108 Weakness (1/2)

The next time I woke up, my head was still aching, but it was bearable this time.

I still felt weak but this time I had regained enough strength to raise my hands up to my head.

My hands, they were covered in bandages and even then I was able to tell that they were thin.

Thinner than they used to be.

'What the hell.' I thought and looked around the room.

It was a small room with walls made of mud and a single door and window made of wood.

The little bit of light coming from the small window dimly illuminated the room and made me realize that there was nothing else in the room except for the bed I was sleepign in. Oh, and the blood stain at the corner of the wall.

The strong smell of medicine lingered in the air and I wondered if it was the girl I saw there who brought me and bandaged me up.

I felt thirsty.

'My ring…'

I removed the bandage from my left arm to check if I still had my ring and was horrified by what I saw.

The spatial ring was still there, but that was not the problem.

Dozens of tiny little holes covered every inch of my hand which looked devoid of any sort of muscles.

I felt fear rise in my heart and as I unwrapped the bandage on my arm, the fear turned into dismay and then intense sadness as I saw the condition of my arm.

Hundreds, if not thousands tiny holes covered my entire arm from top to bottom and the hand, which had once been muscular and robust had no muscle mass at all as the skin hung limply to the side.

I felt a tear escape my eyes at the sight and felt the urge to cry but the overwhelming thirst took over and I used all of the strength in my body to raise myself on the bed.

Then I took out a bottle from my ring and realized my mistake as my skinny hands were not capable of handling the weight of the bottle and if fell to the side with a thud.

'Fuck' I mentally cursed in frustration at my inability and felt anger and hopelessness rise in my heart before I clamped it down and my face regained an stoic expression.

I brought both the hands together and was able to raise the bottle with immense difficulty but became dismayed once again when I failed to open the cap of the bottle.

'Damn!!' I cursed myself for my weakness and in a moment of frustration, brought my mouth forward, opened my jaw and tore apart the upper part of the bottle.

Cold liquid spurted out of the bottle in my face and I spit aside the torn portion of the bottle with satisfaction.

'Better.' I thought and clomped down on the bottle.

Water never felt so sweet before and soon enough I had finished the entire bottle.

I threw aside the bottle and looked around at my surroundings once again.

Now that I was no longer thirsty, my mind became clear of any distractions and I was able to concentrate better on my surroundings.

A few mud huts and a tree blocked my sight as I looked out of the window so my eyes were not of much help here.

The room was filled with strong medicinal smell so my nose was compromised as well.

But my hearing proved to be useful as I heard the sound of churning water in the distance.

It meant I was not that far off from the river.

Whoever that girl was, she saved my ass and brought me to this empty village, put medicines on my wounds and wrapped my up like a mummy.

She save my life.

Which means I owe her big time.

'But where is she?' I thought and tried to listen with rapt attention but aside from the river in the distance and the chirping of the crickets, there was nothing else.

'Annoying little crickets.' I thought and laid down on the bed once again.

I looked at the wooden beams on the ceiling and wondered how the world would have changed if the insects had mutated as well.

The mere thought of a swarm of man eating giant locusts filled me with dread and I thanked the gods that such a thing had not happened.