The first thing that Tyler discovered when he opened his eyes was that he had no idea where he was. He was in a room, but didn't recognize it. He was resting on a bed, but it wasn't his own. The walls were white and bare, and the only furniture in the room aside from the bed was a nightstand. He tried to sit up, but fell back almost immediately, wincing in pain. As he looked down, he realized why. The majority of his chest was covered in white bandaging, and he had bruises on his arms. Tyler took a deep breath, trying to sit up once more.
"AHH!" He screamed out in pain as he fell back once again, unable to reach his goal, his body hurt too much. Tyler took a deep breath as he lay back, trying to assess the situation. He had no idea where he was, he had no idea what had happened to him, and he had no idea what to do. The last thing that he remembered was going to see Lisa on the ship, and judging by the injuries he had sustained, that had lead to something less than desirable.
Tyler closed his eyes, trying to think through what could be happening. Had the Fifth Column attacked the ship? Was he even still on the V ship? The only way he could get answers was to get up and find out for himself, but with the acute pain radiating through his entire body, that was not an option. After several minutes of thought, his head was pounding like crazy, and he could focus no longer. He reached up to try and rub his temporal lobes, hoping to alleviate some of the pain, but he realized quickly that his head was bandaged as well. Well I guess that accounts for the inability to remember… He bit his lip, wondering if he would be able to remember if he tried again in a few minutes.
While he was waiting, hoping for some of the pain to subside, he pulled the blankets down to see where else he was injured. There was a cast on his left leg, but his right leg was bare, save for his boxer shorts. Who had undressed him? Who had put him here? If he were still on the V ship with Lisa and Anna, wouldn't they have just healed him? Something was definitely not right, and he was dying to know what it was…then again, maybe he was just dying.
He didn't know how long he was lying there, trying to understand what was going on, before the door opened. He lifted his head ever so slightly, trying to keep the pain to a minimum as a man that he didn't recognize entered the room. He quickly lay his head back down, closing his eyes. He didn't know if this was a friend or an enemy, and he didn't want to take the chance that it was someone vicious. What Tyler didn't know was that he was too late, the stranger had seen his raised head, and turned out the door.
"Hey, he's awake…" The voice carried, and that didn't comfort Tyler at all. "The boy's awake." Tyler heard footsteps, and a second strange man entered the room.
"Tyler Evans?" The second man asked, approaching the bed. Tyler gulped as he opened his eyes all of the way, looking at the stranger, his heart rate increasing as he began to fear for his life.
"Wh-what do you want from me?" Tyler asked.
"You don't know who I am?" the man looked at Tyler, concerned. "They must have hit you harder than we thought." He touched the bandage on Tyler's head.
"Do…do I know you?" Tyler asked, pulling backwards.
"Tyler, it's me…" The man bit his lip. "Gregory Pike."
"I don't know anyone by that name," Tyler said, beginning to feel more and more lightheaded.
"Tyler, what day is it?" the man asked.
"Tuesday," Tyler whispered. "October 5th."
"No." The man shook his head. "It's November 18th." The man looked concerned. "Is October 5th the last day you remember?"
"Yes…" Tyler gulped. Was it really November 18th? "Where am I?"
"For now, somewhere safe." The man turned away, heading for the door, whispering to the other man in a low voice as they prepared to leave.
"WAIT!" Tyler screamed after them. "WHERE AM I?" The men ignored Tyler, shutting the door behind themselves. "WAIT!" He shouted again, tears springing to his eyes. "PLEASE! WHO ARE YOU? WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?" He waited with baited breath, but there was no answer. He was alone.