Forced Quarantine

Author's note: This is the first time that I've ever submitted anything to this site. I've written many different stories that I never completed. But for some reason this contest piqued my interest. So... constructive criticism is very welcome.

I use two forward slashes as quotation marks to indicate internal monologues. I try to continue to use standard English forms to remind the reader of the internal nature of the text. Additionally, the diary format is not something that I normally use but it seemed to be the best way to convey the passage of time especially since that has been a major issue for everyone quarantined.

Obviously, all sexually active characters are 18 years old and over.

Forced Quarantine

Day 0 - Lock down begins

Robyn was trying to remain as calm as she could with the red and blue lights flashing in her rear view mirror. She runs through a mental list of things that she could have done to get pulled over. Glancing at her brother, she asks, "You don't have anything stupid on you right now? Do you?"

Grunting, he replies, "No, I don't. I left that back at the apartment."

"Good. Just let me do the talking." Robyn instructs her brother, as she tries to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "Get my insurance and registration out of the glove box. Please." He leans forward and pops the glove box open. He hands her the two documents sitting on top. Robyn pulls her license out of her purse in the center console. She hears the crunch of boots on the loose gravel spread out on the shoulder of the highway. She grabs the steering wheel with her documents laced in between her fingers. A bright light shines on her hands and the wheel.

"Do you know why I pulled you over, miss?" the officer asks as he looks down at her. Robyn smiles sheepishly, hoping that her bright pink, lavender, and turquoise dreads don't go against her. Nor the snake bite piercings, or septum ring, or the tattoo on full display on her left shoulder because she decided to wear a tank top.

Looking up, she sees the officer is wearing a helmet that looks like it was part of a SWAT team uniform. She can barely see the cloth face mask that he's wearing. Robyn notices that his voice is muffled by the mask. "No, I don't, sir. I'm trying to think of any traffic law that I broke," she responds as she holds up her papers.

"I only need to see you driver's license, miss. Your friend needs to show his to my deputy on his side of the car," he states as clearly as he can through the mask. Robyn glances at her brother, worried. He is complying with the officer's orders. He attempts to hand his license to the officer on his side of the vehicle. "Don't hand them to us, kids. We just need to read it," he says as she turns the face of the card him. Her brother does the same. "Now the reason why I pulled you over is because you're in violation of the quarantine orders from the governor, county sheriff, and judge."

"Wait. What?" she stumbles across her questions.

"Have you not seen the news? There is a shelter at home order for everyone that is not an essential employee. The Corona virus pandemic has become that serious. You do understand that, correct?" the officer asks sarcastically.

"Yes, sir. I didn't know that it went into effect already."

"Young lady. Do you seen anyone else out here on the road?"

"No, sir. I was just trying to ..."

"Just stop, miss. We're going to escort you and your friend..." the officer says.

"Jaxson, sarge." the second officer says loudly.

"Your friend, Jackson, and you are going to one location. Together. All I need to know is where am I going to follow you to? Your address or his?" the Sargent finishes.

"Mine." Robyn states unequivocally.

"Wait," Jaxson mutters. "I have no clothes over there."

"You live in a shitty little apartment, Jax. I live in a house. And I have pets. You don't."

Before Jaxson can respond the Sargent says loudly, "Good, now that's out of the way. Here's what you're going to do..." The Sargent gives her clear instructions of how she is to drive to her home with them following her.

***

After Robyn pulls into her driveway, she turns the car off and gets out. Looking over her shoulder, she can see the second officer is out of the car and watching them walk towards the house. Robyn opens the door for Jaxson to enter first. She watches the cops leave through the window in the door. Once they're out of sight, she turns to Jaxson. "Dear gods. What has happened to the world. Anyway, I've got some of Brian's old clothes in the closet. For once, I'm glad that I didn't burn them like I had planned."

"Bleh. I don't want to wear freak flags," Jaxson says dismissively.

"Seriously?" Robyn glares at her brother. "You're never out of your stupid heavy metal t-shirts and ripped jeans," she retorts as she motions with her hand to emphasize her point, by making mention of the black band shirt, ripped jeans, and work boots. "I think you can survive a few days in 'freak flag' clothes until we can order you new clothes."

Jaxson's mouth curls into a sneer, "Fucking hippie shit. Does it still stink of patchouli?" he rudely asks.

