Naya's POV
As I slowly regained consciousness, a constant ache burned like fire throughout my body. I groaned as I finally came through, my eyes cracking open to see the clear night sky, stars scattered beautifully across it, giving an odd sense of peace.
A peace that seemed far from me at that moment. I struggled to sit up, minding the pain ripping through me. My teeth chattered, and I balled my fists to withstand the pain.
Why did my body feel such pain? What was wrong with me? And why was I outside in the first place? I don't remember sleeping outside.
Matter of fact, I didn't remember anything.
Disoriented, I let my gaze scan my surroundings. It appeared to be rubble from collapsed buildings scattered all around me.
"Where the hell am I?" Confusion overtook my senses. I couldn't piece together what had happened, how I'd gotten here, or anything. Nothing was coming back to me.
When I glanced down, I realized I had been placed on a makeshift stretcher. My clothes were ripped in several places, barely covering me, leaving my skin exposed.
I had felt pain when I first woke up, but now the reason was clear before my eyes. I had sustained severe injuries, though how I'd done so was beyond me.
Blood wasn't new to me, I had seen quite a lot but having them deep through gashes on my skin was new to me, I would need to get to the hospital to check myself.
Surveying the wounds closely, I noticed deep gashes on my arms and legs, red liquid oozing out and slowly trickling down, a few of them already dried up which indicated that I might have been bleeding for quite some time.
Fear overtook me. I tried to recall what might have caused such injuries, but thinking hurt too much. I grabbed the side of my head, groaning loudly.
What I wanted most in that moment was for the pain to disappear. I couldn't bear the wrenching sensation that made me recoil into myself.
With every breath, I felt as though my insides might collapse. My lungs strained, and I coughed violently.
When the coughing subsided, I stared at a particular gash on my hand, eyes wide in disbelief as I watched it slowly sew itself back together.
Once it had healed, I froze, raising my hand to examine it. "What in the…?" I muttered, rubbing at it. There was a dull pain, which faded slowly, leaving behind only the blood that stained my arm as evidence of the wound.
I scoffed in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. I glanced at my other arm, just in time to watch the same phenomenon repeat itself.
One moment I was in agony, the next, only a dull ache remained. A strange sensation spread across my body, and I quickly ran my hands over myself, checking if the same thing was happening everywhere.
I squinted in confusion—it was true. There were no more gashes, no bleeding, no pain. It was all gone.
Gasping in shock, I scrambled to my feet, brushing off the dust clinging to me. To my utter disbelief, the wounds were truly gone.
"This cannot be happening," I whispered once again, doubting my senses over and over as I witnessed something so impossibly unscientific.
Pushing aside my doubts, I took a moment to properly scan my surroundings. All around me lay ruins—collapsed buildings everywhere.
"Was there some kind of earthquake?"
The moonlight didn't provide much illumination, and I couldn't see far. Standing there in confusion, I ran a hand through my hair.
For the first time since waking, sounds reached my ears. Perhaps I could find someone to explain what was happening.
Making my way toward what seemed like a roadside, but one couldn't tell from the amount of rubble beside it. I was suddenly blinded by headlights. I raised my hands to shield my eyes.
The lights were still a few meters away, and the raucous noise of their loud vehicle reached me as they cackled and whistled. My heart quickened. Something didn't feel right.
The closer the large truck came, the stronger that uneasy feeling grew. I stopped waving as they honked. Something was off.
My breathing quickened as a sense of danger took hold. I began stepping back. When they got close enough, instinct took over, and I turned and sprinted as fast as I could, glancing back to see if they were chasing me—and they were.
Who the heck were these people and what did they want with me?
They hollered, laughing hysterically as their monstrous truck roared behind me. "Come on, little gal, we don't bite," one of them taunted in a gruff, foreign accent before chuckling.
Fear gripped my heart as I sprinted for my life, veering off the road and weaving through an abandoned building, partly in ruins.
Glancing back, I saw they had stopped their truck. A few of them gave chase on foot. Why wouldn't they just leave me alone?
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I tried to navigate the dark, trembling hands guiding me through the ruins.
Emerging from one building, I darted into another, but they were fast, their flashlights aiding them. All I had was the dim moonlight, useless in the weak, crumbling structure.
There was no way I could outrun them. Their voices grew closer, and my fear mounted. What did they want with me?
In desperation, I made the foolish choice to hide, crouching behind a large boulder that barely concealed me. My body trembled as I clasped my hands over my mouth to stifle my breathing.
Tears brimmed in my eyes, ready to spill as I froze, praying to God that they wouldn't find me.
Stilling myself and controlling my breathing in the only way I knew possible, or at least I tried, I could only pray they didn't hear my large breaths through my hands pressed firmly against my lips.