Dead Little Me

I came to feeling broken all over, the throbbing in my head was killing me and my eyes refused to open. I could feel something warm and wet pooling on my belly and I was sure it was blood, my own. I would have to see what was going on, the last thing I remembered was taking a few polaroids of this couple kissing, then, something happened and now, where the heck was I?
I forced my eyelids up, it wasn't really dark, but it was gloomy and the air felt damp, and the ground I was lying upon was hard and rough. I slid my hands down the sides of my body, there was something wet and sticky under me, I tried to sit up but my whole body hurt, I was weak and had to push myself up with my hands while grinding my teeth to stop myself from screaming out in pain.
I looked around, it seemed to be a cave and I wasn't all that far from the entrance. I pushed my back up to one of the walls and using it as support I forced myself to stand up, the pain in my belly was overwhelming and I had to take several deep breaths to deal with it.
I slid against the wall towards the light, it seemed to be dusky outside, had I been knocked out all day, it hadn't been even noon when I was taking those photographs in Trafalgar Square. I had gone for a Walk with Zoe... I looked around, even though the light was dim, I could see there was nobody else in this cave, it wasn't deep enough for anyone to be hidden in it. Where was Zoe? What had happened to her?
I finally reached the entrance and decided to check myself up, apprehensively I cast my eyes down and saw there was a hole in my belly, it was gushing a steady stream of blood, which must have been what was pooling under me on the floor. I touched it and it hurt like hell, I had to stop the bleeding. I looked around and searched my pockets; there were some papers in the breast pocket of my shirt, no... not papers, photographs, Polaroids. There was one of my dog, two of Zoe and one of the couple kissing. I looked at all of them, especially Zoe's. But I was staining them with blood and decided to put them back in my pocket until later. I had to solve one problem at a time and right now my health was at risk.
Suddenly I saw something shiny under a bush outside the entrance to the cave, I crawled up to it as best as I could manage in my state and found what seemed to be a first aid kit, my attacker had been quite considerate leaving this here. I opened it and found gauze and bandages, a syringe with some yellow liquid and aspirins. There were scissors and a bottle of alcohol too. I picked up the gauze packet and under it there was a paper folded neatly, as I picked it up and opened I gagged.
It seemed to be written in blood and using a finger, it read in block letters "YOU HAVE BEEN POISONED, IT HAS BEEN INJECTED DIRECTLY INTO YOUR BELLY USING THE WOUND AS AN OPNING TO INJECT IT AS DEEP AS POSSIBLE. IF YOU WISH FOR AN ANTIDOTE, YOU MUST FIND ZOE, THE CURE IS WITH THE DOCTOR. NOW CLEAN UP YOUR WOUND, INJECT YOURSELF WITH THE ANTIBIOTIC SO IT DOESN'T GET INFECTED AND GET READY TO MOVE, YOU HAVE UNTIL DAWN BEFORE YOU BOTH DIE"


I immediately bent over and threw up, I was quite sure it was my blood, but it might as well be Zoe's, which meant she might be as hurt as I am. The writer called her "the doctor", so they must have checked us out, they knew Zoe was an Oncologist, what else did they know? More importantly, why were they doing this to me and my wife?
I straightened up, if this was dusk, then dawn was less than twelve hours away, I had no time to waste and I had no idea where Zoe might be. I took one very deep breath and poured half a bottle of alcohol on my belly, I screamed in pain and I didn't care if anyone heard me, right now I was a man with a purpose and nothing would stop me.
I then covered the hole with gauze and bandaged my whole torso, it hurt like hell, but I made it a tight bandage so I wouldn't bleed out. I'd rather die from the poison they'd given me than let this wound take my life without even trying to save Zoe.
There were some chocolates in the kit too, I ate them, they might have been poisoned, but I didn't think so. I had already been poisoned and given a purpose, after all. I sat there eating and thinking about the situation, how had I got myself into this? I rinsed my hands in alcohol and rubbed some on my chest and the back of my neck and used it to clean the blood off my hands. It perked me up a little so I decided to look at the photographs again. Zoe's were beautiful, as always. Her long black hair cascading down her right shoulder, her green dress making her look like an emerald and her eyes, she had the most beautiful honey coloured eyes in the universe. They were so bright and clear they looked almost orange in the sun.
