Once Bitten

Keep Going (13)

MK had no idea how long he was unconscious this time because when he woke up the sky was a lot darker and his head somehow ached worse now, a dull sting going all the way through his body that left him exhausted.

"Ughhh." He groaned out, managing to move onto his front and slowly shuffle into a crawling position, his hands digging into the dirt beneath him, the ground splattered with red.

His back hurt too and he resisted the urge to stay down, moving to try and get up only to face-plant the floor again. Okay. Fine. He could give himself another minute. 

The smell of smoke and fire, thick and burning in his nose hit him and he opened his eyes again, dragging in a choked breath and forcing himself to turn back so he could see the car. 

After scanning around he saw fire, rising high into the trees and he winced, hoping it wouldn't attract anything unwanted as he turned his attention back to the car, panic crashing through his body at the sight of the wrecked car. 

"Bai He!" He coughed, eyes wide and itching with the smoke as he scrambled to his legs, trying to get close to the car but the heat stopped him from better much further and he could do little more than cry out at the sight of melting metal and burning tires.

"No." He croaked out, everything hurting when he tried to move again and he felt tears flood down his face, sobs building in his throat as he reached desperately with stinging palms towards what was left of the car, his chest aching horridly.   

His vision blacked out a little again but it didn't stay that way, consciousness quickly returning much to MK's horror because he spent what felt like forever curled up on the dirt hurting, his eyes leaking a never-ending stream of tears that left his head pounding even more. 

Eventually, he could have gotten up but he didn't want to. He didn't want to go closer to the car and see... whatever was left of Bai He, his sweet little sister who meant the world to him. Who he'd promised to protect. Who was now probably little more than ashes and bones and just the thought sent a pain so deep into his chest it was like he'd been struck with a knife, another whine leaving his throat as he scrunched his eyes shut and prayed he was just having a nightmare, that this wasn't real.

A loud, pained wail left his lips as the pain got too much, wondering how it was possible to hurt as much as he was now as he gripped at the dirt with his broken nails and screamed, yelling out his grief into the night. 

He wanted to die. Anything would be better than this but he couldn't bring himself to move as he lay there, waiting with burning limbs and an aching head for him to eventually die. He didn't really care about how long it would take. He'd stay here until he wasn't around any longer to feel the pain. He deserved it.  

Eventually, his exhaustion and dehydration caught up to him and with the sound of drumming in his ears and static in his vision, he blissfully fell back unconscious, glad to no longer have to be awake.

He awoke and it was morning, his limbs feeling like lead as he blinked his eyes, cheeks against the mucky ground as he whined, not bothering to move and closing his eyes again. He could still hear the sound of the fire nearby and feel the heat on his back from it and it stung a little but he didn't care, eye sockets burning with how dry and sticky they felt. 

He stayed that way, hating being awake but in too much pain to go back to sleep for an indeterminate amount of time, not sure how much time was passing from his curled-up position, his hand gripping at his chest like he'd be able to tug out his heart if he just tried hard enough.   

He thought maybe another day passed the same way, his limbs aching with exhaustion and slowly going numb as he stopped shaking finally, vision fuzzy at every corner as he spaced out, listening to the sound of fire.