Cleats in Clay by Cordd Jackson

Author:Cordd, Jackson [Cordd, Jackson]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-01-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

BLACKNESS.

Throbbing.

Tuck woke up from the horrible blinding dream again. His right hand felt strangely numb, yet sent shooting pulses of pain up his arm every once in a while. The last few times he had tried to move his hand, he blacked out. He decided to be smart this time and not move his hand. Be smart, he yelled at himself.

The air felt so stale and stuffy as Tuck tried to take a deep breath. He felt totally restricted and tried to ignore the impression of being trapped in a coffin. He thought back to his situational training. Wasn’t that step one? No negative thoughts? No, he recalled. Step one is breathe.

Just breathe.

One slow breath as deep as you can.

Let the oxygen clear your mind and chase away the panic.

Exhale.

Check.

Second slow breath. Step two: physical evaluation. Catalogue all pain and numb sources.

His right hand pulsed with obvious injury. He forced himself to ignore it and focus on everything else.

A cold numbness seeped into his right leg near his ankle.

With each breath, he felt a slight jag in the area of his left-front ribs. Not internal. Felt more on the surface, like skin or muscle damage.

Something on his forehead by his left eye felt sticky and wet, but there was no pain or numbness associated.

He focused, but nothing else surfaced.

Check.

Third slow breath. Step three: evaluate environment.

He blinked just to make sure his eyes were open but still saw only darkness. He was lying mostly on his back, angled a bit to the right side. He felt the closed-in pressure all around but sensed the space was more triangular. Not a coffin, he reassured himself.

Just breathe.

He tried to move his right foot but got no play. It seemed trapped by something.

He tried to move his left foot. He could raise it about an inch and a half and move it backward about two inches, but it was pretty much trapped as well.

He tried to move his left hand. It was resting on the right side of his stomach. He couldn’t move the elbow back or really move the hand away from him, but he could slide his hand up his body all the way to his chest. He slid his left hand back down, and near his thigh, he felt something beside him brush his fingertips. He pushed with his fingers slightly, rubbing moist, bare flesh that felt impossibly cold.

Just breathe.

It’s not my right hand. No, he insisted, fighting the image of a cold amputated hand curled up next to his leg.

Breathe. Breathe. Deep breath.

He slid his left hand back up to his stomach.

One slow breath as deep as you can.

Let the oxygen clear your mind and chase away the panic.

Exhale.

Step Three: evaluate environment.

He swiveled his head to the left and right and felt no resistance. He slowly raised his head up, barely gaining half an inch before his forehead pushed into something very hard and solid. Something metallic.

Tuck inhaled deeply through his nose, smelling for any traces of gasoline or other chemicals.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.