Apocalypse

28

Kate

I'm jerked awake when I hear voices outside the door. It takes me a long moment to remember that I'm not still in The Facility. That I'm safe. At least, I think I am. I feel safe. I hope it's not that weird false sense of security thing.

It takes me another minute to figure out where I am exactly. I blink as a bright light, the sun I believe, shines in through the window and hits me in the face. I fight back the urge to groan loudly in protest at the light. I don't want to wake Liz up. To be honest, I don't really want to be awake right now either. I'm so tired.

We'd gotten to the quarantine camp late last night. Pretty sure it was actually early morning. I hadn't slept yet, I have discovered that I can't sleep in a moving vehicle. But Liz had fallen asleep almost as soon as I'd pulled her towards me. I'd been so exhausted, and tired, and in pain and I just didn't want her any farther away than she had to be. Even just sitting in the seat next to me was too far away, apparently. So the impulsive part of me, the one that Liz had gotten upset, with took over. Only this time she hadn't complained.

The drive had been hours, but it felt like nothing with Liz sleeping in my arms, and the sleepy haze my thoughts had entered, and the steady motion of the car. Just the general calm of the ride.

It was almost morning when Christine pulled the car to a stop and asked me to wake Liz up, which I'd done rather reluctantly because I was so comfortable and Liz looked more relaxed than I had ever seen her before.

Christine had stayed with us as we were led into a canvas tent and sat down on a fairly uncomfortable plastic bench as a doctor they have employed here checked our injuries and treated what he could. He of course tried to have me locked up because of the bite on my leg, but after we explained to him that I'm immune, things went relatively smoothly. After a whole stream of highly invasive questions about my experience in the labs and what it was like being out there with just Liz, I mean.

Liz had politely asked him to stop, and he did. I was thankful. He apologized and offered us some coffee while we waited. I'm not overly fond of the drink, and Liz didn't seem to be either. But we took it because it was hot and we were cold.

Liz had needed thirty stitches on her stomach from the knife wound. But they didn't have any anesthetics left, and their next shipment isn't due until next week. So I'd ended up giving the doctor the evil eye every time Liz had winced as he pushed the needle through her skin. Even though she was putting on her brave face, I know how it feels, and it's not exactly the most pleasant sensation in the world. Not the worse, but certainly not the best. I knew she'd been injured there simply because her shirt was covered in blood. But I wasn't aware that it was so ...large. It made me feel a little sick to my stomach. Part of me knows it's not actually that bad, and I've seen her injured before. That doesn't stop me from making sure the doctor -who like all doctors, I don't trust- doesn't injure her any more than she is already.

The doctor had then tried to tend to me as well, but I can't say that I really wanted any more doctors touching me. Can you blame me? I tried my best to cooperate but when he came towards me with a fresh tray of tools, I'd told him not to touch me. Pretty angrily. A little scared too, I'll admit. In the end, after what feels like the longest argument I've ever had, they agreed to just clean my wounds and wrap the bite on my leg with a bandage so long as I agreed to come back if it got infected. But I'm not worried about that happening.

A couple hours later, after we'd been cleared of any bite wounds and Liz had explained she'd already had one of the vaccinations, they let us go and get cleaned off. Giving us new clothes; a hoodie, a tee shirt, and a pair of worn out jeans each -although, they were a bit large on us- we were quite thankful for clothing that doesn't rub up against our already raw skin in an uncomfortable way.