"Jax. Seriously?" Robyn barks out at him. "They're fucking clothes! If anyone should want to destroy them, it would be me. You're literally going to be wearing fucking reminders of my abuser. I think you can shut up and live with it for a few days!" Robyn shouts. She's moving her hands in an effort to release some of her emotions. "Is that clear? Little Brother?"

"I'm bigger than you. By a lot... but I understand. I'll go get them, I'm assuming they're in a box in the back of your closet, and wash them," he begrudgingly replies. "I'll leave you alone for a while so you can figure out the sleeping arrangements. We also need to figure out the hygiene situation."

***

Jaxson comes back to the common room after spending an hour dealing with his problem of getting the stench of 'asshole attempted rapist ex-boyfriend' out of the clothes he is supposed to wear. He sees Robyn sitting on the couch with her laptop open and talking on the phone. He sits down next to her and slouches into the couch cushions. After a few minutes of listening to a conversation that he is not interested in, he sits up to find the remote control. Jaxson keeps the volume low while he surfs the channels.

"Hey, stupid! Are you listening to me?" Robyn asks Jaxson as she slaps shoulder.

"Ow. No. No, I wasn't. What do you want?" he demands angrily, rubbing his shoulder, looking at the red welt on his skin.

Thrusting a phone into his face, "Mom wants to talk to you... Asshole."

Taking the phone from Robyn's hand, Jaxson glares at her. "Hey, Mom."

"Hi, sweety. Robyn told me what happened. Sorry, we won't get to see each other for a long while."

"It's ok, mom. It could be so much worse. At least I'm stuck with someone that I actually like," he grumbles as he continues to flip through the channels.

"Oh? I'm really happy to hear that."

"Hear what? That I'm stuck?"

"No. That you actually like your sister."

Jaxson snorts into the phone. "Just because she bosses me around for no damned reason, lords over me because I'm younger, or lectures me doesn't mean that I don't like her or like spending time with her. There's just limits."

"That warms my heart, darling. You two need to take care of each other. You don't have much family left..."

"Geez, mom. Chill. It'll be alright." Jaxson mutters to the phone. Robyn turns her laptop towards Jaxson so that he can see the virtual cart that she has filled with potential clothes. "Mom, Robyn wants me to look at this order for clothes for me. I need to let you go."

"Just pass me back to your sister. I'm the one paying for it. You pick out what you want, within reason," their mother tells him. Jaxson and Robyn then exchange devices. He replaces several items before handing the computer back to Robyn. She continues chatting with their mother as she confirms the order. Eventually, they get tired. Jaxson sleeps on the couch for the night until things can be better figured out.

DAY 1

Jaxson wakes to the sound of melodic and wandering guitars backed by sitars and light percussion. Rolling off of the couch he finds his sister in the kitchen cooking eggs and hash potatoes, as she listens to her Spotify list. After breakfast, they review the plans for hygiene.

They lightly settle in for staying isolated for a couple of weeks.

Day 3

Jaxson and Robyn struggle to stay in good moods as they go through the basic diversions on TV, internet, radio, and newspaper. Robyn and Jaxson agree to order some jigsaw puzzles online to work on together. Boredom is creeping further into their minds.

Day 4

Robyn answers a knock on the door. Opening the door, she sees a county sheriff's deputy standing back from the door. "Robyn Kravitz?" a masked officer asks.

"Yes? That's me." she replies uncertainly.

"Is Jaxson Allenson still on the property?" the officer continues with the questions.

Robyn calls over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off of the officer, "Hey, Jax! Buddy? Can you come here for a minute?"

Jaxson lifts himself up from the couch where he had been napping. Walking to the front door, he asks, "What's going on, Rob?" Looking out the door he sees the cop. "Did we do something wrong?" he asks in hushed tones.

The officer grins and says, "Thank you. I was just checking in to make sure that you haven't violate the governor's orders and our bringing you to this location. Enjoy the rest of your day." She turns around and walks back to the patrol car where the Sargent is waiting leaning on the roof of the car. They slowly pull off and drive away from the home.

"Well, if that ain't fucking creepy." Robyn observes out loud.

Day 5

"Jax! I need to deal with the garden. Can you mow the lawn for me while I work on the garden?" Robyn asks. After waiting for a minute, she walks into the common room and sees him on the couch. "Hey, Jax! Can you mow the yard? We need to get some exercise. I'm going to work on the garden. After that, I think we should do some basic cleaning."

"Ugh, fine." Jaxson moans as he stands up, turning the TV off.

