Chương 3: Chapter 2- The Puddle

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding... With a gasp Elias bolted upright, his head pounding and lungs heaving in shuddering gasps. He winces as a headache blasts through his consciousness and as the pain subsides leaves the faint peals of a ringing bell sounding through his mind. As the ringing faded Elias found the sound a little odd though, it was less the dull ring of tinnitus that he had experienced before when he forgot ear plugs at the rifle range and more like the chime of a distant bell tower.

He pushed aside the pain and the distraction, as he fumbled through his mind for memories of what just happened, ultimately finding everything to be muddled and distant. Eli faintly remembered getting dressed and leaving for a run, the sunlight through the trees dappling the path as he loped down a path to the beat of music in his ears. The pleasant jog flows through his memory before leading to a view of a river followed by a flash of heat and pain.

A shiver ran down his spine as a wave of dread filled Elias with the memories of his final moments, a searing blast of heat that scoured the flesh from his bones in a torrent of agony. A deep well of horror cascaded through his psyche as Eli looked down at his body, terrified of what he might find, only to discover that in the faint light of his surroundings when he looked upon his hands and arms, expecting to see blackened bone and riven flesh… They were fine?

Honestly, his arms were better than fine, if anything his skin was in near flawless condition. A small scar that crossed the heel of his palm from a childhood injury was gone, as well as a burn scar on his left inner arm from a hot brass cartridge falling down his sleeve, and that was from just a couple years ago, not an old injury from the distant past.

Eli ran his thumb over where there had once been a small knot of purple flesh that a piece of shrapnel had been left behind in the meaty part on the edge of his palm, a well worn movement he had picked up as a nervous habit following the injury, something he would do whenever he found himself lost in thought. It was gone. What in the world happened to me? Even a surgery to remove the scar tissue would have left at least a small mark behind.

Eli took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and focused within himself, and remembered a lesson from a survival instructor that feels like a lifetime ago. Center yourself, slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Fear and panic only lead to hasty actions and haste leads to waste. Something you can not afford in an emergency. A wry smile crossed Eli's face while remembering the stern face of his instructor.

While so few of his fellow classmates took the lessons seriously, the instructor did his utmost to impress the importance of the skills he wanted to impart on them. The course was a mandatory survival and evasion course for those in Eli's job field, just in case they were ever captured by enemy combatants, especially given that Eli and his comrades were often considered high value targets for the sensitive nature of the information they carried around in the safety of their minds.

We were part of what we considered an elite service though, who among us could imagine that the disorganised untrained militias that were our primary enemies would ever have the capability to capture one of our units whole? It may have been an arrogant mindset but it was one founded in the fundamental truth of a substantial power differential. In his memory, as Eli struggled with setting the trigger on a deadfall snare for what felt like the twentieth time the instructor emerged from the brush next to him.

Crouching down in front of Eli, and the man's eyes bored in Elias as he fixed him with a steady gaze. The instructor's eyes were cold, dark pits, as with a gravely voice he grunts out, " Eyes up devil, listen to me well and remember this moment. You may not realize it but the day will come where this will save your life, when these lessons will be all that keeps you from starvation and dehydration.

The difference between dying in a bush emptying your bowels from the mud water you drank and making it home to Susie Rotten-crotch to pop out a couple crotch goblins to waste my time again in another twenty years. Focus, if you want to eat tonight you better check the catch you cut on your trigger, until you drag your sorry ass through the exit to this valley the only chow you're getting what you catch yourself, here let me show your dumb ass again…"

The smile crossing Eli's face widened into a grin, I guess the old bastard was right in the end. As his pulse slowed and he got a hold of himself Elias took a look around, taking stock of his surroundings. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It was cold, dark, and damp. From what little light filtered in from the distance it looked like he was somewhere under ground, possibly in a cave of some sort, laying in a shallow puddle.

Eli felt a drop of water on the top of his head and he glanced up to where he can faintly make out some stalactites about ten feet above him and a couple walls about the same distance to either side. Although both walls were well enough hidden in shadow that they might be farther out, the back of the cavern was completely hidden in darkness behind Eli, he can just barely make out a bend about fifty feet ahead due to dim ambient light coming from the opening in the rock face. Ok first things first where am I?

