Hungry Heart

The Voices

"I'm going to die. We're all going to die. " a soft voice cried in the dark.
"If only they knew, if only they could figure it out!" another soft voice pierced the darkness.
"They should burn us all." a male voice boomed above the others.
And suddenly an echo of voices exploded inside the darkness. They were all frantic and sad, all of them saying the same thing, but in different ways. They started screaming and it felt like I could explode...
I sat up, but my cuffed hands prevented me from sitting up straight. A sharp light blinded my eyes. I squinted beyond the light to see two small figures at the edge of my bed.
"Let me get that for you." Lily said as she quickly reached up and clicked the light off.
"Good morning, Ali." Diana beamed at me. I frowned at her. She wasn't supposed to be here.
"Daddy said we could come visit you once a day if-" Diana was cut off by a deep booming voice.
"If I was with them." Maurice said coldly as he stepped closer to the bed.
I looked from the girls to him and smiled at him as if to say 'Thank you.', because I really enjoyed the girls' company. They treated me like I was a normal person.
"Who's Kyle?" Diana's curious voice startled me. How did she know?
I looked over at Maurice. Did he tell them?
"You keep calling to him when you sleep. And I just thought, since you can't talk and all, he must be really important to you if you can pronounce his name." Diana slowly said.
I hung my head and shut my eyes. How could I possibly explain to these little girls what Kyle is to me? Or was to me, anyway. Truth is, I didn't know what he was to me at that time. I had no idea if he was still alive or not.
I looked at Maurice and saw the cold look leave his eyes. A tear slipped from my eye, but I couldn't wipe it away. Instead, I pulled on one hand to motion to Maurice that I needed one hand to be uncuffed.
Please I seemed to be screaming in my mind.
Maurice hesitated for a second, but still uncuffed me. I used my free hand to tap on the ring finger of my other hand.
Diana gasped, "Your husband?"
I nodded and a smile crept over my lips. I gave my hand back to Maurice so that he could cuff me again.
Maurice stood there, watching me smile as his little girls bounced with excitement and decided that the cuffs weren't necessary anymore, since he uncuffed the other hand and dropped the cuffs onto the table.
I gave him another thank you smile as I rubbed my wrists.
"How long have you two been married?" Lily asked.
I shrugged. I had no clue. I couldn't remember our wedding day, but I did remember saying I do.
The door opened and a small, petite woman with black hair and brown eyes came into the room, followed by a familiar face. His short brown hair complimented his blue eyes well. The soldier that knocked me out, Gunman.
"Reece, Ty." Maurice nodded as they entered.
"Hello, Alice. My name is Reece." the woman held out her hand, but I didn't want to take it. I was still covered in dried blood. Instead, I held out my palm to show her that I didn't want her to touch my dirty skin.
"Right," she said pulling her arm back, "The Council instructed me to accompany you to a nice shower and then I am to teach you how to talk again. I believe you've met Ty." she gestured to the soldier and I glared at him.
"Lily, Diana, come. Let's give Alice some time to do what she needs to do." Maurice helped the girls out. The door clicked behind him and Reece let out a deep breath.
"Look, Princess." she said as she put her hands on her hips, "If it was up to me, I'd have driven a knife through your brain a long time ago. I hear you have random episodes where you just zombie out. Just so we're clear, I won't hesitate to end you when you freak out on me, okay?"
I like her I decided. I smiled and nodded.
Reece smiled back, "Fortunately for you, Ty offered to accompany me as I accompany you. Someone would have to put me down if you bit me."
I nodded again.
"Do you know how to walk? Come on, get up." She started walking to the door. I quickly jumped up and felt an immediate pang of pain in my gut. I leaned against the table for support.
Reece pulled a knife from her boot and Ty cooked his gun and aimed at me.
When the pain passed I stood up straight and smiled at the two of them. They waited a few seconds before putting their weapons away.
"Today is going to be a long day." Reece said as she came to my side and let me lean on her for support, "Hell, you stink."
We turned into the hall and a strange feeling came over me. I started to panic inwardly. Please don't let this be another episode.
And to my relief it wasn't, but it wasn't any good either. I can only describe it as if a bunch of frantic voices all jumped into my head at the same time. It started soft, but as we walked down the long passage the voices grew louder and louder.
And then I saw it. We passed a room that was packed with zombies. They were all pressing against the glass. It's a wonder that glass hasn't broken yet. "Don't worry, Princess. It's reinforced. You're safe." Reece urged me on.
As we reached the end of the hallway the voices started to quiet down until I couldn't hear them anymore.
Maybe you're just imagining it.

