Every now and then, Brant realized it was worth going back home. This was not one of those times. After having been to Ireland, Brant just really wanted to hang out with the rest of the Fools but he supposed it would be a good thing to see his family too... at least for a little while. At least he would not be completely isolated from the Fools. He still had his best friend and fellow Fool, Steven, or Angel Hair, to talk to since they lived only two blocks away from each other; as they had since 7th grade.
While he was there he was visiting all the relatives he had missed for the intervening year. He was talking to his grandmother when he got a call from his mother.
"Hey, Mom, what's up?” Brant asked.
"Not much, bud, Steven called and he sounded kinda worried. Said something about Plan Zed, or something."
If the reader had been looking at Brant, at this point, then they would have noticed only a slight twitch in his eyes upon hearing this. He was sorta proud of this upon retrospect, really.
"Plan Zed? No, I don't know what he's talking about but I'll go talk to him about it." Brant replied trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.
"Okay, well just thought I'd tell you. He seemed pretty shook up, whatever it is." His Mom went on, apparently not noticing.
After hanging up with his mother, Brant said his goodbyes to his grandparents and quickly drove to Steven's house. Brant pulled his trusty red '93 Chevy Cavalier up beneath the crab apple tree in front of Steven's house. Steven was waiting out front of his house, expectantly, when Brant pulled up. Steven's house was a joke amongst the the Nerd Herd and it was almost as iconic of Steven as his big nose, long hair, and unique sense of humor. His house was an ancient brick house that had been whitewashed so long ago that the brick red had bled through and had changed the whitewash to a shade of pink often reserved for Pepto Bismol.
As Brant stepped out of his car, he saw Steven's face, and it was not one that inspired Brant's hopes that this was some poor attempt at a joke. Brant tried to remind himself that Steven was an Acting major and could work his face to a greater extent that most people, but it was a very small hope that seemed empty to Brant even as he thought of it.
"I got the call, Brant", was all Steven said once Brant had sat down next to him on the front door concrete steps.
Brant sighed slowly as he took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. He replaced the hat, leaned back onto the step above the one he sat on. Then he looked over at Steven and said, "I was afraid of that Steve. So who made the call, and how are we going to get there?"
Steven leaned forward, probably just to contradict Brant. He rested his head on his hand and said," Well, Beard made the call to me, but it was for Ryan. It seems that the outbreak is back at Purdue. Beard said him and Peace would be coming over here to get us in about an hour or so. Apparently its might be up to a 3 as far as the Outbreak."
Brant heaved another breath and said grimly, "Well that explains why we're going I guess. I wouldn't want to deal with an Outbreak 3 by myself if I could help it, that's for sure. Wow, well...seriously?!"
"Yeah man," Steven replied, "seriously. You better go home and make some excuse quickly; and get ready. We only have, like, 50 minutes till they get here."
"Yeah......I mean yeah you're right. All right then, catch ya later then. Don't forget to bring anything that might help, eh?" Brant said as he stood up and started ambling slowly towards his car.
"Tsch. Like I don't know." Steven said, actually smiling this time. Brant was happy they could still smile, they would need to smile as things got worse.
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