Survive and Thrive

I wandered into Walmart for food. I got myself a juice and searched for the chips. Then a deafening sound. Pain seared through my chest. I sat up and felt a sudden heat. Fire. I can't feel my chest. Its numb. I looked around, trying to keep calm. I crawled my way to the exit. I was choking from the smoke. I was near the entrance to the exit and saw a boy, limping away just feet away from the exit. One part of the exit is on fire. I black out. My name is Julie Brown. I am 13 years old. I live in Canada. I am an only child. My parents are dead. So this is what I know.  A deadly sickness spread through the world, killing old and young. As far as I knew, I survived. And it's the first day. Close to no people alive. Back to the present : The next thing I knew is that the boy unbuttoned my shirt, and took off his own and wrapped it tightly around my chest. "Thanks", I said. "Is your home far away?" He asked. l "No, not very far away" I replied gasping cause it hurt to talk. "Hey, if it hurts to talk just walk the way there" he said. I nodded. I slowly walked there while he grabbed a stick to support himself and followed me. It hurt super bad to walk. But I knew if I passed out he wouldn't be able to drag me all the way there. We reached inside and I collapsed on the sofa next to him. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He grabbed his ankle and set it straight. Then he broke his stick and made a splint. He turned to me "You need stitches, do you have a first aid kit?" he said. I pointed to the hook from which the kit was hanging. He unwrapped my bandage. My petticoat was in the way. He lowered it a bit so he could stitch up the gash. "Thankfully you didn't break any bones", He said. "Here, hold this" He said, passing me a pillow. He started. The pillow was useful to squeeze. It was excruciatingly painful. It hurt so badly that I passed out after the first few stitches. I sat up with a start and my chest felt like it was burning. "Don't move, I'm nearly done" he said. I groaned and slumped back onto the sofa. I didn't care that I was exposed. I just wanted it to be over. He finished the last stitch. "Wait, I should wipe off the blood" he said. "Where's the bathroom and where do you keep your towels?" He asked. I pointed to them and he came back with a wet tower and gingerly wiped away the blood. He rummaged through the kit and grabbed the antiseptic and put it on my chest. "Hey, where are the clothes?" he asked. I need a shirt and you need one too". "Upstairs" I said. Even saying that hurts. He went up and came back wearing a shirt and he handed me a shirt and a bra. He promptly turned around and I put them on. He plopped himself on the sofa next to me and laid back looking tired. In a couple of minutes, he fell asleep and in a while I did too. I woke up to see him locking the door and windows. "Don't want any animals in here" he said. "Yeah" I said. I realized I was asleep for a couple hours because it was already night. "Also, here's a painkiller that I found" he said. "Thank you" I said. I swallowed the pill. He walked into the kitchen and came out with pb and j. He handed me 2 sandwiches on the plate. He had taken a pain killer too. "I'm Julie" I said. "I'm Sam" he said. The painkiller was in effect, so talking didn't hurt much anymore. "Thank you for everything" I said. "You’re welcome", he said with a warm smile. I sat back comfortably and we both spoke for a while. "How's your ankle?" I asked. "It's broken but it will heal" he said. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry that I made you move so much" I said. "It's ok, it would have been much more serious if you lost too much blood" he said. We decided we both would sleep on the couch because it turned into a bed. I stood up and the room spun. I felt dizzy and fell back. "Don't worry, I will do that" he said and stood up and limped over and turned the weird knob so that the sofa would turn into a bed. Then we both chose either side of the sofa and slept. In the morning, I woke up and realized that my leg was on Sam and his hand was on my face.