Maurice walked in on me and Reece laughing hysterically. He seemed surprised as Reece stood up, still laughing.
"Mister Neeson." Reece stood up straight, trying to keep her giggles to herself.
"What's so funny, Reece?" Maurice was being cold again, so I decided to chime in and show off.
"It's a girl thing, Maurice." I said and his head snapped to me.
"Turns out she didn't forget how to talk, she just needed a reason to." Reece said and winked at me.
She was right. After a nice awkward shower filled with me having to keep my arms up while Ty was turned around, gun ready, and Reece was scrubbing furiously at my skin, we came back and sat down on my small hospital bed. She started asking me questions and urging me on to answer them, but I couldn't form the words. Maybe I didn't even try. Not until she said, "We all love someone in this shitty world. Who is it that you love?" and my immediate response was, "Kyle." and so she kept asking me about him and after hours, I managed to be able to say a complete sentence. We talked for hours and hours about life before the Plague, our old families, Kyle and Reece's husband. When nightfall came, she promised she'd be back the next day. Four days later, I could talk like a decent person. The only problem was that Ty had to stand there all the time, listening to my deepest secrets.
I liked Reece a lot. She was funny and had a strong personality. She was a speech therapist for an elementary school before the Plague.
"Good." Maurice said, "Then your work here is done. Please report back to your post."
Reece nodded and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze before leaving.
"Well that was unnecessary." I stood up and looked Maurice in the eyes.
"She had a job to do and it was done. Now it's time to move on to the next one." Maurice said.
I nodded and went to my bed to sit down. A long pause dawned on the room. I think Maurice wanted to tell me something, but I interrupted him.
"Why don't I like you, Maurice?" I said and Maurice looked stunned, "I only remember your name, but I have no idea why I feel all this hatred towards you. I don't even remember how we met."
Maurice was silent for a moment before saying, with heavy grief in his voice, "Alice, there are things-"
A commotion down the hall stopped him. We heard a hiss and a scream and another hiss. Maurice threw the door open and Ty and I followed.
There was a girl. A zombie. She was attacking one of the guards, biting into his neck. Two men came from behind, one pulled the girl away from the guard and the other pulled a bag over her head. The guard dropped to the ground and writhed in pain. I knew what he was going through. The transition is a painful process and it happens in a matter of seconds. It feels like every nerve in your body is on fire and then you just feel numb. Before we could react, the guard was up, his eyes bloodshot and his head twitching.
Maurice pulled out his gun and I instinctively covered my ears, closed my eyes and turned away. There was a bang and the guard dropped. I didn't want to open my eyes again. I didn't want to see this anymore.
"No!" I heard a female voice yell. "No!" I looked up, but there were only men in the hall.
"What have I done." the female voice cried, "Kill me! Kill me please!"
I looked at the zombie girl. She was the only female in the room. Could it be possible?
The two guards opened the door to their side, the one right next to the zombie cage, and threw her in.
The zombies pressed against the glass, moaned louder and hissed sharper at the humans. I walked over to the glass and stood in front of the zombies. The voices returned and I realized that I wasn't the only one that was trapped.
I am hearing the trapped souls call out. As I approached the glass, the zombies stopped scurrying and all of them looked at me.
"Alice. " Ty said as he touched my elbow.
"I'm not the only one." I said, more to myself than to him.