The nurse came back the next day and checked my vital stats. She read the information twice and wrinkled her mouth which I didn't like. When medical personal contorted their faces reading your records, you knew something was askew. The curiosity opened my mouth.
"Is there something wrong?"
"The opposite...you're healing rapidly."
Finally some good news after the past events.
"Gotta love Bulwark medicine."
"Indeed," she said with her mind absent.
If I hadn't known better, I swore she watched the weather report for next week.
"Do you know citizen Ceedee? She's a soldier, a sniper."
"I don't have the authority to answer your question."
"Well, can you just tell me if she's okay? She was badly wounded during our last operation."
"You don't have the permission to ask that question."
Damn it. Every single one played by the rule book.
"Isn't it fostering the community spirit if I'm asking about the whereabouts of my comrades?"
She pressed her lips, her eyes turned to the upper-right. Looked like the nurse was actually pondering my statement. She bowed toward my head, prepared the pillow and whispered, "She's in critical condition, but there's a 68% chance she's going to make it."
68 percent only? That wasn't good. But I was grateful the nurse behaved like a mensch for a change. Imagine if everyone opened up to their comrades and trusted each other. What a world it could have been.
Utopia cluster.
"Thanks," I said to her before she left my station room.
"Don't worry. But please rest now. The committee doesn't like it when citizens slack off."
The door shut behind her.
Slacking off? I guess being injured was the new lazy. But she was right—if I played the patient for too long, the bed would probably electro-shock me back into compliance.
I closed my eyes and called it a day.
Tomorrow, I wanted to become an active member of the society again.
And find the brunette survivor that turned out to be a scientist. If she knew much about the past, maybe she could tell me what the heck was going on in this world.
Maybe even tell me who I was.
YOU ARE READING
Machine God: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Final Draft)
Science FictionWhatever happened, it wiped out the world as we know it. A man with no name wakes up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where military factions wage war on each other. These armed troops capture survivors, harvest tech artifacts from the dark past a...
