The Taken

3

Jake hissed awake as he smelled the familiar stench of unwashed children, mixed with the guts and blood of corpses. He still wasn't used to this new life. Sure it had only been a year since the Disaster, but he was still processing the new world.

He yawned, unzipped his sleeping bag and slumped up to stand up on his sore feet. Pain shot through his back, he threw it out only a week ago, he thought it would go away but it still hadn't.

He swore as he doubled over in agony, grabbing at his lower back. His body had slowly been getting weaker from all the fighting and surviving. It had been hell dealing with all the injuries since he was never educated about the matter of healing himself.

He looked up to see Ramona with a blank stare on her face. She was skinny with darker skin and frizzy yet matted hair.

"Are you okay?" She asked emotionlessly.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine," Jake lied, "I just need to talk to Rick. Where is he anyway?"

"I saw him over by the window," Ramona responded with a hint of sympathy.

Jake stood properly, holding the pain in his back with ease. They were on the fourth floor of the Salt Lake City Public Library since it seemed the safest. It was in the heart of downtown Salt Lake, surrounded by other emptied and modern buildings. The structure wasn't as secure as they were hoping but it had many floors and few entrances.

Jake walked past the many shelves of books to the vast and open window where Rick was looking out upon the City. He was mumbling to his second in command about something that Jake didn't care about.

Jake called to Rick, but he didn't respond.

"Rick!" Jake yelled.

"Jesus kid, what?" Rick answered, turning himself towards Jake.

"Do we have any painkillers?"

"What for?"

"My back hurts really bad," Jake whined.

Rick sighed, "We probably do, but this is the only time I'm giving you these. If you wanna go to the Medical Center after this, you can."

"Thank you," Jake said gratefully.

Rick pursed his lips and nodded. He sent one of his kids to fetch the pills.