Hard Trials (Book Five of the Into the Fray series)

Prologue

      Armitage lifted up his head. He could only see out of one eye, the other completely swollen shut. He was grateful that half of his face had gone numb. He was pretty sure his eye socket was broken, cracked at the very least.

His right leg had also gone numb. This worried him a bit more than his eye. He was afraid to look down at it. The last time he had done that, it had made him pass out.

With a disturbing sense of calm Armitage was pretty sure that he was in shock. Though his pulse seemed to beat like a drum in his wrists and neck, it was strangely fluttering like a bird trying to fly. He was thirsty; an insatiable thirst that the more he thought about it, the more he started to panic. He was drenched in sweat but was freezing--so much so that he began to shiver violently.

He didn't know how long he had been here in this room. He had lost track. After the fifth day, everything started to get fuzzy. He knew it had been awhile. In fact, it felt like a lifetime. He was having trouble remembering a life before this.

He knew that was absurd. He knew there was a life outside of these four walls, this upright bed he was strapped to. He remembered things--people. He remembered them vividly, but he had no idea how to get to them. In fact, a cold reality settled under his skin.

He was never going to see them again.

A fitting end, he told himself. You've had a good run, Armitage. It had to end sometime.

In his entire life, there was truly only one thing he was regretful for.

Armitage began to laugh. At first it was a chuckle. Then a giggle. Then he guffawed. It quickly became a hysterical laughter he couldn't stop, tears streaming down his face.