The Passing

Chapter Seven [updated]

Dr.Owen lifts the bag by its strap, carefully tucking it away behind her desk. A chaotic whirlpool of thoughts and emotions race faster than I can keep up. The door clicks shut, and her thin lips curl as she glowers at me through the low light. My heart beat slows as anguish slithers like a noose around my neck. Curling my hands into tight fists, I clench my jaw.

"Savanna's a trouble-maker, didn't I tell you?" She jokes, laughing sadistically, trying to get a rise out of me. Digging my nails deeper in my hands, I focus on one thing— we need to get out of here and we need to find Sam. And we need to do it now. "You know, a lady in that state has no business out on the road like that, i'm not sure where y'all came from but, she should really be better taken care of."

That's it. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Until yesterday we had all our people. Our camp was overrun by the horde and we've been looking for any trace of them that we can." I snap, standing so fast the chair falls back from under me. "Consider yourself and your camp privileged to not have lost anyone. We were doing fine until your men came along."

"Wait a minute, what horde?"

I pause, confusion clouding my train of thought. "What do you mean what horde, there were hundreds of them."

"A mass of that size would've made itself known. Even a dozen of them at a time can be heard for at least a block. I don't have time for your antics. I would've known about it if that were even remotely true." She continues on, but her voice is nothing but background noise. My heartbeat echoes in my ears as my world refuses to make sense of itself.

Nothing makes sense anymore.

"How can you be so dismissive? They have to be out there still, and all you can think about is a stupid bullet left in one of your men?"

Her eyes whip spitefully to mine. "This is much bigger than you'd ever be able to understand." Dr.Owen slams her fist on the desktop, and I jump. "I am doing everything humanly possible to keep the people of Damascus alive. I don't care what they did— they follow my orders. My men took back what was rightfully ours. It was you who stole our van and drove off. It was you who shot one of them and left them for dead."

"Then, what do you want?" I breathe, my voice brimming with defeat.

"It was her we originally wanted. But, now that I've had a chance to meet you." A sly smile creeps over her lips, and my stomach drops. Her eyes challenge mine but I refuse to stand down. "You aren't at all like how they said you'd be."

Someone bursts through the door.

"Dr.Owen, she's bleeding. We need you." Her face drops.

"Shit." She pushes from her chair and crosses the room.

I grab her arm. "What are you doing?"

She pauses momentarily, resting a hand atop of mine. "We have to see what's causing the bleeding, then we will know if she can even be saved."

"What does that even mean?" I exclaim, following her like a mad man out of her office. I'm temporarily blinded as I cross the threshold dividing her dark office to the stark white of the makeshift medbay. Tears cloud my already smudged vision, flowing wildly down my face. A heavy weight crushes my chest, making every breath labored. As my vision regains focus, I find Dr.Owen at Savanna's side, nurses stand back, encircling her bed without a hair of space between them. Scrubs spots me and steps away, the gap her abandoned position leaves is immediately closed by the other nurses.

"Kimila,"

"Please, just let me see her. She's my family, she's all I have left. I need to see her, please." She holds me back by my shoulders, keeping eyes trained on mine as mine refuse to leave Savanna. I try to wiggle free, but her grip is firm and her stance is steady.