Desinence. (The Beginning Of The End)

.27.

Alyssa.

I searched my thoughts for her, but I couldn't find her. Where was she? I reached blindly around with mental hands, but came up empty. I felt myself slump in dissapointment. Where was I? I couldn't find myself, either. I tried to move my fingers, my mouth, my lips to form words, but they weren't anywhere to be found. I felt like I was floating numbly in a pitch black pool of nothingness. It was scary. I was terrified. Where was I? Was I dead?

George's face suddenly appeared in my mind. Kate. Jericho, Eli, Keenan, Foster, Oz, Eli, Cade, Kathy, Carlie, Matthew, James, Reedus, Marcus, Alex, Alice, Detri, Tamara, Tara, Todd. Where was everyone? Was I asleep, at camp? Snoring quietly in my tent, with George beside me? No, I wasn't at camp. Where was I, then?

I couldn't remember anything that had happened before. Memories and untouched knowledge floated around in my head, but they slipped through my fingers when I tried to grasp them. It was frustrating. I struggled again and again, but I still failed.

After a while, feeling slowly began to fade back into focus. I was suddenly very aware of where my fingertips were. They were burning and tingling, and after a while, I could twitch my fingers. I found my arms, too, attached to my hands and fingers, exactly where they should be. And then my shoulders, my neck, my face. My torso, my legs, and my feet. I moved my toes around, getting used to the motion. I was lying on something very cold, and since my body seemed to be scorching, it felt odd.

I finally was able to hear again, too. Somewhere very close to me, I could hear low, even breathing. A few feet away, I could hear a few other sets of breathing, each at their own pace. I opened my eyes then, expecting to see a bright light. But it was dark. I was staring at a low, dark ceiling. The room I was in was incredously quiet. Where was I? What had happened?

My body slowly began to cool down, and when it did, I began to feel slow, throbbing, surges of pain in my arms, legs, and ribs. I was sore, too, and when I attempted to sit up, I felt a warm slash of pain in my chest.

"Woah, there. Careful. You have two broken ribs." Said a low, familiar voice to my right. The sound of his voice made me jump, which hurt as well. I gritted my teeth together, wishing that I could see better.

"Oz?" I asked, my voice weak and scratchy from disuse. Talking hurt my burning throat, and I then realized that I was very thirsty. When was the last time I had had a drink? My head was still foggy and unclear. I couldn't remember what had happened.

"Yeah, it's me. Lay back down, you'll hurt yourself."

I felt cool hands push me back down onto the ground.

I sighed in releif, happy that at least Oz was with me. Wherever we were. 

My feeling of contentment didn't last for long. As my head began to clear up, memories suddenly burst through the wall of haze in my head, and I was overwhelmed with emotions.

Going into the library. Getting attacked by the dead. Getting caught by Michael, the new leader of Haddon's group. Understanding that Micah had turned on us, had joined their side. Micah had sent a horde into our camp, and it killed Kate. It probably killed everybody. As everything in my mind began to fall into place with a final stab of pain, I pulled my knees up to my chest, and I cried. I cried for George, I cried for Alyssa, I cried for everyone at camp. I cried for myself, I cried for all of us for getting captured. I cried for anyone who had ever died. Oz lightly put a hand on my shoulder, and he let me.

After I finished sobbing, my breathing finally fell back into a normal pattern. I was suddenly very aware of all the eyes that were on me. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could see the room we were in now. It was a long, narrow, concrete room with a low ceiling. It was freezing, and there seemed to be no door. Just a window, with bars on it. Like a prison cell. We were all here. Alyssa was sitting in the corner, staring at me with wide, horrified eyes. There was something in her that sent a wave of pain through me. Surrender. She had given up hope. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, too, and there was a large bruise on her right cheek, and a cut on her lower lip. Keenan sat against the wall, beside me. He sat on his knees, flipping a stick around, staring at nothing in particular. Thinking, or remembering. I couldn't tell. Cade was still unconcious, laying limpy across from me. Eli was sitting next to Alyssa, his hands covering his face as he tried to figure out a plan. And Foster, poor Foster, was curled up on the floor, his eyes closed. But I could tell he was awake. He was just miserable. The only man he had ever trusted- really considered family- Had turned on us, and probably killed Carlie. He was in denial; Wouldn't accept this. He was dellusional. Destroyed. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his cheeks were wet with tears.