I hear myself call out a name. The only thing I can see is darkness... And nothing but that. Pain shoots through my entire body and I barely react, laying lifeless and numb on the charred forest floor.
I slowly begin to pry my eyes open, but quickly shut them, the first thing I see being the sun staring down at me, blinding me. I bring a shaky hand to my face as to cover my eyes, shielding them from the burning sun. I struggle slightly to sit up, supporting myself on my elbows, and tiredly survey my surroundings, all the while with my muscles screaming at me to stop moving. As I become more awake and aware of what I'm looking at at, my eyes widen.
My gaze falls upon the burnt remains of a building hovering over me, swaying back and forth. Sudden uneasiness crashes over me; it could fall on me. I scramble, to the best of my ability, out from underneath the building... which I quickly recognize as my own home. I attempt to stand as to get a better look, but my knees buckle and a searing pain runs through my left leg, sending me to the ground. I cry out in pain, tears pricking my eyes, and rest myself on the ground. I roll up my left pant leg, which is ripped and torn in several places, and wince at the sight of blood spilling out of a long, deep gash in my leg.
"Damn..." I mutter and look around myself for anything to use as a temporary bandage. My eyes trail down to my waist to find a thick cloth, most likely acting as a belt. Shrugging lightly, I remove the cloth from my waist and quickly, but carefully, wrap it securely around my bleeding leg.
I try to hold myself back from flinching as I stand, but I stumble a bit, running into a tree. I grimace, my leg burning, and drop my head back, baring my teeth. I slide my back down against the tree, leaning against it as I sit myself down.
Sudden snapping if twigs catches my attention and my head snaps up, alert. Footsteps resound behind me and my breath hitches.
"Over this way! This is where I saw the smoke!" I freeze at hearing a voice, a male voice, and press myself against the tree, ignoring the pain my action causes me. Two boys, about my age - twenty - pass the tree that I'm standing flat against, not noticing me yet.
The first boy, the one who spoke I believe, has his head covered by a space helmet, like one of that of an astronaut's. He asks is wearing a space suit, again, much like that of an astronaut's.
The second resembles me in many ways; short light brown hair, tall for his age, white shirt, grey and red checkered jacket, and jeans. Unable to see his face, I'm unable to recognize him, if I know him at all.
The second boy, the one with the hoodie, turns to his companion. "Jason, I told you; there's nothing..." The boy's voice trails off as he turns to look in my direction, seeing me sitting, pressed against the tree. Now I that I see his face, I notice he's wearing black square glasses, similar to my own. His light brown eyes are trained on me as he slowly approaches me, glancing back at the other boy from time to time. I try to scoot farther away, but both the tree and my injured leg prevent me from doing so.
Seeing the panicked look in my eyes, the boy in front of me squats in front of me. "It's okay. We won't hurt you." He coos, trying to calm me down. I relax slightly, my eyes locked with his. He holds a hand out to me, gesturing that he would help me stand. Hesitant, I slowly take his hand and he pulls me to my feet. I balance myself on my right foot, but quickly lose my footing and begin to fall forward. The boy catches me before I hit the ground and helps me stand properly.
Only after a moment do I notice his hands are resting on my hips.
And he notices, too...
We both blush, chuckling nervously, and he throws one of my arms around his shoulders to support me.
"Tyler," the boy's companion shouts to us, "over here." Both my and Tyler's gazes dart to where the other boy was kneeling: a pile of rubble, mostly made up of wooden boards and chunks of wall. Underneath the rubble, I spot a silver bracelet with a name engraved in it: Ty.
