Super Soldiers

Where am I? My body lies in a soft lumpy crater in a strange bed. A soft wool blanket, white in some other lifetime nestles under my chin. The heat bothers me so I toss off the blankets and sit up on the edge of the bed. A stranger sticks his head in and sends me flying into the farthest corner. He looks at me sadly under dark hair.
“You don’t remember do you?” Déjà vu. He’s said this before but when? Where? Here? I am tired of forgetting. He steps closer. I cringe, pressing myself against the wall and whimper, unsure of his intentions. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” He says sincerely and I believe him. I slid down the wall to the cold concrete floor and hug my knees to my chest. He sits down in front of me, crossing his long legs. “How are you feeling?”
“Hot.” I say simply. He frowns and places his palm on my forehead.
“Wow,” he mutters, “You are hot.” He pulls his hand back like he is stung, but grabs my hands. “Guys, here temperature is rising fast!”
“Hi, Myu.” I croak at the tiny girl in a ragged red dress who skips to a stop in front of us. She smiles smugly at the boy trapping my hands with his own. Her smile seems to brighten the room. I remember something... The last thing I heard was, ‘My, calm her down!’ and I saw her sweet face. I want to remember more. I stare at him.
“What’s your name?” He cocks his head to the right a little and smiles slightly, leaning close to my ear he whispers, “Briar.” I repeat his name silently and darkness claims me.

//\\//

Anastasia looks enviously at the girl surrounded by her friends and thinks; she’s already stealing them from me. Briar gently lifts the nameless girl back into bed, pulling the sheets up over her, but leaving the wool blanket off. He motions them into the next room.
“I think we should keep her.” He says, sitting down in one of the mismatched chairs surrounding a white plastic table.
“Why?” Anastasia whines. “She’ll just be a burden.”
“I agree with Briar. She’s too sick to go anywhere else right now and we don’t even know what powers she has. She could be an invaluable addition to our team.” The boy with glasses pipes up from the medical book he is shifting through.
“What team, Simon? We are just trying to survive here. One more person could compromise that! We don’t even know what side she is on! What if she’s with them and she remembers?” The fair haired girl screams angrily.
“Shh! She is sleeping.” Myuki cautions the fiery older girl. “It’s okay Ana, don’t be jealous, we won’t forget you.” The little Asian girl pats her friend’s hand. Briar looks at Anastasia with narrowed eyes.
“Ugh, I’m NOT jealous! I’m just thinking of what’s best for us, like you should be!” Anastasia screams again and storms up the stairs towards the outside world.
“I brought you kids some- What’s wrong?” A woman practically sings.
“THEY brought an outsider!” Ana snarls and brushes past the short, chubby woman.
“A what? I told you guys-”
“Maddie, she’s one of us. What could we do? She has amnesia and a high fever too.” Myuki pulls at the woman’s brown skirt sadly. “Can we keep her, PLEASE?” The woman sets down an armload of brown bags on the table and picks up the little raven haired girl
“Well, sweetie, it’s the girls choice whether she wants to stay or not.” Maddie pulls some of her short brown hair behind her ear and bits her lip. “What’s her name?”
“We don’t know-” Simon hedges.
“It’s December, unless she remembers another one.” Briar cuts in. The adult looks at him strangely and sighs.
“Let me see her.” The older boy leads the woman into December’s room. Maddie tests her forehead like Briar had before. “She does have a fever, but otherwise seems fine. I think it has something to do with whatever powers she may or may not have.”
“Scream found a shallow bullet wound with the bullet still embedded in her left shoulder. We were able to remove it.”
“Good. Odd, maybe her power has something to do with her skin...” The woman muses and stares at the pale, dark brown haired girl. “Come, help me put away the food.” Maddie gets up and leaves. Briar looks back hesitantly and follows the woman out, shutting the door firmly.