Lost In Lucidity

Clinical Death

When I woke up from my accident, I was told I had died for around two minutes. By the time I was found, I had lost an immense amount of blood, and even though I was rushed to the hospital and put straight into a stasis machine, when I was taken out for surgery, I was already too far gone. I'll never know the amount of money and fear I cost my family during that time I was unconscious. None of them would ever give me a direct answer, but I know both were immeasurable. By some miracle, though, through the resuscitation process, they managed to save me before it was too late. The consequence was a one-week coma and a lot of pain from my injury. When they told me about the whole 'dying' thing, I was confused about how it was possible to die and come back to life. The doctor explained that there are three types of death in the medical field. The first is clinical; what I was. That's when your circulatory system shuts down, and there's no longer any blood pumping through your veins. The second is biological death; when the cells in your brain, heart, and organs begin to die without any blood flow. The damage done by this is very rarely reversible. The third follows very close the second. Legal death is when you're declared officially gone. When everything that makes you 'you', leaves the body. Your soul is gone, and all that's left is an empty husk.

The day of my accident was probably the closest I will ever get to a premature 'legal death'. Then again, today has only just begun.

I watch as Val shuffles our deck of cards before cutting it and handing it to me. I do the same, then place it between us.

High card runs, low card traps? She asks.

I nod, Only once. No two out of three if you don't get what you want.

She hesitantly agrees before taking the first off the top. I follow suit. We flip them over to reveal Val with a seven of clubs and me with a jack of diamonds.

Wordlessly, we stare at the outcomes before sweeping the deck up and setting out.

~

I stand ready in my spot, hidden by old 'For Lease' stickers. My helmet muffles shaky breaths as I cling tightly to the rope in my hand that runs to the gate next door. The world has been turned into a series of lines and wires as copious amounts of duct tape plaster the front of the visor, obscuring any chance of seeing the world in clarity. I watch Val's position on the mental map through the walls as she moves further down the main corridor. My heart beats hard for her, and I pray that all the birds are still at the nest. After a few more minutes of waiting, I get a message from her.

Okay, I'm in position. Are you ready?

'No.'

I take a deep breath and steady my nerves, Yeah. Let's go.

With that, Val doesn't hesitate.

"Hey!" She cries out, sending a wave of noise bouncing through the narrow passages. I wince at the abrupt volume shift, and the sound map goes wild with color. "Somebody help!" She carries on. Slowly, she starts moving back toward my position.

She tosses out a few more screams for good measure before picking up the pace. Her words to me shift from letters on a screen to a voice in my ears, "I hear them chirping, Wes. Here they come."

She rounds the corner onto the stretch of mall that houses our rigged lot and begins to slow.

"Hello?" A new voice suddenly calls out from past Val. It's demanding and filtered through a mouthpiece. An old guard's likeness. "Is someone there? Show yourself."

Val doesn't obey and keeps moving back. That's when the bells start ringing. On the floor below, our trip wires begin to sound, letting out ripples of red that trace outlines of the large beasts. Four of them, all of which scurry to a new vantage point upon hearing the uninvited noise. Val has almost reached the door now, and starts running upon seeing that she's been surpassed below. Noticing that their prey is starting to flee, the others on the same floor as us give up their mimicking game and sprint toward Val.