|TPEC|Glowing Embers Book 1|

Chapter 21: Strange

Alice felt a sharp pain in her eyes. She touched her face and looked at her fingers, they were red and bloody. She wasn't worried. She was more confused. Did the process succeed? Am I still alive?

Questions filled her mind, along with thoughts of hunger and thirst. She stood up, it was difficult. She slumped, and limped a little, but she managed to exit the basement with a calm manner. She was blinded by the lights, but still tried to navigate the medical lounge. It took some time, but she made it. Nurses rushed to her assistance and brought her to a bed quickly. Alicia felt tired, despite being out cold for 3 days. Nurses allowed her to nap, and carefully wrapped her wounds in see-through bandages, they wrapped the bandages in a way that Alice would be able to see through them. One nurse left the room to do who-knows-what. But then Mr. Jenkin entered the room. He stood beside her bed. His eyes were red and swollen, but the nurses didn't notice since they were busy tending to Alice. Obviously they wouldn't have known, but Alice opened her eyes, she felt itchy, the bandages weren't pleasant, but she was able to see. She sat up, and Mr. Jenkin motioned for the nurses to leave.

"Alice? Are you okay?"

"Is that you Mr. Jenkin? Yes, what happened, did the operation go okay?"

Alice waited for a response, but didn't get one. Mr. Jenkin turned around. He looked down, making out his own shadows.

"Not really."

Alice gave him a funny look. She stood up, gaining her balance quickly, and tapped his shoulder.

"Did something happen?"

She asked quickly. Alice moved her greasy thick brown hair out of her face.

"Are you sure you wanna know?"

He asked suddenly. Mr. Jenkin turned towards her. Alice nodded slowly.

"I won't keep you waiting then. Let's just say you broke out of there. The kids wandered into the basement, and accidentally freed you. You chased us up the stairs, Jake fought you off, and you scratched him."

Alice stared at him. She covered her mouth and looked down.

"I'm sorry. I-"

There's no need to apologize. You couldn't control yourself anyways."

Alicia nodded again. She walked out of the room. Her walk turned into a jog, she started to run, then sprint, until she was running like he was about to be eaten by a wolf. She came to a halt when she reached her room, and entered. Alice spotted her siblings and ran to hug them. She jumped onto them and squeezed them tight. They hugged her back.

"I'm sorry I was gone. So much has been going on lately, it's hard to catch a break."

They both nodded and buried their faces into Alice.

"I'm going to go clean up, alright guys? Stay here. I'll be back."

Alice pushed them off of her, and walked out of the room, limping quietly into the bathroom, she saw bins of clothes stored. She then dug through the bins, until she found a clean white tank-top. Then she found some baggy green camo pants.

Too bad they don't have pink.

Alice quickly grabbed other things like socks, new shoes, and some emergency goggles, along with her signature hat. She then entered a stall, locked it, and applied her clothes. Alice casually left the bathroom, walking while brushing her hair with a comb she found in the pocket of her pants. She entered her room, got her siblings prepared for bed, and laid down.

It's been such a rough month. I want to sleep peacefully. All these deaths, and fighting off the infection every day. Why couldn't I have been in the place of my mom..? She would have probably done better than me here. Whatever. There's no point in complaining, I ought to be grateful that I'm still alive. I have to grow up.

I have to.