Chapter Text
Before he even opened his eyes he knew something was wrong.
Taking a few moments between waking up and actually opening his eyes, he turned his attention inwards, trying to think. His brow wrinkled in concentration, trying to focus on information that was lacking him. That insufferable chirping noise from nearby wasn’t helping any either.
Birds, his brain supplied through the haze.
And even beyond that, some distant but loud roaring noise, repeated over and over again.
Cars. Highway.
Frowning, he tried once more to focus, yet yielded nothing yet again.
He knew birds.
He knew cars.
But he did not know himself.
Or, put more easily, he had no idea who he was.
When his eyes did finally crack open, the immediate effect was a harsh invasion of bright light that simultaneously blinded him and left him with a loud, ringing headache that perched just above his left eyebrow. His eyes quickly closed in a tight squint as he turned his face away, bringing his right hand to defend his sensitive eyes from the harsh light. Some crude form of a breath hissed in past his teeth in either disgust, or pain. Or, more likely, a combination of both.
After a few moments, he dared to open his eyes again. While the headache lingered, the light did not seem nearly as bright now and was even manageable without his hand blocking the sun beating down on him from above, provided he didn’t try to look directly at the glowing orb. The sun. The bright, blue sky stared down at him as he slowly forced himself upright, the his fingers digging into the grass under him. Ripping a few blades of grass away from their roots, he stared at the green plants accusingly before turning his attention to the items dispersed around where he was sitting.
Or, rather, the scattered remains of an unshakably familiar object whose gutted husk was resting on his lap.
Ignoring the wires and shards of metal resting in the grass, he lifted the reddish piece of scrap metal up, careful to avoid the large hole near the middle of the gun where a large hole had been punched through it. The jagged ends of metal around that area were no doubt sharp and he had no business sticking fingers or limbs anywhere near there. Looking the whole object over carefully, it took a few moments but he finally recognized it for what it was. Or, rather, what it had been.
Gun.
Wrapping his fingers gingerly around the grip of the weapon, he paused before slowly standing up, bringing the red gun up with him. Holding it in his hands felt…nice. Good. He could feel the relief welling up within him, even though he was absolutely sure the hunk of metal would likely never work with the level of mutilation it had suffered. Still, holding the frame in his hands gave him a sense of satisfaction and safety.
So what was the harm in bringing it along?
Holding the gun close to his chest like a security blanket, he looked around the large, flat field he had awoken in, half expecting but mostly wishing his brain would supply some detail. Anything. Any kind of lead, something he could work with. But no matter how he tried to wrack his brain, nothing came up. He couldn’t place this field at all as being familiar.
His grip on the gun tightened as he took in a breath. Right, okay. He could hear cars. That meant…people. Somewhere nearby at least. He could start there, try to get a map and look for any familiar locations. Listening for a moment, he turned slowly towards where he could hear cars in the distance before not-so-confidently placing one foot in front of the other. Once he got to civilization he could think of his next course of action. But for now in this unfamiliar place and not even a name to himself, he had to start small.
Baby steps.
Baby steps.