The Beginning Of A Short Story (Long Post Warning)

[knifeparty 109]

So I've knocked this out in about an hour over the last couple of weeks. It still needs heavy editing were it to be a proper story. I had intentions of having this be a kind of live journal as I play but instead am thinking of using this as a basis for a short story/novella. I have it posted on my site as well as dayzintel.com so I figure I might as well share it here.. 

 

Cheers. 

 

   I snap awake. Nearby, cans clank together gently. My rifle lies on my lap while I sleep. My hands still rest upon it, seeking a firmer grip while I come out of my tired haze. I am currently wishing I wasn’t such a minimalist. All I brought to sleep beneath on my hiking trip to “beautiful Chernarus” was a field tarp to use as a makeshift lean-to. I drape it over and under me as I sit, leaned against a broken tree. Yesterday, I had a deer walk about three meters from me, and had it not been for an untimely sneeze, I’d probably be eating a lot better than this slightly rusty can of beans I found. This time however, I am not taking any chances, as I can hear an unnatural gurgling noise that is a strong indicator of a much more dangerous presence.

 

   It’s dark beneath this canopy of trees. I figure being on this wooded hill has multiple advantages. It’s dark enough to not worry about being seen. Also, the infected seem to be less likely to travel uphill without reason, making this one of the few areas I can feel safe enough to actually sleep. Right now though, I am at a clear disadvantage, as I am having a difficult time pinning down a location of my current co-inhabitant. I hear tiny ambient noises and my ears twinge, my body aching to jump out of its all-too-still position. A familiar noise begins to sound. Ruined feet dragging in the leaves begin to present themselves off to my right. In harmony with its resumed animation, groans emit general unrest. Christ. Does this thing smell me? Even when they are seemingly unaware, they always seem to stumble to my exact location, like some kind of gravitational pull to the living, even in my current state of absolute stillness.

 

   My hand leaves the pistol grip of my rifle as it finds the hilt of my hunting knife, tucked neatly in its leather sheath. I still can’t see it, but if I sense it getting any closer, I’m going to have to be the aggressor. I’d much rather take what little jump I can manage on it, rather than the other way around. Without fail, the dragging, gurgling, nothing finds its way closer to the lump that is me and my equipment. I almost laugh to myself at the contradiction as I think, “best to not think too much about it… Just do it”.

 

   I pull my feet up close to me as I push off the tree with my back, in an attempt to spring to the ground. I let my rifle fall to my waist, suspended by its sling. Pulling my knife from its sheath my right hand draws back ready to thrust. My free hand simultaneously goes for my flashlight which is clipped to my vest. I flick on my flashlight but at the same time I accidentally unclip it from my vest. I see my target briefly before my flashlight conveniently falls to the ground and points itself right at me. Shuffles turn into stumpy thuds as my friend stumbles towards much quicker now. I back up, right into my tree. I don’t have any time to think. I see a one armed silhouette in my flashlight as its mass comes down upon me. I push it away with one hand, not getting much resistance.

 

   Before we break contact I grab onto it by what clothes remain on its chest, pulling back to me as I drive my knife hand into its face. The body goes limp, but I don’t dare let go until I’m positive it’s no longer a threat. After a moment, it seems to be “really dead”, so I clamber to my flashlight and begin to search the area frantically for immediate threats. My side burns from the intense struggle……. No…. something’s wrong. I reach to my left side as it explodes with pain. My hand comes back wet with blood. A large piece of the broken tree pierces my side. My mind races as I look around for something… anything. I feel my mind slipping. I drop to a knee, grabbing onto a tree as I try to control my breath. I begin to hear an intense ringing as the beam from my flashlight fades. Darkness fills me and I don’t even have time to feel bad for myself.

