Awake in a Dream

“Bill… Bill.. Bill wake up!”

Bill, Jasper, and Theon were 400 miles into their cross country road trip to California when they hit an animal that was crossing the road. Maybe the blaring rock music playing over the speakers was to blame, maybe it was the debate between Jasper and Bill about Game of Thrones, but either way, Theon did not see the bounding animal as it crossed the barren road. The van flipped, the airbags exploded, and the three of them were jolted around in their seats like crash dummies. After what seemed like an eternity the car skidded to a stop, upside down. Theon felt the heat of blood dripping down his face, drip by drip creating a puddle on the ceiling of the car underneath him. He looked over to Jasper who was now stirring in the seat next to him, and then back to Bill whose limbs were hanging and eyes closed, looking as though he was ready to take a picture on a roller coaster. The fog started to clear from Theon’s head as smoke started to billow into the car. They needed to leave the car, immediately. He shook Jasper waking him from his stupor, while trying to unbuckle his seatbelt. When they untangled themselves from the belts they fell hard onto the carpeted hood beneath them and went about freeing Bill. The smoke had now taken over the interior of the car as they unbuckled Bill and dragged him across the street while flames erupted from the open car windows.

Jasper had a broken nose and obvious concussion, Bill was unconscious, and Theon miraculously remained unharmed besides a nasty cut running diagonally across his face. It had all happened so fast. Suddenly, their idea of going “off the grid” and leaving their cellphones at home was no longer the empowering statement that they had wanted it to be. Bill’s eyes fluttered open suddenly and he shot up, looking at the scene with a glossed over look of confusion.

“What happened?” Bill asked, rubbing his head and admiring the gash on his chest through the hole in his once favorite ACDC shirt.

“We made it to Cali! Can’t you tell?” Jasper chimed in, failing to lighten the mood.

“Hit a deer or something, I didn’t see it until it was too late.” said Theon, “The car flipped so many times it felt like I was in a washing machine, no clue how we’re all alive”

The three of them looked around at each other first, and then their surroundings. Cornfields stretched on either side of them for as far as they could see.

“Where the fuck are we?” asked Bill, still seemingly in shock.

“Somewhere between Illinois and Iowa, the map is in the car..” said Theon casting a glance at the burning red mini van.

“Good, we have no phones, no map, no car, no food, no water, and no sign of human life,” said Bill laying back down “What more could we need!”

“But at least we have each other, and friendship is the cure to all hardship” Jasper sparked up, dramatically placing his hand over his heart and casting a loving gaze through his already bruising eyes. Jasper always used comedy as an escape from bad situations. He used it when he came to school with marks on his body from his drunken father, when he failed test after test in high school, and he was using it now. Jaspers humorous personality always pulled at the strings of Theon’s somber attitude, but he loved him for it. Life is too short to be serious all the time, something that Theon struggled with. The situation they were in at the moment was no joking matter though, thought Theon. Bill was right, they had nothing. Theon took back roads the whole time he was driving to avoid his anxiety ridden driving on the highways, and the chances that someone would drive by were slim. The three of them had taken this trip to escape society after their recent college graduations. They all agreed not to tell anyone they were leaving in hopes to completely escape their old lives, even if only for a week. Theon looked around at the barren fields and dark night sky with fear grabbing at his throat, and he realized that decision might have lead them to an early demise.

“Are we there yet?” Jasper asked, feet shuffling through the crushed stone on the side of the road. The three of them had been walking for hours now and there was no sign of human life. The sun had come up, and the summer sun was intense on their pale and beaten bodies. They were all exhausted, but Bill was the worse off than Theon and Jasper. Twice now he had stooped over, hands on his knees to vomit bright red blood. Morale was running low, and Theon was beginning to feel more hopeless by the second. They had survived the crash, but how would they continue to survive with no food or water? The beeping of the power lines was constant, but there was something comforting about the noise, something he didn’t quite understand. Theon cast a look back at Bill, now looking extremely pale, and struggling with every breath. He needed a break. Just as he was about to suggest they sit for a while a small farmhouse came into view. A rushing sense of relief shot through his body as the three of them increased their pace and marched to the front door, knocking violently. Theon could almost feel the water flowing down his gullet. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, but received no response.

“Oh fuck this” said Jasper, rushing forward and kicking the door.

The door didn’t budge.

Jasper geared up for another go when Bill slumped forward and turned the door knob, opening the door with minimal effort.

“Why would anyone this far in the buttfuck of nowhere lock their door” he said, followed by a coughing fit producing a puddle of blood in his hands. No one acknowledged it. It’s easiest to ignore the obvious when the reality is so hard to accept. Theon stepped through the doorway cautiously, peeking around at the seemingly abandoned house. He turned around to look at his friends, and gave them a shrug. Trespassing is an easy decision when the alternative is death.

Theon, Jasper, and Bill began scavenging the house. Room after room they encountered the same thing, emptiness. The kitchen had no food, the faucets ran dry. There was nothing. Theon sunk to his knees. There was no hope. They were going to die. Jasper came into view under the doorway to the kitchen. He was shaking, crying.

“Bill’s dead. He’s dead, Theon, and we’re next.” He slid down the wall, crying into his knees.

None of his sarcastic remarks would solve this desperation. Not this time.

“Jasper we need to keep walking. If we find another house maybe we can find someone to help us.”

“There’s no use Theon. Bill is dead. I am tired. We won’t last another day without water, and I’ll be damned if I let dehydration take me out.” Jasper took out the pocket knife he always kept with him. The one that his grandfather gave him just before he died. He had snuck it into school the day after he got it, showing off to Theon and vowing that he would use it to get back at his father. As Jasper flipped open the knife Theon couldn’t speak. A weight in his throat was suffocating him, pushing the air from his lungs as he watched Jasper drag the blade across his throat. Theon fell to the ground in shock. The beeping from the power lines grew louder until it filled his mind. A light engulfed him and the brightness blinded him. Theon felt cold, and then warm. The light started to fade and the beeping became more subtle as he looked around the hospital room he was laying in. He had a blaring headache, and his throat burned. He blinked away the last of the blaring light to find Jasper and Bill standing over him smiling.

“Jesus Theon we thought we lost you,” said Jasper “You’ve been out for days!”

“What happened?” asked Theon, lost for words.

“Car crash” said Bill matter-of-factly, “You’ve been in a coma for days”