Moments past. The pain in Ryans body just seemed to numb away like everything else. Soon, the world was just on large screen of pure black as far as he could see. For a brief second, Ryan started to wonder when the light would show up. That was how it usually went down. You die and saw a white light at the end of a tunnel. But where is it?
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Then everything started to come back into focus. But not as he remembered it.
Gone was the cluttered dorm full of strewn books and dirty cloths kicked into the corner. He was sitting in the middle of a barren field. It looked alot like a battlefeild. Craters here and there, trenches dug out and battered fortifications against some enemy that had long left to conqore new lands. The entire field had a haze across the landscape, like smoke or something.
Slowly, Ryan stood up. He was surprised that he felt little pain now. Hios hands were also alot steady than they were before. It was a small confort though, concidering what he was seeing. There was something he was suppose to do here. Somewhere he needed to go. I need to get moving With that, he started moving through the desolate lands he now found himself in.
Time streched on as Ryan wander the landscape. He had a vauge idea where he was going, but not what his destination was. He stopped a few times here and there just to really look at everything. The fortifications he noted from before all seemed mismatched. Everything from wooden walls with signs of damage from arrow barrages to barbed wire barriers used in WWI littered the landscape. For him, it was like satering at one huge historic anarchisim. In the ground, he saw flecks of precious stone. Gold, Silver, Emerald. If it was some sort of precious gem or metal, he saw it clearly compared to the greying landscape before him.
As he continued, he swore he caught sight of someone wandering the trenches. Each time though it was different. Sometimes he would see someone uniform or battered armor. He would see sometimes in the trenches slplintered shelids, broken swords and guns with twisted barrels, rust and rot covering the discarded items. In a way, it was amazing. But this place didnt let such wonder last. The grey skies and chocking stagnat air robbed him of that feeling. So he stopped looking at everything he came across and just moved on.
Time seemed to strech on as he made his way through the field. The fact that he didn't feel tired at all dispite walking for miles didn't help with his perception of time. But he needed to be somewhere and that nagging feeling wouldn't go away untill he was there, where ever therewas. Through the blanket of smoke he could faintly make out the shape of something. He couldn't make it out from where he was, but it looked like a immence spire jutting out of the ground. Is that it? He though as he continued forward. The closer he came to the spire, the more detail he could make out untill he was finnaly standing infront of it. There entire thing looked like it was made of lead, with small jewels sudded across the whole thing. Old bunkers flanked the tower, probally once used to defend the whole thing from invasion and left there as silent reminders. The doors were wide open and the clouds of smoke seemed to clear away as he drew closer. Without much though, ryan stepped through the threashold and heard the doors close behind him.
Compaired to the battlefeild behind him, this place was near flawless. Ivory white stone floors and walls surrounded him. In the center of the room was a large, black slab of polished granite stood before him. Names ran down the surface like a memorial to those lost to war and voilence throughout the years. He tried to look at the names, but there just seemed to blurr in his eyes. there was a blank space among the names, waiting to be filled. Ryans sight fell down to the ground. There was a small chisle and hammer there, waiting for him. Without thinking, he picked them up and started carving away at the spot. Pieces of black stone falling away with each strike, revealing the white beneath the surface. It took some time, but soon his name was there among the others. He thought he did a good job of keeping it neat and tidy, much like everything in the room.
Then everything started to grow bright. The walls, the floor, the ceiling high above him. It all quickly dissolved into pure white that stung his eyes. The pain from the bullets started to flood back into his body, hands shaking so much that the hammer and chisil slipped from his fingers. Soon, it was all gone.
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Everything came roaring back to Ryan. The dorm, the clutter, everything. People were starting to gaver in his room. A student had a bloody shirt pressed against the bullet wounds. Pain still shot through his body, forcing a pained sound from him. The studnets head swung to Ryan is surprise. "Oh shit! Your alive! Thank god. THe abulance is on it's way, just keep awake." This guy sounded like he was glad Ryan was still alive and kicking. All he could do was nod to the guy and stare at the ceiling. Minutes later, some EMT's came in with a streacher and loaded Ryan on. With everything goning on, one though kept running through his mind. "What the hell was that?" He couldn't shake the feeling that everything had changed for him.
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