The Shock of the New

Chapter 30: New Beginnings

Sam Hopkins found himself tumbling through darkness. Everywhere he looked was chaos. Within the miasma that currently consumed his vision, Sam could hear voices, but they were blurring and impossible to understand. Sam tried to call out for help, for anybody but he just couldn't find the strength. Images flashed through his mind. Of Lawrence's corpse riddled with bullets, of his parents sobbing and Mitchell and Mr Scanlon scolding him for being an unpatriotic P.R.E. sympathising cuck.

Then his vision began to clear and an image began to form around him. Gradually Sam realised he was laying on a bed in a decent little room with a rusty metal door on the wall directly facing him. The walls were mostly bare and the whole thing was illuminated by a small light bulb. Sam sat up and found a pain shooting up his leg. Wincing, he laid back down and tried to work out what was going on.

He remembered making his way into the flooded ruins of Seattle and roaming around. Then he'd seen somebody and had managed to get their attention before blacking out.

"So this must be where the L.S.E.I. live" Sam said to himself. Although he hoped this to be true, he had an awful feeling that this was in fact a W.E.R. prison and he was about to be subjected to some heavy duty punishment for his actions.

Before Sam could mull the whole thing over further, the door at the end of the room made an unlocking sound. Sam watched as it slowly opened. Then a young woman stepped into the room. When she saw Sam, she gasped

"You're finally awake! Thank god!"
Confused, Sam could only ask "Where am I?"

"You're in the city of the L.S.E.I." The woman explained "Jamie and Nicole found you roaming the city wounded and they had you brought down here! You've been unconscious for three days!"
Sam felt a pang of relief at this. He tried to get up out of bed, but the stabbing pain came back

"Please don't try to move" the woman replied walking over to Sam and helping him get comfortable. As soon as she'd done that, she looked at him and laughed

"Where are my manners? My name's Victoria. Do you have a name?"

"Sam Hopkins" he told her.

"That's great!" the woman smiled "I'll go and tell Krueger!"
"Krueger?" Sam asked

"Yes" Victoria nodded "He's the guy who runs this place and I'm sure he'll be thrilled to bits to learn that you're on the road to recovery!"

As Victoria disappeared out the door, Sam sighed with relief. Despite everything, he'd at least made it to the L.S.E.I. which meant that at the very least, he'd managed to keep his promise to Lawrence. As he laid back on the bed, Sam closed his eyes. He hoped that the rest of the L.S.E.I. were as friendly as Victoria had been. If they were, then he'd be more than happy living in this new place.

Sam had been laying in bed for a few minutes when the door opened again. Victoria stepped in followed by a man in a black wide brimmed hat.

"Victoria tells me you're awake" he said in the accent of a white afrikaan "I can't tell you how relieved we are"
"I'm guessing you're Krueger" Sam held out his hand "My name's Sam Hopkins."
"Nice to meet you Sam" Krueger took Sam's hand and shook it "How did you find this place? Did you travel here on your own?"

"No..." Sam began to reply, then stopped

"What's wrong?" Krueger asked "Something bothering you?"
Sam nodded "Something like that. There was another guy who came with me. His name was Lawrence. We nearly made it here, but he got killed by a W.E.R. helicopter...."
"Oh dear" Victoria sighed. Noticing the tears in Sam's eyes, Krueger walked over to him and put a supportive hand on his shoulder