Blood and Beasts

Chapter 18

Jack took a deep breath in, his lungs inflating as he did so. He couldn't see; there was only darkness. He couldn't move, or hear, or speak. He could only feel, and he felt everything as each piece of his body that had been obliterated on impact was reset. For however long this process took, the entirety of his existence was pain. There was nothing else to be processed, not even a mind to consider other things. Each inch of him that came back together became instantly aware of the next piece in the line that was still missing.

Eventually his skull reformed and he could see the process for himself. The bones in his arms that had snapped out of the skin bent back into place with the skin healing over top. It felt every bit as painful as the injury itself, only this time it was happening slower and in reverse.

Once he was able to move his neck, he turned to the other side to see Rachel; her body piecing itself back together as well. He saw the panic in her eyes as they darted around in a head that couldn't move yet.

Piece by piece, inch by inch, they both came together. Even the blood soaked back into their bodies. Somehow they were alive, though Jack doubted that was a good thing. A thick haze was all around them, and they couldn't see much more than each other. Once Jack could get to his knees, he tried to have a better look around.

The rocks they had landed on were sharp and black, obsidian he thought. He noticed a bit of the rope that had been binding them was still around his wrist so he pulled it off. He noticed another splattered pile that didn't belong to them. He crawled a bit closer to be sure. It was the apple Abraham had dropped in the pool, now nothing but mush.

Jack turned back to Rachel and she looked up at him; she could move again now too. Rachel looked at him and suddenly Jack became incredibly aware that he was naked. He was naked and he didn't want her to be looking at him like this. She seemed to be having the same thought because she quickly moved her hands to cover herself. She looked away from him and he turned away from her.

He felt so scared, so alone. He recalled at time he had been feverishly sick and the dreams that came in that delirious state were always the worst. He had felt naked then too, in a dark pit of nothingness. Fragile and small in the dark.

"Rachel, this place is doing something to our heads," he said, trying to rationalize his way out of the urge to cower and hide. "I'm not going to look at you, but I need to know you're there." He turned back keeping his eyes down, but he didn't hear her. He glanced up. She was gone. "Rachel!" he called. He stood up, still trying to hide his nakedness; he felt so exposed and weak. His tendons burned as he stood up but he didn't collapse. He looked down and saw the cut marks the doctor had made were now mostly healed, but thick scars remained. He wondered how his organs had managed to find their way back into his body but these wounds were still sore. A question for later.

Jack hobbled along as best he could in the direction Rachel had been, calling her name as he went. The dark haze (smoke Jack thought) was very thick and he could barely see anything as he stumbled through, but he eventually spotted someone up ahead, a naked body holding itself tight.

"Rachel?" Jack asked tentatively, not wanting to scare her away again. But the woman that turned and shrieked at him was not Rachel.

"Get away from me! Don't look at me!" the woman yelled, stumbling and scraping herself on the rock. Jack backed away from the woman, trying to hide himself. He backed right into an old man cowering on his knees. "Just get away!" he cried.

Jack ran then, best as he could, calling for Rachel. He passed more people, naked and horrified to be seen. Then he heard a voice calling through the haze, "Jack!" He kept calling to Rachel as he stumbled in the direction of her voice.

When they came upon each other, they averted their gaze and instead just wrapped their arms around one another. The fear gripped him tight, but he knew she wasn't looking at him, just as his eyes were staring straight into the haze. They collapsed to their knees together and both let out great rasping sobs. They screamed their horror out through their tears.

"Where are we?" Rachel asked him after their cries had subsided.

"I don't know," Jack said, but the truth was he didn't want to say it, because admitting it would make it real. They were in hell.