A Fresh Start

Chapter 26

With the hospital gown on the bed and the scrubs on, I was ready to get out of this hell hole as quickly as possible. But I'd have to get my things before I left. Carl's picture was still in my backpack. If anything, I couldn't leave that behind. I'd have to find out where my possessions were being held. Dawn said they were kept in a storage room. I needed to get to it. How, was something that I'd figure out later. The left leg of my scrubs looked extremely bulky. All thanks to this huge cast that was on it. I contemplated leaving the room right away. Making Dawn wait a little longer gave me the slightest amount of satisfaction. But she'd eventually come in and see why I was taking so long. It wasn't a good idea to keep her waiting. It be funny but not smart. Not the best first impression. I went over and opened the door. Dawn was standing there waiting for me.

"All right. If you'll follow me, please," she said.

I did as she said. We made our way down the hall. The lights were not on. Not functioning I gathered. The only light that we got was from the windows of the rooms that were open. She gave me the typical tour. Where things were kept, how things worked, etcetera, etcetera. In all honesty, I was not paying much attention to what she was telling me. My mind stirred with the different ways I could possibly escape this place.

"So each officer has at least one ward assigned to them. The wards that aren't assigned to an officer are in charge of other duties such as laundry, food preparation or cleaning. Officer Shepherd does not have a ward assigned to her at the moment so you'll be her ward. She's currently out on a run but she should be back shortly. I'll introduce you two then. In the meantime, I'm sure you're hungry. I'll show you to the cafeteria," she said that I had allowed myself to hear.

She led us down another narrow hallway until we reached the cafeteria.

"Help yourself to whatever you like. I only ask that you don't make a mess," she said.

I nodded and she left me to it. It wasn't much but it was something. I grabbed a tray and started looking at the options I was given. I grabbed a bowl and placed what looked like soup into it. Then I placed few vegetables on a plate.

"Keeping your strength up are you? Smart," a man said from behind me.

I turned to see him annoyingly close to me. I gave him a half smile and continued. He then moved across me.

"You don't remember me do you?" he said.

I looked up at him.

"Am I supposed to?" I asked.

"Well when someone saves your life, you don't usually forget," he said.

"Is that what you'd call it? Hitting someone upside the head, knocking them unconscious so they aren't able to fight back? Is that what saving someone's life means nowadays?" I asked him.

He seemed to be taken aback at the fact that I did in fact remember how I got here. He was quick to fix his composure however.

"You must have suffered some sort of memory lapse. A dead one was right about to sink its teeth into you. I was quick to act. Had I not, you wouldn't be here about to enjoy a meal," he said smiling.

This guy was bad news. Wasn't hard to know why.

"Well I wouldn't be able to say would I? Considering the fact that I was knocked out and all," I said.

"Look, I came here for a simple 'thank you'. If you can't give me that, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to write down everything you take because of course, everything costs something right?" he said.

I looked down at my tray. These assholes take down what we take in order to tell us that we owe them more work. The more I owed, the longer I'd be staying here. That was not happening. I was not staying here any longer than I needed to. I took my hands off of the tray and turned to leave. The officer was quick to block my way.

"I never introduced myself did I? Officer Gorman," he said holding out his hand.

I didn't take it.

"You know, you could always thank me in a different manner," he continued in a softer voice.

I looked at him and immediately knew what he was referring to.

"I'm sorry but standing here, looking at you suddenly gives me the strong urge to go puke," I said stepping around him and making my way out.

What a creep. I wondered if Dawn knew how much of a creep that guy was. I'm sure she did. Explains why he's still here. I made my way back to the room that I would be staying in for now. I thought about the family that was still out there. I went and looked out at the city again. Longing to be out of this prison and looking for my family. I wondered whether they were safe. If they were with good people. Above anything else however, I hoped with everything I had that they had somehow managed to find each other again. That they were all together and still kicking. The door suddenly opened.

"You weren't hungry?" Dawn asked.

"I lost my appetite," I said.

"How come?" she asked.

"Met Officer Gorman. He talked me out of eating," I said.

She looked disappointed. As if she was hoping that I wouldn't come across him or something.

"Do you know what kind of person he is?" I asked her reading her face.

"I'm sorry you lost your appetite but you have to keep your strength up. Come on, I'll go with you," she said.

"The more I take the longer I have to stay and work right? That's how it works around here isn't it?" I asked suddenly annoyed at how she ignored the question about Gorman.

"I don't want you thinking of this as a sentence. It's being smart. You need to survive. And how can you survive without your strength up? Now come on. It's time for me to get something to eat myself," she said.

Playing along, I followed her back to the cafeteria.