Sorry. I don't have the link to Photobucket or whatever because I haven't done the drawings yet. Nightmarish drawings are hard to do!

And no. The planet this story takes place in is not Shiver Star. Sorry.

Window to the Past

Chapter 15: Bite the Bullet

The tall one's doing something. You want to help. You climb to the top next to the tall one. You want to help. The tall one looks at you and walks away. What was she doing?

Water.

Help.

You walk forwards and your legs stop touching ground.

Ouch. Pain. Fire. Pain. Screams. Hands. Lights.

Help.

David awoke with a thumping pain coursing through his brain. His head was swimming, and his vision was so completely blurred he could only see grey.

But he was warmer than he was outside.

David's heart skipped a beat. He wasn't outside anymore.

"Don't sit up."

Who was that? Why couldn't he see? Maybe if he just rubbed his eyes, he could-

"Don't sit up."

"Who are you?" David asked. Well, David tried to ask. It came out as a hoarse wheezing. Something was wrong with his throat. Why couldn't he speak? What happened to him?

"I want you alive, and that's all that matters."

She...the voice heard him? But how? He had to find out who this was.

"What part of 'don't sit up' do you not understand?"

Whoever this was, she was getting irritated. David decided to obey for the time being. He couldn't really do much otherwise, anyways.

"Can you see clearly yet?" the voice asked.

There was improvement. Instead of solid grey, he could see a glowing white circle in front of him. Everything else was grey. Was that good enough for a yes?

Apparently the voice didn't think so. "Don't move until you can see exactly where you are."

David's head was still pounding painfully. What had happened? He was climbing up the mountain, and then...

"You made a mistake, David."

Shock and fear bunched up in his throat. How did she know his name was David!?

"You couldn't have done that alone. None of you could have. To suppress them like that wasn't very smart."

Was...was she talking about the others? How did she know about them!?

"Can you see clearly now?"

David realized he had shut his eyes tight. Opening them again, he squinted at the sudden light flooding his vision. When his eyes adjusted, he tried to look around. Moving his head hurt, and he still couldn't talk, but he could make out blurry shapes.

"That's good enough for now. Look for your sack."

David slowly turned his head to avoid aggravating the migraine he was experiencing. He saw a large green blurry circle. Assuming that was his bag, David went to move. Almost immediately, a familiar jolt of pain shot through him.

"Remember 'don't sit up'? That hasn't changed," the voice reminded him caustically. "Drag yourself over instead."

Blindly, David obeyed. His round body made it difficult, but he was able to grip the ground and pull himself forward. There was definite pain there, but it was a fraction of what he had experienced earlier. His vision got clearer as he reached the sack.

"Find the canteen and drink from it."

Without thinking, David grabbed the mouth of the bag and pulled downwards. The contents spilled all over him, giving him very unpleasant bursts of pain. Straining to change his field of view, he spotted the metallic container to his left side. He grabbed it, unscrewed the lid and poured the water into his mouth.

"G-AAAH!" he gasped through the stream. His speech was restored. Panting, he was about to say something when another warm wave of throbbing wracked his brain. He held the cool metal of the canteen up against it, numbing the soreness temporarily.

"Who...who are you?" he asked, his voice still raspy.

"I'm someone who realizes how important it is to keep you alive," the voice said. "That's the only reason I'm talking to you."

"And where...?"

"Don't try looking; you can't sit up yet. I'm not in this room, anyways. Save your energy. You're going to need it soon."

His mind tried to register everything she was saying to him. "Why...what do I need..."

"You're in deep trouble, David," the voice said solemnly. "Very deep trouble."

"Cameron, I can't write all three stories! I'm the co-author for this one. I don't even know what the other two are about!" my co-author protested.

I shook my head violently as I stayed in a fetal position on the floor. "I don't know what happened in that hospital, Chaos..." I sputtered. "But she was not supposed to die. I didn't write her dying. But it happened anyways." My eyes connected with his, and judging by his reaction, I didn't look my best. "Why? That fire wasn't supposed to kill her! It wasn't supposed to kill anyone!"

"But that's A Bunch of Japanese Letters, Cam," he reminded me. "This isn't Japanese Letters! This is Legend of the Watch!"

Once again, I shook my head in disagreement. "If I screw up Japanese Letters, what makes you think I'm going to do this one right?" I breathed.

Chaos sighed. "Did anything go wrong in No Pokeballs Allowed yet?" he asked, using his signature comforting yet condescending tone.

"N-no..." I said, my voice shaking.

"I've put off Legend of the Watch and a story I wanted to write because I had to write the other two stories for you," Chaos explained tiredly. "I'm only getting to it now because I've finally caught up with your crazy 'chapter-a-day' posting schedule. And if I'm going to be honest," he trailed off for a bit and looked back at the laptop. "I think it's time you start writing your trilogy again."

"B-but...what about..."

"We can't change that," Chaos admitted. "But you've worked yourself out of worse. You do a lot of good stuff when you go on the fly. Just improvise until you get back on track."

Shakily, I got to my feet. Nodding my head, I started seeing his point. "I'm sorry you have to deal with me, Chaos. I'm just acting like a kid."

Chaos gave me an unimpressed smirk. "You are a kid, Cam. You're younger than some of your protagonists. Now, please, enough with the mushy stuff, and on with the story."

"Agreed. No more mush."

"Alright. Try to sit up now."

Slowly David forced himself up. The pain was numbed, and he was able to get through the process this time.

"Okay," David asserted. "What happened, how do you know my name, and how do you know about the others?"

"You decided you didn't need the others' help to climb the mountain, David. You didn't want help. You were very adamant about that. That was not very smart. You made a wall. They can't get through to you now, even if you want them to."

