Dawn of the Others

Chapter 3 -POV change

My eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the soft light in the room slower than I would have preferred. I reached for my gun, unsure of what had lead me to the place I now found myself in, but a sharp pain immediately shot up my arm causing me to hiss quietly. My gun hadn't been there anyway, the automatic reaction coming up empty for once to my surprise. I felt the uncomfortable poke of springs underneath me, but I was still rather grateful to find myself lying down in a bed. I took in what I could as my eyes fought the brightness and opened the rest of the way, a forest green sheet was pulled up to just above my waistline and somehow I had lost my shirt, leaving me in my sports bra and beige pants. As far as I could tell every part of me hurt and the large bruises that decorated my abdomen and right arm stood out against my ghostly skin.
"Careful." A voice commented from beside me.
My head spun without thought causing another shot of pain to travel through my body and making me wince a little. There was a woman sitting off in the corner of the room on a comfy looking chair, book in hand. The candle on the shelf over her shoulder made it seem like she glowed but also made it hard to see many of her features, only her short, slightly spiked hair and the outline of her tense shoulders. I watched her closely despite the lack of details I could make out, wondering what she wanted but not wanting to unconsciously give anything away. I couldn't understand why I wasn't dead, why would this woman bring me here? It would be foolish to believe it had simply been a choice of conscious, people always seemed to have ulterior motives, especially now.
She gently set the book on the small table beside her, a deliberate move that was meant to draw my attention to the gun that also rested on the table. "You should think about how hurt you are before you decide your next move." She added warningly, already seeing the thoughts that swirled around my brain.
I took a long breath, considering all my options before answering. There weren't many through considering my current state, she had been right about that. "Why am I here?" I finally asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
She sat quietly for a moment in thought before finally answering, "Because it would have been cruel of me to leave you there." She stated. "And I wanted to know why you killed that man." I almost swore that I saw a teasing smile tug at her lips but if I did she hid it well.
I was struck a little by her openness, by the bold way that she asked exactly what she wanted, the honesty was refreshing even though the question was one I could've done without. I considered whether to answer or not but eventually figured I owed her that much at least. "Self defence." I responded shortly, hoping she would leave it at that.
Luckily, that seemed to be enough for her and she nodded. "How do you feel?" She asked, changing the subject to my relief. I narrowed my eyes unconsciously, trying to figure out why she cared in the first place.
"Fine." I stated defiantly despite that pain that seemed to have made a home in almost every inch of my body. I had no doubt that she knew exactly how severe my injuries were but I'd be damned if I was going to admit that to her myself. She shook her head at me but decided not to push and stood instead, taking the gun and tucking it in the back of her pants as she headed for the door. I hadn't expected her to leave it anyway.
"Come on." She said as she left the room, "I'll make you some food. There's a clean shirt on the dresser for you."
Without much else to do I reluctantly followed her, slowly shifting and moving myself to the side of the bed and up to a standing position. My legs felt as though they would give out at any moment and as I reached for the bedpost my arm felt like it would fall off. Spots danced along the edges of my vision and I did my best to stay upright until they passed again. The rest of the way to the dresser was slow and I felt like I had run a marathon but I made it. The soft fabric of the shirt felt foreign against my skin and I took a moment to feel it before tugging it over my head. Everything ached so it was a long and painful process to pull the loose fabric over my head. I let out a breath as the shirt dropped down onto my bandaged stomach and settled at the hem of my pants. The side of the wall held me up as I carefully made my way to the door, luckily the room outside was incredibly small and I crossed the living room and reached the kitchen without much trouble.
"Sit." She said, gesturing to one of the two chairs at the kitchen table. I limped over knowing that I didn't have a choice, I wouldn't be able to stand for much longer and the chair ahead was more than tempting. Besides, if she had wanted to hurt me then I wouldn't be sitting here patched up and waiting for food.
