Hole

A blurry dark green pulsing light soon filled my vision as my eyelids slowly drifted open. The roar seemed to have disappeared and been replaced with a sharp ringing sound in both of my ears since I regained consciousness.

As my vision continued to sharpen, I realized the source of the pulsing light coming from some rocky ceiling directly to the south of my body. The light did not seem normal as it seemed to be ingrained into the wall and sporadically spread in a crossed formation. The center of the cross seemed to be pulsing with the most light while the cracks of light spreading from it seemed to progressively pulse lighter.

As I continued to stare at the rhythmic light, the ringing began to die down in my ears until a deafening silence began to encroach. My body slowly lost the numb feeling it had been in and the pain set in. Every muscle fiber in my body screeched in pain as I attempted to bend any aspect of my body. Dried spots of blood on my body seemed to become wet once again as wounds reopened. Gritting my teeth, I used every ounce of energy to move my body in any way possible until my body eventually began to turn on its side.

Once my hip hits the unknown surface to my left, all my energy leaves my body once again and my eyes quickly lose focus until the dark green light fades out of sight. Before my vision fades to black, I begin to see dark moving figures slowly approach.

*

*

A cold wet sensation on my forehead. Pressure on my body. A sense of loss. Confusion.

Complete silence.

A damp smell overwhelmed my nose as the pressure on my body seemed to decrease as I began to open my eyes.

What I saw through my eyes only continued to deepen my confusion. The vibrant green light seemed to pulse even brighter than before, allowing a little light into the tunnel to see the surroundings. The layout of the tunnel was in the shape of a stretched oval with one end being dark and the other end having the origin of the pulsing light. The dark end seemed to have a pool of dark water stretching for about five meters in diameter while the end with the pulsing light seemed to be partially enclosed from both sides, leaving a narrow meter gap for the light to come through.

Moss, water, and many other substances seemed to cover the protruding dirt, rock, metal, and wood of the cave. The different materials of the surrounding wall seemed to be unnatural and quickly thrown together by some force and then compressed. Soaked debris and wet patches seemed to cover the majority of semi-flat floor. Ridges and bumps seemed to occur randomly in the floor from what could be seen behind the debris. Different human bodies seemed to also be scattered around the space.

I slowly started to count the different figures in the space until I realized the pressure I had felt from earlier came from a person pretty close to my body. A skinny white haired elderly old lady covered in dirt and grime hovered over me and seemed to be moving the cold sensation on my head. After looking up, I realized the wet and cold sensation had come from a bloody wet rag on my forehead.

The elderly lady looked down and made eye contact with me. A happy smile grew on her dirty face as she began to move her lips and speak in a happy tone.

At least, that's what tone I thought would match her lips and expression. Once her lips stopped moving, my confusion turned into panic and quickly became grief. My heartrate spiked and I began grasping for breath as my lungs seemed to lock up and freeze. Once the woman saw my response to her words, she soon became aware to my changing conditions and looked to her left. The old lady's face contorted as her mouth seemed to yell; however, I only heard silence and a bit of pressure coming from the old woman once she yelled.

Yes. Complete silence.

Once my mind seemed to grasp the realization of my condition, the other sensations my body had felt earlier seemed to come back but at a slower and more toned down pace. My eyes moved from the old lady to my lower body and my loud breathing completely stopped as I saw it.

Similarly to the old woman, I was covered in dirt and grime. A majority of my clothes had been taken off and replaced with torn rags soaked in blood and water. Whatever parts of my body not covered in rags was instead covered in cuts and bruises. A bunch of rags seemed to be clumped up around my right knee and more blood than water seemed to cover these rags.

Wait, where is the rest of my leg? Who took my goddamn leg?!?

Past the clump of rags tied around my knee, only a bloody trail seemed to remain on the ground. Following the trail with my eyes, I saw the mangled leg thrown against a wall directly across from my body. The leg seemed to have a large gash through the front and blue and green colors seemed to cover a majority of the severed leg.

The grief I experienced from my deaf-state only continued to deepen until my emotions seemed to be sucked up into a black hole. My thoughts slowly disappeared until only a blank slate remained. By the time three figures approached the panicked older lady pointing at my body, my mind had already left the station.

This has to be a nightmare, right? I still have to take Nancie to the new movie being released tomorrow and finally get my first kiss. The world can't just end like that, right?

I mean what about my damn virginity?!? How many times did I have to roll snake eyes to get this kind of damn luck? Only a few more years and I would have been able to leave my poor life behind me and finally make a future for myself. Now I'm just some cripple who probably won't be able to move on my own and die within a few days time.

Wasn't I supposed to find some kind of happiness before the world discarded me?

