Chapter Twelve: Returning
Alex opened his eyes some time later, slowlyblinking away the dust. Carefully he sat upright, leaning on one arm, and wrapping his left around his ribs as they throbbed with pain. He looked around. He was completely surrounded by plaster and brick as the building had caved in. A vague thought ran through his mind that maybe that was what had protected him from the worst of the flames. He took a deep breath, coughing as the plaster dust entered his lungs, and then groaned as another tremor of pain ran through his body.
Staggering to his feet he started to move through the ruins of the building, casting uneasy glances at the unsteady walls. Tripping over the wreckage, and trying to ignore his aching body he reached the exit and stumbled outside through the wrecked doors. It was dark. Apparently several hours had passedashad the fire.Alex sank to the floor, his body finally giving up.
Sitting, exhausted on the floor Alex tried to see how badly hurt he was. One of the basic rules of survival; know your situation. He unwrapped his arm from his ribs and as he did so noticed the blood. Looking down he saw that both his jacket and t-shirt were ripped and visible through them was a large gash, which was bleeding profusely. 'Great' he muttered. He lifted a hand to his aching head, and looking at it, saw fresh blood, as he had suspected.
'Even better.' he laughed, but his ribs were soon too sore to continue and he hissed softly as the pain returned. Then he remembered the files. He handt lost them had he? Wildly he looked around for them, momentarily forgetting his injuries, his panicblocking out the worst of the pain, sighing with relief as he spotted the brown file just outside the exit. 'I must have dropped it.' he thought. He stood up and limped over to file, picking it up. He looked around the ruins, and then headed for the gate.
It was pitch black when Alex saw the road in sight. Further back he had managed to wander off it, disorientated and in pain. Staggering along, his whole body screaming, he headed for the road. Before he could get there, a swirling blackness invaded his mind and he collapsed.