All Things End Volume II: Part 9

Chapter 9: Through The Fog

It was freezing. When Courage awoke, his paws were numb from the coldness. Light filtered into the box through the small crack at the top and he found that both his vision was blurry, as it always was after an attack, and his head was spinning. A sharp headache made him groan as he tried to block out the light.

He lay there for awhile, waiting for his body to recuperate. Questions rolled through his dazed mind. How long had he been out? Was Computer alright? Had those mysterious men finally gone away? He sucked in a sharp, cold breath of air and when he exhaled, he could see the frosty breath in front of his face. He'd almost forgotten that outside of Nowhere, it was nearing winter.

Worry coursed through him as he tried to pull his thoughts together. There was no telling how long his attack had knocked him out. For all he knew, he could have just spent another near week sleeping. Computer would be long gone by now, either captured or moved on somewhere else trying to find him. They'd never be able to find each other again if that were the case.

He shook his head, regretting it almost immediately as it brought on a new wave of dizziness. No, there was no way that he could have been knocked out for a week. Someone would have come to collect the garbage by now if that were the case and he would have been taken along with it. As far as he could tell, he was still in the same place.    

Wanting to make sure that he really hadn't been dumped in a junkyard, and equally curious to find out if the gas station still existed at all after all the chaotic noise last night, he prepared himself to stand up. The voices had gone mercifully silent, allowing him some peace of mind, but he was still wary as to why they had been so active last night, 'if' it had even been last night. The total loss of time awareness was seriously starting to get to him.

Try as he might, he couldn't stand. He was just too tired and his legs didn't want to work. Instead, he simply sat up, fighting off a wave of dizziness as he did so, and opened the box. It was still propped up against the gas station wall, which thankfully hadn't been burnt to the ground like his delusions last night might have suggested. He pushed the rest of the boxes out of the way and found that everything around him was covered in a thin layer of frost. A heavy fog had also accompanied it, making it difficult to see even the forest behind the gas station. Courage gripped his head. The sun wasn't even out and yet the meager amount of light was still enough to aggravate his headache. He wanted to shut the box right back up again and go back to sleep, but no, there were more important things to do.  

He had to fight with his body just to stand up. The muscles in his legs shook dangerously and as he attempted to step out of the box, the leg he was balancing on crumpled like a piece of paper. He collapsed, taking the box with him. His muzzle hit the pavement surprisingly hard and he hissed at the sharp pain that accompanied it. His headache was suddenly throbbing ten times harder.

“Move!” He urged, trying to push himself back up off the ground, but his arms gave out as well, unable to carry his weight. “Come on, move!” He growled, refusing to give up.

He eventually managed to push himself back up into a sitting position, but trying to walk was going to be challenge in itself. He took a moment to catch his breath and let his beating heart calm down a bit before attempting the once simple act. It took several failed tries before he was just about ready to give up. His body was simply too worn out to walk without help. It was just like how he'd been after the last attack at Nina's place. Maybe he really had slept a whole week without knowing it.

“What am I going to do?” He groaned, staring up at the foggy sky. He watched his breath form into little clouds over and over again as he tried to think of both a way to overcome his illness and to rest long enough to regain what little strength he had. “How am I ever going to find Computer like this?”

Stifling another groan, he closed his eyes. There was no way that he was going anywhere like this. He needed more time to recuperate from his attack. His body just did not want to function right now. If only there was some way he could contact Computer and find out if he were okay, but-

His eyes shot back open as a possibility raced through his tired mind. He 'did' have a way to contact Computer, one through the connection that the Dreamworld had instilled between the two of them, but would it work? There was no guarantee that Computer would be asleep right now, and they only ever seemed to connect through their nightmares. Would they even be able to communicate in any meaningful way while suffering through a nightmare? It was a long shot, but worth a try none the less. There was nothing else that Courage could do right now, not so long as he couldn't walk. Not only would he get the rest that he so badly needed, but he might be able to talk to Computer too and find out what's going on.

He dragged himself back over to the box, now turned over on its side, crawled into it and closed it back up again. Light once again only filtered through that one single crack. He closed his eyes and immediately found himself drifting off to sleep with ease. When he awoke again, with little idea how long he had slept, he was dismayed to realize that he hadn't dreamed at all, much less shared a nightmare with Computer.

Toppling out of the box, he found that it was still foggy outside, but also a tiny bit warmer. If he hadn't slept an entire day away he figured that he must have woken up very early in the morning before and it now might be somewhere around noon. If only the sun would come out, then he'd have a better time trying to figure out what the hour might be.

