15 minute ficlet: Through the snow
From another 15minfic prompt, this one a photo. It insisted on being FaeApoc. And I kept writing for 2 more paragraphs after where it wanted to end. You're welcome. ;-)
Ken stumbled, caught himself, and stumbled again. He was exhausted, no past that. Exhausted had been several miles, or at least a long time of walking, back.
He was freezing already; if he fell, the falling snow would cover him, and he would be a corpsicle for a long time before anyone found him, if anyone ever did. But there were lights in the distance; if he could get there, he could get help.
He wasn't dressed for the weather; they hadn't been expecting the dragons in the sky, or the wyrm-creature that ripped up the highway. They'd hit the grocery store and been on their way to the mall. Now Sarah was dead, and Aisha...
...well, he'd bandaged her wounds the best he could with his T-shirt, left her wrapped up in the back seat with his coat and hers covering her and the easiest-to-eat of the groceries. He'd taken one bag for himself, the one with the candy bars and, stupidly, the lightbulbs. Couldn't eat lightbulbs. Then he'd started walking, looking for help.
The roads were chaos, the area near the highway a mess. No-one wanted to help; all they wanted to do was get away, get as far away as they could from the monsters, from the strange godlings in the sky fighting the monsters, from the lightning bolts and fireballs being thrown like bad CGI come to life. No-one worried about one skinny college kid. He wondered if they'd listen more if they could see behind his Mask, or if they'd just kill him on sight, assuming he was another monster.
He stumbled again, tripped, and fell. The snow was cold, but it was so soft under him, and he couldn't bring up the energy to stand. He had to stand. He had to be found, or they'd never find Aisha. He reached for the last candy bar, ate it in two gulps, washing down the sickly-sweet sugar taste with mouthfuls of snow, and tried to bring himself back to his feet.
He made it four feet, maybe four yards, before his foot caught on a rock and his ankle buckled beneath him. The groceries caught his fall, the lightbulbs spilling out over the snow.
Lightbulb. He blinked groggily at the twist of glass. His feet might not move anymore, but maybe he could find a little more energy...
"Tempero hiko," he muttered. The body had electricity in it, right? He could control it. He could...
The bulb lit, flickered, and stayed lit. Ken put his head down on the ground and tried not to fall asleep.
The world was cold, so very cold, when he heard a voice say, "hey, hey kid. Wake up!" the hands brushing the snow off him felt like they were brushing off his skin; he tried to scream and found that he had no energy for a voice. "Oh, thank god," the voice said. "He's alive. Come on, kid, let's get you inside."
"Aisha..." he muttered, as strong hands lifted him from the snow.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/17370.html. You can comment here or there.
Ken stumbled, caught himself, and stumbled again. He was exhausted, no past that. Exhausted had been several miles, or at least a long time of walking, back.
He was freezing already; if he fell, the falling snow would cover him, and he would be a corpsicle for a long time before anyone found him, if anyone ever did. But there were lights in the distance; if he could get there, he could get help.
He wasn't dressed for the weather; they hadn't been expecting the dragons in the sky, or the wyrm-creature that ripped up the highway. They'd hit the grocery store and been on their way to the mall. Now Sarah was dead, and Aisha...
...well, he'd bandaged her wounds the best he could with his T-shirt, left her wrapped up in the back seat with his coat and hers covering her and the easiest-to-eat of the groceries. He'd taken one bag for himself, the one with the candy bars and, stupidly, the lightbulbs. Couldn't eat lightbulbs. Then he'd started walking, looking for help.
The roads were chaos, the area near the highway a mess. No-one wanted to help; all they wanted to do was get away, get as far away as they could from the monsters, from the strange godlings in the sky fighting the monsters, from the lightning bolts and fireballs being thrown like bad CGI come to life. No-one worried about one skinny college kid. He wondered if they'd listen more if they could see behind his Mask, or if they'd just kill him on sight, assuming he was another monster.
He stumbled again, tripped, and fell. The snow was cold, but it was so soft under him, and he couldn't bring up the energy to stand. He had to stand. He had to be found, or they'd never find Aisha. He reached for the last candy bar, ate it in two gulps, washing down the sickly-sweet sugar taste with mouthfuls of snow, and tried to bring himself back to his feet.
He made it four feet, maybe four yards, before his foot caught on a rock and his ankle buckled beneath him. The groceries caught his fall, the lightbulbs spilling out over the snow.
Lightbulb. He blinked groggily at the twist of glass. His feet might not move anymore, but maybe he could find a little more energy...
"Tempero hiko," he muttered. The body had electricity in it, right? He could control it. He could...
The bulb lit, flickered, and stayed lit. Ken put his head down on the ground and tried not to fall asleep.
The world was cold, so very cold, when he heard a voice say, "hey, hey kid. Wake up!" the hands brushing the snow off him felt like they were brushing off his skin; he tried to scream and found that he had no energy for a voice. "Oh, thank god," the voice said. "He's alive. Come on, kid, let's get you inside."
"Aisha..." he muttered, as strong hands lifted him from the snow.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/17370.html. You can comment here or there.