Then there was Zumba's photo, he was a cute mix-breed who could do anything but talk, and yet his eyes were very expressive. Finally I pulled out the couple's photograph, there had to be something there, I had been photographing them when everything happened. Zoe had been walking towards them after saying the man looked familiar. I stared at the photograph for a while, there was something familiar about him, not as in someone I knew but as in a celebrity you've seen so many pictures of you feel you could recognise them anywhere.
I was getting dizzy from forcing my eyes so much, the light was too dim for this. I was putting them back in my breast pocket when I noticed there was something else in it. I pulled out a tiny cardboard cylinder and found a paper rolled inside it, this one was written in black ball-pen, at least. It Read: 10 RIGHT-60 SUN - 5 FORWARD - DUCK
I read it over and over again, I couldn't believe this. They were playing games with me and I had no option but to play along. I stood up once more, this time feeling a little bit better. I walked 10 steps right, it seemed obvious. I arrived at the edge of a cliff, I guessed I had to turn 60 towards the sun, so I did and took 5 more steps forward, I was walking along the edge of a cliff and the beach beneath seemed quite far away. Duck? What did they mean with duck? I looked around but there weren't any animals around, none whatsoever. Then I heard some sort of ping and someone shouting. I looked up and saw something flying towards me, I ducked and right then a shot came. Someone was shooting targets from the beach. As I ducked, I noticed there was a recently filled in hole in the ground, it was the size of a beach bucket. I scraped the dirt off with my hands and there it was, a yellow beach bucket with a red handle on it. It was getting darker, so I hurried up and pulled it out. There was a flashlight in it, more chocolates, a pocket knife and another note.
I put the knife in my pocket, the chocolates in my other pocket and held the flashlight in my mouth while I fumbled with the note, this one read: THE DOCTOR IS QUITE WELL, THE BLOOD IS YOURS. CHECK THE PHOTOGRAPH, MAYBE YOU'LL KNOW. GO TO THAT PLACE WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, IT'S NOT FAR TO GO, IF YOU FOUND HER ONCE, YOU NEVER KNOW.
This seemed more like a riddle, go where it all began? Trafalgar Square? That's where this ordeal had started, with me taking photographs of a couple, was that it? Not far to go, I looked around; I was obviously nowhere near London. This looked more like Dover. Wait, if this was Dover... where it all began, if you found her once... I had met Zoe in Dover; she had been sitting on a shabby old bench near Samphire Hoe Tower along the White Cliffs. I had been walking Zumba and he'd just run towards her and jumped onto her lap. She had laughed so much and her eyes had shone so brightly I was smitten right away, and so was Zumba.
I needed to get to that bench, I wiped the reverie-smile from my face and looked around to see if I could get a clue as to where exactly I was, I could see some of the white cliffs, in the very little light I had, it was now dark, night had settled in, which meant I was running out of time.
I was about to crumple up the paper when I noticed there was writing on the back: CAREFUL, CHOCOLATE WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH BUT IT WILL ALSO ACCELERATE THE POISON, YOUR CHOICE. The bastard had drawn a smiley face under the message. I threw out the chocolate and kept the paper. I had no idea why but I felt I had to.
I stood up sure enough no one would be shooting targets in the dark. Looking around I realised I was actually on the cliffs above the park, I tried to aim my flashlight downwards but the beam didn't reach low enough for me to see whereabouts above the park I was, I needed to climb down and then look for the bench.
As I was about to drop the bucket I accidentally shone the light inside the hole, there was a neat coil of rope in it, apparently placed under the bucket as a trick, maybe I'd see it or maybe not. I'd have to pay better attention from now on. I took the rope, it wasn't too thick but it seemed strong enough. I walked up to a tree, not a big one but the only one I could find, I was trying to save the flashlight's battery, so I didn't want to shine it everywhere, plus I didn't know if I was being watched. As I was trying to tie the rope to the tree trunk, I felt something carved in it. What now? I used the flashlight; it read NOT THIS ONE, BUDDY. And there was an arrow pointing towards a large rock to the right, this was moving me further away from the cave, but I didn't really care.
I tied the rope to the rock, how come this person kept helping me, giving me clues, hints? Was this some kind of silly game for them?
I climbed down carefully, trying not to strain my abs too much, but I could feel the tissue around the wound tearing apart, the wound was getting larger with every move I made down the rope. Oh well, I was going to die anyway.