I took the opportunity to look around at the woodsy house that I found myself in. The living room was small and only held a couch, a recliner and a cabinet that also acted as a table. A fluffy looking rug sat under all the furniture, somehow making the room much more inviting. The kitchen was just as simple, with a row of cupboards and a sturdy countertop over them. A sink had been cut out in the middle but it looked dusty and unused. I settled quietly at one of the chairs on the other side of the kitchen island and continued looking around as she milled about.
"Want a sandwich?" She inquired, "I've got a bit of lettuce, a tomato and some chicken." Her hands moved smoothly, taking each item out of its designated bag along with the bread and assembling two sandwiches without waiting for my response. She leaned a little closer to the lamp in the centre of the table as she reached to hand me one from the other side, the small flame danced in her eyes making them appear a dark green in colour though I wasn't sure if that was just the light or their actual colour.
I took a small bite, followed by a much bigger one almost instantly. My stomach growled in satisfaction at the fresh food, it tasted better than a lot of the stuff I had eaten lately. I could've sworn I heard her chuckle but I couldn't be sure, when I glanced back up she looked deep in thought, her eyes lost in the dancing flame. I chewed the rest of my large bite before speaking, "You could have left me to die." I probed gently, remembering what she had said earlier but still not quite believing it.
I watched her eyes flick back up to me, causing goosebumps to rise on the back of my neck. She moved her shoulders in a shrug as she bit into her own sandwich once again. "I could've." She said thoughtfully, "But too many people have already died." I sensed more meaning behind her words but left her alone, we had all lost people and there was no use bothering her about it.
We both fell quiet after that, leaving us to eat in a comfortable silence. My mind drifted as I ate, taking in all that had happened over the last little bit, however long that had been I didn't know. My head throbbed along with my wrist, shoulder and knee, and the sharper pain in my stomach lead me to believe that it was more of a superficial wound. I was definitely very hurt physically but I also couldn't completely discern how I felt emotionally. My thoughts were a whirlwind, jumping from leaving the compound to being cornered upstairs to being beat by someone that I had previously considered a brother. I couldn't think about the rest, the way the shot sounded, how fast he fell, the stickiness spreading across the floor as I had laid there unable to move, it was all too much. I forced myself to refocus on the soft bread in my hands, taking another bite and swallowing hard against the bad feeling that seemed to be clawing up the back of my throat.
"What's your name Killer?" The woman teased, finally breaking the silence again and drawing my attention back to her as she turned. She had already finished packing everything back up and had returned to the table with a jug and two glasses. The light on the table between us lit up her face, allowing me to study her further as she pored a glass of water for each of us.
"Riley." I answered hesitantly, watching her curiously.
She smiled a little, it warmed her face and hinted towards the existence of dimples if her smile would have broadened any more. Her short hair made a nice backdrop for the dusting of freckles that covered her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. "I'm Harley, like the motorcycle." She said smoothly, offering her hand to me over the table.
I reached out and shook gently, the pain in my wrist still making it difficult to move much. Her hand was small and felt soft despite the harsh world outside, it was almost nice in my rougher calloused palm. She didn't let go though and instead tilted my arm a little, inspecting the bruises for a moment and causing my cheeks to feel warm before releasing me.
"I gotta go for a bit but hopefully you're still here when I get back, I can take you wherever you need to go but you won't make it on your own... no offence." She said sheepishly.
I narrowed my eyes a little despite knowing that she was probably right, the part I didn't believe was that she was simply going leave me here all alone. "You trust me enough to leave me here?" I questioned.
She just shrugged and started walking away, "I don't know that's call it trust but as far as I can tell the worst thing you'll do is leave and that's your choice." Grabbing the familiar looking jacket from the couch, she headed for the door. "I'm leaving the rest of the food there if you get hungry." She called, the door swinging shut behind her.
I guess I'll wait here then, I thought to myself sarcastically. Maybe it's time to do a little snooping.