A sort of floating feeling came over Alyssa. The pain, at least for the moment, didn't exist. All she felt was a sense of peace wash over her like everything that had happened was just a dream. 'Am I still asleep in my bed?' Trying to make her eyes open proved to be a difficult task along with trying to move her limbs. 'Am I dead?' The lack of feeling and movement was beginning to make her believe she was actually dead, 'Then where is my family at?' as she tried to think of her family, but they were nowhere to be found instead there was a man looking down at her with a slight smile on his face. His face was still surrounded by a bright light leading her to the conclusion of a divine figure, 'Hey! I remember you! You saved me from my car and those people.' She thought to herself even though his name slipped her mind she smiled and tried talking to the man.
"Th-th-a-ank Y-y-ou" her voice came out in a sort of whispered croak making her brow furrow as she wondered why she felt a slight pain in the back of her throat and why her voice would sound like that if she were actually dead and hopefully in heaven.
"Shh now you need to rest girl. It's alright you're safe now." His voice was gentle and reassuring wrapping her in a blanket of calm. But as she was just about to nod to him she felt a sudden sharp pain in her forehead causing her to wince and suck in a sharp breath. 'What was that?' she thought as she looked at the man with a pained look as another sharp sting started at her head again causing her eyes to start watering.
As the pain became more and more frequent and stronger the white haze slowly lifted from around the man's face and he was no longer smiling at her but seemed deep in concentration. When the haze completely lifted and the pain had now turned into a roaring fire, Alyssa's sense of floating and peace quickly went away and was replaced by an old worn mattress beneath her with springs poking her back in uncomfortable ways and her arms and legs still had become too painful to move on a count of the extreme soreness and stiffness that plagued her entire body, but as the pain became more than she could bare she ignored the protest from her muscles and began to reach towards her head to try and stop the pain but before she could touch her head the man grabbed her wrists and pulled them back down restraining her arms.
"Just calm down now. I'm stitchin' that cut on your forehead." He said in a soft voice trying to soothe her panicked mind as she pulled against his grasp but couldn't budge him an inch. The stinging sensation had stopped when he had grabbed her but the pain in her forehead still radiated making her wish for the feeling a moment ago, what she thought death would feel like.
"Annette, Maggie come in here and help me." The man said towards the open door causing two frightened looking women to come in and look between Alyssa and him.
"Is she okay Hershel?" the older woman said as she stepped closer to the bed Alyssa was lying on and taking her left hand intertwining their fingers and rubbing Alyssa's arm reassuringly while keeping her grip with the other. "She don't look so good." The woman said speaking to Hershel but staring down at Alyssa's pained tear stained face.
"My head hurts! Please make it stop!" Alyssa began to plead with them as she shifted her eyes between Hershel and the older woman, who she figured was his wife.
"I know it does sweetie just hold on. Maggie I need you to go get my bag and get me those painkillers." He said looking sternly towards Maggie who never said a word but just nodded and quickly left the room. "When she comes back I'm going to give you a shot that will ease the pain so I can finish sewing up that cut on your forehead. It won't put you to sleep though so you will just have to bear with me." Alyssa didn't like the sound of that, she hated needles and she hated stitches but she really didn't have any choice in the matter. 'At least I won't feel it' she thought to herself as another wave of fire ran across her scalp.
Maggie returned with a syringe and a small glass jar that Hershel quickly took releasing Alyssa's other hand for Maggie to take. "Okay here we go." He spoke in a soothing voice as he filled the syringe and poked Alyssa's arm.
"We'll wait a few minutes while the pain killers go to work then I'm going to finish." Grabbing Alyssa's shoulder reassuringly.
Alyssa laid there gripping the women's hands as she waited for the medicine to take affect and cease the pain radiating from her head. Tears stained her face as she looked helplessly towards Hershel silently willing the medicine to work faster so this whole thing could be done and over with. Just as she was about to whine to him about it not working she felt her muscle start to relaxing and a tingling sensation to run through her body stopping any pain or soreness. Her hands loosened in Annette and Maggie's grip, and her face softened giving Hershel the signal to finish what he had started.
Once he bent over her head she braced for the stinging sensation again but instead she only felt a slight tugging as he worked to close the gash. As he worked Alyssa stayed as still as possible, not wanting to make his job any harder than she already had. So instead of focusing on the fact that she had a needle going through her skin, which thoroughly freaked her out, she stared out the window on the far side of the room thinking about everything that had happened to her in just a few days becoming more confused about that situation and determined to find her mother and older brother, praying that if she did find them that they would still be alive.
About an hour and half later Hershel had sewed, cleaned, and bandaged Alyssa up as best he could. Maggie and Annette helped as best they could following Hershel's advice but after a while they no longer needed to help him or keep Alyssa busy so they ended up leaving the elder man to his job.
"Well you should heal up nicely." Hershel groaned as he stood up from a slightly crouched position, "But you may have a few scars on your hands and your head."
