Like a javelin rod, the pain shot through
Zara’s head with piercing force. She tried to open her eyes but the lids felt stuck… She squeezed
them tight and tried again, but the sharp pinch triggered a painful tear… She tried to
reach for her eye to wipe the tear but she couldn't feel her hand… Slowly
the tears loosened her eyelids and a crack of red stained light poured in, the
dirt in her mouth confirmed her face was embedded in the ground… Somewhere… Dirty... For
a moment she forgot what had happened... Or where she was...
Gradually
Zara managed to pull her eye lids open a little. She stared at the blurry light
play against the white wall for a few moments and closed her eyes again, mission accomplished, exhausted now. Her head was throbbing so hard...
Moments passed before she tried to think again… Her mind kept freezing when she tried... Why was she on the floor? Did something happen? She couldn't remember where she was...
She
opened her eyes again, this time the sounds of the construction site drifted into consciousness, growing louder and louder as she came around. She
blinked again, both eyelids were unstuck now. Slowly objects began to appear…
Round… Round rolls... Rolled prints lay scattered on the ground...
Suddenly
she remembered where she was, and what had happened. Terrified, she yanked her
arm free from the rubble and wiped her eyes. Panicking, she reached for her
head... It felt wet... She looked at her hand, it was covered in
blood... She tried to get up but found herself buried beneath a pile of
books and book case… In spite of the burden her limbs seemed intact… She pushed herself up
and wiggled out through the rubble but as she stood up, the blood began
dripping down from her head, streaming across her eyes, blurring her vision
once again. She wiped her face with her dirty sleeve, picked up her wig
and stumbled towards the door.
The
sun was unusually bright, sounds that were close seemed really far away... The train was still at the stop... There
was an empty seat at the very back of the train; a blessing from Medel, Medel had seen it all. The world around her felt like a surreal hallucination… Was she
sleepwalking? Had she died an Honorable Death and gone to the Promised
Land?
Zara closed her eyes as the train lurched forward, grateful for the seat, needing to sit down in a big way... She held her hand over her head as the train trundled back down the hill towards Headquarters, pressing hard at the same time, trying to stop the bleeding. She felt like she had fallen through some strange dimension, she was somehow invisible to the strangers on the train, her body felt light and airy as if she was floating through a really twisted dream... like a ghost. Was she dead?
She
looked at her bloody hand and rubbed the blood between her fingers; it was
real... Real as in she would need
medical treatment if it didn't stop bleeding soon... Panicked, she
searched for the sundial... The sundial suggested she was scheduled to return
to the office... Ages ago!
Mental paralysis struck hard and without any warning. Without proper
authorization to take the time such an excursion would definitely cost her a
lashing, if she wasn't already going to get one for being so late... What happened?
She
reached for her head and studied her bloody hand once again; it was still
bleeding... Bad.
As
the train lurched to a stop outside Headquarters, she figured out the Right
Thing To Do. Get Authorized. Confused, scared and unsure of how to word her
excuse for being late, she got off the train and headed across the courtyard
past the statue of Atalon, reminding herself to be strong. She hurried up the
steps through the Headquarters building back to the Infrastructure office to
get Authorized for some medical treatment.
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