Like a starved, crazed animal I continued to stuff my face as much as I could while the cold, numb sensation continued to envelop my body as I slowly bled out.

I say slowly because, even though I had a hole in my chest, presumably through one of my lungs, going by the pink froth I had previously been coughing up, there was now only a trickle of blood dripping from my body.

Not that I felt any better, in fact, I felt the worst I had ever done in my life, and that was saying something.

-”I should be dead already.”

Though I maintained the thought that I would not die, the gnawing realisation it was only happy thoughts wasn't far away.

My condition was, in one, simple word, fucked.

Fading in and out, my vision attempted to spin as I munched down on the insect-like ape, not even savouring the taste as I shovelled the flesh, organs and even the armoured plates into my mouth.

-”Eat to live, live to eat.”

The motto, which I knew came from a significant man to me, even if I couldn’t remember his name or face, reverberated in my fragmenting, confused mind.

'As long as you can eat and drink, and everything is kinda in the right place, you will live.'

I remember coming up with something witty at the time, sitting at a simple cafe, referring to diseases, viruses and other stuff which only got a chuckle from the blurry memory, who was incredibly skinny.

Way too skinny for this to be his motto surely.

‘They stopped eating before they died right?’

My head jerked back from slumping forward, my body violently shaking from either the shock or strain of staying upright, waking me from my memory.

-"This is really bad."

While lost in my past, I had devoured the first corpse, leaving nothing but its head, a few plates and bones before moving onto the next one.

A huge pool of dark, red blood, tinged with a faint blue in places, surrounded me.

-”I am going to die.”

I could feel my body shutting down as my brain struggled to think clearly, looking for any chance that I could live and... finding nothing.

In fact, I suspected the reason I was wasting time eating, convincing myself that whatever shit they had injected me would save the day, was to ignore the cold truth staring at me.

The shaking only increased as I pushed the distracting thoughts aside. If I needed food, I now had it, but I knew it wasn't enough.

I needed to buy time.

My thoughts drifted to when I had been in a similar situation, my body shutting down as it went into shock and not the being stabbed through the chest by an alien on a foreign world, and how I had saved my life through sheer luck.

I had jumped into a hot bath to ease the pain yet, it had helped my body enough to give the paramedics time.

The longer someone lived, most of the time, after an incident, the more likely they were to survive.

Once again, another pointless plan was formed and even though I felt it wouldn't really help me, I couldn't give up. Not again.

The problem was, I was in the middle of a forest, how would I find hot wat-

-"THE POOLS!"

My elation was short lived as I realised that I didn't have a clue where I was or what direction I was facing.

Lifting my wobbly head, I noticed the wolf was moving away from me, probably bored, though I wanted to believe that it wasn't sick enough to sit around and watch something die horrifically.

-"At least it didn't think to put me out my misery."

I stumbled to my feet as the wolfs figure started to disappear into the vegetation, leaning heavily on the nearby tree, as I uttered a silent prayer that it was returning to the centre.

Crashing through the underbrush in, what felt like, a fuitile attempt to keep the wolf in my sight, I tripped and fell to the floor for the seventh time.

-"God Damn it."

I looked up in despair, just expecting to see plants and trees, only to notice that, although it hadn't looked back, the wolf had stopped.

My mind vaguely tried to make sense of why the Alpha would do this, but the thought was fleeting as I struggled to remain conscious and out of the visions that had begun to plague me.

Every few steps, I would think I was somewhere else. Places, blurred people and events flooding into my mind, only to be replaced with my dark reality moments later as a fresh wave of pain washed over me.

-”Is this what they mean by your life flashing before your eyes?”

The visions weren’t historically accurate, at least to what I remembered and so I put it down to the confused, dying state of my mind.

I had seen two people die in my life, one with a smile and the other weeping uncontrollably but the one common thing was, they both seemed to be somewhere else when their last moments came. It was nothing like the films.

-”I don’t want to die.”

I felt something moving above my skin, only catching a glimpse of a white, water-like film covering my skin as I used my one good arm to stop myself face-planting a tree.

