"Ugh..."

My vision swims. I can't see much, just shadows playing around the edges of my view. My ears ring with loud noises, and all I can make out is the percussion of my blood rushing though my veins.

My eyes start to adjust, and I see rubble, concrete, metal, and wood, all around. The little patches that aren't populated by broken building materials are coated in a thick layer of dust. on the walls are groups of little holes, punctuated by patches of what looks to be rust.

I cough. A lance of pain shoots through my chest. Wincing, I adjust myself, shifting from my previous slumped stance to a sitting position, taking stock of myself.

My side feels tender, and I think I have a broken rib. My legs feel numb, and as I look, I see it's because they're under a particularly large chunk of broken concrete. After a bit of struggling, I manage to move them out from underneath, and, though they scream with pain, I'm glad to see they're intact, for the most part. My head hurts like all hell, and is still foggy, but I clench and unclench my hands rhythmically to focus my mind.

As I clear the cobwebs from the back reaches of my head, the noise from outside seems to come into focus. A quick staccato of pops permeates the dark, collapsed room I'm in every so often, and stones clatter as the ground shakes slightly with heavy impact.

My throat is parched, and my voice is raspy as I cough out a quick call.

"Hello?"

I'm greeted by nothing new. I sit still for a little while longer, and then try to move. I curl my legs up to me, sliding them under me with a grunt. I can't afford to stay here any longer. Who know when this building's going to collapse?

Shifting up the wall and standing to my feet, I keep my balance, though my left leg seems less willing to hold me up than the right one. I shuffle forwards, away from the wall and towards the middle of the room. As I walk, a door is revealed from behind a pile of rubble, with stairs leading upwards. Seeing no other doors, I laboriously limp towards it, and take the stairs one by one, wincing as my tender side gets compressed and uncompressed rhythmically.

The stairs lead to another room, although here I can see full well what happened here. Three more bodies lay slumped against the walls, long swaths of what I previously thought was rust painting the walls behind them, what must now be bullet holes punched into packed groups and shaky lines. I suck in a tortured breath.

"Christus Domine..."

The rapid fire of guns greets my ears, clearer this time, and I can't help but cough as pain resurfaces again, the taste of iron flooding my mouth. Not good.

Another door leads to what I believe is the outside, so I shamble towards it, peeking out. No immediate problems meet my eyes, no commandos with Gatling guns or towering war mechs with laser blasters, and apart from the ruined buildings lining the street, the ruined cars crushed under rubble or burned out from one too many bullets to the gas tank, I find myself alone.

Starting along the street, I've only walked a few meters, holding my side as the pain pulses through every step, when I stop, hearing a hushed hiss. It's not animal in nature, but instead human, meant to get attention. I turn in the direction of the sound, and a soft face, smeared with dirt and blood, graces my eyes, peeking out from behind a particularly large chunk or ruined building. "Hey!." It hisses. "Get over here!"

I stop, contemplating my options, and then head over, taking cover behind the same rubble. I notice now that they're female, a slender, lithe build with heavy clothing bundled around. She's not carrying a weapon save a small length of iron pipe. They speak up again. "Are you with the Omnics or the Russians?"

I think to answer, but when I probe my memory all I receive is a painful reiteration of my previous migraine. "I- Agh!" I breathe for a moment to regain my composure. "I... don't know."

She eyes me up and down. "You've been through hell and back, need help. Let me and my friends get you patched up, yeah?"

I nod. "At this point, either you'll help me or you'll kill me, and both are welcome alternatives." I smile weakly, feeling another cough well up inside of me.

She mumbles into a handheld radio that's more duct tape than parts, and after a moment a man scrambles out from a doorway not too far down the street and waves quickly. She looks at me and pushes me slightly towards him. "He'll help you out. Just don't get shot on your way there."

I nod, and limp as fast as I can towards him. Upon reaching his side, he grabs my arm and drapes it around his shoulder, carrying me inside. My eyes start to close, and I don't fight it.