The three figures soon pointed to their own ears to explain my current state to the older lady. The older lady's face wrinkled up and started vibrating a bit until a few tears fell out of her eyes as she gazed from the peoples' faces to mine. At least somebody will care about my wellbeing before I take my exit.

That reminds me, what happened to Helen? What happened to Mom? What happened to Nancy? My blank mind started to bubble with questions as my brain finally caught up with my condition as well as the current state of my situation. I am in an enclosed cave. There is a weird pulsing light and a dark pool of water. Other than this old lady, ten other strangers seem to fill the cave.

What is this place? Who are these people? Where did we come from?

Now that my brain had decided to accept the situation, I began to observe the different people. Similarly to the old lady and I, everyone seemed to be covered in multiple substances and overall dirty. A few people sported obvious injuries, which were covered in dirty rags similar to my own. Some of the people were grouped together in groups of two or three while a majority of people seemed to be on their own. The individuals consisted of three children, one teenager, six adults, and two older people. These individuals were either talking to others, talking to themselves, crying, sleeping, looking around the cave, or looking through the debris.

Oh wait, that person propped up on the soaked debris isn't sleeping. He's dead.

As time passed, I slowly propped myself up on some debris despite the excruciating pain shooting from my left leg and multiple other areas on my body. I ignored the old lady and the others who happened to come up to me to check-up on my current condition.

What's the point in making eye contact with them? Why even attempt to communicate with these people? Even if I spoke, it isn't like I can hear what they are going to say back. Even if I put in all my energy and attempted to read what they were saying based on the movement of their lips, I still wouldn't be able to completely understand them. What's the point in attempting to communicate if I'm eventually going to die anyways?

I don't want to sound pessimistic or depressed, even if I am, but what is there to look forward to? Based on the restlessness I can see in every individual, it is apparent we are all stuck in this cave. The only way out of here seems to be the dark water puddle in the corner, but nobody seems to be approaching it and seem to be staying near the green pulsing light due to the visibility it is granting. Also, I am too far away from the puddle in the corner to see if it is simply a puddle of water or potentially a hole of water leading somewhere else.

As time continued to flow by and people began to stop approaching me, I realized another issue about the situation. Food. Even though water seems to exist, it is still unclear if the water is drinkable or not; however, this does not stop a majority of the individuals present. Nobody seems to eat any kind of food though. More and more people look through the various piles of debris, looking for food I imagine.

After I make this thought, the old woman approached me once again with a familiar navy blue hoodie. The old woman sits next me and hands me the hoodie. Taking the hoodie into my hand, I realize there is a protrusion in the fabric.

The loaf of bread!

My stomach rumbles at the realization and I hurriedly begin to slide out the sealed loaf of bread when a hand stops me. Looking to my left, I realize the old woman has grabbed me by the wrist and stopped me from pulling the bread out. With a rusty metal pipe, the woman discreetly writes on the ground 'careful' and points to each individual roaming the area around us.

I carefully inspect the individuals around us and begin to see the signs of hunger and desperation in each person rummaging through the various debris. Distrust towards the people around me starts to close in on my brain and my mental safety belt slowly starts to come undone. I look back to the old woman and gratitude fills my heart when I see her caring smile lighting up her green eyes. At least I can trust someone in this mess.

Despite the constant pain, I decide to increase the shooting pain by shifting myself further out of sight of everyone other than the old lady. I take out the sealed plastic back and slowly begin to peel it back. The mold on the bread had grown a bit more since last I had seen it but my stomach couldn't care less at this point. Wiping off and tearing off portions of the bread with mold, my mouth begins to salivate until I finally take a bite.

The soft texture of bread destroys any sense of taste I could have had and I start to devour the loaf life a starved animal. By the time I become halfway done eating, rationality returns to my momentary primitive brain and reminds me of the reason why I could eat in the first place. My morals surface and I decide to stop eating despite the continuous hunger ravaging my body.

Tapping on the older lady's shoulder, I gesture towards the bread and attempt to give it her. The woman's face reveals gratitude and a sense of hunger, but instead pushes it back in my direction. I rub my stomach and whisper, "I'm full, you need this more than I do." The older woman stares me in the eyes for a few more seconds before happiness and tears begin to fall down her face once again as her lips move into what looks like a 'thank you' and takes the half-eaten loaf.

Please stop crying you old lady! I've barely met you and you're showing me more concern than anybody other than my mother has ever shown me. If you don't stop soon, you'll make me start shedding tears.

Once the old lady brought the bread to her mouth, one of the scavenging men came around the debris we were leaning against and made eye contact with her. The man quickly turned and yelled at a group of two other adult men talking near us. The scavenging man turned back to the old woman and I and his face showed nothing but hunger and arrogance.