Hola! Here is chapter 16, and I'm thinking that it is perhaps - perhaps - the middle of the story. I have a bunch of ideas for the next few chapters, and school ends in 5 days, so I'm going to writing a lot soon. Please let me know what you think of the story so far, and anything you might want me to add in (character names, plot twists etc) and I will find a way to add them. Without further ado, please enjoy, I hope you have a good week, and beginning to summer break!

Chapter Sixteen

To China

Montreal Ski Resort

Montreal Quebec

January 10th

0700 hours

China. I had three days to pack, and Erica had to be well enough to go. I was currently pacing the length of her room, trying to calm my jitterish nerves.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I cried, splayling my arms.

"Because of this," Erica gave me a pointed look. "You wouldn't have let me order the tickets, and then we'd have bigger problems than this."

I groaned, and leaned into the doorframe.

"You do realise that you are sick right?"

"Oh, no I'm not," Erica smirked, and then hopped out of bed like she was refreshed and ready to run a marathon. I just gaped.

"You see Ben, everyone fell for it. I admit, I was sick that first night, and then a few nights after that, but I've been fine for a while now. It's a good cover, so don't tell anyone."

"You- I- wait, what?!"

Erica got back under the covers and fell limp on her pillows. I almost didn't believe that she was fine.

"I've been acting for over a week now. It's a good way to get information from people when they think you're not really listening. I heard from Paisley Maxwell that China is closing their borders to any newcomers, so I decided to look into it. Turns out, we only have a month to get there and back, or we're doomed. Anyways, I booked a flight then and there, and we're leaving, and that's that."

"And - And flight costs? How are we going to cover it?"

"Ben, you really haven't learnt anything about me have you?" I grimaced, and she raised her eyebrows, the edges of her mouth tugging up. "I'm no thief; I save the world, and in order to do that, some… rule bending must take place."

"Oh no. Erica don't tell me you -," She pulled a small green card out of her utility belt. "Swiped someone's credit card…" I finished, my voice trailing off.

"Yes, I did. Now out of my room, I need to pack my bags. And you should do the same," She waved her hand nonchalantly towards her door. I hesitated, but when Erica slid back into her Icequeen state and glared at me, I retreated immediately. As she had said, my room was in need of packing.

? ゚メᆪ?

"Ben? What on earth are you doing?"

Charlotte appeared in my bedroom door, finding me half submerged beneath my bed trying to dig out my belongings.

"Packing," I groaned, my fingertips digging into the white and red carpet to push myself out.

"Come again?" She said, surprise filling the crevices of her words.

"You heard me," I said, annoyance building up in my system.

"Oh, come on Ben. Why would you be packing?" I collapsed next to my bed as I pushed out from under the bed. She laughed lightly at my struggle.

I sat up, and looked at Charlotte, her light brown hair shining from the light on the ceiling. Then she strided over to me and ruffled my hair before going and looking out the window.

"You wouldn't happen to be going to China, would you?" She asked, not turning around.

"I- No, obviously not, why on earth would I go to China?!"

"You're a horrible liar. We can work on that."

"He's not lying," Someone in the doorway said. Erica. Charlotte and I both whipped around to face her, and she grinned at our surprise. "If he were lying, he'd be a lot worse at convincing you. Trust me."

I tried to shrink into nothing. I was no longer twelve and insignificant to Erica, but I was also younger than both of them. And it was sort of nerve wracking to have them both staring at me as I sat on my floor exhausted.

"I hate packing," Was all I said as I reached my hand under the bed again.

? ゚メᆪ?

That night, our cabin watched a movie and stayed up until 3 in the morning. We only had one two days until we left and went back to school, so we were all making the best of it. All minus two.

Erica and I sat on her bedroom floor, a huge piece of paper in front of us. Both of us held sharpies, and while Erica wrote out plans, I doodled on the corner furthest from her.

"You might be of some help with Jessica…" Erica pondered aloud.

"What do you expect me to do? She doesn't live in Wuhan, and for all we know, she might not even be in China."

"Ben, the virus might not have started in Wuhan, don't be pointing the blame at them. Plus, why would Jessica not be in China? Her father is for sure there."

"Unless Charlie is a small pawn in their game, and she's betraying us and-"

"Don't go down that path. I've already considered it, and I already am ready for if she is. Leave that part to me. What I need you to do is get Jessica to believe you about the virus. Tell her everything you know. And if she doesn't believe you…" She held up a needle that had been in a small pile of syringes beside her. "You show her."

"She probably already knows, considering it's spread across the world in less than a month, and she lives in China. Surely if she has friends they'll tell her."

"Her father could do anything to get her to ignore them, and convince her that the virus is a scam to corrupt everyone. He could tell her that the virus is a fake, and the government just wants everyone to believe it. He could make himself seem like a person who thinks the virus is a conspiracy."

I just nodded. I didn't know what to say. What if it was a conspiracy? Well it couldn't be; Erica had made herself sick by it. But what if? My brain swelled at all the possibilities.

