Desolate The Complete Trilogy

Part Two - Exposure





1



Forgive me if I do a poor job of describing the first moments after I gained consciousness. It’s not for lack of trying, but all I can remember is floating in a hazy state of semi awareness. Think of all the times you’ve hit the snooze bar and fallen back to sleep seconds later. Sometimes you don’t even remember doing it, do you?

Sounds and smells crept into my dreams as I struggled to waken. When I finally opened my eyes for the first time, I shut them immediately, squinting due to the brilliant sun beating down on me.

It’s amazing all the little things that go on with our bodies without us ever giving them a second thought, isn’t it? As the pupils in my eyes automatically adjusted to allow the appropriate amount of daylight in, my heart continued to pump, my lungs expanded and contracted, and the pores on my skin excreted perspiration to help regulate my body temperature. I mention the perspiration only because I was warm. Uncomfortably so.

But I digress. Listen to me rattle on about nonsense when you’re no doubt wondering where I was and what happened to me. That would make two of us.

The sky above me was a brilliant shade of blue and a few clouds were scattered about. In the periphery of my vision, I could see leaves and branches. Judging by the density of the foliage on almost all sides, it appeared I might have been in a clearing of a wooded area. Jungle, maybe?

I apologize. By now I’m sure you’re screaming at me to sit up and look around, but I neglected to tell you, I suppose I should have opened with it, that I couldn’t sit up. I was flat on my back and it felt like I was strapped down to something. I could feel the restraints on each of my forearms and another across my chest. My legs were also trapped.

I could turn my head from side to side but, unfortunately, some sort of foam barrier obstructed my view. Probably to protect my head, I’m guessing. I tried to lift my head but that just gave me a slightly better view of the trees beyond my feet.

Lifting my head also increased the pain, so I only did it once. I didn’t mention the pain yet, did I? Again, I apologize. So much to tell; I’m having a problem getting it all out in an order that makes sense. There was a deep throbbing around my stomach. A little lower, I guess, in the abdomen, off to the side. If I could touch it, I would have been able to see if I had some sort of wound down there.

I was also dealing with some major discomfort a little farther south. I felt like I had to pee but when I finally allowed myself to try, I couldn’t tell if anything was coming out or not. Ladies, you’re probably already aware of how much we gentlemen are always grabbing at our crotch. Believe me when I say it was driving me crazy not to be able to use my hands to give Mr. Willy a once over and see what was happening down there.

I tried to make sense of my surroundings but couldn’t remember what had happened to me. Besides a few bugs flying overhead from time to time and typical birdcalls you would hear in the jungle, I didn’t hear anything else.

I finally called out, my own voice sounding strange and scared. I don’t recall exactly what I said but “hello” seems like a pretty logical guess. There was no response, so I yelled out a few more times. No answer.

Other than the foulness coming from my armpits (I had a feeling they hadn’t seen soap in a while), I kept catching a whiff of a burning odor. Heavy and toxic, it smelled like fuel mixed with burning plastic or some other synthetic material. Mingling with that was just a touch of wood smoke.

Another stench filled my nose as well. It was probably more significant than the burning odors and concerned me. It’s probably why I procrastinated and didn’t mention it to you sooner.

The smell of something dead. You know the smell. We’ve all sniffed that trace of road kill on a hot summer afternoon. That deer or raccoon festering on the pavement and feeding the flies. It spoils the air in your car for just a moment; you grimace before it fades and continue on your journey, already forgetting it.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave this smell. I couldn’t be sure, but it was pretty close whatever it was. I got a little relief, depending on what direction the breeze flowed, but only for a moment. The buzzing of flies was getting louder. It sounded like it was coming from behind me, slightly to the left.

The smell of death. The last time I smelled it wasn’t because of road kill. I came from a place full of death. It slowly came back to me now. I remembered Carl, Reg, Liz, and her dead husband (thanks to Carl). I thought of all my fellow inmates who got sick and died in the most awful way imaginable.

Well, that’s not entirely true. When I saw Carl get ripped in half by that…alien… Yes, it must have been an alien. I can admit that now. If something could survive all those years in that ship and make everybody sick from a space germ or whatever, why not an organ-eating monster as well? Getting ripped in half was a pretty terrible way to die. Poor Reg knew it as well.

Not that I didn’t deal a little death myself. But that was a long time ago, and I’m done thinking about that.

Liz. What happened to Liz? I strained to pinpoint my last memory before waking up in this strange place. I remembered finally lighting the kerosene and the insane squeals of that monster as it burned. Liz pulled me out of the shed and then…

Nothing. That’s all I could remember.

A fly landed on my forehead. I quickly moved my head to the side; it flew off and landed right back on. Something stung my arm, and I could feel another critter crawling up my leg. I tried to shake my leg to discourage whatever was heading north, but that just made my stomach hurt worse. For the time being, I accepted the fact I was going to be dealing with bugs while I was trapped on the jungle floor. I hoped nothing poisonous was creeping about.

My mouth was bone dry. Let’s not forget that. Although I was a glad to be off that rock in the Antarctic, the thought of shivering in the snow seemed heavenly as I baked in the sun and dreamt of a simple glass of water.


I think I sort of blacked out at that point. When I woke up, the sun was low in the sky and I wasn’t so damn hot anymore.

The incessant buzzing of the flies behind me continued unabated, and the stench from the rotting thing was worse than ever.

I cried out again, more desperate this time, and did so until I went hoarse. I’m not ashamed to admit I cried for a while. Not the best strategy, since I was already dehydrated, but I’d like to think most of us would cry in that situation. Most of us.



Sleep again. This time, I woke in total darkness. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was, but I could make out the outline of the trees against the dark sky, and I remembered. I stared at the stars and appreciated the fact that the buzzing flies had retired for the evening.

The jungle was loud at night. There was a constant chirping of what I assumed were tree frogs or crickets. I could still feel the occasional bug crawl over me, and I did the best I could, with my limited movement, at shooing them away.

I must have dozed for a while because I suddenly became very alert as I heard movement among the trees. Something or someone was walking through the woods, disturbing leaves and breaking twigs. I was tempted to call out again but decided to keep my mouth shut.

It came closer and seemed to be moving toward the dead thing behind me. I heard shuffling footsteps, breathing, and snorting. It came closer to me now. Just inches away. There was a rapid fire of quick inhales and then one large exhaling snort that blew hot breath on my face. It had an earthy and slightly sour odor to it. I held my breath and was perfectly still.

Whatever it was lost interest in me quickly and sauntered away. I sighed in relief just as I felt the first raindrop hit my face.

Within a couple of minutes the sky opened up and I was pelted with a vicious downpour. I was soaked to the bone and shivering, but I kept my mouth open and gulped down the precious drops from above. They were sweeter than anything I’d ever tasted before.