The Dead and the Restless (Completed with undergoing editing)

Chapter Four (Edited)

My heavy eyelids opened slowly, revealing nothing but blurs. As I moved to prop myself on my elbow and brought up a hand to rub my eyes, I felt a sharp pang in the center of my forehead. In the midst of one of the worst migraines I'd had in a long time, I started to take in my surroundings. I was on a tile floor, a blanket covering half of my body. Sit up, I commanded myself. If I was going to figure out what was happening, I needed to move. As I attempted to sit up, I moved too fast and found myself falling back onto the floor, dizziness swarming my vision.

"She's awake," a voice rang out. It was feminine. I moved my hands to rub my eyes again, my vision growing clearer. "Hey, easy there. Don't try to move so fast. When you fell you hit your head pretty hard. You need to let yourself adjust for a few minutes. Here, drink this."

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice cracking as it felt like sandpaper against my throat. The woman held out a bottle of water. I stared at it for a second before moving to take it. As soon as I did, she put a hand behind my back and helped me sit up. At her touch goosebumps traveled up my arms and covered my entire body. I was with people. A few seconds later everything that happened before I blacked out registered.

"My name is Darlene," the woman started, speaking carefully as she watched me with a steady eye. I focused on her more, even though my vision was still hazy. She had dark hair tied in a tight ponytail, showcasing the prominent Asian features on her face and a pair of kind eyes, the ones you could trust. She gave me a worn smile, but I could see how much grief drained her face. "I'm a...well, I used to be a doctor that worked here. Things have been pretty slow lately. But the better question is, who are you?"

"My name is Lease," I croaked, my throat still a little rough. Even though she looked trusting, I still had to keep my guard up. I admit, I wanted to find others out there and it's great seeing people and knowing there's hope out there, but still. My eyes wandered around the room, looking for my machete. "It's short for Elise. Where is my stuff? My machete?"

"We'll give them to you soon," she said, looking a little troubled. "But first, why don't we get you some food? The others are finishing lunch over in the far east corner."

I glanced over to where she mentioned, spotting a table where several figures were sitting down at. An uneasy feeling came over me again. I was excited to find people, more than thrilled, but even though she seemed like someone I could trust, my instincts told me to take caution.

"We have peaches," she said, giving me another smile. She must have seen the uncertainty on my face. "We're not going to hurt you. It's okay now. You're safe here."

I looked at her when she said that, scanning her face for some sort of red flag to tell me whether or not I could trust her. After a few seconds, I couldn't pick out any discernable features. There was nothing telling me that she was less than genuine in the situation.

"Alright," I said softly, nodding my head and trying to give her as much as a smile as I could muster. As I tried to stand, I almost fell back to the ground. She wrapped an arm around my waist, letting me settle some weight on her to help me gain my balance. Once I had it, she just placed her hand on my back, ready to catch me if I swayed.

As we neared the table, I noticed that there were four people of varying degrees sitting down.

"How many people are here?" I asked Darlene. As the words left my mouth, I stumbled forward a little, but I managed to catch my balance.

"Easy there," Darlene said, keeping a careful eye on me. "There's four at the table, and then five, counting me. Like I said, it's been pretty slow lately."

She let out a shaky laugh and I wondered if she had joked around a lot before the world was taken from the dead. My thoughts about her history were cut short, though, as we arrived at the table. Everyone's faces looked up at mine as we both stood together, but one pair of blue eyes caught my attention.