Dead But Not Gone

I Love You

Derek

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a doctor cutting into my skin. I tried to scream but couldn't. My body felt heavy and I blinked slowly. I saw other doctors looking at a computer screen with my friends' faces on it. I was extremely confused and tried fighting back but ultimately fell back asleep.

I opened my eyes once again and gasped for air. I sat up straight and looked around at my surroundings. I was in a room and I put my hand on my head. I had the worst headache and my body ached. I managed to stand up and saw I was in a room numbered 442. I opened the door and peered out into the hallway. My vision was still blurry but I managed to make my way past the random people walking by. I had to rest on a wall to regain my composure. The dream I had felt so real.

I looked down at my chest and saw only the scar I had from the glass that cut me and felt relieved. A large digital clock displaying military time was on a wall and it read 07:00. The people continued walking past me and then a door opened up beside me. Alessandra stepped out and saw me.

"Derek!" She exclaimed.

We kissed and I held her tight.

"I guess we made it to the ship?" I asked.

"Yes we did, but we don't have our weapons or anything. But are you okay? How do you feel?" Aless said as she caressed my face.

"In all honesty, I feel like absolute horse shit. I'll be okay though. Where are the others?"

"They're asleep in their rooms. But uh...if you're up for it, we can have some fun before they wake up?" She suggested seductively.

I smiled at her and we kissed again. Our lips locked and I managed to lift her up as she wrapped her legs around my waist. We made our way into her room and closed the door behind us.

"You said you were feeling like shit about 10 minutes ago." She panted.

"I was and still am but couldn't turn you down again." I replied.

"Hey, I love you. I know we've only been together for a couple days but I do. At least I think I do. I get this warm fuzzy feeling when I'm next to you and I care about you deeply. If that's not love in an apocalypse then I don't know what is."

I turned to my side and faced her. I kissed her again and put my hand on her cheek. "I love you too Alessandra."

Alessandra fell asleep in my arms. We were awoken by someone knocking at the door. I jumped up and tried finding my clothes but wasn't successful. Stella walked in and saw me with a blanket around my waist and Aless sleeping naked.

"Well shit, you're awake! But I didn't know you guys were a thing. No worries, you two get dressed and meet us in the cafeteria." She said without caring about the sight.

I let out a breath of air and nodded at her. She closed the door and I woke Alessandra up. I told her to get dressed and that we had to meet the others in the cafeteria. I found my shirt, except it wasn't my shirt. I remembered having a black shirt stained with blood but this shirt was grey. My jeans were also replaced with white sweats.

"Oh yeah they gave everybody new clothes. Its weird that they all fit so perfectly." Aless told me.

"Aw fuck someone changed my clothes while I was asleep. God damn it that's embarrassing." I dropped my head.

Aless laughed and finished getting dressed. We put our shoes on and headed to the cafeteria.

When we arrived, we found the our friends sitting at a table. Hazel and Star gave me a hug while Xander patted me on the back. Soldiers were placed all over the room and kept a keen eye on everybody. Then, an Asian lady stood in the front of the cafeteria with a microphone.

"Hello everybody. Welcome to the Hope! We depart in 17 hours and I want to make sure everybody is settled down. We made sure to have rooms for all newcomers that are pouring in. It's gonna get crowded in here so please, bare with me. Today's breakfast is a strawberry strudel MRE. It won't taste as good as the real thing but its edible and doesn't taste half bad. And just a reminder that you're permitted 5 minute showers a day. There are also set rules so don't disobey orders given. Any rules broken repeatedly result in expulsion. You'll be removed from the ship and given only a small bag of supplies once outside. Anyway, enough talking and enjoy your meals!" She announced to the room.

"So who's that?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Her name's Zoey. She sent out the transmission and is leader of this place. She seems nice enough." Xander answered me with a mouthful of MRE.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked me.

"Me? Yeah I'm fine. I was a little dizzy when I woke up but I'm okay now. I had the strangest dream though. I was getting surgery or something and I saw your faces on a computer screen. I woke up before I could investigate any further though." I responded.

"Damn that does sound pretty weird." Star said. "But we're all together again. Let's hope this place doesn't go to shit."

I looked around and saw a doctor that looked eerily familiar. I ignored it and proceeded to eat my food.

This place wasn't bad. I was filled with hope again. I just hoped everything turned out okay. Our group was separated, but we made sure to never forget about the others. I thought about those we lost... Alex, Mike... And I remembered Luis. He would've been proud of who I became. I smiled at our memories, then promised him something.

I'll never let anybody I care about die again.