The Kingdom Walls

CHAPTER FOUR

She came to slowly this time, her eyelids opening lazily as if struggling to lift their own weight. Echoes of the strange pain she just recently went through were still lingering in her mind, radiating in now-gentle waves through her body, giving her tiny zaps of aftershock tremors every now and then. What was that? She never got sick as a child—or ever—for that matter, at least, not as far as she can remember. Even when the epidemic ravaged half of the world's population, she remained untouched and healthy. Not even so much as a cold. Maybe it was just some kind of fever that finally got through her immune system for the first time. And her body just didn't know how to handle it and short-circuited. That's probably it. She must have just caught a bug or something.

For the first time.

Right.

She shifted and tried to swallow, blinking at the ceiling. She felt as if she just came back from the dead and crawled out of a grave. She sure felt like it. And, in her current foggy state, she was dimly aware that she smelled like it. Her throat was so dry, that she wondered if she didn't swallow a glass full of sand, crawling out of said grave. Slowly, she braced her hands on the bed behind her and pushed herself up to a sitting position and looked around, hoping to find a drink of water to relieve her parched throat. Then for the first time, she finally noticed her surroundings, and slowly, her grogginess started to evaporate, although her comprehensive capabilities were still falling a bit behind. Brows furrowed in a thoughtful frown, she cocked her head and studied the small unfamiliar room, still trying to get her bearings.

There was nothing much to see except a small wooden table with a surface so scarred, she can probably get splinters just by touching it. A lone wooden chair, just as gnarled, kept it company in its corner near the only window of the room.  A window which was boarded up. Obviously they were furniture from the old world, although she still thought it was funny to consider a difference of just ten years, enough to separate then and now to between old and new worlds. It's just been ten years. Human nature dictates that people really have the tendency to overreact. Although she supposed they were entitled to, considering what happened ten years ago that caused them to make the distinction. Ten years might not be much difference if you measure with time, but the difference between how things were before and how things are now is so astronomical that it wasn't even funny. You would think a century has passed, not a decade.

The room was bare and obviously has been uninhabited for a while. But surprisingly, it was clean, as if somebody just cleaned it. A thinning broom and a tired-looking mop both stood in the other corner as if waiting to be acknowledged for the recent housekeeping. She glanced at the boarded up window and looked at the thin blades of sunlight that filtered through the gap in the slats, their angle giving her an idea of the time of day. It must be late, maybe just approaching sunset.

Sunset.

She gasped and sat up straighter. When she was with her mother in the clearing, it was just after Sunrise.

Then finally, realization sunk in, slamming into her so suddenly, so mercilessly like a punch in the face. And she remembered everything instantly. The clearing. Her mother. The monster. The breath-stealing pain from its razor sharp claws. The dead hero.

Her mother. A broken breath escaped her, as the sudden paralyzing pain sliced through her heart, remembering that she was gone. She pulled her knees up and hugged them as another involuntary gasping cry escaped her, but she pressed her mouth to her knees stifle her sob. Then another thought flashed through her memory—

The boy.

Her head snapped up and she sprang off the bed, whirling to face the closed door adjacent to it. SHe felt like her head was about to explode, trying to catch up with the brutal rush of memories. Steeling herself, she looked down and carefully started patting her front and then her back, expecting to find her flesh torn and bleeding. But through her torn and shredded clothes, her skin was smooth and dry.