I’m staring at the ceiling in a small room with six bunkbeds. I can’t find sleep. Sleeping in shifts on cold floors since we’ve arrived here has made my body uneasy resting on a bed. Even after a shower, I couldn’t relax enough to sleep. I put my armor back on, and it’s still too comfortable to me. It’s taken less than a month for my body to forget the notion of comfort or relaxation. I’m not the only one who isn’t sleeping in the men’s room tonight. Niko is wide awake, staring up at his hands, seemingly deep in thought. Every so often I’ll hear him sigh or speak to himself briefly. On the bottom bunk below me, Enda is tossing and turning, likely unable to sleep. Only Thore seems to be sleeping with no issue, lying shirtless across the cold floor, as he’s too large for the bunk beds. I’ll never understand how a man can sleep so comfortably while the end of the world was nibbling at his toes.
I’d like to get some fresh air, but with the hospital all locked down, there’s nowhere to go, so I settle for a glass of water. It doesn’t take long before I’m joined by Enda. He takes a seat on one of the couches and just stares at me.
“Need something,” I ask him.
“Yes, well no. I want to tell you something,” he stumbles over his words. “Not about me, but someone else.”
“Okay,” I take a seat in a chair near him. “Who do you need to tell me about?”
“Calista.”
“Is she planning to kill us all?”
“No, why would you think that,” his voice is full of panic now.
“She gives off that vibe. She might spare you and Tamara but I’m sure she’d feed the rest of us to the grubs if she could.”
“See, that’s the thing. Everyone thinks she’s some evil witch, but she’s not. She’s a good person inside.”
“Deep down inside.”
“Never mind, I don’t know why I thought I’d talk to you about this. You’re not part of our group.”
Stolen story; please report.
I can’t say I’ve known Enda long enough for him to annoy me, but I can say he’ll be a problem. Calista is a problem, and Enda seems to be under her spell as well as Tamara. No matter what he says it’s going to come down to Calista is nice and we can’t see it because we’ve pre judged her. The three of them will be an issue when we leave. I don’t need to be a soldier to understand team dynamics.
“Why are you so devoted to Calista,” I ask him.
“I’m not devoted to her. I just see that she’s more than what people assume.”
“How so?”
“Well, before all of this got started, she used to be one of my students. I’m a college professor by the way. I taught creative writing and historical literature.”
I cut him off, “so you two came here together. Great, I need to get some rest.”
“No, we didn’t come here together. Just listen.”
“She’s had a rough life, that’s her story to tell, not mine. She wrote some beautiful work for my class about the struggle of wanting to be a good person and surviving. She’s in a unique situation where this is not her first life or death experience.”
“How did you find your way here,” I try to change the subject to something else.
“I was running away from the group that had taken over my campus. They managed some of the grubs and use them to attack people. I just ran and didn’t stop. I passed out at the front door. They weren’t going to let me. They were afraid that I was passing out due to being infected, not exhaustion. Calista convinced them to let me in because she recognized me. She nursed me back to health on the lower floors until they were sure they could trust me. I’m just saying she’s not horrible. She’s just misunderstood.”
“I understand what you’re getting at, but at some point, the bad outweighs the good. If she wants people to treat her better or consider her as a key element of the team, then she needs to act like it. She can’t just expect you to pull everyone to the side and give them a story about how she saved you. She has to show that she’s not a bad person by doing something besides making herself the center of attention. If you want to stay in the hospital, and barricade it with her, then do it. We’re not going to stop you. Marshall and I are going anyway, it’s up to the rest of you what you want to do. Unfortunately, keeping Calista happy isn’t on my list.”
There isn’t much talk afterwards. Enda returns to attempt sleeping. I stay awake, tuning my radio, hoping to find something new. There are other signals, but I can’t hone in on them. I settle on the call for help again. We’re spending too much time here. I know Marshall is in charge, but I’d like to be out of here in a few days at the max. That’ll give us time to rest, and prepare supplies. Maybe find a vehicle we can use. I’ll make a list of things to get before we leave. That should help me pass the time until everyone is awake.