"I..." David stuttered, suddenly beginning to feel dizzy. "I what? D-did I kill them?!"

"No. But they won't be able to help you until the figurative wall you made is taken down."

David quickly stood up, toddling a bit before regaining his balance. "I want to take down the wall! How do I do it?"

"You don't have time to take down the wall, David. You need to get out of here now."

"...Why?"

"NEUROTOXIN STORAGE TANK PRESSURE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE AT 0.002% AND RISING."

"That's why."

"...What's neurotoxin?" David asked as fear creeped into his tone.

"If you breathe it in you die."

David let out a small whimper.

"Pick up your bag and leave," the voice commanded.

But David didn't move. He was frozen with fear. He was going to die here. He had failed up on the mountain, and he would fail here, too. He couldn't do it.

"David. You have a better chance of surviving if you try to escape. If you stay here, you are going to die without fail. If you try to find a way out, there's a better chance of you making it out alive. Now pick up your bag and leave."

Trembling, David got to his feet and grabbed his bag. A door was to his left. He stumbled towards it mindlessly.

"We don't have much time, David," the voice reminded him.

"FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE AT 0.632% AND RISING."

This seemed to wake him up. Breaking into a sprint, David ran out of the room quickly, giving one last look at where he had landed. He skidded to a stop and tried to read the label above the door.

"Uh...what does that say?" he asked the voice.

"Neurotoxin Storage," she answered. "Now keep going."

David agreed and began running up and down the hallways, going through any door that looked right to him.

"FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE AT 5.204% AND RISING."

"The number's getting bigger," David said worriedly. "That's bad, isn't it?"

"Yes. Running haphazardly into doors won't get you out in time," she said flatly. "Look for exit signs. They should be glowing red."

"Okay," David said, scanning his surroundings for a red glow.

"FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE REACHING DANGEROUS CONDITION. INITIATING SAFETY MEASURE 399 'ANTI-NEUROTOXIN ATMOSPHERE PURIFICATION SEQUENCE'."

"What does that mean?!" David nearly screamed, following the arrow of an exit sign.

"It's a good thing, David," the voice comforted him. "It means there will be less neurotoxin in the air."

"INSUFFICIENT POWER FOR SAFETY MEASURE 399. DRAWING FROM EMERGENCY RESERVE..."

The lights went out.

"What happened?!" David screamed.

"Stay calm, David," the voice said sternly. "The exit signs still work."

David gulped. His heart was beating so hard he was afraid it might explode. And still he pressed forward through the pitch-black hallways with only the eerie red glow of the exit signs to guide him. David wanted desperately for the voice to encourage him, to tell him that he would make it out fine, but she was unbearably silent.

"SYSTEM MALFUNCTION. AIR CIRCULATION OFFLINE. SAFETY MEASURE 399 'ANTI-NEUROTOXIN ATMOSPHERE PURIFICATION SEQUENCE' FAILED. FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE AT 10.293% AND RISING."

"What does the new-o-talk-sin do?" David asked, bracing himself against a cold metallic wall as he walked down an especially dark hallway.

"Just follow the exit signs, David," the voice said. "You'll be out of here in time."

"FACILITY-WIDE NEUROTOXIN PRESSURE REACHING CRITICAL CONDITION. INITIATING SAFETY MEASURE 404 'FACILITY-WIDE AIRTIGHT LOCKDOWN' IN FIVE MINUTES. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. REPEAT: INITIATING SAFETY MEASURE 404..."

The metallic computer blared its message again, but David was suddenly hit with a wave of unnatural panic.

"Run, David! You have to get out of here now!"

David forced back tears that threatened to blind him even more than the darkness already did. David's mind seemed to collapse on itself, dedicating David's whole body to one task.

Follow the red lights.

David was vaguely aware of the ground flying beneath him faster than it ever had before. His eyes went from red light to red light, directing his body to make quick 90° turns down the hallways.

Suddenly David was thrown downwards as his feet screamed in pain. He had tripped.

"INITIATING SAFETY MEASURE 404 'FACILITY-WIDE AIRTIGHT LOCKDOWN' IN THREE MINUTES THIRTY SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

Something was wrong. David's body was tingling...he was finding it hard to breathe. His legs refused to support him, as did that strange voice that had mysteriously disappeared.

His leg twitched. David tried to convince himself that it was a good idea to get up. His head shook violently for half a second. Was that normal?

"INITIATING SAFETY MEASURE 404 'FACILITY WIDE AIRTIGHT LOCKDOWN' IN TWO MINUTES THIRTY SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

Pushing himself to his feet, David winced as he shook in his stance. Looking ahead of him, he could see natural light. It was right there!

David's body convulsed, throwing him roughly to the ground. Breathing heavily, David began to drag himself towards the door.

I can do it.

Left pull. Right pull. Left pull. Right pull.

"...ONE MINUTE THIRTY SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

I can do it. It's right there.

The door was no less that five feet away. Yet David could not get up. He continued dragging himself along the ground in a display of primal determination. He touched the cold metal of the door. The handle was out of his reach. He'd have to stand up and jump.

"...THIRTY SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

David braced himself against the frigid door, knowing full well what was on the other side. Crying out in pain, he leaned against the steel. The handle was still out of his reach. He'd need to jump.

"...TWENTY SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

I can do it.

David tried to jump. His feet refused to obey, still spasming from earlier.

"...TEN SECONDS TO LOCKDOWN. NINE..."

I can't do it.

"Please!" he begged. "Please, I can't do it! Someone, please help me! Anyone! I don't want to die!"

"...SEVEN. SIX. FIVE..."

"Somebody help me!"

"...THREE. TWO. ONE."

It was so cold...

THUNK.