Weakness

The next time I woke up, my head was still aching, but it was bearable this time.

I still felt weak but this time I had regained enough strength to raise my hands up to my head.

My hands, they were covered in bandages and even then I was able to tell that they were thin.

Thinner than they used to be.

'What the hell.' I thought and looked around the room.

It was a small room with walls made of mud and a single door and window made of wood.

The little bit of light coming from the small window dimly illuminated the room and made me realize that there was nothing else in the room except for the bed I was sleepign in. Oh, and the blood stain at the corner of the wall.

The strong smell of medicine lingered in the air and I wondered if it was the girl I saw there who brought me and bandaged me up.

I felt thirsty.

'My ring…'

I removed the bandage from my left arm to check if I still had my ring and was horrified by what I saw.

The spatial ring was still there, but that was not the problem.

Dozens of tiny little holes covered every inch of my hand which looked devoid of any sort of muscles.

I felt fear rise in my heart and as I unwrapped the bandage on my arm, the fear turned into dismay and then intense sadness as I saw the condition of my arm.

Hundreds, if not thousands tiny holes covered my entire arm from top to bottom and the hand, which had once been muscular and robust had no muscle mass at all as the skin hung limply to the side.

I felt a tear escape my eyes at the sight and felt the urge to cry but the overwhelming thirst took over and I used all of the strength in my body to raise myself on the bed.

Then I took out a bottle from my ring and realized my mistake as my skinny hands were not capable of handling the weight of the bottle and if fell to the side with a thud.

'Fuck' I mentally cursed in frustration at my inability and felt anger and hopelessness rise in my heart before I clamped it down and my face regained an stoic expression.

I brought both the hands together and was able to raise the bottle with immense difficulty but became dismayed once again when I failed to open the cap of the bottle.

'Damn!!' I cursed myself for my weakness and in a moment of frustration, brought my mouth forward, opened my jaw and tore apart the upper part of the bottle.

Cold liquid spurted out of the bottle in my face and I spit aside the torn portion of the bottle with satisfaction.

'Better.' I thought and clomped down on the bottle.

Water never felt so sweet before and soon enough I had finished the entire bottle.

I threw aside the bottle and looked around at my surroundings once again.

Now that I was no longer thirsty, my mind became clear of any distractions and I was able to concentrate better on my surroundings.

A few mud huts and a tree blocked my sight as I looked out of the window so my eyes were not of much help here.

The room was filled with strong medicinal smell so my nose was compromised as well.

But my hearing proved to be useful as I heard the sound of churning water in the distance.

It meant I was not that far off from the river.

Whoever that girl was, she saved my ass and brought me to this empty village, put medicines on my wounds and wrapped my up like a mummy.

She save my life.

Which means I owe her big time.

'But where is she?' I thought and tried to listen with rapt attention but aside from the river in the distance and the chirping of the crickets, there was nothing else.

'Annoying little crickets.' I thought and laid down on the bed once again.

I looked at the wooden beams on the ceiling and wondered how the world would have changed if the insects had mutated as well.

The mere thought of a swarm of man eating giant locusts filled me with dread and I thanked the gods that such a thing had not happened.

Surviving against rats is already tough enough.

I don't even want to think about our condition if those insects mutated as well.

A world filled with giant mosquitoes with sharp needles that a capable of penetrating through defensive suit.

~~Shivers~~

Such thoughts went through my mind for a while longer before exhaustion took over and I feel asleep once again.

—————

The next time I woke up, the room was even darker than before.

I looked outside and realized that it must be dawn or dusk.

Getting severely injured and falling unconscious for a long time distorted my sense of time and I had no idea if it was morning or evening.

I looked down and realized that someone had wrapped the bandages around my hands while I was sleeping.

It was most likely the girl whom I saw earlier. Or maybe some other person who travelled along with her.

'I really owe her for saving my life back there and healing me.' I thought and tried to move my body.

After a slight discomfort, I realized that I had regained a bit of my strength.

Not much, but enough to get out of the bed and walk around for a while.

I did not know what my condition would have been like if I had suffered such wounds before the apocalypse but I was sure that I would have taken me weeks, if not months to recover to this point.

Whatever medicine she used on me must have been rather expensive.

I got off the bed slowly went outside the hut.

Just as I had assumed from the sounds earlier, this was a small fishing village that had been deserted by this point.

I felt a bit of pain coursing through my leg as I started walking around.

It was the place when the mutant snake had pierced it's fang.

That area was still swollen and from the looks of it, even the medicines she gave me was not able to fully negate the effects of the poison.

I shivered at how close I came to death.

'This is a truly a dangerous world.' I thought to myself as I looked around, searching for some clue for the location of the girl.

Except for the huts and trees, there was nothing in sight.

I looked at the watch and realized that it was 6:43 pm now.

So evening it was.

'At least the sunset is beautiful.' I thought and looked at the re hue in the horizon in silence.

Silence which was soon broken by the munching sound coming from behind a hut.

I hoped it was not what I think it was and slowly made my way to the hut where the sound was coming from.

Yeah. Definitely the sound of someone eating something. And not the kind of sound that a human makes when eating.

Trepidation filled my heart as I took each step forward. I really owed a lot to the girl. If she died at this point, then I'll never be able to forgive myself.

Considering I survive the night.

If something killed her, then I would not live long either considering my current status.

I reached the hut and looked around with worry and my eyes went wide with fear.

"What the hell!!!" the words left my mouth before I had the chance to think anything else.

'Shit!!!' I cursed in my mind.