Metalocalypse: Impending Doom

Chapter Fourteen: Skwisgaar

Skwisgaar's scalp felt like it was on fire. It probably was, since he had opened his eyes to flames inching dangerously close to his face. He struggled to move but something had him pinned down, preventing him from moving. He watched as his room filled with heavy black smoke, his most prized possessions withering and falling apart right before his eyes, and his shattered guitar becoming consumed by the fire. Yet his thoughts were not consumed with his material possessions in the heat of the moment, but rather...

Toki. Skwisgaar immediately craned his neck to see if he could find the other man, but found that he couldn't without pain shooting down his body and he winced. Still, he forced his hands to scrabble desperately against the wood that was pinning him and shoved against it, burning his hands in the process.

Skwisgaar hissed and dropped the burning wood for a moment so he could regather himself, then attempted to try again, using all his strength to fling it off of him. There was blood on his chest and it just reminded him of the day they had been attacked. Skwisgaar gritted his teeth, holding his stomach as he pulled himself into a sitting position. His head still burned, and his eyes watered as smoke obscured his vision.

The Swede attempted to open his mouth to call for his friend and only managed to choke on floating debris. His lungs burned heavily and it hurt to breathe or even move. After a small coughing fit, he tried scooting toward the door, seeing visible light pouring in that way. His arm had caught fire at some point and he slapped at himself, trying to put himself out. The pain in his head was pure agony, and his lungs screamed for proper air.

Skwisgaar found himself on his hands and knees, slowly crawling across the floor, watching blood and spit drip onto it. He was a mess and probably looked even worse than he felt, if that were even possible.

Suddenly distant footsteps seemed to approach, and Skwisgaar immediately held out a hand for help, before fully collapsing to the ground. Hands grabbed the back of his shirt and began to pull him upward so that they could wrap a more secure arm around his waist, and half-dragged, half-carried the man out of the burning room. His hands gripped the other's shirt, and couldn't help but cough and hack into their chest. They patted his back in response and kept pulling until the light had reached his face, forcing his burnt eyes shut.

Skwisgaar was gently placed on the cool floor and the person that had pulled him out collapsed next to him, panting and coughing. He forced an eye open, peeking to see Salem's ash-stained face looking worn out. A flash of red hair and pale skin flew past his face and then Salem was suddenly smothered by a very obviously worried Pickles.

It felt like the world around Skwisgaar was glitching; everybody moved impossibly slowly, and then they were right there in front of him, asking questions that he didn't hear and probably wouldn't know the answer to anyway. Then they were gone once more but also seemed to be walking in place, until right next to him again, patting his burning skin with something that made him flinch.

"Tok-" Skwisgaar tried but his voice got caught in his throat. All he could taste was blood and ash. His mouth was dry and yet the back of his throat was slick with phlegm. He coughed a few more times and tried again, but this time no sound came out at all.

"Shhh," A voice beside Skwisgaar made him flinch. "He's safe, he's bein' sent to da medical bay. Where yew need ta go, tew."

Skwisgaar couldn't help but sigh in relief, before he collapsed back onto the ground. He immediately lost all energy when he realized he didn't have to fight for consciousness anymore; everyone was seemingly okay. Pickles was clinging to Salem as they were treated for minor burns, Tobias being the one to apply some of these treatments with the help of a mentor, and he could even see Murderface wandering back and forth to talk to various Klokateers, helping them put out the fire- and Salem quickly explained to the guitarist that Nathalia and Nathan were the ones that had taken Toki to the hospital area.