When Given a Lemon

Part 4

They didn't let us rest once we had finally returned either. No, of course not. We had to help build structures after all the hard work we had already put in!

While we were gone the area was fully cleared of any prickly bramble and muddy snow, latrines were dug, and cooking fires started. Several tents had also been erected. I had a feeling that's where we'd be sleeping. In tents. I was probably going to turn into an ice sculpture sleeping in one of those with how cold it would probably get. Soon enough though, several more fire pits were constructed and lit, dotting the area with bright flickering warmth and helping to thaw us up a bit more.

I would still much prefer to be in the half flooded barracks where I was afforded a bunk inside of a real building, where I could shower –albeit in cold water – and eat all my meals at a table, out of the wind and rain. Or in this case snow. Which started to float down to us as evening set in. Quickly our heads became covered with white crystals and our fires sputtered with each drop singing the hot logs, making smoke more than flames. We all quickly ate the hot meal cooked for us then climbed into the relative safety of our tents.

Each of us was assigned a tentmate. Mine is a burly guy that had helped cut and haul the logs with us all day. I smiled cordially to him but he only glared back at me then turned away to sleep facing the other direction. Not sure what that was about. Maybe he's cranky after all that hard work then having to sleep in a leaky tent with a stranger. I know I'm not too thrilled about it, but I'm not about to take it out on him. I crawled into my own bedroll then almost gagged when I caught a whiff of it as I pulled it close to my face. Naturally it didn't cross my mind that my tentmate’s expression could have to do with my horrid smell. Now that we finally arrived somewhere, I was definitely going to make getting this cleaned a priority! My only concern was after I washed it out here in the cold, would it dry in time for me to use it the following night?

My thoughts bled into my dreams as sleep took me. In my dream I was a skunk that everyone ran away from until our leader decided to hunt me!

I woke abruptly with the jarring sensation of my whole body being lit on fire as I hit something hard. In my panic I flailed about inside my bedding, blindly trying to find the opening, breathing erratically then suddenly my breath took in water and I was choking!

I'm drowning!!?

Even more terrified now my flailing grew even more mindless as I kicked about trying to release myself of this body bag I was trapped in! Then I found it! The top of the bedroll! Kicking away I escaped the heavy fabric and broke the surface coughing and sputtering!

Still not out of danger I kept kicking and flailing until my foot scraped hard against something solid and I realized the water wasn't too deep. Slowly standing, already violently shivering now along with my coughing, my eyes darted around me. The night surrounding me was pitch black, the water reflecting the sky where only a sliver of a moon was shimmering above and in the water. As my breathing leveled I tried to locate my bedding, dredging it back up to the shore, completely unsure how I was going to get myself dry enough to not freeze to death, not to mention my bedding! Before then I need to figure out where I was though!

Not a flicker of firelight could be seen from where I was. I had literally been abandoned in the dark of the wilderness, left to drown or freeze to death! But why?! Was it my tentmate? Could it have been the group from earlier? I wished I was better at remembering faces, not that I had seen anyone dragging me out here! Even now if I was asked I would have a hard time pointing out who any of those I had encountered were. My shivering is getting out of control now as I try to wring myself and my bedding out upon the frozen shore. There's no way I will get all of the moisture out, but at least this impromptu bath might have alleviated some of the smell. I just wish I hadn't been inside of it when it was plunged in for its ice cold wash!

For now I would have to leave it so I draped it as best I could over a lower hanging branch and started trekking uphill in the hopes that firelight would soon come into view. I was cold enough now that my vision was blurry and my whole body was burning like I was in the middle of a pyre, even my breathing felt like I was inhaling smoke! Fearful that I didn't have long to find heat, I tried to pick up the pace but my legs didn't want to go any faster, movement alone was hard enough! Getting more and more frantic as the minutes passed without seeing so much as a flicker, and feeling everything growing more and more fuzzy, I nearly gave up on myself when a soft glow suddenly came into view with my next step forward. Seeing hope my body immediately reacted and I was able to quicken my pace a little, driving forward toward that glimmer, the promise of warmth, of life!

My hope and my steps didn't steer me wrong and soon I was leaving the shadows of the wild and stepping into a mostly slumbering encampment.

"Holy gods!" Someone shouted and more noises ensued. I was too cold to turn to seek them out, still lumbering toward the bright flames of the campfire. "Captain! C-captain!!"

"What in the eleven hells are you–what in the name of oblivion! What the hell happened, private?!"

Hands were grabbing me but I was falling, dropping down into a darkness much like the oblivion beyond the eleven hells. Then all became nothing.

I woke up with a searing headache, a sore throat, and throbbing extremities. Everything screamed for me to go back to sleep but as tired as I was I am far from sleep.