A Shiver ran down my spine as I realised that if I fell again, I wouldn't have the strength to get back up.

-”I really don’t want to die.”

Suddenly, for the first time since arriving on this world, I felt alone.

If these were my final moments, which by the increasing dizziness, they were, my death would be alone, surrounded by animals that would probably pick my bones clean the time they thought I couldn't fight back.

My boggled mind found it strange. I had always preferred my own company yet, at the end, I was craving another person.

A root tripped me, sending me spiralling to the floor and, thankfully, into the clearing.

The landing made me want to scream out in pain, fear and frustration but as my body went through the motions, only a spluttering of purple water left my mouth.

It was at this moment that I realised something critical. So obvious that in my delirious state, I had missed it completely.

I wasn't breathing and, more importantly, I couldn't remember the last time I had.

I started to panic, something dancing at the edge of my consciousness was trying to give off a warm and caring vibe, though, in my current state, all I could attribute it to was Death, trying to calm me down to take me unaware.

To my mind, the Grim Reaper had finally come, and like all those stories I had read growing up, it was offering release from my suffering while holding that damned scythe behind his back.

'What do we say to death?'

An utterly pointless quote, from a tv series I had partially watched, floated to the surface of my mind yet I couldn't help but scream back, at least in my head.

-”Not Today!”

A feeling swept across my mind, a sense of care and worry evident, somehow forming a single word.

WATER.

I was beyond the point of caring if it would help me anymore. I just had to do something. I needed to survive, and this was the only thing I could think of.

I also knew, if I stopped now, I would die.

*Smack*

With strength I didn't know I had, using the thunderous, almost solitary heartbeat as if it were a drum to war, my hand slammed into the floor ahead of me, piercing the dirt like a missile.

*Smack*

I pulled my shaking body onwards, sharp stabbing pains erupting from various points as squelching, popping noises vibrated in my ears.

*Smack*

Everything but my goal was ignored. My entire existence appearing to be nothing more than the prelude to this single, seemingly impossible task.

*Smack*

Clenching my jaw as I refused to succumb to the darkness that threatened to overwhelm me at the slightest distraction.

*Smack*

My legs dug into the floor, lending their support as vaguley, in the corner of my periferal, I subconsiously noted that all of the creatures were watching me.

*Smack*

-”Fuck them..."

*Smack*

-"... and fuck Death."

*Smack*

I roared in my mind as my hands slammed into the earth again, giving me enough grip to drag my pathetic form forward, through with each excruciating movement, I felt my energy rapidly diminishing.

*Smack*

Entering a trance-like state, I imagined myself to be an ice flow.

*Smack*

Slow.

*Smack*

Relentless.

*Smack*

Unstoppable.

*Smack*

In my mind, my hands had become spears, carving my path through the world, unyielding to all.

*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*...

I continued onwards for what seemed like an eternity

*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*...

Nothing would stop me.

*Smack*

Anger exploded though as I remembered the moment I had given up, waiting for the last ape to finish me off. I wanted nothing more, apart from to live, than to go back in time and bitch slap that pathetic weaking.

*Crack*

My fingers smashed into the hard ground, making a new sound, not even hinting that the stone should have put up more resistance than the soft dirt as I continued my relentless crawl, finally reaching the few feet of rock that surrounded the pools.

*Crack*

The air around me shimmered, from the heat of the pool or myself I did not know, as my skin scraped against the pebbles that had flown away from the mini holes I had created.

I vaguely noticed the creatures, and if I were in the right frame of mind, would have seen the fear, mixed with awe, dancing in their intelligent eyes as they watched on in mute fascination.

IN

The voice-like feeling washed over me, much stronger than last time as my hand touched the edge of the pool and dipped into the steaming liquid.

WATER.

The extra purchase gained from the edge of the pool gave me enabled me to pull myself much further than before, yet, just as I was about to slide in, I stopped.

Why was I about to drown myself?

IN.

A comforting, it will be alright, feeling washed over me, yet I still refused to take the final slide.

YOU NOT BREATH.

Seconds trickled past.

IN.

