The Revolution

Chapter 5

Edd

The surgery was successful. Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly recovering. The physical injuries have all healed.

Apparently I have a therapist now.
To give me a more 'positive view' on this bullshit world. I don't see why. This world has gone to crap, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. It's just fun to defy the Red Leader.

In my many long days of being sat in this broken, decaying hospital bed, I reminisced about our lives before the apocalypse. I miss those days. When I didn't give a toss about what happened, as long as my friends were right beside me. That just makes me want to vomit now.

I wish Tom were here. I miss him. Sure he was cynical and a bit of a drip, but at least he was a good person. Unlike that backstabbing bitch. I grinded my teeth at the thought of him. I'd like to watch him burn. Watch his eyes slowly turn to ash and his fingers ablaze.

"You need to let out all your anger towards the Red Leader, and use a more positive outlet." The therapist said with a smile. I had learned her name is Jenny and I greatly dislike her. I cannot hate her, for I must save all that hate for the Red Leader.
But Jenny always seemed far too optimistic for it to be real. It was infuriating.

I occupied my days pouring over plans, recent reports and news. Only a week until I'm out. I've showed 'progress' and they've agreed to let me go. I can rejoin the fight and do my part, instead of being a useless lump in this bed.

The soft tick of the clock above me was the only disturbance of the heavy silence in the room. Still. Dead. I was just begging for something to happen, anything. But of course, nothing would. I am subjected to this eternal boredom.

Slowly, and just as surely, quiet thoughts of him began to trickle into my mind, cascading over any other notion of a thought. His eyes, his hair, his lips, his ears, his neck. His crooked smile that would appear every so often that would grow to his eyes, turning his face into a radiant glow of joy. His accent that would shade his words, turning them into a bubbling river of a foreign language. The delicate blush that would tinge his cheeks when something amusing would occur, the laugh that followed.

Every memory of him came flooding back, the dam I had once used to suppress such painful thoughts, demolished. Tears burned my eyes and they struggled to force their way out. Their salty tracks crisscrossed my face, the stain of sadness now embellished there.

It wasn't fair. Nothing was. Nothing at all.

"Hiya Edd! I have good ne-
Edd?"
I glanced up to see Jenny drifting into the room, a concerned expression etched across her face.
"Hey hey hey what happened?!" She said worriedly, rushing over to the chair I had placed myself in.
"N... nothing, just..." I breathed.

A warm hand clasped my own.

"It's ok. You can talk to me, or not. I can stay, or leave. It's your choice. But just know, you're going to get through this, and see the other side. It'll be ok." She said.
"But what if it isn't?" I asked, "How can you guarantee that this shithole will change? What is there indicating that it will?"
"Well, things can't stay the same forever. And who knows, maybe Red Leader will turn out to be pretty ok! He could reverse the damage of the world."

I stared at her with a cold look in my eyes.
"You support him?"

Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open a touch.
"I- no! Of course not! I never meant to make it sound like that, I promise!" She stuttered, something fearful threaded through her words.

"Good. Never think anything good of that shitstick. There is not an ounce of worthiness in him."
I sighed for a second, glancing back up at her.

"Look, I'm sorry for that outburst. He's just so..."
Two vast sapphire eyes encouraged me on. I took a deep breath.

"He betrayed me. He betrayed us. I loved him, I thought we were friends, I thought I had met someone who I could trust, who would always be there for me. I was wrong. I've never had my heart broken, but does this count? He's an evil, evil person, who led me on, only staying with me for his own gain. It hurts to say this, but the truth is that he never really cared. It was all a façade. Something and someone that I put so much time, and love, and trust in is a liar. He took advantage of me and everyone else. He's despicable." I said, hurt pooling in my chest.

Tears once again sprung to my eyes, the crystal-like substance flowing down my sombre face.
"And then he took Tom. One of the last things I had left. My rock. Gone. Brainwashed and broken, forced to believe their distorted view of the world."

I paused, gathering my thoughts, all the hurt and pain was begging for me to let it spill out, but I couldn't. I couldn't show this amount of vulnerability, especially not to someone I barely know.

"This is why I need to fight him." I finally murmured, "I need to beat him, to start to fill the desperate hole residing in me. To beat all this corruption. To show that whatever he thought of me is wrong. He can't just take advantage of me, and then fuck off to take over the damn world. I'm doing this for me and everyone else who has lost someone to the torrent of the Red Army. They've put us through so much misery, and they can't keep doing that. I can't sit here and wait for something to happen, for someone else to save the world!"

Her gaze bore into my soul, almost as if she could read my thoughts. I stared right back, not breaking the bond that intertwined us.

"I now understand how much this means to you. I will do what I can, you can't stay in this bed forever." She said.

A small smile, almost too small to see, began to crawl up my face.

"And I know that I can't make all the pain you feel just go away, I doubt anyone can truly do that. And I know that it will take forever and a day for anything to feel even remotely better, but I do have something that might help." She grinned, turning away and disappearing behind the door frame. What could she possibly be on about

Moment later, she reappeared, a large cloth-covered box in her hands. Setting it down on the creases of the coarse sheets, she gently lifted the cover.

Soft sounds echoed out of the confinement. As the material inched further off, a shiver of excitement bloomed in my chest. A minuscule, wet nose poked out of the fabric, a nose I recognised. Downy fur surrounded the nose, fluffy and grey, matted in places with sweat. A pair of keen yellow-green eyes swivelled around the room, taking in the details. A familiar mew sounded out of her mouth, a familiar tail swiped the floor of the cage. As her mouth opened again at the sight of me, calling to me, two sharp fangs glared out of her mouth. She still recognised me.

"Ringo?" I murmured, a hand reaching out to her soft head. Jenny unlocked the cage, and Ringo sprung out to me, immediately nuzzling into my chest. A bead of sorrow blossomed in my chest. Her ear was slashed, a scar reaching from her temple to the edge of her mouth. She's alive? How? How did they find her?

I laughed in joy and shock. It was still the same Ringo. Alive and well. She had run when the soldiers had come, run from the bullets and the blood. I had tried desperately to catch her, to bring her back, but she escaped. For good I guess, the guns would have got her if not. But how did they find her?

"Where... how?" I questioned in disbelief.
"When Kate and Micheal were clearing bunker, the soldiers have left, they found her sniffing at one of your old shoes. They brought her here and Matt managed to recognise her. I guess that medicine you gave him did help with the memory stuff," she chuckled, "She was looked after and Matt decided to give her to you as a present. As a reunification I guess."

Jenny then produced a brush, and handed it to me. I untangled the knots that littered her little body, taking great care.

She became something of a support cat to me. Her bowls and bed were taken into my room for the time I was still in here. I was gifted, something was brought back to me, a light in this desolate sea of darkness.

I was getting better.