Hot Zone by Sandy Holden

idea. “It’s like a field around you. And yours is strong, Tucker. And it’s still arriving.”
    Tucker said, “I don’t understand.”
    “I can see it, you know? You’ve had it ever since I first woke up and saw you. I was scared at first because it’s strong, and I wondered if you were trustworthy. I think now you are. It seems calm, somehow.”
    Meri said, “What does it look like?”
    “It’s like, sort of like light, only it comes from inside of him. I thought at first when I saw them that they were all over you, like parasites, but I see them brighten when you think of something or are upset. No, they’re you, but more you than before.”
    Tucker surprised me by accepting this bizarre idea immediately or pretending to. “Are you sure we didn’t always have these? That you just couldn’t see them before?”
    Phil smiled. “It’s possible, but Meri didn’t have one until she got sick, and now she is becoming bluer.”
    Meri said, “Bluer? Like more blue? Is that good or bad?”
    “Uh, not to upset you or anything, Phil, but I’m not sure you aren’t just seeing things,” I said suddenly, unable to stand this acceptance of such a ridiculous idea.
    Phil said, “Anything is possible.” She wasn’t upset; in fact, she was smiling at me like a parent of a child who insists that Santa is real.
    Tucker cleared his throat. “That brings us back to guessing what will happen next. I think people are going to try to leave this area. I wonder if we should try to leave.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    “I wonder if the problem is just here. I know some of the people who came here got sick, but have you heard anything about sick people showing up elsewhere? Surely some people have left the area, but I haven’t heard a thing about a sick person turning up anywhere else.”
    Meri said, “Oh, I think there were some sick people in California, but they weren’t even sure it was the same thing.”
    I said, “And don’t you think the mighty federales ,” I lowered my voice to a gruff tone to bring my Mexican bandito impression home, “will be looking for people to try to leave?” My voice returned to normal. “If they thought illegal immigration was a problem, try fencing off the entire Upper Midwest.”
    Tucker nodded. “Yeah, we could get out, if we wanted. What do you think, ladies? Should we go?”
    Phil said immediately, “No. I need to be here. I don’t know why,” she said, looking at me, “but I think it’s a good idea. It feels better to stay here.” She laughed. “And suddenly, I’m finding myself a big believer in intuition.” Again she looked at me. “What do you think, Madde?”
    “I think,” I hesitated. “I wouldn’t know where else to go. I still want to find Mom and Dad. If we left, we wouldn’t have any money, and we would be illegally leaving a quarantine area. I could be wrong, but they seem pretty serious about keeping us here.” Tucker nodded in agreement. Maybe I said this next part to soften my skepticism of Phil’s earlier statements. “And I must say I agree with Phil. It feels wrong to go.” Of course, maybe it really did feel wrong. It was so hard to tell with feelings—that is why I distrusted the whole intuition thing.
    Meri said, “I think that I’ll wait a little and see how things shake out, but a part of me would like to go visit my Aunt Missy in Denver, or Mom and Dad in California.” She shrugged, a little apologetically. “I want to find Cal,” she admitted.
    No one had anything to say to that. Meri continued, “But he’d kill me if I got shot trying to run through a quarantine.” She grinned at her own illogic. “So I’m going to wait and see first how serious they are. He’s the hero in the family, not me. I have strong roots in my coward position.”
    We laughed, and that broke the tension somewhat. “Okay,” Tucker said, “I’ll try to get some bottled water and other stuff as I look for our errant family. I think that lady from Iowa