Affliction

Chapter 9

I anxiously paced around the room, expecting the worst. Dawson sat on the bed, which torn and dirty. Avery sat on the table with her legs crossed. The room was small and reminded me of a college dorm room. The floor had dirt and gunk littering it. The corners had black mold and mildew speckled across each inch.

There was a lantern hung in the far corner of the room, above the bed, lit just enough to see almost to the other side of the room. What was left for view was an almost pitch-black corner.

Avery bounced her leg and leaned back, supporting herself with her arms. She watched me as I walked back and forth, playing every possible scenario in my head. It had been a while since Saul had left us in here, and I had no idea how much longer we would be in here. I was tempted to grab my knife from my boot and start carving the first day into the wall. Not that it would do much. I doubt they would feed us if they planned to keep us in here. We would probably starve to death before we go to the fourth week.

I tried to shake the thought from my head before Avery called to me. "Mason, chill out already. They're coming back." She said, picking her teeth with the nail of her pinky finger.

I turned and looked at her, scowling. "And how do you know that? How do you know that we aren't trapped in here to die? What if they're being attacked out there? What if we're next?"

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and I swiveled around, coming face to face with Dawson. He wasn't smiling like he usually was, and for some reason, that thought bothered me. He was off, and I knew it. Maybe it was because of me. Maybe I was being too much. Suddenly I felt the need to apologize. But before either of us could get a word out, the sound of a lock clicking echoed through the room.

The three of us turned toward the door, watching as it opened to reveal a woman with long, brown hair tied into a messy bun. Her lips were plump, and her skin was a tan color. Her eyes were bright and colored a light tan color. She was short and petite, wearing a thick, dark grey coat and black jeans with boots.

She smiled at us quickly before she silently turned, rolled a small cart into the room, then locked the door once more. She pocketed the key before making her way back to us with the cart in front of her. A smile still played on her lips, like this was the most normal interaction she'd had in the past week. If I'm being honest, it probably was. This world was nothing even close to normal. Nothing about it has been the same since the outbreak. Everyone changed. Everyone was suddenly willing to do the worst just to survive.

The woman stopped walking once she was a few feet away from the door. She clasped her hands together and look at all of us. "My name is Ramona," she said, her voice slightly accented with a Hispanic accent. She glanced at each of us as she continued. "I would like to tend to your wounds, but to do that, I need you all to trust me. I am not going to hurt you. We have no interest in that. We simply want you all to be good people, to be able to live at least a little while longer in this world." She glanced at the cart, filled with medical supplies before looking back at us.

Dawson nodded next to me. "We trust you," he said, completely ignoring the fact that I had never said such a thing. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't really have much of a reason not to.

I sighed silently and looked at her. "Yeah." That's all I needed to say to show her my approval. That was the most she was getting from me."

Avery jumped down from the table and popped her hip out, placing her hand on it. "I agree. These little boys desperately need some medical attention."

Ramona sent a smile Avery's way before motioning for Dawson and I to sit on the bed. Reluctantly, I did, and Dawson followed after me. Ramona rolled the cart over to us as she got ready to treat the wounds on our heads. But before she began, she turned and dug into a small, white pouch on the cart. Seconds later, she pulled out a tester, slightly smaller than my own, and held it up to my forehead, waited, and then went to Dawson next. After she finished, she smiled, her face lighting up warmly before stuffing the tester away and looking for something else.