“Dylan, you’re awake!”
“I am now,” Dylan said with a groan, but she was secretly happy to see Amy.
“Wow, you look awesome. Much better than before. You’re very pretty, you know, with the red hair and all.”
“Who’d have thought.”
“No need to be grumpy. I brought you something. Are you hungry?” Amy asked.
Dylan perked up. “I’m starving.”
Amy frowned. “Starving as in normal hungry, or starving as in you want to try and eat me again.”
Dylan gaped at her. “I never tried to eat you.”
“Yes, you did. Or my brother, at least. You did try to eat him.”
Dylan fell back onto her cushions with a groan.
Alex arrived to save the day. “Come now, Amy. Don’t tease Dylan like that. She’s had a tough time.”
“I was just joking with her,” Amy said. “Here’s your treat.” She handed Dylan a polystyrene cup with a plastic spoon sticking out of mound of vanilla ice cream.
Dylan stared at the offering. “They’ve got ice cream here?”
“Yup, they’ve got everything here as long as you’re willing to follow the rules and do your chores.”
Not wasting a second, Dylan grabbed the cup and stuck a huge spoonful into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she moaned. “Mm, that’s delicious.”
“Better than Alex you mean?” Amy asked with a wicked grin.
“Ugh, you little brat,” Dylan cried, throwing a cushion at the giggling girl.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Kids. Seems I’m stuck with both of you.”
Dylan snorted. “Speak for yourself.”
“Oh, come. You know you like us,” Amy said.
“Huh. Maybe just a little,” Dylan relented, warmth spreading through her chest.
If this was the apocalypse, then maybe it wasn’t so bad. It sure beat what she had before.
Amy stuck out her pinkie. “Friends?”
Dylan eyed the proffered hand, recognizing it for what it was. An offer of true friendship. She curled her pinkie around Amy’s and shook on it.
“Friends.”
The End.
Apocalypse Z - Book 2
Chapter 1 - Dylan
It was quiet inside the room.
Too quiet.
Dylan stared at the ceiling above her head, counting the minutes until morning. She couldn’t sleep, despite the drugs that flowed through her veins. While under quarantine, the doctors took care to keep her calm and sedated. They were afraid of possible side-effects to the cure or even a relapse.
She didn’t mind, at first. Not while her broken body knit itself back together. But now, it was becoming a bore, and she still had two whole days to go. There was little to occupy herself with, and visiting hours were restricted to two thirty-minute windows per day. Besides Amy and Alex, the only other people who dared enter her room was Doctor Tara Lee and Doctor Knowles. Tara was nice enough. A bit formal, but at least she could hold a conversation. Dr. Knowles, however…now there was a man born with a stick up his ass.
She supposed it was a blessing that she had the place all to herself. No coughing, groaning, or snoring interrupted her sleep, and yet tonight, the silence felt threatening. Faint moonlight streamed through the blinds that covered the single window, casting the room in shades of silver and gray. But the light couldn’t reach everywhere, and there in the corners lay the darkness.
She stared at one such a corner, her mouth dry with fear. The blackness pulsed and grew, reaching out with quivering tentacles to feed on her weakness. To her drug-soaked brain, it looked like a crouching beast ready to pounce on her shaking form.
“Oh, come on,” Dylan muttered. She’d never been afraid of the dark. Ever.
With a determined grunt, she tossed aside her blankets and walked toward the small cubicle that formed a bathroom. It boasted a washbasin and toilet — nothing else.
After emptying her bladder, she washed her face and hands with soap. The cold water revived her senses, chasing away the fog caused by sleep and drugs. Dylan stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked awful. Her hair desperately needed a wash, and deep shadows rimmed her eyes. During her trip and illness, she’d lost a lot of weight, and it wasn’t pretty. Her bones jutted outward from her ribs and hips, while the fat had been chiseled from her cheeks until she resembled the Grim Reaper himself.
“Man, I’d kill for a smoke.” The urge for a cigarette hit her out of nowhere, and she tried to remember when last she’d had one. Back in Springfield, maybe? “Too long. I might as well give it up now.”
On a whim, she decided to take a shower. Grabbing a towel, soap, and toothbrush, she walked across the room and knocked on the door. “Nurse! Are you there?”
After a few seconds, the sharp clicking of heels on the tiled floor announced the arrival of the night nurse accompanied by a security guard. The lock clicked, and the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged head woman with a dour expression. “Yes? Can I help you?”
“I’d like to take a shower, please,” Dylan said.
The nurse frowned, and her disapproval was evident. “Can’t it wait until morning?”
“I have physiotherapy in the morning,” Dylan said. “Besides, it’s after three already, and I could use a bath.”
The nurse hesitated. “Fine, but don’t use too much water. We are on strict rations.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dylan replied in a dry tone of voice.
“And don’t get that arm wet. The last thing we need is for it to get infected again,” the nurse added. “George will keep watch outside and escort you back to your room when you’re done.”
Dylan shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t spy on me, it’s cool.”
The nurse and security guard stared at her with distinct displeasure. “I’m certain he would never do such a thing.”
“I’m not a pervert,” George rumbled in a deep voice.
“Jeez, I’m just joking, okay?” Dylan said, rolling her eyes.
With a shake of her head, the nurse departed. George led the way to the communal bathroom equipped with baths and showers, and Dylan ducked inside. The room was empty, just the way she liked it. A soak in the tub was exactly what
