The Quest of Time
Chapter -2
Lizzie opened her eyes, all she could see was darkness around her, her ears only heard winds ruffling the leaves and crickets chirping. The storm was over, there were few lightning still visible in the sky. She had no idea how long she was unconscious and where she was. She looked around and only things visible through her car headlights were a water body, maybe a lake and huge field in the middle of the forest. She turned on the light in her car and checked the time, it was 11:42 pm and she realized that she had been passed out for hours.
Lizzie felt dizzy when she moved her head around looking for her phone. She felt a lump on her forehead. She must have hit her head hard if she passed out because of that. She was scared she might be concussed. She checked herself for other wounds, thankfully she didn't find any blood or felt any broken bones or internal injury. She did have bruises on her shoulder, strain in her arms and pain in her left knee, because of the impact of the crash. She tried to calm herself down, it wasn't really working, her heart was pounding in her chest. She took a deep breath "Everything will be alright. I just have to call for help and everything will be alright."
Lizzie found her phone and silently thanked God that it wasn't broken. She dialled the emergency number but all she got was a message for 'No Network Coverage'. She tried again and again but still got no network connection. She cursed the phone and tried to get out of the car. She opened her seatbelt but it was struck, she pulled harder and harder and in the process hit her elbow on the glass window.
"Fuck, what the hell is wrong with you!" she screamed at her seatbelt and started to panic. She always had the phobia of small and confined places and the feeling of being trapped in the car was not helping her. Lizzie took several deep breaths to calm herself down and again tried the seatbelt and this time pleaded it to open.
"Thank you, finally." She felt relaxed when she freed herself from its clutch. "Now assess the damage." She talked to herself to stay focused and keep her anxiety at bay. She took a good look at herself in the rear-view mirror, she had minor cuts and bruises on her face and a broken lip. She was in lots of pain but pain never bothered her much, she was in no desperate need of a medic but she wanted to get out of that place very badly and find someone to get help.
Lizzie tried to start her car, it came to life, she thanked her guardian angel and put on the reverse gear and pressed the accelerator but the car didn't move. The wheels were moving but the car didn't. She cursed and slowly opened the creaking door and slid out to examine the problem. It was drizzling and she walked into the mud and examined the damage to the car. It had scratches and bumps and its wheels were struck into the mud, that was why the wheels were turning but the car was not moving an inch. There was not too much damage to the car and she thought she might be able to drive it again once it was moved out from the mud.
She sighed and took out her cell phone, still no signal. She raised her hand, moved to left, right and to the higher ground to get some signal but none of it was working. She was frustrated with herself and the circumstances that she wanted to scream, cry and get it all out of the system but she kept her cool. "Now is not the time to panic, it is time to think and make it to the next day. Just concentrate on getting out of here safely".
She looked around and for the first time, taking in every detail of her surroundings. She was standing in a big field with a lake in the front; one of the wheels was in water. She couldn't see much in the dark. On her left were lots of trees, it seemed like a dense forest. On the right were some shrubs and higher ground which lead to a larger field. Behind her, where she came crashing down from, was a slope. No wonder she could not control her car sliding down the muddy hill and hit the tree and crashed into the lake. She decided to go back the way the car slid through, find the highway again and stop any car on the road for help. She also hoped to get phone signal on higher ground.
Lizzie packed her flash light, water, wallet and some essential things into her knapsack, put her jumper on and started to hike up the hill. She took the same muddy path where her car slid through. She slipped and fell down a lot but was determined to go on. When she reached at the top of the slope she could barely see anything in the dark. She did not see any lights of the vehicles on the highway, or any other place of human existence. Every inch of the ground she could see was dark and quiet. There was no noise of the traffic, no sound of animals or people, everything was quiet and still. Her head was screaming with panic and fear with all the silence around her. She felt in her gut that something was not right, she had this eerie sensation that she did not belong there.
Lizzie was intuitive, she always listened to her gut. She looked around again and only saw darkness surrounding her and lightning in the sky, only heard the sound of leaves of trees waving in the wind and complete silence from the surrounding, only felt drizzle on her face and no sign of human life. She took a deep breath and went back to her car. She decided it was safer for her to wait in the car and look for help first thing in the morning in daylight. She crept into the rear seat tired, dejected and wet. She fell asleep scared and apprehensive of what the morning would bring to her.