Chapter 4: Surviving the Nightmare

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A clock ticked nonchalantly, echoing in Joseph's mind, projecting its sound like a time-bomb within his brain. He rolled onto his side, trying to unravel his legs from beneath the faded yellow cotton bed sheets. It was odd, he thought, he hadn't moved barely an inch from the moment he had settled in between the mattress and the covers, and yet he found himself tangled from the waist down. He kicked the sheets off of the bed with a grunt. In what seemed like his first real voluntary movement in hours, he stretched an unsteady hand out to the little white alarm clock that rested on the nightstand beside him.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

He held the noisy instrument up and over his head. Still resting on his back, he squinted at the clock's face. Tracing a circle along the plastic cover with his finger, he could not help but also notice the time it read: 4:30a.m.

Joseph blinked. He looked again. "Great," he slammed the clock back onto the wooden nightstand with a thud, nearly knocking over a small lamp, "Almost eight hours, definitely no sleep."

Part of him was astounded at this. What was the problem? Was this not good enough for him? What could possibly go wrong this time? The young man closed his eyes and tried to at least get a bit of rest, even if it were only his eyes who received any kind of sympathy.

Slowly, Joseph felt himself and the bed beneath him start to fall. It was as if this one moment in his life were in an hourglass, himself lodged in the middle, a single grain of sand lost amongst millions of others. The sturdy old walls of the shack swayed and weaved in and out amongst the wood of the floor. He drifted through the rest of the crowded room, unconscious, falling forever until he could not remember anymore.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

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A red light engulfed Joseph's "dream", jerking him awake. He lie sprawled out on the floor, his back wedged between one of the far corners of the room. Propping himself up in some kind of unorganized sitting position, he tilted his head back against the wall and breathed heavily. Ice ran through his veins. With a quick glance across the room, he acknowledged the bed that he was once in. It appeared to be untouched.

"I've never been so cold..."

Then he heard it. A familiar scream of a man. A scream that could only mean death. It swelled up inside the room until Joseph was quite sure that the entire building would collapse. Maybe even explode. Nearly breathless, he gave himself a boost on a nearby wooden chair and stumbled to the door.

He made an effort to turn the doorknob but was stopped dead in his tracks. There was something messing with his mind, he thought. A wave of doom and despair loomed behind him. Trying not to look and witness what he felt was there, he grasped the knob again, only to feel the same faint waves of death ahead of him as well. He gritted his teeth and flung the door open. The remainder of his nightmare lay on the other side.

A fire. It had engulfed the entire store. The flames spread all around the area, leaving few places untouched, but allowing all to have front row seats to its grand display of its pain and suffering.

Joseph was the guest of honor, it seemed.

The inferno licked at Joseph's face playfully then whipped back to its main source inside the building after it had made another scene of itself by catching onto many low-hanging tree branches. It didn't seem to know how to take his arrival... First the blaze wanted to make a mere mockery with its antics, followed by a cruel warning.

Someone, or perhaps something, emerged from behind the side of the burning building. It too was aflame. Groaning an almost human groan, its eyes shimmered gravely as it caught the glow of the fire.

"My god..." Joseph breathed.

The thing screamed, shattering what was left of the tranquility that had once belonged to the wilderness around the two. It appeared to be a man, possibly alive... just barely. His skin (or what was left of it) was charred black, his clothes reduced to ashes.

It tried to speak.

"We...salvation...have found you..."

His decaying body twitched and writhed with each word.

"The flames!"

A pain like no other drove itself into Joseph's wrists. In pure agony, he let out a fierce cry that not even the raging blaze could mute.

"THE FLAMES!"

He was sure that someone must have fired the gun that was being held to his temple. Choking on his words, the defenseless being fell to his knees. He hung his head in misery as he waited for the final shrieking from the corpse.

A dry but familiar voice scraped the air. "Go," it said.

Joseph opened his eyes. In front of him lay burned remains. They were charred beyond recognition. He fell backwards in awe. He tried to ask what the hell had just happened, but "hell" was the only word that he could make out. Trying to find his balance, Joseph pushed himself up off of the ground, scrambling towards the woods.

The smell of burning flesh hung in the air as he fled through the tangled forest. A few times he tripped, suffering some minor scratches and bruises. They were nothing compared to what he had just endured only moments ago. The more Joseph ran, the more pain he felt leave his body. Though the pain's grip had loosened, the flames had left their mark. Joseph had never felt more overheated in his life. He had to keep running from whatever it was that was out to murder him, but each step brought sickness and fatigue.

Grasping his stomach, he cried as if someone had struck a match inside of his body and somehow been able to keep it lit. The fever inside of him wouldn't go away like the other new pain had. He couldn't understand why this was going on, why he couldn't just have a normal life where just one thing could work out perfectly. He glared at a clearing a few hundred feet away, just able to make the path out. With a refined burst of strength he ran in that direction. Twigs sliced his arms and face. He no longer felt it.

His brain boiled with uneasiness as he approached the asphalt clearing. It was a road...a real road. People drove on this road, he remembered.

"Real human beings," Joseph grunted, "they have to be here somewhere."

A bitter fog swept over the nightmare that surrounded him. There was no proof of night or day.

"They just have to."

A/N: Look, look! Chapter 4! Ahh...too long of a wait, yes I know. Very sorry, but I promise quicker updates now. Mmmhmm, I sure do! Thanks for all the reviews, yes special thanks to each and every one of you.

(Extra thanks to Laura, who got me off my arse and writing again...though I was gonna do it anyways! XD Sheesh.)

Lemme know whatcha think!