John

Chapter 2:
John

Why is it so dark in here? I turn my head but it hurts to focus on anything! I can only see the outlines of people’s faces. I can smell the horrible smell of the sick that lingers in the back of the ambulance. Plenty of people have died back here, I’m sure. Will I add to those numbers? I put my hand out to ask the man standing next to me what’s wrong but my hands are strapped to the bed. The man sitting next to me shuffles through drawers. He pulls something out and starts pushing and pulling on different parts of my body. He cuts my pant leg and assesses the damage.

“Nothing really hurts; I’m really quite numb at the moment.” I try to say but nothing but wheeze comes from my throat.

I can hear his voice but my focus isn’t with it and I can’t possibly reply. His words are interrupted with a screech and a sudden jerk of the vehicle. The ambulance starts to flip. It feels like minutes pass before we crash to the ground. The strap that holds me on the table tears and I fall to the ground beneath me. The man that stood beside me is now crippled on the other side. I try to reach for them, to see if they are ok but I can’t, the pain is too excruciation. I look around but my eyes burn and every things dark. Nothing comes into focus, I try to move to the back of the ambulance but when I look down I see a dark shape lodged in my body. I put my hand around it wanting to pull it out. It must be a stray piece of metal that came from the table. If I pull it out how exactly will I stop the bleeding? I can’t see I’m probably injured in other places too. So the best thing to do is lay here and wait for help. I could hear the sirens of an approaching ambulance. I can’t tell how close they are until I hear the screeching of tires. Thank god they see us, I might actually get out alive. I think that until I hear things begin to collide.

The doors to the ambulance open and I see the outline of a tall man. He comes closer, stepping over the men on the ground. The last thing I see is him standing over me checking his watch.

I feel his arms wrap around my body and then he lifts me onto his shoulder. I can feel each step he takes; it sends a rush of pain through my body. My eyes still ache even though everything is black. I try not to think about it and to just focus on what I can hear. His footsteps crunch on the road and his breathing is regular. When I saw him over me he wasn't wearing a fireman's suit so who is this man?

He stops walking and I hear a car pull up next to us. No sirens so it can’t be an ambulance, police car, or fire truck. When the door opens I can feel the warm rush of air come from the inside of the car. It smells new, so who exactly are they?

He sits me in the seat, which is comfortable and feels like leather. He closes the door but it hurts too much to sit up so I just slump against it. When we start moving I try to feel for the seatbelt but it hurts too much to move. I mean what’s one more accident this night going to do, kill me. The car is quiet too quiet to be normal. These aren’t normal people what do they exactly want from me? Right now these questions are the last things on mind. The pain throughout my body is excruciating so I should assess my injuries. What else should I do I mean I’m sitting in the back of this stranger’s car. So what exactly hurts… everything! Well I can’t see anything and I think my arm is broken, there’s a dark piece of matter lodged into my abdomen. I probably have a concussion and it's kind of hard to breathe. Every bump and jerk of the car sends a rush of pain through my body, but at least I can still feel right.

I try to remember the ways we turn but after the second left and right I just can’t handle the control that's needed. I sit with my eyes closed in this stranger’s back seat trying to use my other four senses. I can hear the inhale and exhale of one of the men up front, it’s raspy and shallow, which means he is either old or sick. He must be the driver because the man that grabbed me was strong and healthy. I can smell a strong leather odor, probably coming from the seats, which means this is either a new car or is very well kept.

In the middle of all my thoughts I feel a rush of panic go through my body, images of my friends and the fire push through my mind. I feel a warm drop run down my cheek. This isn’t possible I haven’t cried since my parent’s death many years ago. Which wasn’t out of sorrow but out of anger for the brutality in their murder. Their faces race through my mind along with Emma’s, Sam’s, and Chloe’s.

The way Chloe looked at me before she took her last breath. The way it made me feel, when everyone I know is dying. How Sam was in the crashed ambulance behind us. How could he have survived, how can any of us survive this? Will we all parish tonight? Will we see each other in the supposed afterlife? Or is there nothing after death, blank blackness. Is it all just a lie, the happiness after death, the love and closure we will feel when we let this world go?

All these questions distract me from the truth of tonight. How my temporary home is burned forever, my friends are probably all dead and I can’t do anything to change it. This is life and it’s not fair but I will fight until it is my time, and I know now that it’s not my time. Their faces run through my mind one more time before the car comes to a stop. The memories of those who were dear to me in the home will keep me going and I will survive.

The door I’m leaning against opens. I can feel the presence of the tall man. What is he to do with me?