Survival

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN   (edited)

                 The first thing that Jack said when he woke up was:

            "Where am I? What happened?!"

            A kind face appeared in front of him. Mike. Suddenly everything seemed to come back.

            "Hey, everything’s fine. I brought you here to a hidden cottage I found. You went unconscious because, apparently the bomb had toxic, sleeping gas. I’ve been through these before in our training sessions so I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief I happen to have. You are one heavy man. I had to carry you here. This is a few meters north from where the bomb went off," Mike explained.

            "Bomb? Why? The headquarters blew up? Or…. Or….ughmm…." He slipped into unconsciousness again.

            By the time Jack woke up again, Mike had a plate ready for Jack. He probably had found the plate in the old food closet in the far wall of the cottage. The food was simple: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and carrots.

            While Jack slowly ate, Mike explained that he had found a garden behind the cottage. He also estimated that the bomb went off a couple of miles away from the headquarters.

            "Why here Mike? Take me to the headquarters. We are needed there to help. Mike! Take me there!" Jack yelled. He didn’t understand maybe because he hadn’t recovered from the explosion.

            "Shh, calm down. It’s fine. I took us here for safety. I don’t know what’s going on there at headquarters. It might be way too dangerous and you need to rest. You need to recover to think straight."

            "I’m fine, " Jack mumbled.

            He followed Mike’s advice anyway. He slept well and he woke up in slight darkness. Must be evening, he thought. Mike wasn’t in the cottage and Jack felt surprisingly better. For the first time he got a look around. The cottage had no windows but just one rusty door. The small room looked worn out and the wooden walls were beginning to rot. It contained one bed, a broken chair, a food closet, a sink and a drawer under the sink. Jack’s curiosity brought him closer to the drawer. He tried opening it. Locked. Jack got out his Swiss army knife and started picking on the lock when Mike came in.

            "What are you doing?"

            Jack was startled and his knife jerked. There was a click. The drawer was now open. Jack looked at Mike.

            "What are you doing?" He repeated.

            Jack realized he hadn’t answered the question.

            "Just checking out this drawer……Something wrong?"

            "No need to open-"

            Mike said it too late; Jack had already opened the drawer but it was rusty. So he pulled a little too hard and the drawer flew open. ID cards spilled out and scattered across the floor.