That is not happy,
That is not sad,
I have to wonder is it all that bad?
The dark moving box moved and stopped a total of five times. During the long expanses of stillness Jon amused his fading made with exploring the space which was not even big enough for him to stand up in. It was a box which was made of strong wood with no decernable exit from the inside. Feeling the groves in the wood Jon located the strange symbols once more and traced them along the whole of the boxes interior.
while resisting the temptation which sleep brings when paired with boredom Jon contented himself to stay completely still and focus on the slight changes in terrain when the box was in motion. This helped him to ignore the thirst which was becoming more and more noticeable and debilitating.
Finally at the final stop he closed his eyes and focused on trying to recall a blue sky. Unfortunately the only thing that he could see was the dark plain where he had found himself in his sleeping moments before.
While focusing on this a light flooded into the box he was sitting in interrupting his imaginings. The light blinded him and he instinctively pressed himself against the wall trying to make himself smaller as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change. Before that could happen he was pulled out of the box and fell down to his knees.
"What in the world did they send us this time. Is this one even alive?"
The voice sounded more annoyed than anything else but Jon decided that he wouldn't waste his energy attempting to interact.
"Vince, you need to come check this one out he isn't moving. I'm afraid we might have gotten another dead on arrival."
"Better not be or I'll head down to that blasted place myself."
the second voice drew closer and a hand pulled Jon's face up from the ground and pried his mouth open slightly.
"Just looks dehydrated and malnourished but somehow alive. Get him cleaned up and into the mines as soon as possible."
His head dropped to the ground once more and Jon felt himself getting dragged away over smooth terrain. He was being dragged by his legs so he just went with it while slowly trying to adjust to the brightness around him.
The environment that he found himself in was a rocky terrain with no clouds in sight. Thankfully he seemed to be dragged along a nice path so the worst thing he would run into was the dust which occasionally sprayed into his mouth and nose. It almost felt relaxing until he was suddenly submerged in water which quickly surrounded him and made his hazy contiousness snap back into focus. He quickly reoriented himself and broke through the surface gasping for air. He could once more feel the cold chill at his throat and with his eyes filled with water his vision was blurred. All he could see were shapes and movement coming towards him in an attempt to grab him.
An image of the shadow creatures passed through his head and suddenly he felt himself being dragged below the surface once more this time sinking farther and further below into the water which was gradually becoming murky in a reminiscence of the dream place.
The air seemed to be pulled out of his lungs but he resisted the instinctive desire to refill his lungs with the cold and murky water surrounding him. He vaguely saw the surface break above him and a figure swimming down towards him but he was too tired to hold his breath and his lungs began to take in the cold murky water.
Closing his eyes he was satisfied that he would no longer need to deal with his confusing life and a moment of clarity decended upon him. Jon realized that he was fine dying here. He had died long ago in many ways so it was only fitting that he finish out his time with the completion of the death toll. Adding his own life to the mix was one that he smiled to think about. He had so desperately clung to life and done so many terrible things to keep hold of it that he could now only wonder what about it he had found to be so enticing.
His body suddenly began to change directions and he was carried to the surface where he was pulled onto land and resuscitated. Almost disappointed Jon opened his eyes once more to find that his vision was beginning to come into focus. Though his hearing was still fuzzy and there was a ringing in his ears.
"What....thinking... ... Do...idea what could have happened?"
The voice was that of the one who had given an estimation on his condition and he now found that the rather soft voice belonged to a bronze skinned man of rather large build who was in the process of yelling at another individual who was much smaller and younger looking. The other individual had an almost baby faced appearance which made it hard for Jon to take the grey uniform that the person wore seriously.
To Jon's emediate surprise once he exited the water he felt refreshed and no longer tired though he still felt like his stomach had become a back hole. Turning his head to the side he looked into the pool and saw that it was filled with a murky spot in place were Jon had been pulled down. He could almost see the outline of one of the shadow figures waving at him with a big grin before fading back into the water. The thing was that it wasn't the one he had met before of that he was completely sure. Jon had the feeling that he would instantly recognize the one who had marked him.
"Well this is just great, I know you're new here but just because these people cross the border without a permit doesn't mean you can just strait up kill them like that. I told you he was in bad shape."
The darker man was speaking sternly to the younger one. Pulling in a breath of air Jon observed them quietly while slowly testing out his mobility. His fingers did not feel so heavy as before and his muscles did not have as much pain when flexing them. I didn't seem right, it was almost as though he had rehydrated just by being dipped into the water.
"Anyway just help me get him to the med unit. The faster we get him moving again the faster he can get to work."
The dark skinned man pulled away from Jon and walked away leaving the much smaller one looking down at him in annoyance.
"I don't want to drag your surprisingly heavy carcus everywhere so unless you want to go off on the rocky path at least try and do some walking."
The person seemed to be saying this more out of annoyance than seriousness but with some effort Jon pulled himself up onto his elbows. It hurt more than he thought it would since his ribs felt like they had been crushed in by the dark skinned man from before while getting the water out of his lungs. It wasn't the first time Jon had drowned without dying but this time was the worst pain among all of them. The guard was surprised by the sudden movement and moved back several feet. Jon raised an eyebrow but continued to slowly pull himself to his feet while the stunned guard watched him in silence.
His perspective changed from being under the eyes of the young person to looming over him. There was a look of horror in the young guards face but Jon hunched over a bit and pulled his arms into his torso to protect himself. He was a bit shaky on his feet but he had enough control to keep his balance. Jon did not respond to the words and instead simply stood there waiting for the other to react.
"What in the world are you..."
The guard looked a bit horrified at his appearance so he looked at himself to see why. His skin was no longer covered in muck revealing just how malnourished he really was. His skin had a yellow tinge to it which gave off an unnatural coloration. He looked to be made of bones with thin layers of skin draped over them. His elongated frame made him look almost like a monster and as for his face there was no way for him to tell.
Seeming to regain his confidence the guard straitened up and took a step forward toward Jon who tilted his head slightly in response.
"It really doesn't matter what you are, the captian always says that people come in all shapes and sizes and that it isn't our job to judge them based on that. Anyhow you will be the doctors problem soon enough so come along if you can."
The voice shook a tiny amount but Jon chose to ignore this and instead follow the guard on a bumpy path toward a humongous expanse of mountains which stretched out across the horizon. Whatever type of prisonnor camp this turned out to be Jon had the feeling that things would be interesting.