My outstretched arm, the skin looking hard and dead, almost bone-like, filled my view as I tried to focus my thoughts. Just like the animals, the voice was more of a feeling that audible sound but, unlike them, I knew this originated inside of me.

-”I have finally lost it... But I guess... I do have a point.”

In however long it had taken me to cross the clearing, which would have definitely been more than ten minutes, I still haven’t breathed. I started to wonder if I was already dead. Suffering my own sort of special purgatory for the crime of killing Spike and the insect apes.

TRUST.

IN.

Trust, I have never trusted anyone with something significant in my life. Why would I start now?

THEN DIE.

The words echoed in my mind, instantly hardening my resolve.

-”…Fair…point.”

Even my thoughts had turned sluggish as I pulled myself slightly forward, luckily having gravity to help at the end, as I splashed into the water without any regrets.

I was going to die anyway, might as well see what my delusions were up to.

Warmth surrounded me, but in the sensation of a hot room and not the wet, watery stuff.

I had lost the sense of feeling.

-"Yep. Dead."

The sound of bubbles, a faint rumbling noise and two heartbeats filled my ears as I sank into the water, rotating so I faced upwards.

One beat, was pitifully weak while the second, was erratic as if it was working over time.

-”Which… ones… mine?”

I felt exhausted and was sure, that if it wasn't for my stubbornness, I would already be in the afterlife. That is if I wasn't already.

The crystal clear water rapidly turned red, seeming to boil where it mixed as the first traces of daylight hit the edge of the pool.

My decent was peaceful, even though my body screamed in pain, though all too soon, my back gently hit the floor, followed my arms and legs.

My edges of my vision darkened as if I was looking down a dark tunnel, rays of light shimming on the surface.

This was it.

This is where I would die.

Alone.

A pressure was applied to my hand, feeling like fingers as they wrapped around my own, causing a wave of relief to flood through me even though I knew it couldn't be real.

'When the reaper comes knocking, that is when we find out who we really are.'

The words, though different from the ones I had remembered earlier, resonated in my head as a loving, frail face appeared, the man's voice hoarse and weak.

I smiled, finally being able to put a face to the thoughts.

Death? Ha.

Though I refused, no refuse, to die, I held no fear of death. What I actually feared, which I would never have believed in a million years, was that I was terrified of being alone.

This was shown by my mind conjuring delusions of a feeling-like voice and a supportive hand gripping mine to comfort me in my last moments.

Delusions, as it turned out, I was thankful to have.

SLEEP.

The feeling washed over me, and as I knew there was nothing more I could do, I decided to follow its advice. Either I would wake up, or I wouldn't. Why worry about what you can't change.

Though, that didn't stop me from trying to jinx it in my favour.

-”Time for the… final… sleep.”

My consciousness slowly faded as I cursed the world for, what could be, the last time.

-“Fuck. You. World. I'm… Outa her~.”

==============================

[Report from RDT Received. Analysing.]

Subject[HRE888] Classification: Deceased

Retrieval: Failed + 0:10:00 after last observation and implant data received.

Report: Traces of remains found strewn across 500m. Assumed scavengers destroyed the corpse before RDT were on scene.

Samples collected including a selection of [second, third and descendant generations] predators in the area to extract and investigate stomach contents.

All implants recovered, though total biomass recovered was less than 3.23%. Extracting non-transmittable data.

[Closing Subject File]

...

[Request Rejected]

Manual override detected.

Inconclusive Findings of SS Value target.

Investigation teams notified.

Observation teams notified

Bonus Assigned.

Hunters Deployed.

Subject[HRE888] has qualified for a unique name.

[Requesting Subject known as HRE888 UID Change]

Searching native records...

UID Identified. Matching key projected characteristics of Subject [78%]. Removing title from list

Subject[HRE888] has now been assigned the identifier: Dybbuk

Dybbuk has been categorised as Humanity(Earth)'s first SSS Ranked individual.

[Updating status]

Dybbuk's capture priority has been upgraded from [On Death (research)] to [Alive(asset)]

Dybbuk has been added to the Malsamayum. Biddings postponed until asset is aquired.