Survivors: A Curtis Everett Story ✓

Chapter 3

I sit in the waiting room next to Yona, as I have learned her name is. I had had one of the ladies I work with take the two boys down to the daycare, assuring Yona they would be safe. "So you were on the train?" I ask, trying to distract her.

"Yeah. My whole life. I was born there." She says, eyes downcast. "You lost someone?" But it was more of a statement than a question.

"My father."

"I'm sorry." I say quietly. "What happened?"

"A revolution. Father was needed to help Curtis take the front of the train. He was killed in the blast, along with Curtis's wife, Caspian's mother."

"I'm so sorry for your loss. Both of you." She nods. I'm about to ask more about their journey here but the doctor comes out. I stand up and Yona joins me in walking over to him.

"Hey Gina."

"Brock. How is he?"

"He's stable. The bullet shattered on impact so it took us a while to get all of the pieces but we did it. He's in recovery now but will probably be out for the rest of the day." I nod.

"Thank you Brock. I thought we got rid of those bullets so my father will be hearing about this." I wave over Jen. "Yona, this is Jen. She's a friend of mine. She's going to take you to get cleaned up and some fresh clothes, ok?" She nods. I pull Jen to the side before continuing in a lower voice. "She needs to be flushed with some electrolytes, and the boys. We don't know what kind of conditions they were in, both before the explosion and the weeks since." She nods. "Thanks Jen." She takes Yona out and I head back to the recovery room.

...
*Curtis's POV*

I wake up to a beeping and I panic, not knowing where I am. My memories are a little fuzzy, probably from the pain killers that were definitely in my system.

I open my eyes and blink back the harsh lighting. After 17 years in the dark tail section, any type of light, even artificial, caused my eyes to water and hurt. I blink a few times and they slowly adjust to the room. I see the machines I'm hooked up to and the woman who approached us outside asleep in the chair beside me. My throat is dry and I start coughing, waking her up.

...
*Gina's POV*

I hear coughing and immediately shoot up. "You're awake. Thank fuck!" I say before opening the door and alerting Brock. "I am so sorry about this. I swear I had no idea he was armed. We don't take guns on scouting missions, and Ethan's not normally with my team." He just nods. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just been shot," came his raspy reply and I grabbed the water cup, placing it against his lips and holding it while he drank.

"Right. Again I'm so sorry."

"Where's my son?"

"He's down in the daycare with the other kid. The other little boy that was with you is there too. Yona was taken to go get cleaned up." I answer.

"What is this place?"

"The Compound. Or at least that's what we call it."

"And where exactly in the world is The Compound?"

"Somewhere in Canada, I think. We weren't exactly sure how far we'd gotten before the blizzard made everything unrecognizable." He nods. "We've been here practically the whole time."

"How many of you are there?"

"Couple hundred, maybe. It's been a while since we've last done a census. It was originally just my dad, me and some people from our town that had gotten out before conditions got too horrible."

"And people have been joining you ever since."

"Here and there. We thought besides those on the train that we were the only ones left. After a couple of years we were joined by another large group. Stragglers came in here and there after that. We make it a habit to let anyone in, typically without an immediate operating room visit. Again, I'm really sorry about that."

He shakes his head. "It's fine."

"No its not. That's not how we do things here and Ethan knows that." His eyes start drooping. "Hey, you get some sleep and when you wake up again, I'll have someone bring your son up to see you," he nods before falling asleep, his breathing evening out. Whoever this Curtis was, he intrigued me. He survived the train that was supposedly a godsend and he looked like he went through hell to do it. I was looking forward to learning his story.