Rogue

Chapter 2 : New Dawn

"In case you were wondering," the man said, "my name is Storm. What's your name, stranger?"

"Storm?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "its kinda like a nickname thing."

"In that case," I said, "my name's Sketch."

"Nice to meet you, Sketch," he said.

"You too," I said, "but why did you pick me up?"

"I'm a scout for Blood Clan," he said proudly, "I pick up Rogues."

Blood Clan. I'd heard that name before. They were one of the most powerful clans in the United States. Their symbol, was a hand holding a bloody knife. It was spray painted everywhere in the surrounding area.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"Well," he said, "I saw you killing those Lurkers from a distance. We'll probably accept you into the clan." I couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing. For a while after that, we drove along the road. Eventually, we came to a stop in front of a large gate. Behind the gate were two working streetlights. I hadn't seen an operational streetlight since the war.

"Who's there?!" A voice shouted.

"It's me," Storm said, "We've got a Rogue."

"Sweet," the voice said. There man was standing in a watchtower hidden in the trees. I could barely see his silhouette. He flicked a switch and there was a quiet squeal, and the gate slowly began to open. After we drove in, the gate started to close behind us.

It must've been early morning, because the sun was rising over the trees. The rain had decreased to a slight drizzle. We went around a bend in the road and I saw something quite amazing. In front of us was an immense concrete bunker. On top of the bunker were about ten Anti-Aircraft guns. To the left of the bunker in a clearing was a large airstrip.

"Home Sweet home," Storm said happily.

"What is this?" I asked, looking around in wonder. Armed guards waved as we drove past.

"Used to be an old army base," Storm replied, "it was completely empty after the war. Now it is the main base of the glorious blood clan."

"Holy crap..." I said, I was just about speechless. As I looked around, Storm pulled up to the bunker, and a metal garage door opened for us. Inside the massive garage were hundreds of vehicles. Storm parked in an empty spot and turned off the engine.

"Let's go get you patched up," he said. I had completely forgotten about my wounds. As soon as he mentioned them, the pain returned. Luckily, the gunshot wound had stopped bleeding quite a while ago. He helped me off the quad and we walked up to a door at the end of the garage. He pushed it open and inside was a dark hallway. On both sides of the hallway were many numbered doors. behind each one, I could hear faint snores. "You'll sleep in one of these rooms," he said,"Everyone will probably be up in an hour or two." We finally reached the hospital wing after a brisk walk. The doors to the hospital were clear glass. Coming through was bright white light. Inside, nurses and doctors darted between the hospital bed, checking up on patients.

"After you," I said, motioning to the door. Storm nodded and opened the door for me. Immediately, chilling cold and the strong scent of chemicals flew past me. I coughed. Storm and I walked inside and a nurse walked up to us.

"Hi," Storm," the young nurse said.

"Hey, Polly," he said, and hitched up his belt, "Sketch and I got in a bit of a scrape. I was wondering if you could patch him up."

"Are you okay?" She asked, not even looking at me.

"I'm fine," he said, "but Sketch needs some help. There's a lot of dry blood by his leg."

"He have any bites?" she asked.

"No, I believe he's clean. Right, Sketch?"

"I'm clean," I said quickly.

"Alright then," Storm said, "I'm going to get some sleep. See ya Sketch."

"See ya," I said and watched him walk outside. I looked back over to Polly and noticed she had been looking at me, as if she was figuring me out.

"I can see you've been out there a while, Sketch."

"Yeah," I said, feeling my scraggly beard and shaggy hair.

"You'll be fine here," she said, patting my shoulder, "Now let's go get you fixed up." She led into into a small office. In the corner of the room was a small chair. "Take a seat," she said, "I'll be right back." She left me in the office, sitting in the chair. So far, I didn't know what to make of Blood Clan. So far, I had been treated nicely and was receiving medical care, but something seemed a little off. "Back!" Polly said, walking back into the office, carrying a box of medical supplies. "Now let's get started on that leg." She reached down and tore away a section of my jeans.

"Jesus.." I said, looking at the gunshot wound. The flesh around the entry point was bloody, red and purple.

"Looks like a gunshot wound if I've ever seen one," Polly said. She lifted my leg up and looked at the other side. "No exit wound." I was afraid of what she'd say next. "Well, Sketch," she said, "this is going to hurt like hell." I reached over to her box, grabbed a cloth and bit down on it. "Good idea," she said, "now let's get to business." She leaned over and grabbed a scalpel from her kit. With steady hands, she begin to cut the flesh around the bullet lodged in my leg.

I howled in pain each time the blade cut into my flesh. The agony was worse than actually being shot. There came a point where I thought i would die, but a second later, she pulled the small bullet out with a pair of tweezers. Quickly, she cleaned the wound with alcohol (which stung)and then she wrapped it all with some gauze. After she fixed my leg, she healed up some other scratches I was covered with.

"Well, Sketch," she said, wiping off her bloody hands on a towel, "you sure are a tough sonovabitch."

"Thanks," I said, "What now?"

"It's been a long night," she said, "I'll find an empty bunk in a room for you. In the meantime, you can shower." She led me out of her office and let me go into the shower room by myself. She gave me a towel and a set of clothes and walked off. Although showers were such a simple thing before the war, I hadn't had one in a couple of years. I took off my clothes and saw how skinny I was. I was covered in dirt, ash and blood and I was very skinny. I could see my rib cage pressed against my skin. I turned the shower handle and water began to flow out. Instantly, I was showered in warm water. I had never felt anything so good in my life. I watched as the dirt that was caked on me disappeared down the drain with the water. After a while, I felt the cleanest I had felt in a long time. I grabbed my towel off the rack and began to dry myself off.

"All done in there?" came Polly's voice.

"Gettin' dressed," I said, and began to dress myself. Once I was fully clothed, I stepped out from behind the shower curtain and looked at myself in the mirror. My tall body looked weird when I was so lean. My clothes just kind of hung on me.

"You can get some food tomorrow," she said, "sadly the mess hall is closed at this hour."

"That's fine," I said, holding my aching stomach, "can I go to sleep, though?"

"Sure," she said and laughed, "follow me."

"What's up?" A groggy voice said.

"New roommate," Polly said. Polly threw my pack onto an empty bed. "Night , Sketch." she said and left through the door. I laid won in my bed and closed my eyes. It felt so good to finally have a home.