{BOOK 1} I Thought We Would Be Safe - Paulkins/TGWDLM fanfic

Chapter 9 - Rules & restrictions

It was already morning, which meant Emma had been unconscious for the entire night. Despite that, she was so tired that she almost immediately fell asleep when the nurse left.

A knock on the door woke her up, she startled and immediately sat up straight, causing her leg to hurt so much that she almost fainted.

Colonel Schaffer came inside. She grabbed a chair and put it next to Emma's bed. When she sat down, she looked Emma in the eyes without saying anything for a few seconds, making Emma feel extremely uncomfortable.

The colonel couched, "Kelly." she said, "There are a few things that I want to point out before you're starting your life as Kelly Jackson, here in Colorado." She got a clipboard out of her bag, "First of all: you can't talk to anyone about what happened in Hatchetfield, except maybe your friend Ben." She winked at her, which made Emma feel even more uncomfortable. "And another thing: you can't talk to anyone you knew before the apotheosis. All your fr-"

"Wait." Emma interrupted her, "What do you mean 'I can't talk to anyone I knew beforehand' I have the right to talk to my family!"

The colonel sighed, "You do not. As I was saying: all your friends and family have been informed that you died in the catastrophe."

"What"

Colonel Schaffer grabbed something: it was Emma's phone. "I deleted all your contacts." She handed Emma the phone.

Emma couldn't believe it, "You broke into my phone?"

The colonel laughed, "We're the government." she said, "We do what is best for the people."

Emma was furious, but she controlled her temper. "Anything else?" she asked calmly.

The colonel handed her the clipboard, "Everything you'll have to know is in here. If you have any questions, I wrote my phone number on the first page."

Without saying anything more, she put the chair back next to the small table and left the room. The nurse, Vanessa, immediately entered, carrying a glass of water and a few pills. She gave them to Emma, "Those are some painkillers, and this one is to prevent any infections. Doctor Field disinfected your leg, but we'll also give you this, just in case." Emma took the pills and drank the entire glass of water. The nurse nodded, "Try to get some sleep, doctor Field wants to see you this afternoon. I'll wake you up at 2 o'clock." She smiled and walked away, but Emma couldn't sleep.

She thought about everything the colonel had said. After a while, she decided to look through the papers colonel Schaffer had given her. She flicked through the pages, until she got so mad that she just couldn't read any more. According to these files, all her social media accounts had been deleted, making any contact with her old friends, who weren't dead, nearly impossible. She was allowed to make new accounts though, but she couldn't add any of her old friends or family members. Apparently, she'd also gotten a new phone number, which was written on a sticky note and stuck onto the page.

Emma was furious, hadn't she been through enough already? Did they really have to take away the last bit of her past? And besides that, who gave them the right to just break into her phone like that? They allowed themselves probably, it was the government, they wouldn't need any permission.

Emma laid down and started crying.