The Stranded Four

Planet: Sera
Location: Wherever the fuck Martin is at?
Destination: The Base
Date: Heat 8th?, 16 A.E.

Martin P.O.V.

Pitter-patter

“Hrrng!”

Pitter-patter

“Hrmmm.”

Pitter-patter

“Argh,” I groggily moan, feeling cold and wet.

“Fuck,” I groan as a shiver travels down my spine. Opening my eyes the first thing I see is the state of the sky. Shit...rain. Not much time left. With the heaviness of the rain, I assume I have a few minutes to find shelter or if I’m lucky a fewseconds.

A nauseating feeling envelopes me at the possibility of dying by razor hail. I‘ve seen the aftermath of that kind of death. It’s not a pretty sight. A soupy mess of blood, shredded meat and shards of bones is all that left of.

I need to move, but the entirety of my body refuses to obey. I’m hurt, my stomach gnaws in hunger and a throbbing pain radiates from the back of my head, yet I feel so dull. A dullness that could only be described as resting on hot stone but only feel the movement of my bones against my flesh in a frozen lake. Weird explanation, but that's what it feels like.

All I could do is watch the dark sky as rain continues to pour on me. My body won’t respond to me, no matter how much I struggle. Weeks of dodging Locust patrols, cannibalistic Stranded, shootouts, life-threatening papercuts and a general lack of essentials necessary to live. My body finally decides to say, ‘fuck it, I quit’. Sighing, I lay there begrudgingly accepting my fate. Even if the thought of dying this pathetically wasn’t on my list of amazing ways to die, I guess it could have been worse. I could've died getting reverse-cowgirl by a Berserker or eaten by a clowder of cats. Heh, death by cats, only seen two idiots die like that. Ah, those fuckers deserve it.

So here I lay in the wet muddy ground, waiting for the razor hail to hail me to death. I close my eyes and hope that the first one hit me in the middle of my head. That way I’ll go without much fuss and pain. Maybe I’ll dream of something nice, maybe even of her.

…

…

…

~Martin~

I hear a sweet and lovely voice.

~Martin~

A voice, able to sound out the rain.

~Martin~

The voice of an angel.

~Martin~

I hear her beautiful voice.

~Martin, my sweet little gribbler~

“Yes?” I asked, unable to speak louder than I could, but I’ll try for her.

~Why are you sleeping on the muddy rocks~

“Because I’m so tired.” My voice sounds hoarse, even with rain entering down my throat.

~Tired~

“Yes, I just want to sleep for a bit.”

~Heheh, that’s silly, sleeping on rocks~

“Heh, I know.” A barely audible laugh escapes my lips. “Thought you’ll like my honesty.”

~Always kidder, that why I’d preferred to be with you~

“Over him right?” I questioned/begged, my voice seething at the thought of that parasite being her favorite. That thing that only leeched off her generosity and did nothing in return to help her. The day I killed it was the second-best day of my life

~Yes I like you more than him~

Her word brought down my anger, yet the old hate still lingered.

“How are you?” I inquired, taking myself away from those thoughts.

~Kinda bored, but the food is better~

“Heh.”

Silence permeates us. For a few minutes neither one of us is talking, just enjoying each other's company.

“I miss you.”

~I know, I’ve always know~

“Do you miss me too?”

~You know I do and always will, but will meet again~

“I will be there soon. Then we can be with each other.”

~You can’t~

“Why,” I question, curious of her rejection of me joining her soon. “The razor hail will kill me soon and then we’ll be together forever.”

~You can’t, you just can’t~

“Why?”

~Get up~

“Huh?”

~Get up~

The voice lost a bit of heavenly tone but was still just as beautiful as ever.

~It, not time yet~

“Why? If I keep sleeping I’ll get to see you again!” I said.

~Get up and move on~

The voice was much harsher than before, still lovely to listen to.

~Do it for me, please~

The angel's heavenly voice spread a nice warmth throughout my body.

“No.”

~Get up~

“I refuse.”

A dead silence hangs in the air. Neither relenting in the other desire.

~You can’t do this Martin~

“I can and I will.” I ignore her pleading voice, god it kills me to do so.

