Camila's POV
"Sorry about the boss. I'm Zayn by the way. What's your name?" The British boy by the door says once the supposed boss has left.
"Camila. Can I... Can I just have some clothes?" I ask.
"Of course, what's your size?" Zayn asks. He grabs a pen and a notepad and writes down all of my sizes. "I'll be right back," He smiles softly at me.
"So tell us a little bit more about yourself?" Dinah pulls up a chair next to the hospital bed and sits down on it.
"I had a family. My mother, my father, my younger sister, and my older brother but I don't even know where they are," I frown.
"They are probably..." Dinah trails off.
"What were those things out there?" I ask.
"The undead," Liam answers.
"The undead? How did it happen?" I ask.
"A virus broke out about 3 years ago now and it started to infect people, spreads throughout the brain. The virus reanimates dead bodies if you didn't shot or stabbed the head. If you get bit then you get infected as well," Liam informs.
"The undead feed on animals, humans, basically anything that has flesh. They get attracted by any kind of sound like a gunshot, a scream, a horn, an explosion. They can even get attracted if there are fires," Colson adds as he twirls a knife in his hands.
"Oh..." I nod.
The infirmary door opens and Zayn walks in with a bag full of clothes. "Here's everything, undergarments, shoes, jeans, and a shirt," Zayn hands me the bag.
I take the bag and smile softly at him, "Thank you."
"You're welcome and the boss wants to see you when you're done getting dressed," Zayn says.
"There's a room back here," Doctor Horan points down the hall.
I get up from the hospital bed and I smile thankfully at him. I go into the room Doctor Horan pointed me at and I close the door behind me. I take out the clothes making me chuckle softly as I start to get changed. Zayn has good taste.
Once I'm done putting on the clothes, I put the old, dirty hospital gown in the bag and I tie it. I open the door and walk over to where everybody is.
Zayn, Dinah, and Liam whistle once they lay eyes on me.
"You clean up nice!" Zayn says.
"Well you have good taste in clothes," I said.
"I'll take you to the boss' office," Zayn walks over and opens the infirmary door. He walks out as I follow him out.
My eyes look around as I see people working on the gardens, others bathing the horses and washing cars, adults teaching children, and people in military armor combat training. "This is quite the place you guys have here," I said.
"That's the Empire and all of its charms," Zayn says.
"Are all of these people combat training part of the military?" I ask.
"Some but the rest were trained from the boss who was part of the military herself," Zayn explains.
"Is that where they got the armor?" I ask.
"Affirmative," Zayn nods. He opens the door of a building and steps aside to let me enter first.
I walk inside to see a boy sitting at a desk reading a book with his feet kicked up.
"Louis!" Zayn calls.
The boy looks up and puts his book to the side. "The boss is sorta busy right now," This Louis boy says.
"She told me to bring Camila here to her once she was done in the infirmary," Zayn says.
Louis nods and holds a finger up as he opens the door enough so he can slip inside. After a minute or two, he comes back out and holds the door wider.
Zayn pushes me forward giving me an encouraging smile. "Go, I'll be out here waiting for you," He says.
I take a deep breath and step into the office as the door closes behind me. I hear the now familiar pair of boots as I look over to see the boss walking over to me with a glass of whiskey in her hand.
"Guess I have to properly introduce myself, I'm Lauren Jauregui, and you are?" She questions with an eyebrow raised.
"Camila Cabello," I answered.
"Sit," She motions to the couches. Once I have been seated, Lauren sits down in front of me as she relaxes back into the cushion. "Tell me a little about yourself," She says.
"Can I ask you a question first?" I ask hopefully.
"Go ahead," She nods.
"What kind of world did I wake up in?" I ask.
"A world that humans are struggling to survive and a world that the undead rules over us," Lauren answers.
"Did you experience all of this from the very beginning?" I ask.
"The fear, the loss of my loved ones, the feeling of being alone. Yes, I did," Lauren says.
"I just want to know what happened to me. Like how I got into that coma my records say about. My records just said about a head injury but how did that injury occur," I said.
"What was the last thing you remembered?" She asks.
"My 18th birthday I don't remember what happened but I know that I had a party. I just don't know what occurred in that party," I answer.
Lauren hums and takes a thoughtful sip out of her whiskey. "Do you have any family?" She asks.
"I... I don't know," I shake my hand.
"Tell me their names I have a lot of people here. Maybe they are here," Lauren says.
"I don't want to bother you," I said.
"It's okay. If they are here you can reunite with them and they may have the key to what happened to you," Lauren downs the rest of her drink and stands up.
"Okay. My mother's name is Sinuhe, my father's name is Alejandro, my younger sister's name is Sofia and my older brother's name is Gerald," I inform as Lauren wrote down on a notepad.
"Alright, got it." She opens her office door and signals Zayn over.
"Yes, boss?" Zayn asks.
"Do you know any people here by these names last name Cabello?" Lauren shows him her notepad.
"No, but there is three Gerald's here," Zayn says.
"How old?" Lauren asks.
"One around the mid-60s, one who is 10, and one who I would say is about 30 years old," Zayn answers.
