Afflicted

"You don't trust me do you?" Lacey demanded.

"Of course I do," I replied.

"Then why are you checking the water?"

I paused by the shower guiltily then tried to turn it on anyway. A tiny amount of water dribbled out, followed by nothing.

"Of course I trust you Lace, but you live four blocks away. My water might have been fine." I shut the shower off and headed back to my bedroom. I could hear Reese snoring in his room as I passed his door.

"It's not localised," Lacey said and I could hear the eye roll in her tone. "That's what I was trying to tell you. There's some issue with the treatment plant and they're concerned about something getting into the supply-"

"They think terrorists spiked the water supply?" I asked, a chill running down my spine. I kicked my bedroom door closed behind me and sat in my windowsill.

"Officially they're just saying 'there's a possible contamination issue and checks need to be made on the supply before it can be switched back on'. Blah, blah, blah, it's totally an attack."

"I dunno, Dad said that the Monitor alerts were down recently. If they've gone after the water supply that would take a huge amount of organisation and-"

"The Monitor isn't always right. The Anti-Pop are everywhere. The government can't possibly keep an eye on everyone," Lacey insisted.

"The attacks practically stopped once the Monitor was set up. You can't fool those computers," I reasoned. The Monitor had come online around five years ago. It was an advanced screening system which scanned the internet, phone lines and even used lip reading technology on CCTV feeds to root out the terrorists and other criminals. Thousands of arrests had been made within weeks of it coming online and crime rates had plummeted. Everyone had to agree that it worked, even if it had effectively meant the end to privacy as we knew it.

"The Monitor is great," Lacey agreed. "But it can't be everywhere, and they've had years to work out ways around it."

"Maybe." I didn't want to dwell on what the terrorists might be up to these days. I hated the dark cloud that they had created over our lives. No one could ever feel truly safe anymore. "So what are we supposed to do about water then?"

"They're giving out bottled water at the park while they work on the supply. Mom wants me to go and get some, wanna meet me there? We could hang out in the sun for a bit, it's meant to be a nice day."

"Sure, I'll just get changed."

"Twenty minutes any good?"

"Perfect. See you then." I hung up and headed back to my wardrobe, shedding my pants and shirt in favour of a red summer dress. If it was going to be nice out, I wanted to make the most of it.

I headed back out and Reese's snoring made me pause. He didn't know that school had been cancelled. I hammered on his door with a smirk on my face.

"Mmgenup," he slurred sleepily.

"You're gunna be late!" I called as I moved towards the stairs.

"Ah shit, why didn't anyone call me?" Reese shouted angrily.

"I just did!" I suppressed a laugh as I hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

I jogged to the end of our drive and ducked behind a bush as I waited for him. I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud as I heard the front door slam behind me.

Reese appeared a moment later, sprinting past my hiding place with his shirt half hanging off as he jammed his arms through it.

Once I was sure he was gone, I let out a laugh and stepped out of the bushes as I wiped my eyes. I just wished I could see the look on his face when he got to school and realised I'd tricked him.

"What's so funny Katy?"

I spun and almost fell over as I spotted Lincoln sitting on his mom's porch. I glanced back towards the road where his truck had been parked the night before but it wasn't there.

"I thought you'd gone?" I blurted out nervously.

"Been spying on me? I thought you might be a bit big for peeking through the bushes now." He gave me a slow smile and I felt myself blushing.

"I... no... your truck's gone-"