A story of a broken Bell

Hallucinations

Bell awoke in the hospital. A nurse came in to briefly check his pulse, but otherwise left. He felt no reason to stay, so he left the hospital.

Exiting the hospital, he found himself among others looking at the ruined town. Bell wandered the streets aimlessly, in search of his home. He found an old, abandoned building, which had all of it's windows boarded up. Finding two men huddled around an old desktop computer, Bell just stared blankly at them, awaiting their gaze to peel away from the screen.

Eventually, one of the tired men turned to Bell, and asked if he was ok and what he wanted.

"I'm curious at what you are doing." Bell replied simply.

The man frowned, not expecting such a question from a child.

"We're just trying to keep things running." He says. "I don't really care what you think of us."

Bell simply shrugged, and walked past the two men. Heading out the back door, He saw his house only a few blocks away. Climbing over a few fences, Bell made it up to where his house was.

As soon as he entered the front yard, he felt relief in the fact that this house had remained intact, standing tall and untouched unlike the rest of town. Going into the house, he found everything as it should be, with his parents alive and well, greeting him warmly.

"How did the apocalypse happen so quickly?" His father asked.

Bell hugged his parents tightly and explained everything that's happened so far. Then he finished his story and asked his parents if they remembered anything before the bombs fell.

"Yes" they both answered.

"I remember something like that happening like that years ago" His mother said.

"But then, why would anyone mention it?"

Bell nodded, suddenly breaking into tears. His father was gone now, likely to get a beer from the fridge, so his mother comforted him, reassuring him that she will take good care of him and kissing him on the forehead before leaving the room in tears herself.

Bell ended up resting on the couch, since his bedroom was seemingly missing. After a while, a group of people were at his window.

"Who are you?" Bell asked, "and what do you want?"

A man from the crowd looked at him slowly, then replied, "My name is Jack. I live close to here."

Bell simply looked at him, confused.

"I'm from the same town as you, so we've known each other for awhile." Jack said, pointing across the street.

"Well, thanks for telling me."

Jack still looked a little confused, so Bell explained that the nurse told him that he had amnesia and couldn't remember much. Jack listened intently and tried his best to understand Bell's situation.

"So where's everyone else?" Bell asked.

"Oh, my friends are still safe, but there are others that aren't anymore." Jack explained.

"Where are my parents?" Bell asked.

"Oh, they went with the rest of the crowd." Jack says.

"What happened to them?" Bell asked.

"Well, I don't know exactly what happened, but eventually everyone just ran away." Jack says.

"Are my parents ok?" Bell asked.

"Yeah, they're fine." Jack says.

"Where are my friends?" Bell asked.

"Most of them were killed by zombies or cannibals." Jack responds blankly.

Bell shivered a bit at this. "Take me to my parents."

"Sure thing kid." Jack said happily. "Let's get going."

Bell followed Jack into the woods and soon after found himself standing in front of a large house. The door opened and he entered the house. A loud banging sound could be heard from inside the house. A woman wearing a nightgown came out of one of the rooms and walked over to Bell.

"Mom? Is that you?" Bell asked.

She smiled at him and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the room.

He walked through the halls of the house and finally came across a bedroom. Bell laid in the cozy bed and closed his eyes. His body sinking into the soft comforter as he drifted to sleep.