Collapse: The New Blackout Time Travel Novel

Chapter 2

'Swann, Swann can you hear me?'

The voice was soft and somehow hushed but in the darkness he could not focus on the source. It was female and somehow familiar, the accent felt most familiar. The way her tongue rolled certain letters as she once again tried to draw him back from unconsciousness.

'Swann, I need your help.' There was a pain in her voice, she was struggling to breathe. 'Please wake up.'

As if responding to the plea Swann felt himself pulled toward a speck of light in the blackness of his mind until the light consumed him. Blinking back against the harsh sunlight that poured into his contracted pupils Swann tried his best to focus on the world around him.

Inch by inch things came into focus as he shielded his eyes from the light. Concrete walls surrounded him on all sides and his clammy skin felt the tickle of a cold breeze. Seeking the source of the breeze Swann rubbed at his dry eyes and forced himself to focus.

At first the concrete walls loomed over him but as he moved his head, he saw a row of windows, or more accurately frames devoid of glass. A sheet of torn plastic fluttered in the breeze which once again chilled his skin.

'Where am I?' He asked through dry lips. 'I don't recognise this place.'

'You won't,' Catalina offered in reply and waited for Swann's attention to turn to her.

Whatever grogginess hung over him evaporated in an instant when he saw Catalina. Her appearance had always been one of feline prowess and strength, yet now she looked pale and beaten. Her right eye was bruised and a smear of blood stretched from her temple down to her chin.

'What's happened to you?' Swann barked as he shuffled across the rough floor.

Catalina's breaths were ragged, and she still held her bloodstained hands against her stomach. Her skin looked pale, hair matted and clothes torn and dirt-stained. She looked nothing like the woman he had last seen when they had exited victorious from the burning Tempus facility.

'Long story,' she wheezed, finishing with a gurgling cough. 'Before I try to explain I think I need a little help.'

Catalina lifted her hands from her stomach and straight away Swann saw the cause of her drained appearance. Beneath her hands Catalina had been pressing against a long jagged wound that stretched from her left side around to beneath her navel.

The wound was deep and oozed blood but everything that should be inside had remained that way.

'Who did this?' Swann quizzed as he looked around for something to press against the gash.

'My rucksack, over there.'

Catalina pointed a blooded finger towards a makeshift sleeping area. Someone had piled a sleeping bag and basic supplies in the corner to the side of which sat a large rucksack. Moving with haste Swann fought against the dizziness of his sudden movements and retrieved the bag. Dropping it down beside Catalina he rifled through the contents until he found a large first aid kit in the bottom.

Unzipping the tactical pouch Swann found what he was looking for and opened the large dressing with his teeth. Unravelling the bandage and gauze he pressed it against the wound and pressed Catalina's hands back into position.

'I can't do anything about that, you need a hospital or a doctor.'

'No,' Catalina coughed. 'It's not too deep, there's some surgical glue in there, it just needs closing is all.'

'You could get an infection.' Swann argued, unconvinced by her simplistic answer.

'There's no time,' her voice sounded weaker and her eyes were closing. 'Antibiotics, in the box, just clean it and glue it.'