Sprayfire

Chapter XIII - In the Fire's Warmth

It was cold... dark... and blank...

I could hear my own thoughts, echoing back and forth in my head...

I started to shiver in the cold, as I slowly regained consciousness...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I woke up in an unfamiliar place. It appeared to be what looked like a dense forest. I was laying on my side; shivering in the soft, cool breeze - on the cold, hard ground. I was lost; clueless about what happened after I rang the bell, and curious about how I got here. Without any knowledge of any recent activity, I slowly propped myself up. However, someone grabbed my shoulders and stopped me.

"No, no - you need to rest.", a girl spoke. "Don't worry, I'll make a fire for us.", she said, as she covered me with a blanket.

I followed her orders and laid down on my side, watching her place some wood down and make a fire near me. I suddenly recognized that the girl who I was with, was this Elizabeth person. I looked at her; we were both shivering in the cold. I could see her, desperately trying to keep herself warm by staying near the fire. Without any second thoughts or doubts, I struggled to get up.

"W-what are you, d-doing?! D-don't waste y-your energy!", she told me, as she shivered in the cold.

I sat beside her and wrapped the blanket around ourselves. I didn't really understand what was going on - my instinct told me to get up and share some of the warmth with her. There was one part of me that was wondering what was happening to me, while the other one was pondering on where everybody went.

"H-hey, what h-happened to the others?", I asked her, as my teeth started chattering uncontrollably.

"W-well, after you passed out, t-this General M-Mitchel of yours...", she told me, as she breathed deeply to try and preserve warmth. "...he contacted a helicopter to f-f-fetch us, and t-take us back to your Headquarters, s-so that you could b-be sent to the infirmary.", she added, as she hugged herself.

"B-but, how d-did we end up here?", I asked, as I removed my backpack and hugged it tight.

"The people back at y-your base said something about an upcoming s-storm... The helicopter might not be able t-to fly correctly, and s-something bad may happen.", she said. "I told everyone to go back t-to headquarters for now, and t-that I would take you w-with me.", she added, as her jaw started chattering.

"Why on Earth w-would you do t-that?!", I asked her.

"H-hey! Be t-thankful that y-you're being provided m-medical attention as soon as p-possible! That's why I b-brought you here - I was p-planning to give you f-first aid, then we'd head b-back.", she replied, feeling a little guilty. "Y-your friends, and everyone else - t-they got on the h-helicopter after a f-few minutes, then took off.", she added.