Conquer the Wasteland

Alone...Again.....

I figured out recently that water gets cold. Really cold. I also discovered that free falling around sixty feet down a waterfall and into an ice cold springtime lake cause KILLER headaches. My head felt as if my brain was turning inside out.

Great.

It took me a while, and several motivational speeches from me to myself, but I miserably crawled to the shore of the river. I also had to convince myself that I survived floating down the river for what was probably an hour. It was darker than dark outside, and colder than cold. My body was battered and bruised, but hey, at least I was alive....right?

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if I was dead and this was my eternal punishment.

"Kay, Mateo, you're not dead." I muttered to myself. My legs screamed in pain as I scooched on my butt along the bank of the river till my body hit the soft dirt of a mini cliff along the beach line where the grass ended and turned to sand. "Everything is going to be fine."

My body trembled from the intense cold of the night, and the shock of the frostbitten feeling from the water. My fingers had gone numb long ago, and I was scared to find them pale white. They would turn blue soon. I curled them into the sleeves of my soaking wet hoodie, and tucked my hands into my armpits in effort to keep them warm.

The sun, hopefully, would rise in the next four hours. I just have to last till then. Soft, crumbling pieces of dirt from the mound I leaned against fell into my hood and down my shirt. I shivered more violently now.

Maybe if I moved it would warm me up.

My arms were really no help, nor were my legs, so I really had to do this awkward version of the worm, and use my torso to shuffle my way to my feet. I don't even know how that was possible, but at that point I didn't care.

My legs took me down the beach, no set direction. I had no point A or B, my objective was to just walk and maybe save my limbs from frostbite. Although my head hurt, my arms were limp, and my legs felt like someone bashed in my kneecaps with a tire iron, I was thankful to be alive. Life was a precious gift, even more now than ever before.

My eyes, most likely red and unhealthy looking, felt as if weights were tied to them. I tried to rub at them but my fingers were so numb I miscalculated and I jabbed myself in the eye instead. I flinched, and shrieked in disdain.

I forgot what it was like to be alone.

I realized now, that I was alone again, truly alone. I had been with Liam for over two months now, and I got comfortable. Now I was back, I was out on my own once again. My heart throbbed painfully at the realization.

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ROOOOOAAAARRRRR!

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! NOT YOU AGAIN!" I whined, limping painfully away from the charging grizzly. It was the same sucker with the four rows of teeth that had chased Liam and I over a month ago.

Apparently, as I walked, well more like stiffly limped, across the beach in the dark, I passed his cave. Great, thanks karma, really hating you right now. I cannot catch a break!

I was no match for this beast, especially when he took a swipe with his massive paw at me. The paw collided with my ribs and I went flying. Thankfully I landed in a deeper section of the river, but still rammed into rocks. I was almost certain that I dislocated my shoulder, the way it hung loose and flopped around like that.

"THAT WAS MY GOOD ARM YOU JERK." I heaved. My throat was dry despite the water all around me. I couldn't seem to catch a breath, and now I was positive a rib or two was broken.