Waking up

Amy slowly came to her senses before the acidic smell woke her up fully. She was in the corner of a cold room on thin mattress with a blanket with large metal tanks lining the walls. Tubes started at the top and bottom of every tank forming an amber, liquid highway to a single point into the floor before re-surfacing at the other end splitting off to different points along the wall. Shelves of bottles and wooden casks stretched from one wall to the other with a space in the centre for people to walk through. Multiple voices could be heard from the other side of a door in the same wall all the tubes lined. Some voices sung, some laughed, and others yelled creating an incoherent mass of noise.

Looking down, Amy pulled the blanket off herself and saw her clothes burnt, torn, and covered in dirt. She could barely remember what had happened when the sanctuary was attacked and the headache wasn't helping. She went to stand up but simply stumbled and fell back down onto the mattress where she clutched her head in pain as a constant ringing in her ears grew louder and louder.

A few seconds of laying down allowed the pain and ringing to settle down. Suddenly, the door opened and the noise of the other room was unbearable until the door closed again. Amy listened as footsteps walked over to one of the shelves and a cask was selected and pulled off onto the floor. Amy sat up with her back pressed into the corner of the room and looked the person before her up and down. They were a young man, around 20 years old with short, black hair and wore a white, sleeveless shirt, grey shorts with many pockets, a pair of green flip-flops, and a stained apron over the top.

As the man turned to leave through the door carrying a cask, he looked at Amy, then back to the door, and then quickly did a double take to make sure he was seeing she clearly.

"Oh. You're finally conscious." there was very little emotion in the man's voice. The reason for it could've been that he didn't care or that the emotion was very subtle but either way the man showed no emotion in his voice or face.

"Who are you? Where am I? What is this place? Who are you?" the questions pour out of Amy without much thought but the man didn't seem to care too much.

"One, you asked who I am twice. Two, I don't have time to answer your questions as I have a business to run. And three, here's some fresh clothes," the man picked up some clothes folded neatly in a stack from the floor and tossed them to Amy who barely caught them. "put them on, and when you're ready come through with your old clothes for some food and drink." the man opened the door and the noise roared once again but this time it was a lot more bearable.

Amy picked out a shirt from the stack and looked at it for a while before put it and the rest of the new clothes on. She had been given some brown shorts, a large, blue t-shirt, and a pair of trainers. Grabbing all her clothes, Amy turned to the door and walked towards it. The dizziness faded a little but she still needed to use the walk as a pain in her left leg made her balance terrible. When she finally reached the door she used it to steady herself before pulling it open.

The other side of the door was completely different to the room Amy had just been in. The room was large with light wooden flooring and walls and three circular tables made out of a darker type of wood. The area the door lead to was sectioned off from the rest of the room by a partially metal and partially wood divider about one and a half feet wide. Men and women were sat at the tables drinking but all stopped when they saw Amy. She felt quite unsafe with all the eyes looking at her but they all suddenly burst into cheer and celebration. The sudden noise was shockingly painful as Amy feel onto her right knee dropping her clothes and covering her ears. An elderly voice told everyone to keep it down and the room quickly quieted to soft chatter.

A hand reached out and helped Amy up after collecting the clothes off the floor. Amy slowly rose and shuffled over to a stool on the other side of the divider. The person who had helped was a woman in her late 60's with white hair, a purple cardigan, black trousers, and slip-on shoes.

"It's good to see you're alright dear!" exclaimed the woman quietly. She handed the clothes to the man from before behind the divider who tossed them down a flap in one of the walls. Behind them were many casks with spouts and bottles of shelves as well as taps lining the wall most likely connected to the tubes on the other side. "I hope you weren't uncomfortable in that room. I would've taken you to my own home for you to recover but by boat doesn't have much room. Joseph here said it would be best to keep you in a cold room anyway as you had a fever higher than any I've seen."

"Eat up." said Joseph still without emotion. He placed a large bowl of orange soup in front of Amy and poured out a pint glass of water which was placed next to the bowl.

"Thank you, Joseph." said Amy as she began eating the soup. She hadn't realised how hungry and thirsty she was until now as she downed half the glass of water instantly and began drinking the soup as if she hadn't eat in days.

"You shouldn't thank me, Dorothy was the one who found you on one of the paths on the mountain and supplied us with those clothes. But I just want to know who you are and how you got here?" Joseph asked.

"Well, my name is Amy, Amy Dun. But I don't know how I got here. I barely remember anything that happened when we were attacked." replied Amy. Dorothy was taken aback by the idea people being attacked but Joseph stood emotionless.

The next few minutes where spent on Amy finishing the soup and water while Dorothy and Joseph asked her questions about her family and where she's from. Soon, most people had left leaving just Amy, Dorothy, Joseph, and a man in the corner of the room quietly snoring.

"Well, the next thing we need to sort out is where you're going to stay. I have a spare room or two upstairs you can stay in but you'll have to work to stay hear. You'll have to help clear tables and take orders. How does that sound?" offered Joseph. Amy thought about it for a moment before nodding and shaking Joseph's hand agreeing to work for him in his pub until the opportunity to get back home arrived.