XXXI II

*ATTENTION* IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PART ONE OF THIS STORY YET, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER HERE. START HERE
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Sometime during my visualization process I had a conversation with an old friend of mine back home. Nathan had been serving as a local fireman for a few years, making him the perfect person to annoy for an education. I knew it was only a matter of time before the knowledge would become useful. I picked his brain about all kinds of things, but mainly about what to do if I ever found myself inside one of the scenarios I was envisioning. I needed to know the save-everybody and live to tell about it information.

The general rule was simple enough. Don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt the patient. Clearly, if you hurt yourself you're no longer any use to the real person who needs help. That puts both of you at greater risk because now of course, there are two people that need saving. The next and obvious step is to contact the authorities and give them as many details regarding the situation as possible. Any and everything you know for sure you should tell them. Upon doing that one should try to establish contact with the injured, determining consciousness being the first order of business. More specifically, Nathan informed me that if you don't have proper training you really shouldn't be attempting to remove a critically injured person from a mangled car. Unless of course there is a immediate threat, namely fire. Do otherwise and you'll most likely do more harm than good. ...A fact that became troublesome after I noticed through the shattered drivers window, the bloody arm hanging down on the headliner.

I hopped over the cement barricade that the trunk-lid was resting on and bent over next to the passenger side. I needed to get a better look, but that side was caved in worse than the other and I couldn't see in at all. I ran over to the driver side and knelt down to look through the drivers window again. There was only one man in the car and he looked more like a human pretzel than a person. I couldn't see his face, his body was halfway in the backseat smashed in between the two front bucket seats. I could also see a foot whose shoe was missing, the toes pointed down in a location that was close to where the steering wheel should have been. He wasn't moving. I laid down on my stomach alongside the window opening and yelled inside.

ARE YOU OK?

YOU ALRIGHT MAN?

CAN YOU TALK TO ME? WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

WHAT'S YOUR NAME? I NEED YOU TO TALK TO ME!

JUST HOLD ON MAN HELP IS ON THE WAY. YOU’RE ALRIGHT. WE'RE GONNA GET YOU OUT OF THERE.

Simultaneously, the arm moved and the guy let out the worst sounding gurgling moan I have ever heard. Great to know he was alive and conscious, however he appeared to be in very bad shape.

JUST RELAX MAN. DON'T MOVE! RELAX. JUST TAKE IT EASY. HELP IS GONNA BE HERE IN TWO MINUTES. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BREATH MAN. JUST BREATH.

Louder and continuous moans now and the foot started twitching along with the arm.

TAKE IT EASY BRO. JUST RELAX MAN. YOU DON'T NEED TO MOVE. YOU'RE ALRIGHT. JUST BREATH THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO.

....SAY SOMETHING MAN...CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING?

There were other civilians around now, none of them doing anything. Trying to yank him out of there still seemed like a bad idea however. Despite the smell of gas the threat of a fire didn’t even seem possible. That's Hollywood bullshit. Thanks to Nathan, I did know exactly what needed to be done in this situation and that's exactly what I was doing. Nonetheless, the more I tried talking to him, the more he would move and substantially upset himself in the process making me feel even more helpless.

WHAT'S YOUR NAME? CAN YOU TELL ME YOUR NAME? TALK TO ME MAN!

WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE IN ONE MINUTE BROTHER. JUST KEEP BREATHING FOR ME.

The moaning subsided and the body started moving considerably. It looked like he wanted to get out of there. Amazingly, he was able to unfold himself and turn over as I’d given up trying to convince him to hold still. Wow. His hands and knees are now resting on the headliner and he starts to crawl out of the car. I couldn't believe my eyes. I’m blocking the window opening and his only way out so I stand up and take two steps back. In a matter of 20 seconds he pulls himself through the broken drivers door window, picks himself off of the ground and stands up right in front of me.

One Nike remained. His grey sweatpants and white t-shirt were torn in random places with blood all over them. His arms were covered too and his face looked like it went through a meat grinder. It was completely covered in blood along with glass and other debris that were seemingly seared to it. The white of his eyes were the stark contrast against the remainder of his face as he looked right at me and said:

Where’s Jeremy?

...to be continued

PART III HERE