An Interview with Dylan Moore

Dylan Moore is one of the heroes from Quarantine. He's brilliant, charming, devious, and extremely sexual... But perhaps I should let him speak for himself.

Interviewer: Tell us a bit about how you ended up at Camp Malheur.

Dylan: I grew up in Boston as an only child. My father's a partner in one of the top law firms in the city. Mom died when I was four, so dad – and the household help – pretty much raised me.

I knew that I was gay from the time I was about eleven, but my father simply couldn't accept that fact. He figured that somehow I'd grow out of this silly attraction to men. Meanwhile, he kept me at home as much as possible, trying to prevent me from acting on my desires. I couldn't stand it – it was like being in prison. Finally, the week after my high school graduation, I ran away to Sanfran.

I was in heaven – a kid in a candy store! Sanfran had the biggest gay population of any place in the country. I played around for a while, then I met Miguel and fell in love. We'd been together for nearly six months when the Plague broke out.

Interviewer: I understand that your partner became infected.

Dylan: Yes – I watched him die. A horrible death – I still have nightmares. By that time the Plague riots had been raging for weeks. The media blamed the disease on gays. The fear everyone felt morphed into anger and violence. For a while, the daily total of men tortured or murdered approached the count of those who succumbed to the virus. Then the Robbies appeared on the streets and started testing everyone. They arrested any male with the homogene as a “Plague carrier”. I remember them beating down the door of Miguel's and my apartment. I didn't resist as they dragged me into the windowless transport van. I'd lost everything at that point. I really didn't care.

Interviewer: And you ended up in the quarantine camp. When was that?

Dylan: Seven long years ago. I'd fallen from heaven into hell – and I was stuck there. The first year I just tried to cope, but after that I started working on plans. Saving discarded bits of electronics. Testing the camp's defenses. Infiltrating whatever systems I could. I made really slow progress, but I figured anything I could do to increase the possibility of escape was worth undertaking.

Interviewer: When did you first see Rafe?

Dylan: Remotely? Or in the flesh? (smiles) Maybe six or eight months ago, I managed to hack the camp's internal 3DV system, so that I could spy on the humans in the control room. One of the guards looked like a vicious brute, but the other one – Rafe – seemed more sensitive and approachable. Sometimes he'd be reading. Then he'd stare at the surveillance screens for a while as though he felt guilty. He was hot, too – big and muscular, but without an ounce of fat. I didn't have a lot of hope – he was probably straight as Uncle Ike - but I decided to see if I could get him interested in me.

Interviewer: Your plan seemed to work brilliantly.

Dylan: Well, I suppose the fact that Rafe and I are now lovers is testimony to something! It was tough, though, fighting against his fear and guilt. He truly believed that gays were sub-human, that they deserved quarantine because they had infected the country with the virus. I had to overcome that prejudice as well as his own reluctance to admit he could be attracted to another man.

Interviewer: You managed to make him fall for you, though.

Dylan: Sometimes I feel ashamed of how I used him. Now, of course, I love him, but at the time I was acting out of a mixture of expediency and lust. Rafe was my ticket out of quarantine. The fact that he was such a hunk was an extra perk.

Gradually I won him over. And then, when I screwed up, nearly killing myself in the process, the guy came to my rescue. I realized then how close I felt to him, how much I needed him – in the end, you might say that Rafe actually seduced me.

Interviewer: It took a while for him to trust you, though.

Dylan: I don't blame him one bit. Not only did I exploit his good nature – and his libido – but I effectively made him an outlaw, just as I was. Of course, he chose to save me, so I'm not completely responsible. He could have turned me in. I'm eternally grateful for his compassion and care.

Interviewer: And what happened after you left Camp Malheur?

Dylan: I'm certainly not going to tell you that! In a short interview like this, I couldn't do Rafe's and my adventures justice. Anyway, I'd really like visitors to go read our whole story.

However, the Quarantine blog tour includes a dozen different excerpts from the book, for readers who want to know more. The full tour schedule is available in Lisabet's July newsletter.

Interviewer: And every comment here at Beyond Romance counts as an entry toward the blog tour grand prize. 

Thanks for talking with us, Dylan. I have one more question. What do you think Rafe will say when I interview him?

Dylan: Well – I hope and pray he's say he loves me. Because honestly, at this point, I don't think I could live without him.