"You know you can play with the dog as well... that's exercise for the both of you."

"Bruh... Josefina doesn't need me to keep her in shape," Jaxson rolls his eyes. "That wannabe Chihuahua gets plenty of exercise harassing the cats."

Putting her hands on her hips, "Well, I"m sure Inky and Blinky would appreciate it if Jose is exhausted because her human uncle wore her out."

Standing up, "I doubt that. But I'm sure they would appreciate the human being too tired to move when they try to sleep on him."

"Then they'll still be happy. Now, come on. Let's get the yard work done."

"You know... the main benefit of doing yard work is?"

"You'll feel better having moved around?"

"I'll sweat so much that it'll start to destroy the hippie stench on these clothes."

Robyn chuckles, "You never seem to mind the 'hippie stench' when it's on my female friends."

Walking past his sister, "That's because hippie chicks are fucking sexy once you hose them off," Jaxson snarks. Robyn gives him a look of confused disbelief.

Day 6

"Jax, we need to finish that list of shit from yesterday. We didn't get the cleaning done."

"What? We cleaned the hell out of the yard, patio, the driveway, front yard, your car..." he rambles.

"I meant cleaning inside of the house, dummy." Robyn interrupts him. She pulls her mouth to the side to try to hide her frown.

Turning to her, Jaxson sees the odd expression on her face. He remembers his last girlfriend, and how that face was a challenge to make her happy, which was always rewarded pleasurably. Once the thought takes shapes, he blinks fast and hard. "Ok! Ok! I'll get the litter first. Then the rest of the bathroom," Jaxson declares as he rushes towards the bathroom.

Robyn's face relaxes before changing to a smile. "Thanks, Jax. I've always hated that chore. By the way, I think that your soap and shampoo are supposed to arrive today."

Trying to ignore the random association with his ex-girlfriend, "Good. I'm tired of smelling like a girl."

***

A few hours later, Robyn is getting sandwiches together for lunch. "Hey, Jax! What do you want to go with the sandwiches, buddy?"

Jaxson follows her voice into the kitchen. "Honestly, I want a burger. But, I know that you're making lunch from..." Jaxson comes to a complete halt when he sees Robyn's ass as she's bent over looting around in the refrigerator. He involuntarily licks his lips and pulls his lower lip into his mouth (because "it's not sexy if a dude bites his lip even if looks the same on a chick.") as he watches her ass move around, displaying her Daisy Dukes clad vulva. He can see a hint of the bikini that she's wearing through the leg.

"From what? Damn it, Jax. I need complete sentences," Robyn shoots back at her brother. Closing the refrigerator's enough to glance at her brother, she squints at him. "You need to finish your sentence. And, you still haven't answered the question. What do you want for a side with the sandwich?"

Jaxson forces himself to swallow as he watches his sister move around the kitchen in the revealing denim shorts and thin white t-shirt that does nothing to hide the outline of swimwear top. "Whatever is fine, Rob. Potato chips, potato salad, coleslaw, green beans..." he says while restraining from saying 'you.' "You're making lunch, I trust you."

Robyn stares at him. "Then wash your hands. We're having leftover pasta salad." She watches him closely as he washes up in the kitchen sink. After washing his hands, Robyn sees him sniff himself briefly before he yanks his shirt off of himself revealing his chest.

She feels the twitch in her gut and crotch. Thinking to herself // I wonder if he has these stupid cravings that I've been having... Gods, he does look tasty. //

Jaxson sits down at the table without his shirt thinking to himself, //If she can strut around in next to nothing, so can I... //

Day 9

Jaxson finished emailing his last assignments to his professors. He powers off the laptop, and stands up. Stretching his back, he idly wonders what day of the week it is. Looking at the calendar on the wall, it's Saturday. //Oh, boy. This shit going to fuck with my head. I'm starting to lose track of the day of the week.// Jaxson heads down the short hall to the common room. Glancing over at the couch, he sees a woman sleeping with her back to him. //Dafuq? What is she doing here?//

Rushing over to the couch, he shakes her shoulder. "Ashley! What are you doing here? You've got to go before my sister sees you," he growls at her. The woman groans. "Seriously, Ashley! You've got to go. Robyn's going to be pissed that you're here. Quarantine and all. And she hates you."

The woman mutters at Jaxson, "I know I hate the dumb cunt that gas-lit you on the daily. My question is why are you calling me by her name?" Robyn glares at her brother.