It's temperate, but in a cave that means nothing, I'll need to find my way out to try and figure out where I'm at. Elias looked down expecting his jogging outfit, but only found a simple white linen tunic and slacks. Well mostly white, but after waking up in a puddle there were some definite mud stains. Eli racked his brain trying to remember how he got here, but the only memories he had were hazy. A flash, a mushroom cloud, followed by darkness and searing pain that melted away into nothingness.

He vaguely remembered floating in the dark, and it was warm? The puddle he was sitting in is damp enough that it madeElias frown downwards at it with doubt. I really hope I didn't die. If I did, this has to be the weirdest way to enter some kind of afterlife. Couldn't even spring for a patch of grass instead of a muddy puddle? I'm not very religious, but enough people are that I guess I can't rule anything out at this point.

Eli stood up and winced as his bare feet ground on the stone beneath him, and began weaving through the cave formations towards the light in the distance. His wet feet slapped lightly on the floor as Elias came across a path worn into the stone. The path passed through the tunnel leading from the bend up ahead back into the darkness that his vision couldn't pierce with the low light level. That's not good, anything coming through often enough to make a path this wide is either very large or traveling in a group.

Remembering his instructor's lessons he stopped and bent down to see if he could make out any tracks, and while the floor was mostly worn smooth, Elias found a couple faint prints pressed into the mud on one of the edges of the trail. The print looked almost human or apelike, with a finger Eli traced the impression of a foot and five toes, but unless it was a child with absolutely terrible hygiene those were definitely claws at the end of its toes. What in the world would make a track like that?

Eli pondered this, and while he could not think of an animal that would walk upright with claws like that he was doubly sure that he did not want to stick around to meet whatever made those tracks. Forewarned that the cave may be inhabited, Eli focused on silencing his steps as best he could and padded his way toward the light source coming from the tunnel ahead.

As Elias inched forward, he closed and covered his right eye to preserve his night vision while slowly leaning around the bend to catch a glimpse of the source of the light, squinting against the blinding radiance. When his eyesight adjusted he could make out a small exit about thirty feet away, a gap low to the ground about five feet wide and three feet tall glowing, with sunlight beaming down onto the exposed rock below.

Around the edges were some wear marks where someone or something had been dragged in or out of the cavern. Elias paused for a couple seconds, and after not sensing any movement in the dark he slowly shuffled forwards up the slight incline of the passageway and peered through the exit in the cave wall. Outside after a few feet of rock it transitioned into soft earth and soil followed by a grassy hillside covered in a dense forest of trees.

The species of plants were none that Eli is familiar with, but were a mix of what could generously be called large maple trees mixed with shorter beech trees. The maple analogues sported large, moss covered limbs with a generous canopy of broad leaves, while the smooth barked beeches make up the sub canopy layer.

The ground supported open patches of knee-high bright green ferns with occasional thickets of large berry laden bushes, but was predominantly open leaf litter with the occasional fallen log slowly dissolving under the weight of fungus patches. After spending a few moments to confirm a lack of movement, Eli turned back and opened his covered eye to check for any movement in darkness as well.

After waiting another couple beats and to ensure the coast was clear, Elias turned back to the opening and slowly peered around the edges to make sure nothing was waiting to ambush him, and slowly edged his way out through the cave mouth. When he did not sense anything he relaxed, slumping down and crawling through the opening only to hear a soft ringing chime like metal striking a hard surface. Ding Elias froze, slowly rising to a crouch, and glanced around frantically to try and find the source of the sound.

After walking outside his night vision was shot and Eli sent a wary glance down the tunnel he emerged from while slowly backing away trying to peer through the gloom. As Eli slowly walked backward he felt a slight shift below his foot and let out a silent curse as the rocky soil shifted and a small patch of gravel came loose and tumbled into the opening he just left.

Hoping that whatever made that sound wasn't alerted by the sound of the small pebbles rattling down the hallway, his hopes were dashed as a quiet shriek echoed from the tunnel, the only saving grace being how distant the shout was. In a panic Eli turned and padded as softly as he could into the tree line, looking for whatever cover he could find.

Ducking behind some brush, Eli grimaced as he looked down at the soft white linen of his clothing that contrasted heavily with the green foliage surrounding him, and despite the mud stains splattering it, he realized there is no way he can get far enough away in time that he wouldn't stand out immediately.

Elias looked up and thankfully the canopy of the trees were pretty thick with wide leaves so after getting a good hundred feet into the tree cover he found a branch low enough and started climbing, slowly cursing to himself under his breath as the sounds from the cave behind him rapidly grew louder.