"The one who is 30 has to be my brother," I said.
"I'll show you to him. He is part of The Elite," Zayn says.
"Who is The Elite?" I ask Lauren.
"My best fighters. They patrol the perimeter, they go out and scavenge, they fight the undead. Zayn is second in command," Lauren informs.
"So Dinah, Liam, and Colson are part of The Elite?" I ask.
"Yes, I sent them out to look for supplies but they found you. I'm sending them back out at dawn tomorrow," Lauren says.
"What supplies do you need?" I ask.
"Medical," Lauren answers.
"The hospital I was in, they have some medical supplies," I inform.
"That's impossible, the whole place was swept," Lauren stops walking.
"Not the room I was in," I shake my head.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"The room I was in, the lock was in the inside and the windows were bulletproof and they were covered too like if the doctors didn't want anyone to find out about all of the medical supplies inside," I said.
"We'll talk more later," Lauren starts to walk again.
"Hey, G-Eazy!" Zayn approaches a group of fighters training.
"Yeah?" The boy answers as he continues to punch on a punching bag.
"We need to talk to you," Zayn says.
The boy drops his hands and grabs a towel as he wipes the sweat off of his skin. He turns around and the towel in his hand drops.
My eyes widen and fill with tears as I cover my mouth with a shaky hand. "Gerald..." I whisper.
"Camila!" He runs over to me and gathers me in his arms as he buries his nose in my hair.
I wrap my arms around his neck as the tears start to fall down my cheeks and wet the fabric of his grey shirt as I cry on his shoulder. Gerald pulls back a little as I examine his face. I bring up a hand and lightly touch the burn mark running along on the left side of his face. "What happened to you?" I whispered.
"House caught on fire. Burnt my skin," Gerald answers.
"Glad to see you two together," Lauren speaks behind us.
"What happened to Sofia and our parents?" I ask Gerald.
Gerald's face falls as he lets me go and turns away from me. "They died not long after this entire shit broke out," He says. Gerald turns back around to face me as he takes one of my hands in his and rests the other on my cheek. "We thought you were dead," He says.
"I just recently woke up," I said.
"But... How did the flesh-eaters not kill you?" He asks.
"The door in my room was locked from the inside, the windows bulletproof and were covered," I answered.
"She says there's a lot of medical supplies in there. Before the military gunned everybody down, the doctors must have hidden as many medical supplies in her room. That is what I'm guessing," Lauren informs.
"Gerald, what happened to me?" I turn back to my brother.
"The night of your 18th birthday we were dancing with our friends, I slipped on a puddle and since I was drunk I couldn't catch myself and then I ended up falling into you. You toppled over the food table and the back of your head hit the wall," Gerald explains.
I look down at the ground as a wave of visions flood my mind at once. I feel myself starting to fall but Lauren quickly catches me.
"It was my fault you got in that coma," Gerald's voice cracks.
"No. Don't blame yourself," I take a deep breath.
"Are you okay? Do you need anything? Some water?" Lauren steadies me.
"No, I'm fine. Everything is just catching up to me all at once. I think I just need to sit down," I said.
"Forgive me," Gerald says.
"It's wasn't your fault. But to put your mind at ease. Your forgiven," I said.
"Thank you," Gerald forces a smile.
"How long was I in that coma?" I ask.
Gerald winces as he looks down at the floor. "Three years," He whispers.
I stumble backward as it feels like somebody just punched my gut and knocked the wind out of me. "Three years..." I whisper. I sit down on the floor as I grip my hair. "Did... Did all of this start when I was in the coma?" I look up at everyone.
"3 months after," Gerald says.
"Speaking of. We need to get those medical supplies Camila was talking about before anybody else does," Lauren speaks.
"When boss?" Zayn asks.
"I know I said by dawn but... We can't wait that long. The doctors need those supplies," Lauren says.
"Who should we take?" Zayn says.
"You, Colson, Dinah, Liam, Gerald, me..." Lauren looks down at me, "And you."
"What?" Gerald asks.
"Why me?" I stand up.
"You know where your room is right" Lauren raises an eyebrow.
"Yes," I nod.
"There you go. We leave in 15 minutes," Lauren says.
"But I don't know how to fight let alone what the fuck is out there," I said.
"Don't worry. We'll protect you, stay in between us and you'll be fine. After all, my best Elites are coming," Lauren says and walks away.
"Is she always like that?" I ask Zayn and my brother.
"This is her on her good days," Gerald says.
"I'll go rally everyone up and get the cars ready," Zayn says and leaves.
"You'll be okay. I will make sure you never get hurt again," Gerald walks up to me and kisses my forehead.
"Thank you," I whisper.
"I need to help the other Elites load everything up. I'll meet you at the cars," Gerald says and starts to walk away.
"Wait, Gerald..." I said.
"Yeah?" He looks at me.
"You always wanted a badass-looking scar," I smiled.
His fingertips touch his burnt mark as he smiles. "Dream came true," He smiles then walks away.
I look down at the ground as I whisper, "3 years."