Reformation

3: Confessions

I woke up the a few mornings later and the cramps came back. At least I didn't have to worry about my period for the next nine months. That was the only upside of being pregnant. The only one.

Ryan had left in the middle of the night to go on watch. We had been getting more night shifts lately. Punishment for trashing Michael's office I guess. I rolled out of bed and pulled a brush through my hair then went outside to another hot, dry day.

I made my way towards the building to get breakfast. I would probably clean out their entire stock of food with the appetite I had.

There weren't too many people at the food court. I realized it was ten o'clock on a weekday so most people had probably gone at seven or eight before their jobs started or before kids had to go to classes. It was good they were still educating kids, trying to give them a normal life. I started to think about the baby again. Everything seemed to come back to it.

I stole a few breakfast bars from one of the cabinets and scarfed them down in less than five minutes.

"So have you told him?" Jane slid in the seat across from me.

I rolled my eyes. "Will you stop?"

"Because if you haven't yet then I am going to tell him."

This was the only way to get her to stop bothering me. "Yes. Just try to keep it on the down low."

Her eyes lit up. "What did he say?"

Oh great. "He said ok."

"That's it?"

I nodded.

She frowned. "Doesn't sound like him."

"He is still processing it. Just give him time and don't mention it. He doesn't like the pressure."

She sighed. "Ok." Then, got up and left.

I looked at the clock on the wall, I was late for guard duty.

I took my precious time walking to the front. Whitney was waiting to be relieved.

"There you are. You are twenty minutes late." She scoffed as she scurried off.

I grabbed a rifle and climbed up into the right tower. I looked over at the left tower at saw two burly, alert looking military guys keeping watch. I really don't understand why they would need a pregnant girl to keep watch when they had those two. But Michael's rule was there always had to be at least one person per tower at all times. He never said we actually had to pay attention in the towers.

I slid down the side of the wall so nobody could see me. I rested the rifle on the ground, leaned my head back against the riveted metal and closed my eyes. I was still tired from stressing all night about telling Ryan. I needed to stop thinking about it. I just cleared my mind and tried to stay focused on the little stuff, like the fact that there were probably creepers banging on the walls right now trying to eat our guts. That thought put my unsettled mind at ease. So much at ease that I actually dozed off.

Blood. Teeth. Organs. Stench. Growls. Pain. These images flashed through my mind as I slept. One second images of gruesome creepers with yellow stained teeth and putrid breath. Growling and chomping and eating. Flashes of images that made me want to jump out of my skin. It was like de ja vú. They were almost the exact same images from when I had the Virus. The disease had manifested itself in my brain and left mental scars that would never be removed. But something new was added into them, gunfire. Almost so loud and distinct I could hear it.

I felt a bullet strike the tower and I jolted awake. There was screaming coming from below. I grabbed my rifle that laid undisturbed on the ground and tried to calm my twitching hand. I finally stood up and looked out the tower window. Creepers had broken down the fence next to me and people rushed to kill them. I aimed my rifle at one of them creeping around the side of the building and pulled the trigger as flames protruded from the end of the gun. It slumped to the ground and I cocked the gun again, the bullet casing clattering to the ground. Another shot, another creeper down. The group had thinned out and there were only a few dozen left.