Reflection

The hallway of broken glass

I walk down the hall, pieces of glass cover the floor. My bare feet sting and bleed everywhere. The sword in my hand drags along the floor behind me.

Alex walks behind me, he carefully picks his path around the broken glass. He looks up at me every couple moments. His milky brown eyes reflect worry and kindness.

I ignore him, the ache in my feet and the blood that covers me from head to toe. I have no idea what blood was mine and what was not.

"Rachel!" I hear a voice call from ahead of Alex and me.

Then a boy that looks to be about twelve runs around the corner. His blond hair tousled and dirty. "Have you seen Rachel?" He asks, whimpering.

I stop frozen as Alex hurries past me toward the boy. "No.." He says looking the boy up and down. "Are you alright?"

The boy shakes as if cold, although it was extremely hot, then he falls. Luckily Alex's reflexes were still extremely quick despite the exhaustion I knew he was feeling.

The second Alex picks the boy up into his arms was the moment I recognize him. "Aaron." I murmur, dropping the sword and running down the rest of the hall. I put my bloody hands on both of his cheeks. "Oh my god!" I exclaim.

Alex looks down at me, he is tall, 6' 2" to be exact. He holds Aaron a little tighter, and bit his lip pensive. "We should get going." He murmurs.

I nod slowly, moving away from Aaron and Alex. "Alright let's go." I whisper, leading the way down the rest of the hall. The sword forgotten.

When we finally make it out of the long building and out into the rising sunlight, I lay down sprawling out across the cold concrete. Blood flows from multiple places and my feet ache.

Alex sets Aaron down next to me and wanders a little bit away, obviously standing guard.

The sound of breaking glass from inside makes me sit up tense. Then the door swings open and a girl with long dark brown hair and dull blue eyes looks around. Her hair is tangled and streaked with dark red blood.

When her eyes land on Aaron they widen. "Oh my gosh!" She exclaims running to his side. My thoughts race and my brain spits out a name, Rachel.

I see Alex tense up out of the corner of my eye, but I signal for him to calm down. He nods, and lowers his small dagger.

Rachel looks up at me, "Karissa?" She asks, squinting against the rising sun. I nod slowly, tensing up. She sighs relieved. "Oh thank god, a familiar face." Her eyes twinkle a little with hope.

Alex walks up to my side, and touches my shoulder lightly. I don't acknowledge him, my eyes trained on Rachel and Aaron. Rachel looks down at Aaron brushing the hair from his eyes. She murmurs something to him.

I look away, and down to my feet. The pain in them finally hits me, and I stumble a little. Alex jumps a little and supports my weight, "what's wrong?" He asks, his eyes wide.

The last thing I see before my vision goes black is the fresh wave of blood pouring from the wound in my side.

When I blink my eyes open, I feel almost... Clean?

But it's impossible of course and I would know. The probability of getting washed and cleaned is not an option anymore.

But when I look down at myself dressed in a faint pink dress with white flowers. I crinkle my nose, because this is probably the first time in my life I've ever worn a dress.

My hair doesn't feel sticky or stringy so I reach up and touch it. A pang of faint pain throbs through my body and I wince. "Ow.." I whimper.

A boy with golden blond hair jolts awake. "Oh gosh!" He exclaims.

I tilt my head slightly, "what is this place? W-where am I?" I ask, wincing in pain again my voice hardly audible.

The boy stares at me disbelieving, then turns and walks out of the room not answering my questions.

I try to call out to him, but my voice comes out as barely a squeak.

For the first time since waking up I look around. A tube that I recognize as an IV is attached to my arm, another tube wraps around my face and helps me breath through my nose. The machine behind me beeps rhythmically flashing my vitals.

A thought dawns on me, and I look around a little more. 'I'm in a hospital.' I think, my heart races with fear.

'But that's impossible!' My brain argues, 'there aren't any hospitals anymore. They were all destroyed!'

Then, finally, a familiar face appears in the doorway to the room. Although he looks slightly older more mature. "Oh my god..." He murmurs, his eyes widen.

"A-al-Alex..." I stutter, and with that he crosses the room in a few short steps and hugs me tight. My breath escapes me and pain crosses through my whole body, but I push it deep down and hug him back. "What's happening.." I whisper to him, coughing a little.

He sighs slowly, his warm breath tickling the skin on my neck. "I thought..." He starts but a sob chokes him and he falls silent. I don't move, rigid with pain and confusion.

I close my eyes, and hold my breath. After a few minutes Alex pulls away from me and looks into my eyes. "I can't believe it."

I look at him, confusion distorts my expression. Then he sighs again, "I should explain." Is all he says.

"Yeah," I murmur glancing around the room. "How are we at a hospital?"

"It's the last, as you know most hospitals and places like it were hit first. It's a long explanation on how we found this place and that's for another time." He starts, brushing hair out of my face. "But no matter what, don't question it, we're safe and clean."

I nod slowly, his expression is pained but relieved.

"Alex?" I ask.

Alex looks at me, he looks so sad that I have to cringe and look away. "Yeah, Karissa?" He replies, studying me, as if unsure if any of it is real.

"How long have I b-been he-here?" I ask stuttering a little. My eyes search the room desperately trying not to meet his.

Alex looks down at the bed, messing with the hem of the white sheets, he doesn't respond.

"Alex.. What's wrong?" I ask suddenly worried, "how l-long?"

"About two years.." He whispers, his expression pained and a few tears roll down his cheeks. "I thought we had lost you."

I sit still rigid with shock. "Wh-what? Two y-years?" My voice slowly gets softer with every word. Alex pulls me into a hug again, and I cry out in the sudden pain. My vision wavers and I see him press a button connected to the IV. "What ar...." I never finish my sentence as my eyes close and my body relaxes. Every pain I had been experiencing disappears, until nothingness.