Rush

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The second time I woke up, it was to the growling of my stomach. I sat up gingerly and found that I felt much better. Funny thing, sleep is.
I looked around the small room. The walls were a dull grey, the floor concrete. There were eight beds, and all of them were empty except for mine and the one next to me, where a girl was asleep. She was tangled in a blanket, and her jacket was tossed on the floor. Her leather jacket.
"Ember," I whispered. She didn't respond, so I stepped out of bed. Even with both feet on the ground, I felt a little dizzy, but I continued to her bed anyway. I gently shook her shoulder and hissed again, "Ember."
"Go away, Nina," she slurred in her half-sleep.
"It's not Nina." Her eyes flew open.
"James! You're awake!"
I gave her a half-hearted wave, and sat down on the end of her bed. She sat up, and leaned against the wall, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"We have to... go see X." She yawned.
"Who's X?" I asked.
"The 'president'." She made air quotes with her fingers. She stretched. "We really should go."
"Let's go then," I stood up.
In response, ember pulled a blanket tighter around herself. "No. I'm tired."
I wasn't sure whether to protest or not when a man dressed in a navy blue uniform strode in. A gold badge shone on his chest, and I noticed that he had a prosthetic leg. When Ember saw him, she shot up and started pulling her boots on.
"We're coming! Tell him we're coming!" She shrugged her jacket on. The man nodded and left.
"What was that?" I asked, hunting for my own shoes. I located them under the bed and put them on. When I stood up, Ember had her jacket on as well. she started walking away, and I jogged to catch up.
"It's serious if X sent Lenny," she said without looking at me. "Everyone respects Lenny."
"What happened to his leg?" I asked.
"It got blown off in a bombing. He got a medal of bravery for carrying out his mission and surviving. doesn't happen as often as you would think."
"His mission?" We reached a door labeled 'Hospital Ward' with a familiar Greek letter printed below it. "Wait." I stopped in my tracks. "This is Omega?"
"You didn't know?" Ember turned around. "I thought I told you."
I shook my head. "Hold on... did you blow up the newspaper building?"
"No, that was Alpha. I was trying to prevent it."
"Why was Alpha trying to blow up the newspaper?"
"We controlled it. You ever meet the president of the newspaper?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Well, you're about to." She opened the door and slipped out. I followed her into a large hallway, lined with doors. People bustled up and down the hallway, entering doors and exiting them. They wore mostly navy blue, like the man with one leg, Lenny, or black, like Ember and I. Thankfully, I didn't stand out.
"X?" I questioned Ember, continuing our conversation.
"Yeah. He controls... everything we control, I guess."
"How much does Omega control?"
"Who knows?" She shrugged and walked down the hall.
I was left awestruck, standing in one spot, until a muscled gray-haired woman bumped into me.
"Sorry," I called to her as I rushed after Ember. She led me to a pair of double doors, where most people were entering or exiting the hall. We raced up a staircase-- or she did, and I panted with the effort of keeping up.
Finally, she opened a door emblazoned with a gold omega. Below the omega was an 'X.'
We went inside, into an office. A metal desk and two wooden chairs were the center of attention. Behind the desk was another chair. They were all empty.
"Where is he?" Ember grumbled. As soon as she closed he mouth again, another door behind the desk opened, and a tall bald man sat in the large chair.
"Sit," he said, his voice much deeper than it appeared it would be. "Ember."
Sorry that this chapter is so short. I was kind of pressed for time. Maybe another on Wednesday? We'll see...