 

   I open my eyes, waking to sun shining on my face through a gap in the canopy of tree branches. My head aches and I feel sweaty, yet cold… not my best of days. I attempt to roll to my side off of my stomach and cry out in pain. For a second I almost forgot about last night’s run-in with my decomposing friend. I carefully rise to my feet. The pain is excruciating, but I cannot simply stay where I’m at, matted against the ground like I was. I have to think… where do I go? I remember seeing a small air strip and town to my North, and another, even smaller town to my South. It seems like I had walked forever to get here from the West, and there is nothing but woods to my East. Do I take the chance of running into somebody in the larger town, or do I risk not finding the supplies I need to the South. Bending over to grab my tarp and pack seems to take an eternity, as I can barely walk, let alone bend over to pick things up. I manage this most miner task and I pause to reflect.

 

   I can’t leave just yet. I have to dress this wound. I can’t even see the entire thing. I am going to need a mirror, or god help me, another person to take care of it proper. The piece of wood is the size of a large, jagged tent stake. It enters my body someplace behind me, and comes out on my left side. From the way it feels, there is about six inches of flesh between the entry and exit area, with about four inches of wood sticking out of the front. For being impaled it actually doesn’t look that bad and I cringe at myself for passing out as long as I did. Even as lucky as I am, it’s badly bruised, and I can see clear puss starting to form where the clotted blood has broken up. I need to get this taken care of soon, before it becomes badly infected.

 

   I can’t pull this thing out right here; for fear that I’ll pass out again, or worse, run into complications. Considering I’m still functioning, I’m hoping I didn’t hit anything vital, but I don’t want to take any chances in the middle of the woods. I lift my shirt and bite on to it to keep it raised. I take a single roll of bandage I keep in my backpack and wrap it around my side in a figure eight pattern. I cut a few strips in my shirt so that the wood sticks out of the cuts, unhindered by my clothes. I carefully put on my pack as high up as possible, testing out the load before I make my way towards the town.

 

 Heading into town takes an eternity. On the way in, the first buildings I see are a small empty lot with some dumpsters, a pub, and a few other buildings. There are a lot of infected residents floating around in that area and I decide it’s best to move a little bit farther through the woods before attempting my entry into town. The next patch of houses gets closer, and just on the opposite side of them, I see a grocery store. “Just what I need”! I slowly move my way towards the tree line and leaning against a pine, I begin to scan for a way to the store.

 

   There is a clearing on the left side of this group of buildings. I can’t see anything over there, all the way to the store, but I worry that my entire side is exposed to anyone that might be watching in the distance. There is also a relatively short walk into the buildings, but I have no idea what to expect once I get in. I decide the clearing is the safest way to go in my condition. I set down my pack against the tree, and begin to carefully make my way up to the store.

 

   I thank whoever might be listening as I find myself at the loading dock of the tiny grocery store. Everything is quiet as I slip in the back. The stock room is mostly empty as I make my way through the store. There is so much to look through. Shelves knocked over, garbage on the ground. I try to make my way to the front of the store, hoping I can find what I need, but from the looks of the stockroom, hope may be all there is today. I hear rustling and I immediately tense up. Suddenly a cat jumps out of one of the employee lockers and for a second, I feel like I’m going to jump out of my body. Afterwards, I pause for a minute, try to listen for anything else that might have heard the cat as well. Nothing stirs. Before I can begin to move, in a hushed voice I hear “Don’t move a single muscle and I might not shoot you.” I try not to flinch, as my remaining hope leaves my body. I reply “I’m not a threat. I’m only here for first aid.  Please don’t kill me.”

 

   My fellow shopper doesn’t reply, but I can hear him move closer to me. I can feel his breath as he speaks again, quietly. “Put your hands behind your head, and get up against that wall.” Straining, I do as I’m told, and he begins to pat me down. He gets to my wound and says “What the fu…” as he lifts up the side of my shirt. I reply “I’m hurt bad… ”He continues to pat me down and removes my knife from my other side. I begin to plead, “All I want is to find something to help me fix my problem, I don’t want to cause any…”, and before I can finish, he hisses “shut up. I don’t give a damn what you were trying to do. Where the hell is your gear?” I explain to him that I left it at the tree line, and that I have nothing to offer him now, but if we were to head back, I would give him everything I had in exchange for my life. He now tells me “turn around.” As I comply, I see that he has an assault rifle pointed at my head. He continues to say “You've put me in a really bad spot, and I don’t want this, but I don’t see how else this is gonna go.”

