No Escape (luke hemmings au)

~part twenty-one~

                “Well, that was fun,” Jess laughed. She was lying on her back on the counter in Sir Games A Lot, tossing a baseball in the air and catching it above her face.

                I rubbed my eyes and didn’t say anything. I looked at the walls and saw a poster I never noticed before. There were four boys on it, some with their hands in peace signs and their tongues sticking out, some with adorable smiles. Beneath the boys were the words “5 Seconds of Summer.” I liked the sound of that.

                “Shame I wasn’t there for it,” Jess sighed. She swung her legs off the counter and sat up to face me. She kicked her feet back and forth. “I would have made everything unfathomably better, simply by existing.”

                I laughed sarcastically. I still didn’t say anything. I didn’t think I could.

                “Of course, you seemed to be doing alright without me. I’m proud of you Dezzy,” Jess admitted with a wink. She looked at me fondly. “Now get going. Your boy toy’s waiting for you.”

                Jess climbed off the counter and pulled me into a loving hug. She was warm and she felt like home. She stepped away and looked me in the eye. “I think she’s waking up.”

                “What?” I asked.

                “Desiree?” someone said next to me. I turned around and found myself looking at a man with dark skin and a welcoming smile. “There she is,” he grinned widely.

                I looked around frantically, searching for Jess. I didn’t know where I was. I wasn’t in Sir Games A Lot anymore. I was lying on a hard, metal table that had been layered in blankets. I was under a white tent, surrounded by scientific instruments, like a makeshift hospital. I knew this place…

                “I’ll go get Luke,” a man said with an English accent. I knew him from somewhere, too. Where was I? The first man I saw leaned in and kissed the English man quickly before the English man hurried away.

                I looked to my right and saw another person sitting on a table just like I was. He was looking at me nervously with his feet swinging off the edge of the table. He had green hair and fair skin that looked raw, like he had one massive scar from head to toe. He was wearing fresh clothes that I had seen on someone else before. Someone with one hand.

                “Are you alright, Dez?” a woman with red hair asked me. I whipped my head back around to her. There was a small boy with yellow hair standing next to her, looking at me in disbelief.

                I nodded, but I wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth. “Where am I?” I asked weakly.

                The woman smiled. “Do you remember your name, honey bun?”

                I pondered for a moment, but it came to me. “De…Desiree. Desiree Cooper.” I looked at the woman expectantly. She was still smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes. There was something on her mind.

                “Do you remember anything else?” she continued. I shook my head. “My name’s Veronica. You were shot in the abdomen and infected with the Sick virus but we were able to cure you. You’re at our camp right now. We’ve operated on your wound and you should be fine. We’ve been treating you for the past four days.

                I looked back to the boy with the green hair. I realized he was probably in the same situation as me. He smiled gratefully.