Embers And Ice

Ch. 6 Was It A Dream?

A sudden bump made Leith open her eyes. Row after row of bright lights fogged her sight as groggy voices came from all around her. Something didn't seem right. Her head was spinning and hurting. She warbled in and out of darkness. Eventually it took her again. 

"Leith, can you hear me?" A voice called to her. It sounded like her father's voice but it couldn't be, he died years ago. "Leith honey, wake up." There was no mistaking it that time. Realization hit as she suddenly shot up, her eyes flew open. She was staring her father in the face. Silence befell her. "Are you ok?" He asked looking her over. Something felt missing. She looked up. "I... I don't know..." She grabbed her head. "You're home. You're safe now." He spoke. Am I? She thought. She was trying to remember what happened prior to her being there. The last thing she could remember was the Refugees swarming the mall she stayed in. Did they bring help? She slowly lowered her head. "Why does my head hurt so badly." "You were in an accident back at the mall." He replied as she sighed. Of course. She was always getting herself into trouble. 

"Leith did you always know you were infected with that chemical?" Her father asked. "Yeah... It's been a rough few years." She muttered. "Do you... remember anything?" He spoke in a strange tone. A red flag rose in her when she looked at him. Something didn't seem right, but she didn't know what it was. "Not really. How long was I out?" She asked. "You were in a coma for several months. We found you in the mall." He spoke. She smiled. "Thanks for finding me.. I'm happy to see you're still alive Father.." She huffed. He nodded "Likewise sweetheart." Before she could ask about where she was a soldier walked in. "Sure, the attack is completed." Leith blinked. Red Flag. A pit formed in her stomach. "Attack?" She spoke. Her father looked at her mortified. "Nothing Darling. I need to go back to work. Make yourself at home. There are others here if you wanna make friends." He didn't even give her an explanation before he vanished with the soldier on the other side of the med door. 

Leith took a few minutes to collect herself before she got up and walked towards the door. She was in a flowery dress. She nearly gagged at the look of it. "Oh, Oh god, it's so gaudy..." She whined. "I guess it's all I got, I ain't about to walk around stark ass naked. Anyways... I wonder what he meant by Others." She mumbled to herself as she slipped the slippers by the door on and walked out into the hall. Her father and the soldier weren't nowhere to be seen. As she walked down the hall she noticed a sign that said cafe. FOOD! Range in her mind as she picked up pace and found the double swing doors. When she pushed threw them she felt her soul leave her body. "Oh my god..." She muttered. Sitting in the cafeteria, talking, eating, laughing. Some even playing board games and such. Were others, like her. Chemical survivors. She stood frozen as a little girl with short green hair ran up to her. "Hai you must be the new lady!" Her little orange hues gleamed with happiness at her. Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm... I'm not alone..." She suddenly burst into a sob. Several others got up and ran to her. "Hey, Hey, new girl, Chill. You're making us look bad." A man said with a smug facial expression. The little girl scoured at him. "You shut yo god damn mouth you Shrek faced looking fucker." The little girl had to be no older than 10 years old, who screamed at him. He threw his arms up. "Damn, you kiss your mom with that mouth." "I'm 20 years old fucker. I'm allowed to cuss." She gave him the middle finger. Leith had stopped crying and was looking at the little girl with 'are you kidding me' eyes. Thats when she remembered the gas stops people from growing, the moment they are infected. She must have stopped growing at age ten and never got any bigger, damn that sucks.

The little girl looked back at her. "So, pretty lady, what is your name!" "Leith..." She narrowed her eyes. "Whats bothering you...?" She asked. Leith sighed and gave them a serious look. "Something doesn't feel right... I feel like something is wrong here." She huffed. "I just cannot remember." The little girl sighed. "First off my name is Ami. and... you aren't wrong. We believe the same. But you can't freak out around here or they will take you away and never let you come back." "What?!" Leith gasped softly. Some of the others went back to what they were doing. "You have to pretend to be cool. Not draw a... negative attention to yourself. A guard started his approach and the little girl quickly smiled at him. "She hasn't eaten and is starving and felt faint. She'll be ok after she eats." He shrugged, turned around and went back to his post. "See what I mean.." Ami spoke softly and Leith nodded getting back to her feet. Ami pulled her up with what little strength she could. "Lets get you some food." She nodded. 