I reached the bottom and found the trail, I followed it and found nothing, I had been going the wrong way so I had to turn around and walk, I felt stupid for all the time I had wasted, but at least it was a clear, starry night and that made me feel quite better. I walked briskly until I finally saw the bench. The moon was waning, but it gave out enough light that I could actually see it, all shabby and old. There was something on top of it, I hurried as best as I could, but I was starting to feel weak and nauseous. I went to the bench and picked up the lunch box, I opened it without hesitation, it was probably around midnight now and no child would have left their lunch box here at this time of night. I used the flashlight to see the contents, there was a sandwich, a cup with some water which I drank greedily for I was completely parched by then. I wasn't sure about the sandwich so I put it aside and rummaged through the contents, there was a box with two bullets, a pen and blank paper, a newspaper clipping and a note. I sat down on the bench and read the note first: YOU ARE DOING WELL. YOU MAY EAT THE SANDWICH, IT WILL NOT HURT YOU ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE HURT YOURSELF. LEAVE SAMMIE'S PICTURE IN THE LUNCH BOX, MAYBE I'LL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU IF YOU DO, BUT IF YOU DON'T... and there was a circular face with two x's for eyes and a straight line with a tongue sticking out of the former, as a mouth. I was disgusted.
Sammie? Who the hell is Sammie? I looked at the picture of the couple, focusing on him mostly. I had a feeling I'd seen his picture elsewhere. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I then remembered the newspaper clipping, maybe it was another hint. I opened it shining the torch on it. It was the Prime Minister's wedding, nothing too big; he wasn't a celebrity back then. The man wasn't the same from my picture, which was for sure. I read the article to see what I could make of it. David and Samantha got married on...Samantha? Sammie!! I looked at the photo again, the woman's face was partially covered by the man's but this might be the Prime Minister's wife kissing... who? I kept looking at the photograph trying to pin down where I had seen this man before.
I went back to the clipping and looked at the three pictures in it, there were some well-known people in it, and after all, the Prime Minister's father had been a wealthy man. But nobody there resembled the man in my photograph. I closed my eyes and tried to remember details from that moment; I'd had his Polaroid and was enjoying taking pictures of the Square. Zoe had pointed out this lovely couple and then had wanted to take a closer look because she'd thought the man resembled an actor from one of her favourite films. I needed to remember which, but she hadn't said. I began trying to remember which her favourite films were; she was mostly a romantic comedy fan. Oh! I knew it... it was that actor, the one who played lead in so many romantic comedies and had portrayed a politician in some film or other!!
But my attacker wasn't worried about him; it was her they cared about. It was her they wanted to protect, as if I had had any idea who she was before now. I decided to leave a note: I HAD NO IDEA WHO THE COUPLE WERE UNTIL TWO MINUTES AGO! PLEASE LET ZOE GO!
I ate the sandwich, I didn't care anymore, my bandage was completely soaked in my blood, I'd probably bleed out before reaching my next clue. I just sat on the bench looking up, watching the stars and the moon in its slow movement through the night sky.


Finally I got up, I had to try to the very last consequences. I began walking down the trail, I had no idea where to, but I had to keep moving, I was dragging my feet, my stomach was burning up and I was nauseous. Blood was running freely from the bandage down my trousers. I tripped but was able to hold my balance and not fall, a few steps after that, I tripped again, this time I landed face-first on the ground and had a really hard time getting up again, I struggled, but I was too weak to accomplish anything but foetal position.
I knew I was losing it when my mind started playing dirty tricks on me, I began hearing Zoe's voice calling my name, Thomas, it always sounded so good coming from her, so elegant. She never called me Tom or Tommy, I was always Thomas. It was starting to get light, the sun would soon appear in the horizon and I'd leave my life behind, I was dying, it was clear to me. I even began seeing things that weren't there, her shape running towards me, her voice saying my name over and over. I was on the edge, somewhere between here and there. I knew I was dead the moment I felt her hand on my cheek, that's the moment when the blood loss, or maybe the poison, or just my own disappointment on myself... whatever it was that killed me, that's when I died, when Zoe the angel came and took me.
I came to feeling broken all over, the throbbing in my head was killing me and my eyes refused to open. I could feel something warm and soft beneath me, like a bed. The air smelled clean but there was something tight around my abdomen and one of my arms appeared to be strapped down. I forced my lids open and looked around, it was a hospital room and my wife was asleep with her head on my bed. I took a deep breath that was followed by a sigh. I moved my hand and noticed there was something crumpled in it. It was a note. I read it.
NEVER AGAIN, I'M SORRY. YOU ARE BOTH SAFE. I woke up Zoe and she smiled groggily. That's when I knew we'd be fine, everything would be just OK...hopefully.
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