Trial 2 - Part 3: The Dead

The dead were lying around everywhere, so there was no hope, there was no way out, there was no escape from this horror. The dead were everywhere, and I was one of them. The dead were surrounding me, and I was dead. And the dead were waiting for me to die. The dead were waiting for me to die. There was no way out, and the dead were waiting for me. They were waiting to see my blood, to see my tears, my pain - Everything about me. Everything. They were waiting, waiting, and waiting. The snow was in the way, I couldn't see the dead, and the snow was in the way, and I was dead. They were dead, and the dead were waiting for me. The dead had died, and they were waiting - There was no hope, there was no way out. I needed to stay alive, and there was no way out.

My eyes wouldn't stay closed. I was awake, and the dead were asleep, and they were still waiting for me. I could still feel my body, and my legs, I could still feel my heart. I could still feel my eyes, I could still feel my body. My body was lying there, and my legs were resting there, and my body was moving, and I could still feel my heart. My heart was still beating. My heart was still beating. I could still feel my heart beating. The dead were dead, and they were sleeping, and they were still waiting for me, and the snow was in the way.

To die... Like this? No. No way! No, no, no way. You, you're not dead! You're not dead! You're not dead! You're not dead! I'm not dead! I'm not dead! You're alive! And you're alive, and the dead are dead, and you're alive. I'm not dead, I'm not dead, I'm not dead, I'm alive. There is still hope. I'm still alive, I'm alive, and I'm still going to live. It was dark outside, and there were still snow out in the sky, and I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go, where to go. I didn't know where to stay. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do, and I wasn't going to think about it. I didn't know where to go. I was going to stay, and there was still hope. There was still hope. I could still feel my legs, I could still feel my heart, I could still feel my eyes, I could still feel my body, and there was still hope. I was alive. I'm alive, and I'm still going to live.

There was still hope. There was still hope. I was still alive, and there was still hope. I'm alive, I'm alive, and I'm still going to live. And there was still hope. And there was still hope. I was alive, and there was still hope.

There was still hope. There was still hope, and I was alive. There was still hope, and I was alive. There was still hope, and there was still hope. There was still hope, and there was still hope, and I was alive. I was alive. I was still alive, and there was still hope. There was still hope. I was still alive, and there was still hope. There was still hope. There was still hope, and I was alive. There was still hope, and there was still hope. There was still hope, and there was still hope. There was still hope, and I was alive, and there was still hope. There was still hope. I could still feel my heart, and my legs, and my body, and there was still hope. I was still alive, and there was still hope, and I was going to live. I was going to live, and there was still hope. I'm going to live, and there would be a way out of this.

I desperately crawl through the snow, every fiber of my being slipping away. My hands start to cramp up and my knees start to shake. I can barely even move. It is all I can do to stay conscious, and it is only through sheer willpower that I still manage to make it. Yet that's all it takes for me to lose my grip on life. Suddenly the world stops around me, I lose any sort of awareness of my surroundings. I don't know how long I remain in that state of oblivion. It is only by the cold air and my breathing that I manage to remain alive.

The air pierced like knives - The snowflakes slicing away at my skin, seeping in through the cracks in my clothes. I can feel my core temperature drop rapidly and soon I feel too weak to fight it. All I can think about is how cold I am - I have always been so used to the hot springs that the snow feels like torture.

I open my eyes slowly to the sky above me. There are so many holes in the clouds and they are like eyes peering into my soul. I start to shiver as they seem to stare at me. My clothes clang against each other as they make rasping noises and start to stick to me, a layer of ice forming. I look up at the sky and try to tell the difference between the holes in the clouds and the ones in the sky. They both look like deep, black pits, but surely the sky is not...

A deep breath of the frigid air cuts through my lungs and I start to shiver again. Why are there so many holes in the clouds? I look towards the horizon, and all I can see is snow. I can't tell whether this is the real world, or a cruel trap of illusions. I turn and look back towards the sky. It seems like I can feel the cold in my soul all the way up there. I can't tell which way to go. There is only snow everywhere.

I look back towards the sky again. I am afraid to look, but all I can see is a dark mist behind me. What is it? What could be there? A black beast, and more snow. There are countless, deep, black holes in the sky and as they move together, they create ripples in the ground that look like... What?

What is that black mist? What is it? Why am I seeing it? Suddenly a figure stands out from the rest. The mist becomes more obvious. There is a man standing there. I can't see his whole figure, just his arm. He looks like an old man wearing a black suit. He looks frail and almost like a scarecrow, but it is his arm that stands out.

All I can see are thin bones, veins and muscles. It looks like it could break and he would bleed. I try to look away and only manage to look into his eyes. There are no thoughts, no feelings. Just pain and a lot of anger. He looks like he is staring right at me, and the fear in his eyes are a reminder of just how cold I really am.

Why is he looking at me so? He seems like a lost soul, just trying to feel something, anything. His eyes, his mouth, his body, they are all frozen in a constant, emotionless stare. I try to speak, I try to ask for his help, but I can't form a sentence. I see a red color in the cold, angry eyes. The clouds start to get darker, to the point where I can hardly see the world around me. All I see is his eyes.

There is a scream that makes my ears prick up, and suddenly I feel his body shaking. It is the only thing that can be heard. The pain grows as it radiates through the coldness in my core. My body shivers and I try to speak, but my vocal chords have completely frozen and I can only make a gurgling sound.

I can't speak, I can't think, I can't even cry. I can only shake and shake and shake.

After what feels like an eternity, he turns and starts to walk away. I start to feel his pain and anger melt away. I start to feel the ice of death melting from my body. There is a deep warmth flowing through my skin and I begin to wonder if I have died. Is this Heaven?

I hear a deep cracking sound and feel my skin peel away. I start to fall, falling into darkness. My body goes limp and my eyes slowly close. I can no longer feel anything at all.