Terry paused and considered what to do, should he admit to his sister on the other end of the line that he wasn’t one of her brothers’ coworkers but was her brother transformed into a mermaid. Then there was the news that all the cities tanker transports where outside the park. Each tanker could carry at most 120 newly turned mermaids, if seven of them where outside that meant that 840 new mermaids could be transported at once. That meant that this wasn’t just him and Jack who had transformed.
“Hello…” said Kasey “Are you there…can you please put my brother on the line.”
He took a breath, he had to rip off the band aid sooner or later and he needed information.
“Kasey…I…I got infected, this is Terry.” Said Terry just above a whisper as he waited.
“Terry?” inquired Kasey
“Yes…I am a mermaid now.” Answered Terry “I am in the employee shower room with Jack, he is a mermaid as well.”
“My God…” stated Kasey “You’re a mermaid?”
“Yes…I would have called but my phone can only be unlocked by my face and that has changed.” Stated Terry “What is happening out there?”
“Well, the police and a CDC are here on mass, they are keeping everyone either in the park or in the parking lot. It is almost like a riot out here.” explained Kesey “That is where we are now…Terry, we had just left the park when it went into lock down and now they are keeping us here while they set up a screening system.”
“Who is we?” inquired Terry
“Kasey have you gotten a hold of Terry?” inquired his mother’s voice over the phone.
“Yes…” said Kasey clearly unsure of what to do.
The sound of the phone being taken gave Terry only a moment before his mother’s voice came over the phone.
“Terry where are you?” inquired his mother "Are you alright?"
“I am in the park, mom got infected, I turned.” answered Terry as a couple of heart beats of silence followed by a scream and a commotion.
“MY BOY HAS BECOME A MERMAID IN THE PARK!!!” yelled his mother’s voice followed by a lot of commotion as more people began to scream and demand answers. Over the phone the sound of an air horn could be heard followed by a person on a load speaker.
“REMAIN CALM…REMAIN CALM.” Ordered the speaker “You will all be processed and those infected will be taken care of…remain calm.”
“Fuck…Dad calm mom down.” cursed Kasey as she picked up the phone from wherever his mother had dropped it. “We got police coming toward us now, fuck…fuck…fuck is that the army?”
“The army…my god that means a major outbreak if the army is here.” Stated Jack
Suddenly there where screams as the people yelled to get back and calls of infected filled the air.
“You all stay where you are.” Ordered a voice “You came into contact with an infected person you must get screened and isolated now. Turn around and head back toward the park.”
“Alright…we will remain calm.” Said Terry’s father voice.
“My brother is on the phone may I talk to him?” inquired Kasey
“No.” answered the cop “Turn the phone off and march.”
The line went dead.
“Fuck.” Stated Terry as he wondered what to do.