~Martin please, is everything I've done for you been a waste~

“No, it hasn’t. Don’t ever think that.” The words stung worse than a knife through my chest.

~Then will you get up and move, for me~

I take her words in, thinking of her wants will always surpass my own needs. “For you, anything.”

…

…

…

I force my eyes open, to see that the weather has gotten worse. Using her request to live on for her as my fuel and strength, I experimentally flex one of my index fingers.

~That’s it~

“Ahh,” I groan in pain from the small movement. Fighting the urge to roll in pain, it’s unbearable and not the most desirable state, but I don’t have much to work with. Using what little fumes I had left, I slowly and meticulously begin to move each of my fingers one by one. Gritting my teeth, I focus on the movement of each finger individually instead of the pain.

“HRGGGGH!”

~That's it Martin~

It took a while, but I grew accustomed to the pain. I allow myself a short rest for my accomplishment.

~Keep going~

Her voice is enough rest for me, I turn to the next part of my perilous and shitty journey, my wrist. I brace for the inevitable pain, I twist a small portion of my wrist no more than a centimeter. Previously like before, pain skyrockets from the slight movement. Unable to do anything about it, I grit my teeth and twist, “Hrrnng!” When the pain got too much I bit my tongue with enough force to draw blood. It's hell. Worse than moving my fingers, as I can feel every single muscle fiber in my wrist writhing in pain. Fuck! I don’t know how long it took, but I slowly got used to the painful movement.

~Wonderful~

“Oh~huff~Goddess!” I wheezed heavily as I stopped to rest. The minuscule movement drained whatever bullshit I had left. It hurts to breathe, as blood spittles out my mouth with each painful breath. My ears ringing so loud that the sound of rain hitting the ground was a muffled drizzle. A throbbing headache in the back of my head makes me nauseous and dizzy. And with each blink of my eye, the world becomes a blurry mess. All in all, I feel like shit, and the rain does little to help!

~Only a little bit more to go!

Deciding that bitching is going to help me, I shift my focus to the final part of my struggle. I brace myself for the hardest part, gaining control of the rest of my arms. Once I have control, I’ll be able to get out of this shithole.

~Hurry~

Shifting all my attention to my arms, I brace for the worst. I wiggle them, slightly.

“FUCK!”

I wasn’t prepared enough. It is as if everything I’ve experienced before but multiplied by twenty.

~Focus~

Reorienting on the task at hand, I again wiggle my arm and as before the same shit occurs. A cycle of self-torture repeats again and again and again for what feels like an eternity, but in actuality was probably no more than thirty seconds. After everything the pain, blood, and swearing, I finally have control over my arms.

~I knew you could it~

Giving myself a small break, it's finally time for the grand climax of this situation. Looking around with my eyes to see if there’s anything to help me. On the corner of my left side, there’s nothing but acres of trees, dark clouds and angel piss descending from the sky. To my right more trees, clouds and piss, but at the very corner of my eye, there seems to be a stump. A bit out of my reach.

~Go and move forward~

Gritting my teeth some more, I crawl to the general direction of the stump. My legs are pretty much useless, so I have to use my arms and save my legs for later. The intense burn of my arms helps me concentrate on the task at hand. I grit my teeth so hard, that I feel several cracks in my mouth. Adding to the pain, I ignore it and push on.

~So close to the goal, Martin~

Once I get close to where the stump is, I extend my right arm as far as I can. Bingo, I feel the edge of the stump. Gripping the rim of the stump, I extend my left arm to grabbing the stump and pull myself closer to it. I can feel the tips of my hand being pierced by sprinters, but I press on. Knowing that if I relent even for a second, I lose my only chance. I push harder and harder until I feel my right hand slip off the edge hard onto its side.

Crack!

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!”

~Martin keep going, you can do it~

Fighting the pain of breaking one of my wrists, I force my right hand back on the stump and lift myself. It’s agonizing, yet I don’t falter...not for me, but her.

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

I eventually rise to my feet, standing triumphant as the rain pours on me. Ignoring all the pain and exhaustion, I stare at the forest before me and take my first step in the woods.

~Great Martin, you did it, now go forth and liv~suffer~v~e~