"Rob? Shit. I'm sorry. I don't know why I confused you for her." Jaxson apologizes.

Feeling insulted, she growls, "We look nothing alike, Jax."

"Um... I wouldn't go that far, dude," he replies sheepishly.

Taken aback for a moment, "Oh? Does she have technicolor hair, this many tattoos, or piercings?" she snarks at him.

Uncomfortably, Jaxson responds, "Once you take all of that out... you do look amazingly like her. You even smell the same when you don't wear perfume. Um... I'm going to go finish the laundry." Jaxson scurries out of the room.

Day 14

Robyn finishes bringing all of the groceries into the kitchen from the car. She calls out, "Brian! Come in here and help me put the groceries up."

Jaxson walks into the kitchen and asks, "Who are you talking to, Rob?"

Chuckling and looking over her shoulder, Robyn replies, "You silly. Or did you forget that you've been crashing at your girlfriend's house." Jaxson looks at her confused. He walks up behind her as she empty bags onto the counter top. He grasps her shoulders to turn her around. Robyn softly moans, "That feels good." Closing her eyes, she allows herself to be turned around. "It's been too long since you've touched me." Opening her eyes, "Jax, what are you doing here?"

Not even bothering to hide the worry and confusion in his face and voice. "I'm quarantined here with you until the governor changes their mind. Remember?"

"Bri?" Robyn asks tentatively. "Jax?" she asks while blinking hard.

"Asshole's not here, Rob."

"Shit. I'm sorry, buddy. I got confused," she explains as she gently rubs his right arm that still holding her shoulder. "I guess the stress from this stupid pandemic is messing with my head. My trip to the grocery was chaotic. I think that probably triggered my memories of being with Brian." She leans in and hugs him. Resting her head on her shoulder, she says, "I'm not enjoying this lock down. We've been cooped up to long."

Not wanting to admit that he is enjoying the physical contact. "I hear ya. We need to figure out how to stay sane while we're waiting for them to lift the orders. Jaxson feels Robyn's breast rubs against his chest as they gently embrace each other. Robyn sighs slowly, and drags her cheek across his shoulder. Jaxson feels her lip piercings glide across his skin. After a a full two minutes, they break their hold of each other, and return to their chores and daily activities.

***

"Hey, Jax! Can you get the door? I'm expecting a package," Robyn shouts from the bathroom.

"Sure," he hollers back and walks to the entrance of the house. Opening the door, he doesn't see anything from online retailers. He looks up and sees the Sargent that pulled his sister over two weeks ago standing 10 feet away. Confused, he asks, "Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes, you can young man. Can you get Robyn Kravitz to show herself?" the officer flatly demands. There is no hint of the words being intended to be a question.

"Hey, Rob!" Jaxson yells without turning his head. "You might want to come to the door yourself. There's no package."

After a minute, Robyn walks to the door, and sees the officer. "What's going on?" she asks with a confused look on her face.

"Nothing now, young lady," the Sargent responds. "I received a report that you left the house."

"Yeah," she snarks back at the Sargent. "I needed to get groceries. And look for toilet paper, soap, and other shit. Am I not allowed to go get essentials?" she challenges the cop.

"You're fine. I was just checking to make sure that you came home, within a reasonable amount of time."

Robyn glares at him."I'm home. Please leave. Sir." she says heatedly. The officer tips his hat and turns around. "What the fuck is their problem, Jax? Let me know if they come by again. I'll call the station and ask about the purpose of these surprise visits."

Day 17

Jaxson walks into the kitchen, dripping in sweat from doing yard work for the past two hours. He pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge. He starts chugging the cold water, as he stands in front of the chilled air spilling out of the appliance. He watches his sister walk by is a turquoise colored string bikini with a towel over her shoulder. Not for the first time in the past weeks, Jaxson notices the fluid motion of Robyn's muscles. He pays attention to the smooth and creamy texture of her skin.

"Have you finished mowing the lawn, buddy?" she asks as she reaches the door of the refrigerator. He continues to stare at her as she closes the distance between them.

"Wha... uh, yes. The lawn's done. I'm getting ready to work on the garden." Jaxson quietly replies. Robyn squeezes past him into the fridge to pick up a couple of water bottles.

In a breathy voice, Robyn says, "Thanks, buddy." As she heads out the door, he watches her strut, exaggerating the swinging of her hips. "I'm just going to to get a bit of sun. You don't need to worry since everyone is supposed to be inside," she says with a half grin.