John Egbert began his new life sitting in the back of an ambulance. It wasn't much of an ambulance anymore, the stretchers and medical equipment had been taken out, replaced by benches lining the walls. The inside was plain white, the benches hard and uncomfortable. However, it still had a window on the back doors, and through that he could see his hometown rapidly becoming a speck in the distance.

Trying to divert his attention from the fact that he was leaving for the last time, John instead shifted his gaze to his two companions in the modified back of the ambulance. They were sitting across from each other, as close to the door as they could get. Both of their gazes were directed out the window, they hadn't spoken a word or even paid the slightest attention to John once the ambulance had started moving. He wasn't even sure if they were male or female, their entire bodies were obscured by bulky, white suits, their faces covered by gas masks which gave them a bug-like appearence.

It didn't alarm John, though. He was far too used to seeing protective gear, he even had a mask and suit at home hanging in his closet. His dad had even got it custom fit for him so he wouldn't have to walk around treading on the toes, but none of that mattered now. He would never need to wear one again.

He sighed and banged his head back against the wall, the echo reverberating around the enclosed space. The white-suited guard on the left shifted their weapon slightly. The worst part about the trip, besides the imminent desitination, was the boredom. John's natural instinct was to yell or scream or do anything that would interrupt the ceasless routine of doing nothing, but common sense told him that it wasn't the right place to cause mischief. They were on the highway now, in the middle of the desert, and John knew that if he made a fuss they wouldn't hesitate to chuck him out the back. Death would be slow and painful out here with the only passerbys more modified medical trucks. Where he was going there was food and water. Or at least there was supposed to be.

A while later, after giving up trying to count the amount of dirt specks on the wall opposite him, John tried the window again. The sun was sinking down, his hometown long gone. Along with his school, his friends his dad-John banged his head back against the wall again. He had to stop thinking about that. They told him to forget everything, he didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

"It's easier that way kid, new start, yeah?" The woman had said as she steered him into the back of the truck, when asked why he couldn't see his dad again. The last glimpse he saw was a crowd of middle schoolers eagerly pressing their faces to the door, trying to see who tested positive. It was a rare occurrence in his school, John had only recalled it one other time. He didn't know the kid though, just some scrawny fifth grader with a huge mop of hair. John had scanned the faces quickly, hoping for a last glimpse of his best friends, but no use. They wouldn't have found out it was him until too late, besides, they never tried to look in the testing room, said it was demeaning to the poor kid getting tested.

Poor kid getting tested. That was now all he would be remembered as, the poor sap who got a red light.

The sun dipped all the way below the horizon, the purples and pinks of the desert morphing into plain black. John didn't know how long they'd been sitting there, his phone and watch had been taken from him. He guessed it had been at least five hours.

Finally, the truck slowed down to a stop. John's stomach lurched. The realization began to sink in. He was going to Haven. He was going to Haven and he was never coming out.