Dead Ones

Chapter 25: Inferno

Grim

My eyes slowly fluttered open. The sky above me was blackened by the smoke rising around me. I grimaced and sat up. A throbbing pain flowed over my whole body, but was isolated worse in one particular spot. My thigh was steadily bleeding. I looked around me for options. It wasn't a great one, but I noticed one. A glowing red hot piece of rebar was sticking out from the fires around me. I pulled myself over to it and grasped the non glowing red-hot end. I lifted it from the heap of molten metal that it sat in and held it over the deep hole in my leg. It had to be done. You couldn't just cauterize the surface of a puncture wound, as the internals would keep bleeding. You would have to cauterize the whole wound. And looking at my options, that was exactly what I had to do. I had no medical supplies on me at the time. A roll of packing gauze or flaming hot rebar? I didn't see a difference. I let out a scream of rage and commitment and rammed the hot piece of metal into the wound. A faint sizzling sound of cooking flesh could be heard coming from my leg for a second. The bleeding stopped. I wiggled my toes to make sure I still had the function of my foot. Despite my entire leg now being numb at this point, my foot still worked fine. I braced my arm on some nearby rubble and let out a primal yell as I forced myself to my feet. I put weight on my leg. It felt weird and pressurized, but it could bear weight. I took two steps and it held up fine. I unclipped the mangled parachute from my back and let it fall to the ground. I pulled my mask off of my face. The paint on it was stuffed and dull. The white was now a pale grey with black specks where the paint had chipped. There were dried bloodstains covering it from multiple angles. I clipped it onto my belt at my side. I didn't need it anymore for the time being. All of my weaponry and armor was intact. All but my AK47 which had been destroyed in the firefight beforehand. The thought crossed my mind that there might still be survivors around. I decided to begin looking among the rubble. It wasn't long until I spotted a silhouette among the fire. I called out to them. They started walking towards me, shielding their face from the flames. They were wearing full riot gear. My happiness at seeing a fellow survivor disappeared. "Boy am I glad to see another human being," the man in the armor said when he got within earshot. He was wearing a respirator. My eyes focused on the device for a moment. "Yeah, hell, I am too," I lied. He got a little closer, starting to trust me. "You were the one who was such a big talk around here. Grim, yeah?" he said. "Names don't matter right now. Neither of us are gonna have one if we don't get out of here," I said. "I know damn well I'm going to," he said. He was mere feet from me. "Mind if I use that for a second?" I said, pointing to the respirator. I wasn't taking into account the amount of smoke I was likely breathing in. The rain helped thin it some, but not enough. He took the device off from around his mouth and nose and handed it to me. I fixed it onto my face and took a long deep breath of fresh filtered air. He motioned for me to give it back to him. I stared for a moment. He looked wildly confused. "Give me the damn thing!" he shouted. "Only one lives," I said. "Mother fu-" he said, starting to rush me. I stepped aside and redirected his momentum to make him smash his head against a nearby pile of rubble. He rolled over as blood began pouring down his forehead. "I gave you the thing as an act of good will," he panted. "Consider your kindness taken for granted, " I said. "You were likely to kill me as soon as we left anyway. It's every man for himself now," I said. He coughed and sputtered and choked on the smoke. "Damn, shoot me already!" he shouted at me. I pulled my pistol from its holster and aimed it at the man. He seemed to welcome it. I aimed and fired. The shot landed next to the man, not even grazing him. His face twisted in disappointment. "Why?!" he cried. "You're gonna die," I said. "Who am I to speed up the natural process of nature?" I asked. "I dunno man. Please just don't leave me here to suffer," he begged. I turned away from him, re-holstering my weapon. I began to walk away. His cries for help became more and more feint as I wandered into the inferno...