Gunpowder

When Poppy woke up, she felt like she was floating. Was she dead? Was she in some sort of twisted afterlife?

Her eyes shot open. She looked around. Not heaven. She wasn’t dead. She knew from the pain shooting through her chest. She was in a room, her room. Her hospital room. She knew she wasn’t floating. That would be impossible.

Then she spotted something. Something familiar. It was a humanoid, sitting at the foot of her bed. As her vision cleared she realized. She was tall, but not so that she was lanky. Something about her was making Poppy recognized her.

The woman’s eyes flitted upwards. She saw what was so recognizable. Her scrunchie. It was red, tying the majority of her hair into a bun.

“Axis,” Poppy mumbled.

Everything that had happened the day before came rushing back to her. At least she assumed it was yesterday. She wasn’t sure. She remembered how she thought she was going to die. How she had grabbed a blanket and attacked the person who had opened the doors. It seemed distant to her. Like she had watched it in a film.

She tried to think about the happening logically. She assumed she had been sedated in some way, probably with an injection. That would explain the pain in her arm.

“You’re awake,” Axis spoke, her voice a bit muffled from Poppy’s confused state.

“You could say that,” Poppy responded like some drunken man waking up from a hangover. She sat up, supporting herself with her elbows.

“You’re alive”

“Not so sure about that,” Poppy’s breath was heavy, labored.

“You managed to break your ribs. At least one of them. I don’t know what you did, but it was probably pretty stupid. Don’t do it again,”

“They let me live?”

“Of course they let you live! What did you expect?”

“I thought I was in heaven” Poppy chuckled.

“Do you remember who I am?”

“Yeah. Yeah. You’re Axis. Axis the police officer,”

“Yes, I am. They said you attacked someone. Said something about stress. Called me in,”

Poppy took another labored breath, then looked down as her vision cleared.

“What are they going to do with me, Axis?”

“Heal you. You’re not going to die. We have top medical technology,”

“I know. I know I’m going to live. But, when I’m healed. When I’m able to get out of here. Will I ever be able? Am I just going to be stuck here?”

“Well. They said, when you’re healed. They’re gonna turn you over to me,”

“For what purpose?” Poppy responded. She looked a bit panicked.

“To help you. You’re not insane, at least they don’t think you are. They think that you can reintegrate into society, be a normal civilian,”

“And they want you to help how?”

“Well, I don’t know their whole plan. They said that the two of us will be moved into a home. And, well. You can get an education, get a career. You could be very useful, with your ability to speak two languages,”

“So, I’m not a prisoner? They aren’t gonna slaughter me? I’m gonna live?”

“We are not barbarians. You will still be a prisoner, at first. You will be under my supervision. Once they think they can trust you, you will be allowed to leave.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really. They say you can leave soon. Your rib wasn’t broken bad. They say as long as there’s a cast on it, you’ll be fine. Your legs are getting a lot better, and you can move without a wheelchair or anything of the like. And your neck is completely healed. They say a week. I’ll be moving today, from the barracks,”

Axis remembered how just a week ago she had been notified of the plans. She would have declined if it was some other situation, but this time she felt something that made her feel compelled to accept. She had packed up her meager belongings and moved to the home she had been placed in.

“Well. T-thank you. Thank you so much,”

“It’s nothing,”

“You saved my life.”

“You could say that. Truly, it’s the least I can do.”

Axis was attempting to act calm about the whole thing, but in reality it was quite terrifying. An unknown enemy was going to be living with her. Of course, she would be armed at all times, and the house would be capable of lock down in case things got ugly. It was not a relationship in which only one person had power. Poppy was scared of her, and Axis was just as scared of Poppy. She had heard the story of what had happened, and she realized something she hadn’t realized before. The woman could fight, which contrasted her weak frame. She wasn’t strong, but she was quick, and cunning.

Poppy laughed for a moment. It wasn’t a normal laugh; It sounded almost maniacal.

“War is hell,” she at last said, as if she had just heard the funniest joke of her life.

“It is. It really is,”

“France is gone. My parents are dead, my siblings went off to war! Everything is gone. What happened to browsing the internet when you were, what, six years old. When the war started. Then everything was gone. The internet was gone. The lights were off! It was like we were living in the 1900s or something! Everyone went away, one by one. My whole family, every friend! War is hell and everyone is Satan,”

“I-I. I’m sorry, Poppy. I know how bad it is. How scary the world is,” The woman’s broken tone tugged at her heartstrings.

“Thank you. Really. I’ll go along with what they say. Maybe this war will end and everything will go back to normal,”

“We can only hope. I-I must be going now. I’ll be back in a week. Then you’ll be out of here. Cooperate, alright? Don’t attack anyone. They only want the best for you. Promise?”

Poppy nodded, beginning to feel fully awake. She watched as Axis walked out the door, taking one sidelong glance back at her.

“Promise,” She said, just as the door closed. She let herself relax, the sedative still making her feel a bit tired. She closed her eyes. Floaters bounced in her vision.

She was peaceful. For once, she had hope.