"Anyways, she'll believe you. Now here are the plans. We are going to sneak into the president's manor, and send a notification out to all residents of China to close their borders, and go under immediate lock-dawn. Obviously, doctors are going to start making vaccines. Hopefully it won't take too long, because when CROATOAN figures that out, and they probably already have, they are going to make variants that come from a different country so that we have to pay attention to more than just China. The variants are deadly, and when they are dispatched, COVID will be that much easier to catch, so everyone will have to be that much more careful. But, since it'll be further into the pandemic, people will be less likely to follow the rules, and they will all catch the variants, and so we have to give out vaccines as soon as possible. I'm no doctor, but I understand the basics of the vaccine, considering I've already made one for myself and you. You'll be sick for a day, but you will be less likely to catch the virus if we come in contact with anyone who has it. Basically, when you drink this tea I made you, I put a drop of the virus in it, so when it gets into your stomach and then into your system, your body can build up a small immunization against it. It won't be like the real vaccine, but it somewhat works. Here." She handed me a small mug, steam rising from the dark mixture in it. I took it, but I didn't drink it. Instead, I took one sniff and told myself I was not going to taste it. Ever.

"I drank it. It's not poison, and I'm not forcing you to drink it, but you'll be safer. Trust me." Erica said, opening her sharpie and continuing to write in a steady handwriting that looked somewhat familiar to me. It wasn't Erica's handwriting.

"I'm not drinking it yet. It smells atrocious, and I don't think I'll be able to stomach it right before I go to sleep."

"Suit yourself. And then get out of my room, because I have stuff to do," Then she added, "Without you."

I quickly stood up, the mug still in my hand, and took my leave. I didn't want to go back to my room and sleep. I wanted to stay with someone and not worry about what I was about to do. So I pased in her doorway, and turned to face her. She was staring at me, so I stared back.

"You know they're always several steps ahead of us, right?" I said quietly.

"I know. And they will be this time too, so we'll just have to be the 'out of the blue' people in this situation. And I promise you, it will be fine, so wipe that fear off your face and go to sleep."

Taking a deep breath, I obeyed. And when I returned to my dark room, the only source of light being my window, I realised that this could very well be my last mission. I just prayed that Erica knew what she was doing.

Full on exhaustion hit me when I closed my door, but I didn't go to bed. Instead, I walked to the window, staring out at the ski hills in the distance, a feeling of missing this place depending on me.

You're being stupid, I told myself, rubbing my eyes. Erica's right, go to sleep.

So I did. I sank down onto my pillows, and stared at my hands until my eyelids felt like led, and I fell asleep.

? ゚メᆪ?

"Ben!" Somebody beside me cried, exasperated. I had the urge to grab my tennis racket and whack the person for interrupting my sleep, but I didn't. "I told you to pack, and the plane is leaving in an hour!"

Opened my eyes slowly to find that it was morning, and my room was trashed. I was suddenly wide awake.

"I swear I did! It was packed last night, I swear on my life!" I cried. Erica was standing in the middle of my room, her arms splayed.

"Then why on earth and beyond is your room a complete and utter disaster?!" She rubbed her palms into her eyes, as if it would make her see properly.

"I'm sorry," Was all I could muster.

"I'm sure you are. Now before anybody notices, clean this room and don't let me see it like this again!" She stormed out of the room, and the temperature dropped 10 degrees.

It was 7am, and the plane was leaving at 8. Just great. I pushed aside the thought of 'Who would have done this to my room?' And shoved all my belongings into my bags. I had finished putting all my clothes into my biggest bag when Erica returned.

"I'm helping you because you are slow," She told me, and then dropped to her knees, and started stacking the novals I had brought and finished. I had to admit that we had finished really quickly. Once all my bags were packed once again, Erica slid out my window and onto the wrap around porch. One at a time, I tossed down my bags, and she caught them and put them on a pile of her bags. Once my bags were out, I walked downstairs and put the front door.

"Good. We can leave now," Erica said when I joined her with our bags.

"How do you plan to do this?" I asked her, as we strapped our bags over our shoulders and to our wrists.

"Just follow me. It'll work."

We walked casually through the cottage area and then out into the snowmobile renting area. I gaped when Erica walked right up to the man at the counter. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she knocked the man out, and then jumped over the counter despite the several bags dragging her down. When she came back to me, she was on a snowmobile, and told me to grab one. So I did, and then we started off on the street. I thought we were going to the airport. But no; she led me to the first turnoff on the street, and there a helicopter sat, engine already going, in the parking lot.

"Get in, don't argue," She sat as she turned the key in the engine of her snowmobile and hopped off it. Then she walked up to the sliding doors of the copter. Next second, she was in and gone from sight. I scrambled after her.

It was furnished nicely inside. The black leather seats weren't cracked, and there was a table in the center that might come in handy later on in the trip. Erica dropped her bags in the back, and then got in the cockpit.

"To China?" She asked me, familiarizing herself with the steering and levers and buttons.

"To China," I replied, buckling myself into the back. Once again, I had a feeling someone was looking at me, but Erica was focused on her hands. I turned around, and our pile of bags moved. Someone was in the helicopter with us. But before I could warn Erica, the helicopter was in motion. We lurched back, and I was slammed in the back of the seat. Someone was definitely in the bags. Because suddenly, the face of a girl with long brown hair appeared, grinning at me.