I don’t remember waking up exactly. I’m just awake, staring at the stained popcorn ceiling. The grooves mirror tiny dirt mountains, just waiting to be flaked off by the wind.
It’s so weird.
I never realized how detailed the ceiling was.
Blinking, I instantly regret it as a headache hammers through my brain. I moan, trying to move. My entire body is similar to that of stone, cold and unresponsive. Only one light shines down and it’s as if someone switched it out with the noonday sun.
Doesn’t make sense.
This room has always been horribly lit.
I try to sit up when two hands stop my shoulders. I squint. “Flich?”
“Hey, kiddo,” he says with a weak smile. He holds out a large glass of water and I happily take a small drink with his help. “You’ve …show more content…
The sounds return to normal, smells disappear and when I open my eyes, its dimmer. Not as dim as it was before the chip, but not blinding. Now all I have left is a headache. Hopefully nothing a little more sleep can’t fix.
I take the glass and down all the water, my throat burning from thirst. “Where’s Walker?”
“In a meeting with some of the higher ups. They’re going over some recent events,” Flich explains. “Extremely boring. And with you being sick, I got out of it. So thank you for that. What happened?”
I snort a chuckle. “How long was I out?”
He stands and paces over to the dresser, picking up a plate of food. “A few hours. It’s evening now. They were gonna send a doctor here if you didn’t break your fever by morning.”
Thank heavens I did. I do not need a doctor taking a closer look at me.
Using my arms, I sit up and lean against the wall as he places the plate in my lap. An earthly rumble reminds me of the lunch I never got. I’m instantly shoving my face, consuming almost everything in a matter of minutes.
Almost.
Flich stops me, with a small laugh. “Slow down there. Your food ain’t going nowhere. It’s already dead. If it was even alive to begin with.”
I crack a grin, setting my fork …show more content…
That’s a lot of ifs and I really don’t want to be around to find out.
I carefully flip through the rest of the pages. Same as before; just codes and formulas.
There’s one word that shows up over and over again.
Norreach.
For what I can make out and guess, it’s some kind of program, connected to the nuke, to the other bombs, to other cities. Annoyingly, it causes an itch in the back of my head.
I swear I’ve heard that name before.
After several minutes of searching my mind, I give it up. Wherever I heard it, I don’t remember.
I snap the book closed and slip it under the bed. Can’t sleep with that thing under my pillow with my senses now on super sensitive. I pick up my shoe and throw it at the light-switch. It thuds against the wall, knocking the lights out. I curl my legs into my stomach, wrapping my blanket around me. Closing my eyes, I wait for sleep…
Until I hear everything.
Flich’s breathing. The people above, playing some poker game. The creaks the building makes as the rain soaks the earth. The tick of Walker’s clock.
I grumble, shoving my pillow into my head.
It’s going to be a long
It’s so weird.
I never realized how detailed the ceiling was.
Blinking, I instantly regret it as a headache hammers through my brain. I moan, trying to move. My entire body is similar to that of stone, cold and unresponsive. Only one light shines down and it’s as if someone switched it out with the noonday sun.
Doesn’t make sense.
This room has always been horribly lit.
I try to sit up when two hands stop my shoulders. I squint. “Flich?”
“Hey, kiddo,” he says with a weak smile. He holds out a large glass of water and I happily take a small drink with his help. “You’ve …show more content…
The sounds return to normal, smells disappear and when I open my eyes, its dimmer. Not as dim as it was before the chip, but not blinding. Now all I have left is a headache. Hopefully nothing a little more sleep can’t fix.
I take the glass and down all the water, my throat burning from thirst. “Where’s Walker?”
“In a meeting with some of the higher ups. They’re going over some recent events,” Flich explains. “Extremely boring. And with you being sick, I got out of it. So thank you for that. What happened?”
I snort a chuckle. “How long was I out?”
He stands and paces over to the dresser, picking up a plate of food. “A few hours. It’s evening now. They were gonna send a doctor here if you didn’t break your fever by morning.”
Thank heavens I did. I do not need a doctor taking a closer look at me.
Using my arms, I sit up and lean against the wall as he places the plate in my lap. An earthly rumble reminds me of the lunch I never got. I’m instantly shoving my face, consuming almost everything in a matter of minutes.
Almost.
Flich stops me, with a small laugh. “Slow down there. Your food ain’t going nowhere. It’s already dead. If it was even alive to begin with.”
I crack a grin, setting my fork …show more content…
That’s a lot of ifs and I really don’t want to be around to find out.
I carefully flip through the rest of the pages. Same as before; just codes and formulas.
There’s one word that shows up over and over again.
Norreach.
For what I can make out and guess, it’s some kind of program, connected to the nuke, to the other bombs, to other cities. Annoyingly, it causes an itch in the back of my head.
I swear I’ve heard that name before.
After several minutes of searching my mind, I give it up. Wherever I heard it, I don’t remember.
I snap the book closed and slip it under the bed. Can’t sleep with that thing under my pillow with my senses now on super sensitive. I pick up my shoe and throw it at the light-switch. It thuds against the wall, knocking the lights out. I curl my legs into my stomach, wrapping my blanket around me. Closing my eyes, I wait for sleep…
Until I hear everything.
Flich’s breathing. The people above, playing some poker game. The creaks the building makes as the rain soaks the earth. The tick of Walker’s clock.
I grumble, shoving my pillow into my head.
It’s going to be a long