The Pandemic: Gifted vs. the Government

[Gifted]

"Me too." Roseanne wished she'd known the kid better. She wondered what he was like.

[Raven]

Adam spun in a circle. "Where did we come from?"

[Gifted]

"Um..." Roseanne looked around. "That... way... I think?" She pointed. "I'll know when we pass that gnarled tree stump from awhile back."

[Raven]

"Great." Adam started walking in the direction she'd indicated, holding her hand.

[Gifted]

They did not pass the gnarled tree stump. "Um... oh crap... I think we might be lost." Roseanne said fearfully.

[Raven]

"You don't say. We don't even know how far this goes this way," Adam said, looking around again.

[Gifted]

Roseanne looked around. "Alright, let's stay calm, no use getting anxious." She said with a smile. "It has to end somewhere, right? So let's try marking this way so we know we've been here before." By then her mind had quite cleared from the haze the heroin had left behind, and she felt like this was just another school puzzle. They could work it out if they put their heads together and stayed calm. Getting angry never helped anyone.

[Raven]

"What good would that do? We could wander around here forever if we don't go in a straight line," Adam said.

[Gifted]

"Because we know this isn't the right way, but if we got all turned around once it could happen again, couldn't it? So if we mark a tree and end up back at our mark we know to turn around. do you have a knife or something?"

[Raven]

"But we could spend forever, and get just twelve feet that way and never see this. If we keep going, then at least when we come out, we'll be able to ask for directions," Adam pointed out.

[Gifted]

"But we don't know how long until we come out if w keep going this way." Roseanne pointed out. "It might be days, and then your dad will think you ran off too."

[Raven]

"He still doesn't know Kenny's gone," Adam said. "And how do we know how long it will be if we wander around marking a circle of trees?"

[Gifted]

"Well we haven't walked too far. We go back to where we stopped and pick another direction. If we don't see the gnarled stump we mark another one and go back. It shouldn't take too too long."

[Raven]

Adam didn't look convinced, but he pulled out a pocket knife and began carving a circle around the tree trunk, so they could see it from any direction. He got two shallow cuts before he was finished, and narrowly avoided several others.

[Gifted]

Roseanne smiled and headed back the way they'd come until hey got back to where they'd started.