Chapter Text
Piper hated her roommate. She knew that it was only a week into the first semester, but everything about Annabeth drove her crazy, from the way she kept her room spotless to her pretentious attitude that kept Piper feeling small and stupid. She huffed, staring at the chipped ceiling above her bed as Annabeth once again bounced out of the room with some friends to attend a club meeting. Piper waited until the door latched behind her before turning off her headphones and letting the sounds of soft rock fill the room. It was comforting for her to be alone, considering her dad never really had much time for her anyways. She had always felt pretty lonely even when other people were around because of her dad’s career, but here there’s no longer an excuse as very few people connect her last name to anything more than her room number. Unfortunately, this fresh start wasn’t going as well as she hoped. As she was finding out, it wasn’t her dad’s movies that made it difficult for her to make friends. The few attempts made at finding camaraderie in her classes were awkward and stumbling that ended with no real bond or connection being made and also resulted in her essentially giving up on the whole process.
As she laid on the bed letting her thoughts consume her, her phone pinged with the sound specific to her favorite news app. The notification was set to go off when a new public health article is published. As she opened her phone, another notification popped up that read “BREAKING NEWS: H4N3 Virus explosion in the United States”. As a public health major, Piper was well aware of the consequences of a large outbreak like this, especially when there had been no research done on the virus. The article described the virus, the symptoms, and the method of transmission, and didn’t mention anything about the location of the outbreak until the very bottom where it read “The first outbreak has been confirmed in Boston, Massachusetts”. Her heart dropped, the Boston University banner staring at her from above Annabeth’s desk.
“Fuck.” She whispered to herself.
Before she had realized it, she had gone down a rabbit hole of articles on H4N3 and pandemic preparation and had gone through her room to make sure she had enough food and water to survive a quarantine. By the time Annabeth had returned, Piper had cleared her side of the room and organized her supplies in an easy to access way.
“Whoa. What the hell happened in here?” Annabeth quipped. “Is the world ending?”
“Well, there has been an H4N3 outbreak in Boston and I’m preparing for the oncoming quarantine that we are basically guaranteed to have, but thanks for asking.” Piper answered smugly. “Hopefully you’ll be prepared.”
“I doubt it will even get that bad.” She rolled her eyes. “Are all public health majors like this because count me out.”
Piper ignored the comment and turned back to her computer. It was estimated that a quarantine would begin within the next couple of days, leaving her a very short time frame to finish stocking her supplies. Even if her roommate did think she was nuts, it was a gut feeling that she just couldn’t shake.