Sprawled on the ground like a ragdoll, a shadow moves over him.
He’s dazed, breath stuttering. His fingers twitch like he’s trying to push himself up — but his arms don't work. They shake under his weight and collapse again.
Someone exhales above him.
Cold and annoyed...
Like he’s an inconvenience for still being alive.
“Didn’t tell you to get up.”
He barely turns his head before the next hit slams into him.
A boot — full force — drives into his ribs with a dull, sickening thud that radiates through the room. His body folds around the impact, a gutted sound breaking out of him.
He coughs once, sharply, fresh blood paints the floor.
He tries to curl inward — instinctively — trying to protect what's left of him, but the boot comes down again, this time into his shoulder, flattening him back out, pinning him down flat.
He gasps.
“Look at me,” the voice growls.
He tries.
His vision blurs.
Half of what he sees is floor...
The other half is darkness seeping in from the edges.
Another hit — a knee, this time — drops into his back, driving the air out of him in one brutal shove. His chest slams into the ground. His forehead collides with the floor with a crack.
He goes still for a second.
Too still.
Someone taps his cheek with the toe of their boot.
“You awake?”
He tries to answer.
Only manages a faint, broken noise — something between a breath and a whimper he didn’t mean to make — It just — falls out of him.
“Thought so.”
The boot lifts.
Then slams down again — His world flashes white... Then black.
Then... nothing.
He goes limp instantly — body limp, face slack, breath silent... besides the the twitch of a one finger, he is completely out.
