From Nothing to Nothing

Chapter 1

It had been years since I left my past life. My soul tossed into the cruel winds of fate, I had no choice but to press on. Because—I thought—it would be a slap in the face to the friends I used to know. The friends I treasured so much. Not a day went by that they weren't missed, but that part of my mind had little place in today's world.

When I first got here I landed in the wilderness. Nothing for miles, thanks to the wall. I only had one way to go. I did my best to count the days, and I spent my first thirty or so in solitude, simply surviving. Mostly sustaining myself off berries. Come to think of it, I was lucky none of what I ate killed me. I had no way to tell what was safe to eat and what wasn't.

Meat didn't really make it onto my platter, but not for lack of trying. Several rough run-ins with what? In the world I used to know, I'd call it a squirrel. I somehow managed to sneak up on the small ball of fluff - without a plan. My weight shifted forward and snap! A twig shattered underfoot. We both bolted. Leaping forward fueled by hunger my index finger and thumb caught the very tip of it's large bushy tail. It didn't like that.

Scrambling in dirt for just a second, the direction of the critters' rampant fear changed directions. Using its own momentum from trying to pull away, it swung itself around using its tail as a pivot. Upon landing on my wrist, its small claws dug into my skin. Eliciting a sharp inhale from me and a bright flash of pain from my body.

In speed and maneuverability I was outclassed by the forest creature, maybe even in attack power too. When my hand closed around the mass of brown assailing me, what I grasped was nothing but air. It had already scurried up the length of my arm, leaving quarter inch cuts along the way. What decided the battle was neither due to the creature's cunning nor my own carelessness. But my luck.

My clothes, as loose as they were, allowed the creature to slip right under my shirt through the neck . Instantly, waves of pain washed over me, my chest and stomach raging with fiery red flashes. Thinking my shirt would provide a barrier to the onslaught was not a wrong assessment; only, it didn't stop it.

Having been fed up with the laceration I was enduring, I reached under my shirt reaching for the menace. My grip was true and like a vacuum the beast was pulled from my bare chest and flung towards a nearby tree with all the might my tired body could muster. The gratifying thump of its back colliding with the wood was music to my ears,and then the beast scurried away.

Breathing was a painful chore, and the warm red wetness seeping into my shirt foretold how bad the damage was. The whole ordeal couldn't have been more than fifteen seconds long. I slowly leaned forward in such a way my skin wouldn't crease and stripped my shirt off.

Like getting splashed with crimson water, my entire chest was painted red. While I had felt worse, it didn't make me scoff at what was assaulting my senses now. I stumbled over myself a bit as I stumbled towards a tree to lean against.

My weight shifted back as I growled under my breath, "Fuck." I let myself fall to the ground. While I had gotten cuts and scrapes in the past and knew how to keep them clean with household chemicals and tap water, I wasn't home anymore. The best I could do was try to make sure I didn't let any dirt get into any of the openings.

Pain seeping all of my senses made it hard to think. I couldn't hunt and I didn't trust the berries, even though they were the only food I had access to. It was around this time that I realized that it was just me out here. I wouldn't have any help, no matter how desperately I needed it.

After sitting still for a brief bit of respite, my adrenaline slowly came down from its high. The pain glaring in my head was accompanied by hunger. With my lunch having flayed and then fled me, my search continued. Nearby there was a bush with those same red orbs I had run into a few times along the way. What better time to test them?