Surviving

Chapter 35

Beep.
   
My eyes fluttered open to a bright fluorescent light.
   
Beep.
   
I turned my head to see a heart monitor to my left. 
   
Beep.
   
That couldn't be right. There was no electricity, no way for a heart monitor or lights to work.
   
Beep.
  
There was an IV hooked up to my arm.  Suddenly, everything came flooding back to me. I pulled back the sheets of the hospital bed I was lying on and looked under my shirt. The bullet hole was gone, replaced by a nasty scar. I pulled the heart monitor attachment off of my finger, causing it to flat line.
   
Footsteps came running from outside of the room, and Roland appeared in the doorway.
   
"You're awake!" he gasped, catching himself on the doorframe.
   
"Yeah," I said, confused. "How is there electricity?"
   
"Adira, a lot has happened since you were shot." He sat down in one of the chairs. "You've been in a coma for two and a half months."
   
"What?!"
   
"That's not all. In those months somebody found a cure." He ran his hand through his hair. I gasped at the news, dumbfounded. "Civilization is slowly being rebuilt. We got power back several weeks ago."
   
I stared at my lap, everything sinking in.
  
"Everyone wanted to give up on you. They all thought you were dead or almost dead. But I convinced them to wait until either you woke up or turned into a corpse."
   
"Thank you," I said, but it came out as a croak. My voice had become hoarse.
  
"We have to watch out for each other. We've both lost everyone."
   
"And Travis?" I asked.

"About a month ago he had a nasty run in with some corpses. He's no longer here."

"Good riddance."

I sat in silence, the only noise the flatlining heart monitor. Roland got up and unplugged it as a single tear slipped down my cheek.
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.
   
"If Billy had survived two more months he would have been able to live in a better world." I looked up and met his gaze. "If I had protected him just a little longer."
   
"You can't blame this on yourself. It wasn't your fault."
   
"Then why do I feel like it was?"
   
Roland sighed. "Are you hungry? You haven't had any real food in months."
   
"I just want to get out of this bed." I pulled off the blanket and swung my feet onto the floor. I tried to stand, but automatically fell. Roland caught me, helping me upright.
   
"Take it slow. You also haven't walked in actual months." He helped me walk a bit until I could walk on my own.
  
We went to the cafeteria, and we were the only two in there. Roland went and got me some food, and he came out with a sandwich and some fruit.
  
"Is that fresh fruit?" I asked, eyes wide.
   
"Yep. Bet it's the first you've seen out of a can in a couple of years."
   
"It is." He had brought me raspberries. I popped one into my mouth, relishing the sweet juice.
  
"So, everything is back to normal?" I asked.
   
"Everything."