My head spun wildly as I staggered down into a yawning ditch. The metallic taste of blood saturated my mouth. I wheezed trying to grasp my breath; with each breath, shards of glass clawed their way down my throat into my burning lungs. My wobbly legs began to give in as I trenched through the thick mud. The sludge concealed my feet. My legs buckled under my weight. Too feeble to fight, I gave in and stumbled onto my back. Lying in a shallow pool of water and mud, I slipped in and out of consciousness before being swept away.
Something warm and soft brushed against my fingers leaving a trail of slime. It was quite thorough squeezing between my fingers and sliding across the entire surface of my hand. It felt good, almost enough to lul me back to sleep, but the lingering pain that progressively worsened was too stubborn.
A piercing crack rippled throughout the woods, startling me. My heart skipped a beat as a jolt of awareness sprung me up from where I laid. I dug my hands into the mucky mud and pushed myself out of the mud. The rough edges of the bark scraped my back as I propped myself up against a tree for support and laid there helpless as the crippling pain shredded up my insides. I felt sick to my stomach. The relentless wind and rain did not help. I was vulnerable to whatever lurked from beyond.
A glimmer of the moon peered through the winding branches of the trees that towered over me, reflecting the mist that spiraled along the floor of the forest. The mist stirred about revealing bits of the clandestine heavily wooded area for brief moments. The inky spots untouched by the moonlight left me uneasy by the potential menacing unknowns lingering in its midst.
At the corner of my eye, a shiny object caught my attention. It was a tiny triangle emblem with intriguing engravings carved into it; it was attached to a satchel partially hidden in a thicket. I attempted to reach for it, but was unable to move. A dreadful realization sunk in that I felt no sensations of any sort in the lower half of my body anymore. There was no way for me to escape whatever was making its way through the woods towards me.
My eyes trailed down to the source of the humid and pungent gust of air that came in pulses. To my astonishment, it was a German Shepherd; it sat there watching me intently. Our eyes locked. Something was off about it's eyes. They were a light shade of green, jade with specks of topaz sprinkled all over each iris. It was unsettling how large the irises were. A slight tinge of pity spilled from them.
Images flashed inside my mind. They were difficult to decipher. A glimpse of a man with green eyes, the same as the dog, shook me. We were cuffed to a metal table just staring into each other's eyes. For some reason we were both terrified.
A drawn-out whistle broke me from my thoughts. The dog perked up as if he recalled the sound, but remained quiet. He nibbled and tugged at my arm refusing to stop until he tore through my flesh revealing a small blue pulsating rod. I watched in horror as he swiftly licked it up and swallowed it. The gash healed immediately after he retrieved the device. I held my arm close to my eyes and twisted my wrist observing the last drop of blood being reabsorbed into my skin. A tingling sensation spread across my lower half of my body. I became confused, wiggling my toes and fingers. I can move.
As it grew closer, I could hear its shallow breathing. Its footsteps were heavy trampling everything in its path. "Agent! Where are you?!" a man called out in a stentorian tone from a closer proximity than expected. He let out a protracted whistle. He was quite good at it. "Agent Ruthrin!"
The dog stood up and nuzzled me to get up. Foreign thoughts began to crowd my mind. Move! Don't let them catch you. I removed the Control Device, so they cannot track you. This is much bigger than you. Don't fail us... I sat up fighting the pain and looked him directly in the eyes. "Wha...what? Who?" I stuttered under my breath. He nodded his head. The mission!
