2.20

"Ouch," I winced, trying to pull my feet from Will's tight grip. He showed no mercy, holding it only tighter as he continued to clean and disinfect my feet.

System was still ignoring me, leaving my body only able to naturally heal. It was faster than a normal human should be cable of thanks to the virus, still, it was not fast enough.

My feet were torn up from the rocks and tarmac, and my arms and waist had all taken a few hits from the dead's claws. He'd, uncaring for my privacy, stripped me down to my underwear to disinfect and bandage all my wounds.

Once done he tossed the dirty clothes into the bin and sat back in his chair, folding his arms and pointing his narrowed eyes at me.

We were completely alone and in a different dorm building, all six of which were now behind the new, taller walls. Just how long had I been asleep?

He had not said a single word since carrying my weary body up here. We were in a room similar to the one Alex and his team used, at the top of a different dorm.

I'd noticed nobody I was close to on the way in either, but there were certainly a lot of new faces, including young children, adults, and even the elderly.

"What's the date?" I asked, breaking our silent stalemate.

Will scoffed, glancing at the bedside table. I turned to see the digital clock.

"Fuck, it's March?" March 7th to be exact. How had I survived under all that soil for so long without any food or water?

This world was just too fucking weird, I missed the last one all the more. Especially my sweet, obedient cousin. Big brothers were a pain.

"Where were you?" Will finally spoke, his voice rich and low, seeping with anger.

How could I explain that I'd spent two months six feet underground without sounding insane?

"I-I," I couldn't lie. "I was in a coma," but there are always half-truths.

He nodded, accepting my answer, but still not happy with it.

"Why-" he stopped himself, looking ready to tear his hair out, I felt guilt lingering in the pit of my stomach. "Are you hungry?"

I nodded enthusiastically, "famished." I had been ever since I woke up, though now I knew how long I'd been asleep for it was no wonder.

Three pot noodles and a bar of chocolate later, Will opened the door and went into another room, bringing back Leo and Holly.

"Sis," Leo ran and jumped onto the bed as if forgetting he was sixteen, not six. "Where did you go?"

Holly betrayed her meek personality and climbed onto the bed on my other side, lying holding onto me with tears.

Shit, those tears made me feel weak. I wanted to cry now too. I held her back, stroking her hair, then turned to talk to Leo, avoiding Will's glare as he sat back in his chair.

"I've been in a coma Leo," I shrugged, "I just woke up today."

Happy I now had someone who would actually talk with me, I asked the question that had been haunting me since I woke up.

"What about Alex and the boys? Did they make it all back okay?"

"Fuck," Leo grimaced, glancing sideways at Will before continuing, "it was a bit of a shit show, but yeah, no one got hurt."

I let out a sigh of relief, snuggling more into Holly who had finally stopped weeping.

"Can you get him?" I asked, conscious of Will's glare back at me. I knew he had a bone to pick about that.

"They're out," Holly answered, "left last week with Will's soldier buddies."

"Yeah, left us all behind as well, it's boring," Leo complained. "But Will refused to leave, so I've been stuck here this whole time."

"How terrible," I sarcastically smiled, ruffling his hair with my free hand, "just wait til you see how fast they've gotten, you'll sharp be running back."

"No I won't, I got powers now Sis," Leo pulled some metal balls out of his pocket, proceeding to show me they float in a circle in the air. He was just like Will.

Will raised his hand, and they all left Leo and landed on his hand in one big lump of metal.

"Hey," Leo complained, his face looking funny as he was obviously trying to pull them back. It seemed he still had a way to go.

Deep down I knew the teens would have gone through the fever, they were already on the brink of it when I'd left. Only, I felt bitter that I hadn't been here to help them through it. Not that I could do much, but maybe System could have; if it decides to switch back on that is.

"What about you Holly?" I asked, ignoring Leo who was now trying to use his hands to snatch back his metal.

She blushed, "I'm pretty useless."

"Come on," I tickled her waist, trying to put a smile back on her face, though wary that sudden movements were irritating the wound on my waist.

"I'm good at helping the vegetables grow, Jean often has me working in the gardens," she finally replied.

"Plants?" I asked, excited, finding it completely adorable that she took after me and Leo after Will. Like they were our kids.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"If it's like mine, you can do much more than just grow vegetables," I smiled bitterly remembering I had the same thoughts as her at first.

After taking down well over a hundred zombies through just a small forest of trees, I knew just how ignorant I'd been. Maybe I could teach her, once I get a better understanding of it myself that is.

"So Jean's okay? What about the rest of Will's team?"

"They only lost a Daniel. There was a Noah, Victoria, Rick, oh and a Tommy who brought his brother and sister, then they had a few other survivors with them too when they arrived."

I vaguely recalled Noah's map, the town north of here was Tommy's hometown, which would have been hit hard by the virus thanks to the meteor.

Suddenly my stomach churned, threatening to bring up all those noodles.

"What's wrong?" Holly asked, drawing the boy's attention.

I climbed over her, almost falling as my feet touched the floor causing pain. Will swiftly steadied me, "Han what's going on?" he asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak or I'd lose my lunch on the floor. Pushing him aside I staggered to the bathroom to lose it in the toilet bowl.

Once I'd even thrown up even the bile, I washed my face and mouth and staggered back into bed. "I'm sick," I mumbled before letting my head hit the pillow, ignoring the three worried faces wanting answers. "I wanna sleep," and sleep I did.

***

"Hannah," a calm voice, rich with a British accent, pulled me out of dreamland, "Hannah."

"Hmm?" I rolled over, facing the intruder in my bed. A lamp was lit, casting a warm glow on his pale face. I had just been dreaming about him. About future Hannah killing him, then herself.

"Noah?"

Rough hands cupped my face, as his pitch-black eyes peered deeply into mine.

"W-what are you doing here?" I asked, nervously clearing my throat. He looked so angry, had I spoken in my sleep?

"I didn't believe it," he sighed, finally letting go of my face so I could sink back beneath the covers, "you're not supposed to die."

"Emm… thanks, I suppose." I glanced at the door, willing someone to enter. Anyone would be fine, so long they interrupt this awkward atmosphere.

He lay back, arms behind his head as he rested languidly gazing out the window at the starry night sky.

"Will said you had some flesh wounds and were sick earlier," Noah stated, if I didn't know better I'd think he was asking about my condition.

I rolled over trying to ignore him. As traumatic as the dream, well nightmare, had been, I was beginning to miss it the more he kept my tired self awake.

"What did you do with the meteorite Hannah?" He either did not catch on to the hint I wanted to sleep, or he just didn't care.

I found myself stumped whilst trying to reply, last I'd seen it it was attached to the palm of my hand, only now there wasn't even a mark there. Where had it gone?

Thinking back to how strong the trees had mutated, I decided to pass the blame on them and rolled over to answer him.

"Fed it to the trees, make sure to let people know to stay clear of that forest, I'm not sure if they only eat the dead." I shivered, remembering the fear as I'd felt as those vine-like roots wrapped around my legs, pulling me slowly into my temporary grave.

"Hmm," he closed his eyes as if drifting off to sleep.

"Noah," I prodded his ribcage, when he didn't even flinch I prodded harder. Still, he ignored me.

"Noah," I sat up, too angry to care about the pain in my waist, "why are you in my bed?"

He smirked, keeping his eyes closed, "I hear you don't mind sharing a bed."

Too tired and embarrassed I rolled back over, stealing as much quilt as possible to wrap myself up and hide from view, quickly willing myself to drift back to sleep. Only now my mind was wide awake thinking about what he had said.