He found that he could now stand without his legs giving out, though the mere effort of it left him gasping for breath. He knew that he probably needed a few more hours, or possibly days worth of rest before he'd be well enough not to become strained by doing such a mundane task, but he couldn't wait any longer to begin his trek towards the road that Computer had told him to seek out. Because his dream plan had turned out to be a bust, he had no other choice. He could only hope that if a few days really had passed, that Computer would still be waiting for him out there regardless.

He pulled a granola bar out of his bag and munched on it as he hobbled over to the forest. Clearly it had been a good idea to stock up on food after all and he badly needed the energy either way. As he walked, he noted that the fog obscured enough of the landscape that if those men were still searching the forest, they would not be able to see him unless they smacked right into him. Though Computer would still have trouble, as his glow would still be seen in the fog, Courage himself could evade those men if need be. He'd be able to hear them coming a mile away and that would give him enough time to hide. Hopefully it would not come down to that. Surely those men had given up or moved on to search somewhere else by now.

Now that he was insides the forest proper, he stopped for a moment to allow himself some rest. Pushing his ill body too hard would only end in disaster. As worried as he was, it would do him no good if he threw himself into another attack or overworked himself to the point of where perhaps his heart might give out. It was certainly not out of the question. Sudden death was always a concern when it came to his illness.

Feeling a little better after his rest, he pushed onwards. The forest was so eerily quiet in the fog. Every sound was muted and even his own feet crunching the leaves and twigs barely made any noise. The thought of getting ambushed by those men was suddenly weighing very heavy on his mind. The only consolation he had was that he made just as little sound as they would. It would be very hard for them to ambush him if they couldn't find him to being with.

He stopped again after walking for a good ten minutes. His progress was slow but steady. Though he was still incredibly tired and achy, as soon as he got into a good rhythm he could largely ignore the worst of his symptoms. He figured that if he could keep this up with a few breaks in between, he'd be able to make it to the other end of this forest pretty soon.

…...............

A little less than an hour later, and after many much needed breaks, he finally found the road he was looking for. It cut right through the forest, with the trees continuing onward in both directions. He kept himself hidden behind a tree trunk as he tried to figure out what to do next. A pair of headlights lit up the fog and he flinched as he peaked out of his hiding place to watch it go by. Despite expecting it to be one of those black vans, it was instead a normal, everyday truck. He let out the breath he had been holding in and forced himself to relax. It wouldn't do any good to start panicking now.

The question had become a simple one. Should he wait here or go looking for Computer? As far as he knew, the glowing dog might already be out there looking for him and if he were to leave, they might never come across one other. Given his already sickly state, it was probably best to wait there until Computer found him. On the other hand, there was no telling where his friend might be or if he had even escaped those men. If several days had passed, he might have given up or gone looking for him somewhere else by now.

Courage bit his lip and peaked out again, hoping to see that familiar blue glow walking in amongst the fog. He glanced both up and down the road, but there was nothing. He quickly decided that he'd wait a few hours and if Computer did not show up, he'd go looking for him himself. If only they had a better way of staying in touch. You'd think that a weird, robot dog would have a built in cellphone or something.    

Making himself comfortable at the base of the tree, Courage pulled out a few snacks and made a meal out of them. If it had been noon when he set out, it would be around two now. It would get dark around seven and he certainly did not want to get stuck out here in the dark, especially not after what happened the last time he had spent a night in a forest. He had no idea which direction would lead him back to civilization, or Computer for the matter, but he was not going to camp out here tonight, not on his life.

An hour passed by without issue. Feeling much more well rested, he took to pacing up and down the road, only retreating back into the forest when needing to hide from oncoming cars. It was while he paced that a single shaft of light broke through the cloud cover, soon followed by another and then another. The fog began to disperse almost immediately and the forest lit up with a golden light. Soon any trace of cloud cover was gone and with the clear skies came much warmer weather. It no longer felt like it was about to start snowing at any moment.

Another hour slowly ticked by and Courage was getting impatient. He would have to leave soon if he wanted to be out of this forest before nightfall. The road had to lead somewhere and hopefully it would be a town of some kind. He did consider going back in the direction he had come from, but he was also still holding out hope that maybe he'd run into Computer while traveling down the road.

He made up his mind and began walking, going right instead of taking the left. There was no telling where this direction was going to take him, but he decided to trust his instincts on this. As soon as he were out of this forest, he'd try to sleep and hopefully make contact with Computer. If that did not work, he'd come back here tomorrow and continuing looking for him. If he could not find Computer or get into contact with him, well, he really didn't want to think about it.

End Of Chapter