AN: I had quite a lot of trouble writing this chapter, and would appreciate some feedback to how it can be improved.
Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D.
Chapter 2
Lostness most assuredly a fact
Drawing a deep breath Gregory House awoke from unconsciousness to find himself yet again in the dark room, but this time something was different, something was there that was not there before. He raked his mind, but ended up with nothing, his normally great wit was subdued by the pain shooting from his leg, toes, head and stomach, making the world a cacophony of agony.
He found the vial of pills next to his hand; dropped there when he fell unconscious, and he counted them by the sound they made hitting the plastic walls when he twirled it in his hand. He allowed himself two pills and consumed them, with painful difficulty. As was well versed he was in the art of swallowing his pills dry, he found his throat coated with dry mucous from being unable to drink in what he assumed was little more than 24 hours.
Half an hour later, the pain was still sharp, but dull compared to the torture he'd endured earlier. And then it hit him, a cry, a faint cry to the left of him. Slowly, painfully he crawled the few meters there. Even as used the doctor was to death and bodies, the three crushed carcasses he had to climb over made him retch. The fact that he could not see them made matters only worse, feeling the open wounds and the bones sticking in directions he never imagined they could, made him think of autopsy tables crossed with horror movies. And one fact made matters even worse, even though he could not remember the actions that brought him here and what happened later, he knew that these people had been alive for a long time and endured way more than any human were supposed to in a lifetime.
Reaching the source of the noise, he used his hands to guide him. Again, he touched the soft, squishy formof a human, but this was small, and moved abruptly when he lifted it. Judging from its size, it was just an infant, 3, 4 months tops. Examining the body carefully, he found that its injuries were only superficial, just small cuts and welts evidencing rough handling.
Uplifted by another human presence in the dark room, he dared to try and speak for the first time. Before now, he was worried that the sound of his voice would lead to detection from his invisible foes.
Croaking at first, he cleared his voice and managed to rasp a painful hello. The first time it resulted only in an even more obvious silence, but his second hello encouraged a faint; "who are you?" only meters away.
"I am Greg House, who are you? And do you know where we are, and why?"
"I'm Samantha. I was, I was walking my dog, and a truck came up, ripping me from the road, and…" heartbroken sobbing abruptly ended her explanation. An awkward moment emerged until she sniffed loudly and said she was okay, but she did not continue her story, and House did not press her any further.
"You think you can't manage to find your way over here if I continue talking, you are not too hurt?" his voice was soft and gentle, showing an unusual care and sympathy for the strange woman.
"I think I can manage", she snuffled.
"Well, Samantha, do you know anything about babies? You see I got one here, and I'm not exactly baby proficient…" he did not await her answers, just babbled on about his niece, and how he almost dropped her once, witch earned him months of scolding from his sister.
"Ouch!"
"What's wrong? Are you okay, Samantha?"
"Yes, yes, I banged my knee on a stick of some sort", the annoyance in her tone in a brief moment struck him as funny, when an idea hit him.
"A stick? You mean a cane?"
Seconds of fumbling with the "stick" rewarded him with an affirmative; "yeah, I think its a cane"
"Bring it over, it's mine"
"You're a cripple?" the shock in her voice was evident, even though she did not know why. She was trapped somewhere dark, crawling over what she could only assume was horridly disfigured bodies, and what shocked her was the fact that the man trapped with her was a cripple. It probably had something to do that she felt more protected when she envisioned him as a strong, tall knight of sort, and now the image shrunk to frailty, someone who needed protection from her.
"Yes, yes, just get me the cane? And take this damn baby."
She reached him only moments later, and carefully traded baby for cane, the baby slightly more carefully than the cane.
"I'm going to have a quick look around, you mind the baby. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere"
They shared a quick laugh, witch brightened their spirits a smidgen, before House struggled to his feet and straightened with a yelp.
"Are you hurt?" the worry in her voice was evident, he wondered quickly if she was worried about him, or about being left alone by his sudden demise.
"I'm okay."
He did not mention the cuts and bruises all over his body, or the concussion, and he painfully took a few steps forward, the arm not supporting him on the cane stretched out before him. Not many steps after, he hit the wall. Walking slowly along, he felt around on the wall for, well anything really.
"Ha!" just moments later he flipped the switch found hed found on the wall, and the light flickered on, blinding three of the room's four occupants. For a new member of their sorrowful little group was revealed in the sharp light. Leaning against the wall across from House, a boy aged about ten sat scrawling painfully on the floor, blood running from his fingernails. Seeing it, House identified the strange crunching noise hed previously heard under the bays whimpering.
House tried to count the bodies littering the floor while making his way over to the boy. He counted eleven, but assumed it was more, the spreading of the body parts and the general destruction of the men, women and children made it hard to separate them into individuals.
He faintly heard Samantha starting to sob and wretch behind him presumably over the corpses littering the wooden floor, making the baby wail loudly and desperately.
He stopped at the boy's side, looking down on his hanging head and thumping him lightly with the cane.
"Hey, boy!"
The youngster lifted his head in response too the noise, and House could not help but shrink away at the sight of the empty eye holes gaping at him.
AN2: So now that you read it, please review and tell me if you liked it or hated it. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism on this one.