Chapter 2
The images came in disturbing and disconnected waves.
A gray-haired man, only seen from the back, pointed at the remains of a burning wreck. "Photos!"
A dark-haired man, younger, said his name which he couldn't hear and then added, "You heard him! Get on it!" This earned him a smack on the head from the grey-haired man.
A dark-haired woman looked in his direction but said nothing.
The dream shifted to a strange room full of loud music and machinery. An equally-strange woman stood at a microscope and looked at him and said his name, but the music was so loud that he couldn't hear it. He shouted to her to say his name again. She just smiled and gave him a hug.
Another shift. Two more men with their backs turned to him, leaning over crates. He had something in his hand. A badge? Where was that? He saw the danger.
Another woman with dark hair, but different from the first woman, looked at him with a mischievous smile. Then, he saw her again, with a bullet hole in her head.
There was a gun in his hand. He looked at it in amazement. He felt danger creeping up on him. Drawing in his breath to scream, he opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He shivered in the cold. His memories flared and died in his mind as he sat up and winced at the pull on his ribs, the ache in his legs and arms. Now, his head didn't feel very good either. He wondered how long he'd been asleep. Not long enough that was for sure. He felt awful. However, this would probably be the best time to be walking around. His dark jacket, even with the white lettering, would disguise him from seeking eyes.
He limped back to the river. His leg felt worse than it had the day before. He'd loosen up before long... he hoped. As he walked past the next set of rapids, he thought about his lack of memories. Who were those people he'd seen in his dreams? Were they friends or enemies? None of the women had seemed too bad. In fact, as strange as she had looked, the one in the lab, yes it was a lab, had also seemed like the nicest one. Had he killed the one who had been shot? He didn't know. The men, on the other hand, all had different levels of anxiety attached to them. But that first woman had seemed to be with the first two men. The other men had been alone. Who were they? Which ones were the people trying to kill him?
He walked in the river, making very slow progress, as the sun came up and took the chill out of the air. He fell at least five times every hour. If anyone actually started pursuing him, he'd be in no shape to outrun them.