Junkertown Crisis

Chapter Four

The world hazes in and out of focus. Voices come and go, only to blend into the background, into the ringing in my ears. Images flash vivid in front of my eyes. Smoke. Fire. The high whining tone in my head never goes away and that drives me bloody insane.

Sombra comes and sits next to me and holds my hand, speaking softly. Then she leaves and Mum sits next to me instead. She's crying but only from one eye. The other dangles from its socket. As she sits beside me I start to see the white fleshy maggots crawling around inside her face.

"Mum, what happened?" I ask, horrified.

"It's okay, baby. Everything's gonna be okay." Even as she speaks the fire flickers up around her and she disappears in a wave of smoke.

Mako pushes through what's left of Mum and stands next to me, silent.

"Go away," I tell him. "You betrayed me. Go away."

"Learn." And he too is gone.

Then I wake up.

I spend a long, long moment staring up at the ceiling and trying to calm my heart. Sometimes I see Mum but only in her long dress and apron, smiling. I don't remember a time when she cried. I squeeze my eyes shut and struggle to block out the ugly image.

"Jamie?"

My chest tightens. I don't look up.

"Jamie, it's me." And for half a second, I can believe it's my mum. I breathe slow and deep and try to remember what she smelled like. Biscuits and tea. And wildflowers.

But I know that's wrong and desperately I try to find out why. I wrack my brain, going over and over the images in my head. Till finally I figure it out.

Her body lies under a fallen chunk of wood, too heavy for me to lift. I try to drag her out from under but it's hard with only one arm. It feels strange, to be suddenly unbalanced where before I was dexterous. My hand is slippery. Hot and cold run down my body in waves and blood splashes in huge drops onto her dress. Her apron. I can still smell faint whiffs of chocolate. Metallic and bitter and ashy and sweet.

"Jamie."

But that's not Mum. The man what rescued me did not come back for her.

"You need to eat. I know you're awake." Then her voice changes just slightly, she speaks just a little softer. "Do you need me to leave you alone?"

I suck a deep breath in through my nose and scrub at my eyes with the back of my hand. "Nah," I say. Hard to hear myself over the ringing. "Stay."

I'm in the same room as when Sombra brought me in. A nice little space, old but well furnished. By the bedside Sombra sits in a bony wooden chair, next to a table bearing a plate of food.

I'm draped in a sheet stained with ash and blood. My body still hurts but it's more bearable now. My arm and hand are freshly bandaged, as well as my leg and foot by the feel of it. My skin is still numb but I'm starting to regain feeling in my good arm.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"Not too long," Sombra says. "A couple days." She hands me the plate of food. "It's cold but I need you to eat."

I tear off a chunk of the bread with my teeth. That, right there, is the best feeling in the world.

"You barely made it," she says matter-of-factly. "Doc did a very risky blood transplant and your heart almost stopped before he could."

You're strong.

"No wonder I feel like crap," I mutter round a mouthful of bread.

She smiles wearily. "Yeah." After a moment of silence she adds, "I should probably go. Get some rest." I nod, but she lingers in her chair, eyes fixed on my face.

"Wha'?" I ask, a little bemused.

"You were crying," she says. "In your sleep. I was just wondering if you need something to help with the pain." She shrugs.

I chew in silence for a long moment, trying to think of what to say. Finally I decide to be honest. I dunno why... maybe there's something dangerous about her. "I'd need a new brain for that, mate," I say.

She gives me a searching look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I pull a face. "Do I look like I wanna talk?"

She shrugs again, and slips out of the room without another word.

I finish the rest of my food, trying pointedly to think of nothing. My mind, though, keeps coming back to the memory of those dreams like it's a compulsion. Part of me wants to tell her. But the part that wins out says it's best to keep this to myself.

I told Mako. The first night I spent with him after he found me, I told him about the dreams. Not like he didn't know - I woke up screaming every day that first week. At the time, I thought he cared.

I set the plate back on the bedside table and pull back the sheet. My foot's looking pretty good. Good enough to walk. I glance around the room and find my crutch propped up in the corner by the door.

I throw my legs off the edge of the bed and stand up. It don't hurt that bad. I stumble a little, but that's just cause it's been a few days since I've been up. I limp over to my crutch and prop myself between it and the wall, breathing hard. Okay, so maybe I'm not totally better yet. But I'm good enough to leave and find my own way on. Plus, if I leave now then that Sombra girl won't have a chance to interrogate me.

I open the door and step out into the street.