The Awakening

Hey, everyone! Wow! A whole month has gone by, and I am soon sorry I haven't made another post yet! That's right, there's definitely way more to come, and this story ain't ending just yet (from where we left off last that would be horrrible!). We still have yet to reveal the meaning behind our stunningly enigmatic name which is soon to come in another post or two. So...let's get rolling!


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“Hello! James! Can you hear me!”

Reluctantly, James opened his eyes. Only a groan escaped his lips. A headache was coming on, and his exhaustion was still looming around. 

“He’s waking up!” the medic said as they hoisted his stretcher into the helicopter. 

A sound of concern came quickly once the other medics saw his missing ligament. From then on he was in an incoherent daze from his anesthesia. That and the ride only made him more nauseous. He threw up, and soon he was put back to sleep to ease things out.

It was a good nine hours later before he woke up in a hospital back in the United States. His mind was clear and now he felt a lot better. Sitting up in his bed, he overheard the nurses talking in the corner. 

“Where did they find him?”

“Oh, he was lying against a log as if he had tried to get up. It was pretty lucky he did for behind that big thing and in the bushes would’ve made it almost impossible to locate him.”

A flashback hit his mind. The clearing. The burnt trees! He didn’t see or “find” his comrades! Where were they! 

“No, no no! Joe! Cole! Where are they!” Were they still alive??

One of the nurses quickly noticed his awakening. She swiftly walked to his bed and soothingly cajoled, “It’s all right. Calm down. There’s still quite a few discussions we need to have that can explain what happened.”

James slowly eased back into his pillow as the nurse took his blood pressure and other small measurements. “How are you feeling now?” she asked at the end.

“Pretty good,” he replied before thinking, “Of course not! You won't answer my question! And what does she mean by discussions?”

“That’s great. You’re very lucky to be in the condition you’re in. In fact you are pretty much ready to leave the hospital now!” the nurse smiled then continued, “As I said before, there are some required discussions you have to join in a different building which actually are all by G.U.L.E.A., and then for next week you need to schedule an appointment to get a prosthetic arm, but that can be saved for later.”

James looked over at his left shoulder plaintively where it ended, “Oh yeah—right,” he turned back over to his nurse, “What discussions are these and what happened to everyone else?”

“Well first your second question will be answered and then the others I’m not permitted to know!” the nurse chuckled warmly as she changed the subject, “As for the hospital skirt you’re in, G.U.L.E.A. has already sent in a brand new change of clothes so you can talk to them A.S.A.P. Here.”

She pulled the clothes out a shopping bag brought earlier by G.U.L.E.A. and set a pair of cargo pants, a light grey T-shirt, and a red leather jacket on the bed. They then walking our right after he had changed from his hospital-gown, before proceeding down towards the exit. For a while it felt strange trying to walk. Funny. He was totally fine just yesterday. Or wait, how long had it been? He asked the nurse and from there she was on about how it had been last night it happened and he had sleep all day till the late afternoon right now and how lucky he was to be in as good of condition as he was and from there she talked about how he lost an arm and had been exposed to radiation along with minor smoke inhalation both which he got medication for and would receive his prescription after coming back from his meetings. 

An automatic sliding door opened up and now they were exiting into a pickup-point. 

“Oh! Here we are,” the nurse said with a smile, “And I believe that’s your Uber coming in to take you.”

James looked over to the black BMW pulling in. Just before he slid into the luxurious seat, he thanked and waved goodbye to the nurse. She waved back and he shut the door. 

“Is this James Jordan?” the driver asked casually. 

“Yes it is,” James replied.

He sunk back and stared blankly in front of him. Boy was this different from what he expected. In just about 24 hours he had ziplined out of a helicopter, trailed through unexplored Amazon jungle, slept through a rainstorm, somehow ended up behind a log to fortuitously escape death by an unknown disaster, recovered in a hospital back in the US, and was now headed who-knows-where for a bunch of meetings with G.U.L.E.A. But still the nagging impression pulled tirelessly on him, what happened to everyone else?? He was told to be lucky, but what did that mean for the others? Faint images of the ash-covered trees, the barrenness, and no sign of the others. Perhaps the meeting would tell. 

He just had no idea that what was close ahead would change history and the world—perhaps even another world….