The Last Hunter

Chapter 8- Restarting

I opened my eyes, blinking. I hadn't slept well, partly due to the softness of the mattress I was unaccustomed to, but mostly from the strange impressions left in my head, left from my vivid dreams the night before.

I sat up, tilting my head side to side, my neck popping a few times. I was about to step out of my bed when I realized I was on the top bunk. I started down the ladder, stubbing my toe on the last bar.

"Ouch!" I yelped.

Zabrina then jolted forward, smacking her head on the upper bunk. "I'm awake, Mom!"

I laughed. "Sorry to wake you!"

She rubbed her head. "There are definitely better ways to wake me up. I'm going to take a shower. Do you want to go first, though?"

"Sure. Where is the shower?"

She pointed. "Just down the hall. Take a right and it should be on your left. You can change into my clothes. I brought spares."

I grabbed a pair of jeans, socks, hiking boots, and a camo t-shirt, then headed over to the shower. The water was warm. Man, I thought, I haven't had a warm shower since I was about twelve, before the government went into power savings. I guess they ended that a while ago.

When I finished showering, I put on Zabrina's spare clothes she'd lent me. They were a little tight, but not too small. I brushed and braided my hair, then headed back to the room.

Zabrina had showered, and was finishing getting dressed when I go back.

"I'm almost ready for breakfast." She said, as she laced up her shoe.

My stomach growled. I could already smell breakfast, and I hadn't had a proper meal in a while. She finished lacing up her shoes, and we went upstairs to the dining room. When we walked in, my jaw dropped. I had thought the lab was high tech, but I hadn't expected the technology to be part of every aspect of the house.

There was a long table, covered in platters of food. There was sausage, bacon, fresh bread, butter, jam, and a large pitcher of milk. There were three or four household robots, probably new models, as they look very humanoid.

Zabrina was already sitting down by Ryan and Dr. Aeron. I shook my head, then walked over to sit by Ryan.

 I turned to Ryan. "I had no idea how fancy this place was."

He chuckled. "Neither did I. In fact, I probably still don't know where everything is."

I looked at all the food on the table, then down at my...wait. "Hey, Ryan. Where's my plate?"

"Oh, don't worry. Val will bring them."

I frowned. "Who's Val?"

"Val, otherwise known as Valentine, is the head chef robot. She's a VA1023. Probably the newest model ever made."

"Would you like some eggs?"

I turned around to see a blond-haired, blue-eyed robot. The only way I could tell she wasn't human was because her 'skin' was a grayish pink. "Uh..sure."

She set down a plate with fresh fried eggs, then handed me a fork. "Enjoy!" She then moved on to help Ryan.

I dug in. The sausage was great, the bacon crisp, and the bread was amazing. Val had made the perfect eggs, cooked all the way through, but not over cooked.

As we ate, we discussed what we ought to do next.

"We could got back to camp," Ryan suggested. "We have an antidote, and we could help injured Hunters. We can also find any salvageable resources."