"..."
"..."
"Agh!"
With a start, my eyes snapped open. My throat was parched, and my entire body felt like it had been beaten and left to die in the dirt. The sun glared down on upon me, and I couldn't see anything at all.
Was that what happened? Where am I!? Who am I? How did I get here? Where is here?
My head was suddenly filled with questions. I slapped myself in the head, and tried to get my thoughts in order. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the glaring sunlight enough so as to render me able to see.
I was lying on a beach, facing wide, seemingly endless ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see. Turning around, I was treated to the sight of a massive pine forest at my back.
What happened...?
Looking at myself, I found that I was wearing a pair of jeans, black boots, hefted a small backpack, and had a thick leather shirt on.
Possibly for protection? Protection from what?
Looking down, I saw that scattered around my body were several items: a small bottle filled with water, a bandage, and a wooden stick, sharpened. I placed the water bottle and bandage in my backpack, but a voice in the back of my head told me that I should carry my makeshift weapon around with me.
Now, where to? It seems as if there is no sign of civilization anywhere around here...which way shall I head? Left.
I turned left and started walking along the coast. It was...unreal. There wasn't a noise in the forest, save for the crunch of my boots on the grass, and my breathing.
This is really creepy.
A faint mist settled over the landscape, limiting my vision somewhat. My nerves felt like they were raw as I continued to tramp along, not knowing where I was going, but not really caring, either. Bored, I started to try and remember what happened, anything at all.
Who am I? No idea. Why can't I remember? What is this?
I paused, and walked down next to the water. I looked at my blurred reflection, and I guessed that my hair was black, and that I had fairly tanned skin. Also, I realized I was pretty tall. Unable to detect any actual distinctive features due to the water constantly moving about, I shook my head and continued walking. Suddenly, a fearful cry rang through the trees.
What the hell?
I ducked behind the nearest tree, afraid of generating any more noise. A crashing came ringing out, coming closer, and then farther, closer farther... I gritted my teeth, wondering if I was imagining the sound.
No, there it goes again. Faint, but definitely there. Oh God, is it coming closer?
I sat there, rigid as the tree that I was hiding behind. For a moment, it seemed as if the crashing was coming from ten feet away. Heavy breathing registered in my brain.
Is it mine? What else could be breathing out there...?
Holding my breath, I shut my eyes and stood there, waiting for the end, for that monster whose presence I was certain of. Finally, the noise faded away, this time for good. Still, I was too scared to peek out. I thought I could hear my own heartbeat as I stood there. Eventually, I summoned enough courage to slowly lean out, looking in the direction that the noise had come from.
Holy crap.
Subconsciously, I held out my weapon further. There, no more than ten feet away from my position, were some trampled grass. That particular spot had some unusually high grass, so it was impossible to tell if something indead had walked up so close to me, and then walked away. My breathing seemed to get all the louder as I continued walking. Finally, I came across a field.
A figure stood there, in the middle of the field. It was unarmed, as far as I could tell.
Why is being armed so important?
"Hello?"
No response.
"Hey, you there! Where are we?"
Still nothing.
"Dude!"
Finally, the man seemed to notice me. He turned towards my voice. I recoiled in horror.
What the hell is going on?
He was dressed in shabby, torn clothes, and looked like he hadn't washed in weeks. More importantly, he was splattered in blood nearly from head to toe. He started running toward me.
"Man, calm down! What the heck happened to you-"
I didn't finish the sentence before he ran full tilt into me. Caught off-guard, I was knocked down into the grass. Before I could react, the man bent down, and bit me in the arm. Blood spurted from the wound.
"Ahh! Help!"
I scrambled backwards on all fours. He got ready to bite me again, but I managed to kick him in the face, sending him reeling back. Clutching my bleeding arm, I stumbled off, away from him. I may have gotten twenty feet before I tripped and fell down on my face. Rolling over, I was terrified to see the man almost upon me.
Realizing that my wooden stick-weapon had been lodged in my belt, I pulled it out, and held it in front of me as much as my shaking hands allowed, shut my eyes, and screamed as the man jumped at me. A shock to my hands told me that I had unwittingly stabbed him through, and a second later I flipped him off, and shakily stood up.
I must have jumped back several feet when the man, wooden stick still lidged in his chest, screamed out and started clawing at the air, trying to get at me. Frozen in a sort of horrified fascination, I watched as the life slowly left the man.
"Th-thank you..."
I bent down next to the man, guilt-stricken. What was he talking about?
What have I done?
"I'm so sorry! Please, who are you? Let me help you!"
"You've helped me enough. I was a zombie back there. Oh Maria...Lenev...Notch, I'll miss them..."
And with that, he slumped down, finally dead. I stood there for a minute, shocked. Then, all the adrenalin, all the terror, all the fear of the past few moments came rushing back to, overwhelming me. I sank down to my knees, crying. Lying there, I started shaking.
Several minutes later, I finally regained control.
It might be a good idea to see if that guy had anything useful on him, I guess. What am I going to do about my arm?
Stooping down, I rifled through the dead man's pockets, coming up with a single packaged cookie, and a small metal bar. Seeing no point in having an empty backpack, I placed both items in it. Again, jolts of pain shot up my arm, and more blood started seeping from the bite.
Say, I do have a bandage. Doi.
I attached the bandage to my wound, but found that the blood was making it start to slide off. After fiddling with it for a minute, I finally bent down, ripped off a piece of the dead man's t-shirt, and wrapped it around my arm.
That ought to last for some time. Now, back to going up the coast...and finding out what the heck happened here.
A/N Alright, I'll try and keep these author's notes to the bare minimum. This will be a very personal story. To the other MineZ writers, sorry if it seems like I was copying you, but I've had this chapter in my folder for a long time. Thanks for the inspiration, though.
Until Next time, please, Read and Review!
PS A New Civilization is NOT dead. Just on a shared slate.
