Project 1187: Chapter 1

Eleven Eighty-Seven
By VapidFrobie/XenoFrobe



-Chapter 1-

Waking up somewhere and finding you have no idea where you are is a real pain.  Doubly so, when your waking moments are spent trying to figure out why the only memories you have take place five seconds ago.

Ugh, what happ--...  where am I?

That, along with a general burning ache pounding throughout your entire body, is extremely unpleasant to wake to.

Okay, well...  Could be worse.  Now where am I?

Looking around, there were only pine trees surrounding me.  I tilted my head back and sniffed.  Nothing.  Just trees, dirt, and faint traces of a squirrel that had long since left the area.

Nothing unusual.  More importantly now…  Who am I?

I looked myself over.  A couple of front paws, grey-to-black patterned fur with a hint of brown, and—

Oh.  That's bad.

I had a slight gash on my left haunch, leaking blood down to my paw.  It had apparently been doing so for some time, given how much coagulating blood was soaked into the fur.

Why is it that you don't feel it until you look at it?

I turned and licked it until it mostly stopped bleeding, cringing with each contact, and then glanced around again.  Still just dark, overcast, silent woods.  Like I expected any different.  I sighed heavily, and wondered what to do next.

Getting out of here sounds good.  But where?

I looked around.  There was pine tree with a significant moss growth nearby.

Moss grows on the north side of trees, right?  North sounds good.  North it is.

After shakily climbing to my feet, I started along with a sort of three-legged hopping gait, holding my injured leg just off the ground to avoid putting pressure on it.

A slight jingling sound came to my attention with the bouncing movement.  I had a collar.  I began pawing at it, trying to get it off, but it felt like a solid ring of metal, not big enough to fit past the back of my skull.  I tried turning it, trying to see if I could get the tags hanging off of it somewhere where I could see them.  It was just a simple exercise in futility, as they remained constantly just outside my field of vision.

Eventually, I gave up and continued walking.  I walked north as straight as possible for who knows how long, hoping it would lead me somewhere.  It started getting darker as time passed.

A wind gust brushed past from my left, carrying several scents with it.  The toxic stench of asphalt, the smoky scent of burning gasoline, ancient and probably inedible roadkill…  There was a road in that direction.

I could definitely follow that to—somewhere, I suppose.

I changed course and headed east.  After a few minutes of walking, sure enough, I found the road cutting a path right through the otherwise pristine woods.  I climbed up the slight embankment and looked both ways.  It stretched on farther than I could see in either direction.  I continued north on the left side of the road, for no other reason than that was the way I had been heading already.

Why go back?  It'd be a waste of progress.

On top of being weak, tired and wounded, I was starving.  As if in response, another scent drifted toward me.  This one was good.  It was a nearby rabbit; not much meat on those, but still…

Almost too good to be true.

I froze where I was and scanned carefully.  Then, it caught my eye: just a slight movement in the brush.  I stayed as still as possible, praying that it wouldn't notice me standing right in the open.  It didn't, but that could change at any moment.  Ever so slowly, I crouched down, ready to pounce.  Mercifully oblivious to me, it continued its little hops to wherever it was headed.

Closer now.  Closer…

It was now a mere fifteen feet from me.  I could close the distance in less than a second.  But would that be enough?  I shifted one paw nervously, inadvertently making a claw click on the ground.  An overly long ear flicked in my direction.  There was no more time.  I had to react before it did.

That's it.  Now or never.

I leaped forward, forgetting to take into account one very important detail: my wounded leg.  The sudden pressure on the leg was too much for me to handle.  Letting out a pained yelp, I collapsed to the ground, watching helplessly as the rabbit scampered off into the woods.  I whimpered in pain and self-pity as I struggled back up to my feet.

No…

Slowly, realization of my situation began weighing itself down on me. I was lost, hungry, tired, wounded and alone.  I couldn't help it; I snapped.  I stood there, cursing my stupid self and my wounded leg.  I started to feel a tightness in my throat, like I was about to cry.  It wouldn't have mattered. I had every right to be miserable.

I could die out here.  I don't want to die.  I--I don't even know who I am yet.  No...

It was fairly dark by then, but I didn't notice or care.  I cried out at the slowly appearing stars, howling with grief and anger, cursing the universe for what I was going through.  When my lungs were empty, I slumped down, panting heavily, and collapsed to the asphalt.  I lay there for a while, as a single thought pounded through my head.

Why?

After some time, maybe several minutes, I began to move again.

C'mon, get up.  Nothing's over yet.

I rose to my feet once more, feeling less motivated than ever.  

Suddenly, my ears perked at a sound coming from down the road.  A car was speeding along headed right for me.  I knew I should move, I wanted to, but I couldn't.  I was frozen, glued in place like the proverbial deer in the headlights.  My mind went blank.  I was only halfway comprehending what was happening.  It got closer and closer.  Why I didn't move, I have no idea.  I don't know if I was scared, or if my body just lost the will to live at that moment.  The car came closer.

Oh, no.

I closed my eyes.  The last thing I heard was the screeching of four braking tires.

At least it'll be quick.

If only.

The impact hurt like hell, to say the least.  The first thing that hit was my head, splitting the skin wide open.  Milliseconds later, I heard and felt something physically break deep within me with an audible snap as it struck my side.  The sheer force of it picked me up and threw me off my feet, and I tumbled a couple of times before coming to a rest under the glaring, blinding headlights.

The car's door opened and slammed shut, followed by a woman's voice.

"Oh my God, you poor thing, "she whispered.  She knelt down and ran her fingers through my bloodied fur.  I was stunned and had the wind completely knocked out of me, so all I could manage was a pathetic whimper.

She slid her hands underneath my body and picked me up as carefully as she could.  It still hurt unbelievably, no matter gentle she was, but I didn't put up a struggle.  She carried me over to the car, opened it, and set me down in the passenger's seat.  She then ran around to the driver's side, jumped in, and started off, making an illegal u-turn as she did so.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry," she said.  "What were you doing standing in the middle of the road?  Poor dog…"

She reached over, gently stroking my head near my ears.  I sniffed her arm, memorizing her scent, licked her, and put my head down.

Thank you.

Sleep came relatively quickly.  I just drifted away, leaving all the pain far behind me.