Chapter 2 Delve into Madness
“I used to think I was afraid of being lost, but then I realized I was afraid of who might find me.”
― Nenia Campbell, Raise the Blood
The red sky rushed past me as I fell unceremoniously onto the pavement below. Everything went dark for a while, or at least it must have been; I’m not sure how much time had passed. When I came to my head rang with what felt like the worst headache I have ever had the displeasure of having, and my mouth felt full of cotton. My body ached something fierce as if it wanted to dissolve into pudding; I languidly covered my eyes wishing the world to go away. Then a nauseating stench slipped into my nostrils; it was gruesome, like organic rot festering under a hot humid sun.
“Hey! We got a live one!” a voice blared what sounded like a short distance away from me; part of me hoped it was someone to help. “ Get the axe!” That short sentence changed everything in a microsecond. My heart began to race as I tried to scramble to get up. The ground beneath me was slick and every footfall seemed to squeeze the puke-inducing stench from under me. I gagged violently, but nothing came out, just wheezing dry heaves. I slipped trying to find footing again while retching with my eyes watering over and began tumbling down that putrid-smelling mystery hill. I crashed nauseously into another pile of I don’t know, wobbling out on unsteady legs. The smell was less gag-inducing down here, but it was still pretty bad.
“There!’’ The yelling pierced through my scrambled senses. My panic reignited as saw a group of shadowy figures closing the distance; each of them brandishing weapons that I’d rather not introduce myself to. I scurried away into the maze of refuse I found myself in. I had to RUN. RUN where? I don’t know; my eyes darted eagerly around, looking for any path that led anywhere but back there. I wish I paid more attention to where I was at the top of that hill before I rolled down it. “I guess it’s eenie meenie miney mo from here.” My mind bounced back and forth as I whispered hurriedly “Left, right, left, right, Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. And you are not it! Right, it is.” I would like to say I picked a sound direction but I’d be lying to myself as I heard a loud clatter behind me followed by menacing laughter. I turned the next corner a distinct click echoing into my ears followed by an all too familiar sound of thunder. Somebody just took a shot at me!?! The bullet ricocheted off some scrap metal as I ran through the narrow passage and ducked into an alcove hoping to not be seen as they rushed by me without a second thought.
I wasted no time in running back the way I came to the fork in the path and took the other route. Huffing and panting with little time to think, I listened for the echos of my pursuers hoping that I lost them. My breath was getting more ragged as I paused to get my bearings, gasping for the fresh air that didn’t exist here, noticing that the hills were getting smaller and more dispersed the farther I went. It was a glimmer of hope seeing the long, almost ethereal sticks manifesting into view, my best guess being that it was a chainlink fence. Renewed vigor allowed me to pick up my already weary pace as a bated smile overtook my face with every inch I took toward potential freedom.
That is until I saw a nightmare from the corner of my eye, converging into full view. What a horrific surprise; one of them must have doubled back to find me. I never heard them coming. I spied the meat cleaver, with its wicked sheen being held aloft and poised to strike. I stumbled back, narrowly dodging the first swing, bleating loudly.
Wait..… Bleat? Did I bleat? That can’t be right. I heard a grunt as they lifted the cleaver again. Now’s not the time! I’ve got to RUN! My poor attempt at a feint caused the cleaver to slice my arm deep. The pain burned like agonizing fire as I felt it go limp to my side, the blood washed out and down my arm intensifying it like salt to a wound. I tried to lift it a little as I dodged another swing as a trail of crimson continued to drip onto the floor. I pinned the wounded arm to my chest trying to stymie the flow with my already dingy hospital gown, staining it with fresh blood. I turned tail and ran again or well hobbled; ducking around one of the larger piles that was just big enough to cover my head to get some distance between us. The mystery piles became more distinguishable the slower I moved, trying to sneak around them. My eyes widen in shock…. They were bodies, wait more than just bodies. It was the rust and ruin of countless dead as if this was a massive open grave compounded with a junkyard. No wonder the air was so putrid; I awoke in a dumping ground. A fresh sting of pain brought me back to my senses. Oh yeah, my arm, shit. I glanced back up, trudging quietly to the fence as it became more visible again with each passing step, hoping to find some sort of break I could squeeze out of.
As if by divine providence, I found a gap held open by rusted sheet metal held in place by the utterly bizarre shapes that constituted the broken bodies. The metal bucked with a creaking pop, alerting the scoundrel to my location. I quickly crouched down and crawled through the oncoming pain, blood, and tears, stinging my eyes as I narrowly avoided another swing of that terrifying cleaver.
I was out. I WAS OUT! I panted in relief as I walked down a sparsely populated sidewalk. It felt like a triumph; my first triumph; and then the adrenaline was starting to wear off.
Everything was hurting. I felt my ankles throb in pain thinking I must have twisted both in my escape. I needed to find a safe place first. I trudged onward with no real plan or direction, looking around no one seemed to pay attention or care that I had just crawled out of a dump. I guess people around here aren’t really into helping, sympathy must not be a thing here. Plenty of cars zoomed past me keeping me on edge. I scooted closer to the buildings afraid to get run over; suddenly I felt a deep surging rumble run through me. Its familiar thrum reverberating all over the narrow two-way street, followed by an eardrum-bursting HONK!
I felt myself take off rushing forward with great force ending with a deeply blinding pain….. And everything went black….
