MKE

Awakening

His head was pounding. All he could hear was his own heavy breathing and heartbeat. Wherever he was, it was cold, and the ground was uneven and hard where he was laying. He slowly opened his eyes, and was met with a cloudy and dark sky far above treetops.

His mind was a blurred mess.

Okay, okay. Lets go through this. My name's Micke. I'm 20. I'm from... Wait, where am I from? How did I get here? I don't... Remember anything. Whats going on?

He went to get up, just to fall right back down, yelling in pain. He stared down at his right arm. It was bloodied and broken, and the bone was visible as it was literally sticking out. The pain was merciless and soaring through every part of him. So he stayed down for a good minute, waiting for it to calm down as he was squirming in pain.

He took a few deep breaths, before attempting to get up once again. This time with success, but now was the problem that his arm hurt even worse, and was literally dangling by his side.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Don't think of your mangled arm Micke.

He had to do something about it. If he didn't, it'd get worse. He looked around him for anything that could help, until stopping to look down at himself. The plaid shirt would have to do. But now the problem was how he was gonna get it off without hurting himself even more. But honestly, there was probably no way of doing it without getting him to scream in agony.

With his not broken arm, he unbuttoned the blue shirt all the way, exposing his bare upper body. He noticed how a wound by his stomach had bled so much that both the bandaids which was hopelessly covering it, and the shirt was covered in blood.

What the hell did I do?

He got the shirt off from one side, and now there was only the broken arm left holding it stuck to his body. Maybe if he was careful enough, it wouldn't hurt as bad. Good plan, right? Right. Okay. Here goes.

As he was sliding it down his arm, it pressed the bone ever so slightly back into his skin. He could feel tears forming, how bad it hurt. But he had to keep going. He forced the now bloody cloth further and further down the broken arm, until finally it reached his hand. He quickly got it off completely, as he was standing there heaving and sweating. He had done it. The shirt was off.

"A- ah- Okay. Okay okay okay. We're this far. This is fine now." He quickly mumbled to himself, letting go of the shirt for a moment just to walk around in a small circle, snapping his fingers and trying to ignore the arm. First step of his plan was done, now it was just to... Finish this all up. Oh boy, this wasn't gonna be fun in the slightest.

He picked up the shirt from the ground, waving it around a bit as to get all of the dirt off it. Then he started wrapping it around his arm, not holding back on doing it as hard as he could. The firmer the better. By the time he had finished up, his good hand was covered in blood and the shirt was partly soaked. The pain had gotten him into a dizzy and almost drunk state, as he fixed his makeshift bandage so it wouldn't fall off.

Now it was time to try and figure out where the hell he was.

Looking around, he saw trees. Lots of trees. But in this specific spot, the trees seemed dead. They were pale, and had naked branches reaching out and up into the sky. The sky was cloudy and dull, and everything seemed dark. There was just barely enough light to see anything. The world looked monotone...

He then raised a hand and touched his face. When he looked at his fingers, much as expected they were now covered in a black liquid. But... Since when? What happened during the time he was passed out? He didn't feel anything in particular at that moment that would lead him to believe it was from right now - he was completely calm save from the fact that he was in great discomfort. No, it must've been from sometime earlier. And it was on almost all of his face; from the eyes, nose and mouth.

He shook his head. No time to ponder on that now. He had to do something about his current situation, he didn't know how much longer he could stay up and alert. His eyes were feeling heavy, and his head was still pounding. He found it hard to focus on anything, and everything was just... Blurry. No, he had to get going. Now.

He picked a direction and started walking. The ground was harsh on his bare feet, small rocks and pinecones along with sticks and roots dug into the sole. He found every step to be tense and quick as he hurried through the woods, but he couldn't care less. He had to get out. He placed his hand gently on his wrapped arm to hold it in place.

It didn't take long until he found himself out on a road. The asphalt was cold and wet, and the trees surrounding the narrow road were almost looming over it, watching. He had no idea where he was, or what this was. All he could think about was how tired he was, and how badly his body ached and hurt. The blood that was still gently dripping from his wounds was hot against his bare and pale skin. The asphalt felt soft beneath him. He couldn't remember any time where he'd felt this weak.

Maybe if I just... Lay down here for a bit... Just to rest for a little... It won't hurt, right? Ten minutes, then I'll keep going...

He let himself first sit down in the middle of the road, then sank down to laying. The ground suddenly didn't feel cold anymore, it felt hot and welcoming. Like it was telling him it was gonna be okay. He was gonna be fine. A soft breeze shook the leaves of the trees, and they gave off a soft rustling, which almost reminded him of humming. The trees were mumbling between each other, talking about this strange strange man who had found his way into their home... Yeah, thats what they were saying.

It didn't take long until the man had finally passed out, and his whole body becoming limp. His breathing was soft, and barely noticeable...

Somewhere in the distance, bright lights were shining and lighting up the dark road. And it was coming closer and closer with every second that passed. The tires gave off a loud buzz and the engine roared as the car sped through the thick woods. And it was heading straight for him.

The man behind the wheel slammed on the breaks only meters away from Micke, cussing loudly and closing his eyes as the vehicle came to a stop. He slumped back into his seat, hands clenched hard around the steering wheel. He hadn't hit the person on the road, right?

He lowered the music, pulling the lever for breaks and opening the door to step outside. He sighed in relief, seeing the man laying in front of the car and not behind it. He slowly approached the other.

"Uh... Excuse me, are you conscious sir?"

No response. The stranger walked up to Micke, kneeling down besides him and gently placing a hand on his shoulder, and softly shaking him as to gain some sort of response. Nothing. The man frowned.

"Shit.."

He then noticed the amount of blood on his arm and the cloth wrapped around it, which was soaking. This was immediately alarming, and if that wasn't enough he also noticed the wound on his stomach. This person needed help. Immediately.

He walked back to his car, opening one of the doors to the back seats, and quickly shuffling away stuff from the seats themselves. Then he took some random newspaper, ripping it up and laying it out neatly over the seats. At least it would be to some protection to his precious car...

He then walked back to Micke, taking a moment to think about what he was doing, before carefully lifting him up bridal style and carrying him back to the car, placing him laying down across the back seats. He closed the door and got back to the drivers seat, and turning off the breaks.

And then they were off...