Soft. That is the first thing that came to mind as Lauri began to wake. Wherever she was lying, it didn't have the usual rough texture of the bed she normally laid in. A plush pillow under her head was the only thing keeping her semi-upright even. She was just so damn tired. The second thing she noticed was the gnawing pain in her stomach.

Lauri was hungrier than she had been at any other point in her life. She wasn't sure why, but it felt like she hadn't eaten in days. Weeks even? No maybe that was a stretch, but definitely longer than what she would consider typical.

The world was slowly starting to come in to focus around her as Lauri’s mind struggled to catch up. She couldn't help but notice the soreness that had set in all over her body, and a tingling sensation that felt like it went bone deep. Memories flashed of the attack, and of her running for her life. With a sudden jolt she was straight up to better look around. Or… at least Lauri tried to sit up.

Jerking forward she came to a quick stop as the bindings on her arms and wrist help her tightly in place. Looking down it quickly became clear that it wasn’t just her arms. Lauri’s waist, legs, and even ankles were secured with straps to the side of the bed that she had no memory of climbing into.

Horror was beginning to overcome Lauri. Did she make it home? Had she passed out before reaching Skytop? Was everything she remembered from arriving just a hallucination? It couldn't be. She had escaped.

Just as Lauri started to feel the panic attack sit in, she heard a scratching sliding noise coming from across the room. Looking up with fear in her eyes, she watched as a door slid open. A person entered the room, only vaguely silhouetted by the light outside. With a quiet click, the fluorescent bulbs overhead flickered to life.

“Well good morning, Buttercup. You don't know how happy it makes me to see you finally starting to stir after watching you circle the drain for the last day.”

Lauri's breath caught in her chest. She had made it home after all, but she had been unconscious for an entire day. Softly she spoke up, “Do I… Do I know you? I think I’ve seen you before. You stay on one of the higher floors.” As she finished her sentence her eyes started to adjust, and with surprise Lauri realized he was wearing old world clothing.

Not the dregs a Greenman might find in an untapped locker down town. The clothes were as pristine as the day they were made, creases in the legs showing that they had been freshly ironed. This was a man of high status before her to be gifted such a prize, and he wreaked of privilege. He didn't seem to have ever missed a meal in his life, comfortably filling the outfit.

She found her mind wandering, she barely took in his neatly styled hair or his fair complexion. Signs Lauri thought to herself, of a man that had never left the tower in his thirty? Yeah, thirty she decided, years of life. He looked every bit the part of a high society type that was content to waste away their lives in the tower, never experiencing the freedom of being out there on your own.

Without any intentions too she soon found herself zoned out, reliving memories of being out exploring on her own. She imagines herself going through the trials to become a Greenman and breezing through them with ease. Deeper she recedes in to her own mind, visions of a life where she finds the next untouched bunker and raids it for everything, she can take with her own two hands. Returning with that too perfect fabric they could never quite recreate, to be able to gift it to her mom. The look of joy on her face, tears in her mother's eyes...

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Lauri comes back to reality being gently shaken by her nurse, “Heeeey Buttercup. Stay with me now. I need you to focus. My name is Jeremy. We got you stable, but you're still suffering from the blood loss and toxins in your body. What you just experienced are just the side effects of recovering. You’re disassociating with the present, it can be jarring.”

It took a few seconds for everything to register, but Lauri did shortly reply, “Why am I strapped to this bed?”

Jeremy looked her over and nodded to himself. “For the last few hours your body was going through the worst of it, now that the adrenaline has worn off. You were not reacting well to the medicine we gave you to flush your system. You started thrashing around, and we believe you were having seizures.” Finishing that brief explanation, he began to gently undo her straps and help Lauri sit up fully.

Something inside Lauri disliked Jeremy on principle, but she thought just maybe he wasn’t the worst person ever. She would circle back around and complete her judgement after she was in a bit better place to criticize herself. As they were talking just for a moment their eyes met and she began to imagine herself falling lovingly into his arms…

Damn it! It was happening again. She had to get a handle on this bullshit. It was making her think in ways that were not like her at all. “So how long until I stop seeing things, doc? Because let me tell you, I've been awake for about two minutes and I'm already over it.” She said with a smile that didn't carry into her voice.

“Again, you had a lot happen to you in a short period of time. People bounce back at didn't rates. You though Buttercup, you're practically a child so I'm sure you're going to be up and running around again in no time. The blood thinner that was running through you should mostly be out now though. You might feel a bit off for a day or two, but it shouldn't last much longer than that.”

“Okay, I can do this for another few day if that what it takes to get back out there.” Lauri said more to herself than to anyone in particular.

“Right, about that. What were you even doing outside of Skytop? And don't give me some crap about how you were on official business. We already asked at the checkpoints, and no one has any record of you leaving. What on god’s green hell were you thinking. What could possibly have been worth all of this?” Jeremy finished up his rant by gesturing to her wrapped wounds.

Validation, swift and complete came in that moment to Lauri. She was right, she knew to trust her gut. This man had never, and probably would never be brave enough to go out into the wild and experience what it truly meant to live. He couldn't fathom what it meant to be outside these walls. Outside Skytop that provided a measure of safety, outside the tower that was her prison.

Honestly though, she couldn't blame him. As one of the few doctors that Skytop had, he might as well have been royalty. Lauri was already envisioning a corrupt elite sitting upon a throne, eating until they grew round. Just as quickly her view shifted, to a future with her in that very same seat of power. Would she have power to walk away?

The light smack on her cheek brought her back to the present again. Though this time she seemed more dazed than the last two times she lost focus. Raising her hand to feel where she had just been smacked, she opened her mouth to reply when she was cut off by Jeremy with a raised hand gesturing for her to be quiet.

“Sorry for that. But let me be perfectly clear. When I ask you what went down out there, the question isn't coming from me. You came back covered in blood, screaming like a crazy person. The people at the top leading our little city want answers. They expect me to get those answers.”

After hearing what he had to say, Lauri could see a certain amount of sense in his words. She really didn't explain much, but then again, she didn't know much about the situation, or the man for that matter. So, after a brief pause to get her thoughts in order, she recounted everything that happened while she was out. Jeremy began taking notes as she spoke.

Lauri asked if anyone was able to confirm what she told them when she arrived bleeding at the tower. No one had been able to verify her claims, but that mixed with other things nearby had led to the Greenmen sending out multiple scouting parties. Something was amiss, they just didn’t know what yet. She wasn’t sure if they believed her, but Lauri had told them her truth. There was nothing more she could do now but wait.