Moments later, Leith was sitting at a cafeteria table with a burger, fries and even a cold Dr. Pepper in front of her. She was in awe. She happily dug into the food as Ami and a couple others sat with her. Ami spoke softly between bites of her own food. "What do you think they did to you?" The question snapped her from her delicious chewing. "Hm?" She made a silly face. She swallowed the food and took a drink. She then sighed. "I'm not sure but I feel like it has something to do with my memory." Leith huffed. "I believe it. Raj over there. He came with no memory of what happened before hand. Now he secretly remembers everything. We know he was a Tephra's adopted son. He said when he got his memories back, he felt so heart broken." "I still do... He was the only father figure I have." He butts in from across the table. Ami nodded and she continued. "We are planning a revolt in a few months. We're gonna get out of here." Leith nodded. She completely agreed. Something was very fishy, and she didn't care if her father was involved. She lost respect for him when he let her mother die. 

-Time jump- 2 months later. - 

Leith Woke up, took her shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed and was ready for her day. The revolt was in less than a month. With Ami's little sleep overs every now and then. She managed to get some memory fragments back, but not all. On her way to the med unit Ami walked up to her. "Good morning, Leith!" Leith smiled. "Hey Ami!" "Why are you going to the med unit? Are you ok? You aren't hurt are you?" She asked. Leith laughed. "No. I'm fine. I've been feeling a bit sick lately. My father made it clear that I have to get bloodwork once a week and take this strange yellow vitamin daily." She spoke as Ami tilted her head and arched an eyebrow. She made a face like she knew what was going on. "Mhmmm... yeah, ok." "What? What's with that face?" "Oh nothing." Ami laughed. Leith sighed "Alright, well I'll be right back..." She walked into the med unit, ten minutes later she walked out. "Alright, let's go." "Hey, can we talk in the bathroom? They cannot record us in there." Ami asked as she crossed her little arms. "Uh, sure." She walked with her to the bathroom and when they walked in, two other girls were inside. Leith was confused. "Everything ok?" She asked as Ami and the girls looked at her. "Leith. What are your symptoms again?" "What is this about?" She huffed baffled. Ami sighed and cut right to the chase. "Leith, we think you're pregnant." She spoke with a serious tone. Leith felt her blood run cold. "W..what..? No that's i... impossible." Leith stuttered. "Leith, you don't know that. You yourself said you believe they did something to your memory. You have gotten fragments of memories back involving a Tephra. We believe that that base they went and attacked... Was your home. You were with a Tephra romantically and you're father. Isn't your father. He has called us all his children." Ami spoke. "We think that he's gathering us up to use us against them due to our, special abilities." Another girl spoke. Ami sighed. "Leith think about it. All of your symptoms lately, match pregnancy. If it was with a Tephra. That could be why... they are hiding it from you and just saying you are sick... They will take that baby from you as soon as your labor would start. A hybrid Teph and Chemically infected Human? Thats a combination they do not have right now." Ami spoke with a concerned shift in her tone. "If I am, what do we do? We planned to revolt in a month." "You let us handle that, we will get you out of here." Ami tapped her finger on her chin. Leith still hasn't gotten used to a child looking 20 year old. 

After their conversation they all went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Leith didn't eat much, she just played with her eggs, moving them around her plate with her fork. Ami could tell she had a lot to think about. She scuffed as she stood up. "I'm gonna go back to my room. I'll talk to you guys later." She walked to the trash and dumped her tray, placing it on the wrack then walked out. Ami was staring at her confused. 

Leith walked towards her room as she felt an emotion building inside of her. entering her room she closed the door, locking it. She was struggling to process everything she learned today. Her room had a mirror and she hesitated to stand in front of it at first. Eventually she grew her courage and slowly stepped in front of it. She saw a troubled girl in scrub styled pants and a t-shirt. She gulped and turned to her side. Slowly lifting her shirt. She started to breath heavier when she noticed the difference in her stomachs flat shape. It appeared that she was getting a bit of chub around her belly area, but she knew now what it was. Rubbing her stomach softly. "Well get out of here..." She huffed. Lowering her shirt, she sat on her bed. "I need to figure out how to get my memories back." She whispered softly as she dug her nails slightly into her pants. 

A sudden commotion outside her door caused her to stand up quickly. When she heard a knock, she assumed it was Ami, but when she opened the door, she saw the man who called himself her father. He had multiple soldiers with him. "What's going on?" She asked as he stared at her with empty, emotionless eyes at her. "Cafeteria, now." She blinked confused. She had no choice but to follow them. Once in the cafeteria. she noticed all the chemi's were inside. Ami looked at Leith worryingly. 

Something serious was about to happen and Leith could feel it.