Chapter 7: Eight Years have Passed (2)
I felt my consciousness starting to come back but my whole body still felt heavy and so was my eyelids. I can feel that I was lying comfortably on a bed and the place I was at felt warm.
"Where did you find this one?" I heard a voice of a woman asked.
"We found her not far from the town where we scavenged for goods." The voice was familiar. It was from the man that helped me named Stephen.
"You know that we are barely feeding our own, but you take another mouth to feed." The woman argued.
"I could not just leave her to die Anna." Stephen replied. "The daemon was this close on killing her."
"Then you should just have let it." Anna shouted out of frustration. "Stephen, you cannot save everyone. You know that." She sighed out loud.
There was a brief silence before Stephen answered.
"Even so… I will not let someone die in front of me." Stephen said with a firm voice. "I would not stand by and watch knowing I could have done something. That will not happen."
"Stephen I…" Anna's voice felt remorseful.
After their conversation, I was able to lift my fingers and then my hands. I can feel some strength going back to my body. I slowly opened my eyes.
"Miss… you're awake. Thank God." Stephen said. "Anna, please call Doc."
I saw the woman named Anna. She had strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked at me with contempt before going out of the room.
"I think… I am not welcome." I said with a hoarse voice.
"Do not worry about her. She is grumpy sometimes." Stephen said. "Once you get to know her, you will see some good sides about her. By the way I am Stephen. May I know who you are and how did you get there in the middle of nowhere."
"My name's Claudia. And how I got there is a long story." I replied. "and I think I can't talk to much because of my dry throat." I smiled awkwardly.
"Oh, I am sorry… where are my manners." Stephen walked towards a side table and took a pitcher of water and poured it into a glass. He came back to my side and helped me up to drink.
"Thanks." I replied after having some water to drink.
"Don't mention it." Stephen had a friendly smile on his face.
The atmosphere inside the room felt awkward with only the both of us.
"Soooo… are you hungry?" Stephen asked to break the silence.
"Well, a little." I replied honestly. "How long was I asleep by the way?" I asked looking at the window. It was still dark out.
"Well, you were out for at least a day." Stephen replied. "Doc said your body looked like it was still recovering from something."
"Well, truthfully I just woke up from what I think was a coma." I replied. "I actually do not know what is happening right now. I just woke up at an abandoned hospital with no one around. I walked for half a day until I came in contact with that monster."
"WHAT?!" Stephen said out loud. "That is… I mean what you said was…" He was out of words.
"I know right." I scoffed out of sarcasm with my situation. "Even I cannot believe what happened. I mean, who would have left a patient in a hospital. I do not even know how I am still alive."
Stephen looked at me in wonder and disbelief. But he composed himself and looked at me with gentle eyes.
"I think you lived for a reason." Stephen replied. "I mean, if you are meant to die then, you should have died in the hospital and when that daemon attacked you."
"Daemon?" I asked. "Is that what you call that monster?" Stephen nodded.
"Yes, that is what we call them." Stephen replied. "Tell me, what was your last memory?"
"I can remember the car accident I had." I replied. "I was in the car with my daughter when a wolf jumped at the center of the road and in front of us. I was surprised and steered the car to the side, and we hit a tree hard. I still remember being brought to the hospital and the operating room. But after that…" I shook my head telling Stephen that I was out until the day I woke up in that abandoned hospital.
"So, you do not know about the daemons or the monster apocalypse?" Stephen asked. "How long were you asleep?"
"Monster apocalypse?" Those words were rather ominous, but it could clearly describe everything I have seen so far. "I am not sure how long. But I remember the date of my accident was in January 2020."
"2020?!" Stephen said in shock. "You have been in a coma for the past eight years!"
"E-Eight years?" I said in disbelief. "But that's… impossible!"
"But it is…" Stephen replied. "The date now is June of 2028. The first monster sighting was in March 2020, and since then monsters started to terrorize earth and the humans."
"Eight years…" Many thoughts were running through my head, but the prominent question was that why I still look the same.
I have seen my face in the mirror on the room I was in at the abandoned hospital. Nothing much has changed on my face since the last time I remember. I still look like my twenty five year old self.
"Claudia… are you okay?" Stephen asked. "You look pale."
"M-Maybe it is because I just woke up." I gave an excuse.
'I am not yet sure of my current predicament.' I thought. 'And I am not also sure if Stephen and the other people here are trustworthy. It would be best to keep this info to myself for now.' I decided.
"I heard that the girl you have brought is awake." An old man with gray hair and wearing eyeglasses came inside with Anna following from behind. "Hello, young lady. You can call me Doc." He had a friendly smile and stretched out his arm for a handshake.
"Claudia." I replied and shook his hand.
"Well Claudia, if you can let me have a look at you for a while." Doc said. "You can go back now Anna, Steph here can assist me."
"But… I am the female here." Anna said. "Shouldn't I be the one to assist you?"
"Yes but Steph is the one who is more experienced." Doc replied. "So please..."
"Hmph…" Anna turned around and stomped away.
"Sorry about that Claudia." Doc said and took a sit beside Stephen.
"Oh, no need to apologize." I replied. "I am the outsider here, so I should be the one to apologize."
"Anna is just jealous. Haha." Doc chuckled. "It is because you are getting all of Steph's attention here."
"Doc…" Stephen said. "Stop joking."
"Oh, you know what Anna feels about you." Doc replied. "Huh, it really is good to be young."
"Hehe." I giggled.
"See, you look beautiful when you smile." Doc told me. "You have been scowling since I came in. A beautiful lady like you should smile, even in this chaotic world." He sighed. "Well, let me start checking your vitals first."
Doc started to check on my vitals and then my bones and muscles. He was deep in thought while checking up on me.
"Your muscles really looks like they are not used for quite a while. It is a miracle that you were able to move, let alone to walk all that way for half a day." Doc said. "Other coma patients that woke up after a long time would have needed therapy to be able to walk again. So, is it true… eight years?"
"Yes." I nodded in reply.
"Claudia does not know about the daemons and the monster invasion and the apocalypse Doc." Stephen said. "It just proves that she really was asleep for that long."
"For you to wake up in an abandoned hospital is sort of a miracle." Doc said, he was holding his fingers on his chin deep in thought. "If you were in a coma, then you should be in life support. And machines like that needs electricity. Does that place still have running electricity?" He asked in curiosity.
"I honestly do not know." I replied. "I don't even recall having any machines connected to me when I woke up. I just got up on a hospital bed feeling confused." I frowned and told myself why I never thought of that when I woke up.
"No worries young lady, it is perfectly understandable." Doc patted my head. "Steph, have you told her about what happened in these past eight years?"
"Not all Doc." Stephen replied. "I have just given her an explanation about the daemons and the monster apocalypse that happened after she went into coma."
"Hmm, I see." Doc nodded his head in understanding. "Tell me Claudia, do you think you are ready to hear what had happened in the world when you were asleep?"
"I know it will be too much to handle, but I need to know." I replied. "Waiting for me to be ready will not change anything." I said.
I need to adapt to this new world I am in now if I want to find my daughter. It would be better to know what happened first. At least maybe some of my questions could be answered.
"Then I will tell you the story on how the monster apocalypse started and what situation we humans are in right now." Doc started.
Edited by: nalyn