"I'm not worried about a few scars." Alyssa answered him trying to sit up in bed. "I care about getting to town and finding the rest of my family." As she sat up the room began to swim and her stomach lurched almost causing her to throw up. Before she could sit all the way up she felt Hershel's hand on her shoulder pushing her back.
"You need to rest up and let your body heal." Alyssa didn't try to argue as he pushed her tired and sore body back on the mattress. Clearly the pain medicine was starting to slowly wear off as pain slowly creeped back into her body. Hershel looked down at her with a sad look in his eyes as he pulled the blankets up over her, "And I'll talk to you about town in the morning. Now you go ahead and sleep while I clean up my mess."
Alyssa's brow furrowed at the look he gave her when he spoke about town, 'What isn't he telling me?' she thought to herself getting ready to question him but as she settled into the bed sleep started to weigh on her making her eyes feel very heavy.
As she started to dose off she watched Hershel leave the room closing the door completely behind him. Thoughts of finding her family safe in the town with an explanation of what was going on and how everything was going to be okay started to fill her thoughts, 'I'll just stay here until I'm able to get to town then everything will be alright. There is a perfect explanation for everything that happened and a solution to fix it.' Alyssa closed her eyes letting hopeful thoughts lull her to sleep.
"Is she going to be alright Hershel?" a hushed woman's voice interrupted Alyssa's sleep making her listen to the whispered voices closer.
"Yea she'll be fine Annette." He sighed to the woman sounding slightly sad and worried to Alyssa's ears.
"What is it? What's wrong?'
"She's doesn't know what happened in town. She thinks her family is there. And she wants to go there and find them"
"Oh! Hershel we can't let her go!" Annette said in a shocked sad voice. "We have to tell her what happened."
"I will sweetie, but she needs to sleep now." A deep sigh left him, "I'll talk to her tomorrow. There is no sense in upsetting her tonight."
With that Alyssa heard them walk away leaving her to her troubled thoughts as to what they were talking about, 'What would upset me? Why couldn't he tell me before he left?' an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach making sleep hard to come by as she tossed and turned unable to get comfortable between her whirring thoughts and her sore body.
The next morning there was a knock at Alyssa's door making her turn over, "Y-yes." She croaked clearing her scratchy throat trying to sit up in bed.
"Good morning. I figured you might be hungry and quite thirsty" said Hershel coming through the door carrying a plate of eggs and bacon and a glass of water. "Are you feeling better?" he asked setting the plate on the nightstand next to her and giving her the water.
Greedily gulping down the water Alyssa's throat felt better and less scratchy as she answered him, "I'm feeling much better." It wasn't completely the truth and she was starving but ever since she had eavesdropped on his conversation last night all she wanted to do was talk to him. "I was wanting to ask you about last night." She said staring down at her empty glass feeling nervous and slightly scared.
"Of course…" he said letting his sentence hang as he brought a wooden chair closer to the bed and sat down, "I'm sorry I never did get to ask your name through everything that happened last night."
"Alyssa. Alyssa Thom." She said looking up towards him continuing with her question, "What did you mean last night when you said there was nothing left in town?"
Hershel smiled sadly at her as he looked from her to the floor, "Well it's nice to meet you Alyssa. I didn't know you could hear us last night but I guess this makes it a little more easier."
Alyssa waited for him to continue as she nervously played with the glass in her hands fearing what he had to say.
"The town was over run quickly with…" he paused seeming to look for the right words, "Those crazy people and many people died." He said looking back towards her probably gauging her reaction as he went on, "And those who were more fortunate left."
Alyssa sat silently as she let the information settle in her mind, "But what about the police? Or the Army? Or the National Guard? Didn't someone stay and help people?" she said in disbelief that everyone had either fled or died. 'Someone had to of stayed and helped' she thought to herself.
"The police tried to evacuate people when the outbreak first happened but like I said most of the people died. And as far as I know there has been no help from the army or anybody. My guess is they went to the larger cities to try and contain as much as possible."
"Well you never know maybe my mom and brother made it to town and-and…" She couldn't finish her sentence as she thought about the likely hood of them actually making it there and fighting their way out to the bigger cities or even holding up in a building, not very likely at all. The pain of the realization showed clearly on Alyssa's face as she turned her head from Hershel not wanting him to look at her and see her cry again.
Hershel saw her reaction and took it as she needed time alone so he got up from his chair and walked to her bedside putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly, "Alyssa I'm very sorry that I had to tell you this and I understand you're going to need some time to figure everything out and you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you want." With a finally squeeze of her shoulder he let go and walked to the door and closed it behind him as he left her to cry by herself.
A/N Sorry for the long absence and for the mediocre chapter but I have been super busy and it's been really hard for me to find time to write and keep my train of thought so sorry the next chapter should hopefully be better. Again sorry! Please Favorite and Comment!