's eyes welled with tears. "Yes. Can I call my mom and my sister?"
"Of course. We can do that now or in the morning, whenever you'd like."
"Now, please, if we can."
"Sure, you and the children follow me, and I'll take you to a phone."
As Charlie led them to the door, Leah turned to Bella and Edward. "I can't believe this; I can't believe we're out. Thank you."
"We're all out," Bella said. "You don't have to thank us."
Leah nodded and she and the kids followed Charlie out of the room.
Edward and Bella looked at each other. Grinning like loons once again.
"We need to find the best lawyers in the country," Edward said.
"Agreed," Bella said.
"And I'm never living in an apartment again."
"Agreed," she laughed.
"And I need a drink."
"AGREED!"
Edward got serious, then. "I'm glad I found you, Bella Swan. You saved me from an isolation that was driving me insane."
"You did the same for me, Edward."
They smiled at each other. Then, for the first time since meeting, Edward opened his arms wide and Bella walked into the best embrace either of them had ever experienced.
Author's Note: Thank you to MarieSCullen for the lovely banner. Very special thanks to CB for doing emergency last minute beta work. All errors are mine as I always tinker. This story is in no way intended to be a commentary on the current Covid-19 health crisis. Current events merely provided fertile ground for an overactive imagination. When it comes to you and your loved ones, make choices that will keep them healthy and well. Be well, Citizens!
