Fallen

Chapter Twenty-Three

The sound of my door opening woke me. I took a moment to gather my thoughts of what happened before I fell asleep. I ate soup, took a bath and was given a skirt to wear. That was why I had strange clothes on. What bothered me though was my stomach, it ached for food though I had a bowl of soup an hour ago.

"Good morning," a pleasant voice said. Opening my eyes, I took in a tall woman with greying blond hair that was wrapped back into a bun. Clever brown eyes watched me as I sat up. The woman carried a tray to the table beside the bed. Her clothes were like mine. She had on a skirt and a blouse and a vest wrapped around her thin body. "I'm Etta, the doctor of the Settlement."

"I'm Mel," I said. My mouth was dry. I must have slept for longer than what I thought.

"Yes, I know. I already spoke with your other companions. They woke last night, but it seemed the drug affected you more."

My head whipped to Etta who was watching me closely. "What are you talking about?"

"The soup had a small dose of a sleeping drug in it. The few visitors we get here are usually tired and they can't sleep. When we used to try to give the visitors medication, they would throw it back at us. It's understandable since you do not know who we are. Please, forgive us for not telling you."

That was why I was hungry and well rested. The explanation made sense to why I was so tired before I fell asleep.

"I hope you don't mind," the doctor turned to the tray and picked up a small rope. "I am going to draw some blood, it's a precaution to see if you have any illnesses. We cannot risk the rest of the Settlement to get sick."

I nodded. "Of course." I slid to sit at the edge of the bed. Etta gently grabbed my wrist and undid the button of my sleeve to fold it up.

"Where do you travel from?" Etta asked.

"Far away. Ben and Alec, the two I traveled with, we went to Vegas but they wouldn't let us in. We heard rumors about this place. That there was a safe haven in Seattle, so we traveled here." My story was the same that Ben and Alec told. The people here would be suspicious of us, it was important for our stories to be the same.

"That is quite far, all three of you seem to be in good shape." She rolled the sleeve up past my elbow and wrapped the rope around my arm below the fabric.

"We drove an old vehicle most of the way but it broke down a day before we arrived."

The rope was tight around my arm. Etta picked up the needle from the tray and held my elbow up so that the inside skin was facing her. I looked away as the needle pierced the skin and into a vein.

"Well, you are lucky to get here. Do you want to stay with us?" I nodded. The needle was pulled out and Etta pressed a white cloth to the spot. "Can you hold that?"

My fingers brushed Etta's as I squeezed the cloth against my elbow. "Do you take people in?" I asked.

"Yes," Etta turned toward the tray, taking care of the needle. "We always welcome visitors. We are self-sustaining here and we reproduce so it is always nice to have new genes."

A shiver trickled down my spine. New genes. Reproduction. In their eyes, I was fresh and young. Prime to have babies. But we would be long gone before I would have to deal with that.

"I must ask," Etta turned back to me. "With you traveling with two men, I need to know."

"No, I'm not pregnant." I laughed lightly.

Me, a mother? That will never happen.

"I don't have anyone. Ben and Alec are good friends."

Etta smiled. "Good. Breakfast is served in the Hall. I will take you there."