 

   I see my assailant for the first time. He’s dressed simply. A dark brown beard sticks out over a green flannel shirt along with some beat up jeans and a ball cap. He’s carrying a small military backpack and has what looks like a bullet proof vest on. With the rifle on me I feel like my body is ready to jump out of its skin. I can’t think of anything I like less right now. My only hope is that if he’s concerned enough about not making noise, he sure as heck isn’t going to shoot me in this small store. I begin actually thinking about calling his bluff. Just as I begin to speak he cuts me off by saying “nobody’s going shopping today. Turn around.” I immediately begin to doubt my conclusion on his bluff and prepare myself for what comes next. I feel the barrel of the rifle touch the back of my neck, as I tense up. Less than a second later he grabs my collar gently pulling my backwards. More commands follow. “Slowly… Start walking backwards, keep quiet. The second I feel you resist, I pull the trigger.”

 

   We make it to the exit, back the way I came in and he pushes up against the wall. He looks outside briefly and says “you first”. He takes his hand and his rifle off of me and I slowly move to the door. If I wasn’t so banged up and incapable of running I might actually consider this to be my moment. I begin down the steps from the loading dock, right leg first, then left leg, stiffly and so very carefully. Unsure of where to go from here, and not willing to turn around and look at him, I freeze in place. I hear shifting behind me so I know he’s still there. Just as I will myself to turn around he grabs my arm and places it over his shoulder, supporting me on my bad side. He has slung his weapon and he begins to usher me to the house directly behind the grocery store.

 

   We make it in the house and he tells me to stay put. I do as I’m told, perplexed by the change in his demeanor. He leaves into the far room and I finally let out a deep breath that I feel like I've been holding since I got out of the woods. My head is pounding as I lean against the wall and I think to myself “I just want this to be over.” He returns silently and says “Look… I’m going to help you out. We are in a bad, bad place. I am risking both of our lives doing this here, but by the looks of things, you had a poor chance at making it through the rest of the day anyway.”

 

   We enter the door through which he had went only moments before, which turns out to be a small bedroom. He tells me to sit and he sets his rifle down and begins to remove items from his bag. From a smaller, red bag, he removes a blue and white tube. I ask him what he’s going to do and he says, “You’re getting morphine sulfate. This will help while I remove the wood fragment.” He instructs me to lie on my right side. I feel the pinch of the shot, and within seconds I begin to feel better. I wonder… who is this guy? Just another morphine toting, mountain man, pulling splinters out of people at random? He lets out a quick snort and say’s “I guess it has been a while since I last shaved.” He then shows me a gnarly looking piece of wood, gelatinous with dark red blood. I reply “did I say that out loud…” as the room darkens and I decide that now’s a good time to take a nap.

 

   I awake feeling groggy and thick in the head. My shirt is off and I have a nice fat white strip of gauze reaching around my entire side. I have a tube, taped to my arm. It leads to what looks like an IV, hooked to a coat hanger, which in turn, is stuck right into the wall. It looks as though the sky is darkening and I can hear thunder in the distance. The mountain man is sitting in the corner of the room on an end table, peering out of the slats of wooden shutters of the bedroom window. He sees I’m awake and says quietly, “Today is your lucky day. It’s beginning to storm. That will slow them outside, keep the bandits hunkered down. Well, that and the fact that you’re not dead. Go back to sleep. You need rest. We can talk about how we go from here in the morning.” I don’t bother to reply. The last 24 hours have been rough. I don’t think he’s going to hurt me after fixing me up like this and I really don’t care if he robs me. I’m just glad I’m alive. I drift back off to sleep.

Edited January 29, 2014 by wolf-mind

[fitzee 248]

Hi.

 

That was a good read, thanks for sharing. :)

 

Regards.

[senorrambo 22]

Brilliant. Would read more chapters.

[Duster_Bouglas 5]

Very nice! More please?!?!

[knifeparty 109]

Thanks!