There are many questions in human life that we ask ourselves.

  Each question varies depending on the subject. Sometimes, the questions are urgent, and others are more superficial. I have a question for myself, and the answer eludes me as time passes.

  The urgency of such a question was at its highest demand.

  Am…. Am I dying?

  I lay here on the cold floor. It wasn’t the average floor of a standard home but the cold snow of a forest floor, and I felt as if I was close to taking my last breath.

  My head was throbbing; I could feel my body ache. A strange liquid flowed around me, covering the snow in its putrid red coloring. I raised my hand to my face to see what this liquid was.

  I realize here that my eyesight is blurry, yet I can still comprehend what my hand is dipped in. It was stained red with my blood. I can feel pain radiating from other places in my body. I ran my hand over them to assess what damage I had suffered.

  The back of my skull was most likely cracked. I could also feel throbbing from my side and placing a hand there… I felt a wound. Was I attacked? My memories are foggy. I can’t remember the entire day or why I was in this cold forest. I can’t dwell on that; I needed to get off the snow and patch myself lest I bleed out.

  At this point, I could feel myself becoming woozy. The blood loss was surely getting to me as the hour went on. I applied pressure to the wound so that the bleeding would cease or hold for a moment.

  I remember faintly that I was with another person. Where, though, I am uncertain. The throbbing pain in the back of my head made it hard to focus on such memories. This could have been a trip of some kind. Possibly a vacation trip up north. It definitely couldn’t be a camping or hunting trip. It was too cold to even think about the former, and this area was unknown to me to be the latter.

  The various sounds of the nightlife and the biting winter cold were too distracting to continue that train of thought. It could wait once I figured out how to escape my current predicament. At the least, there was no blood flooding my lungs—a small victory, to be sure, but one I’ll take as it stands.

  I needed to move; my legs felt oddly numb. How long have I been lying here? Unsure of the answer, I could feel my fingers and toes wiggling as I commanded them to move. The numbness left slowly, but I needed to get moving now!

  I don’t trust myself to stand appropriately. Phantom pains were running through my entire being. My best bet is to crawl, so even if it pained me to move, I flipped myself to my stomach. I am very grateful to have all my winter clothes on. These gloves kept my hands warm and allowed me to grip this snow and ice-covered ground properly.

  Crawling to safety reminded me back to my days as a child. Back then, I crawled around pretending to be an army man like my father. Even though I never enlisted and decided to take a different path in my career, he never showed disappointment in my choices. I miss the old goat. I hope he is watching over me now and praying for my survival. There’s a tree ahead of me that is as thick as it is tall—a perfect place to get my bearings.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Was I climbing that mountain? With this winter fog, just trying to see the top was hard enough. Maybe I was already at the top and had been shoved off. That being attacked theory was starting to sound more likely.

  Focus!

  I always tended to be a scatterbrain. Turning my head, I noticed one of the trees in front of me was within proper reach. Using it as leverage, I managed to get into a sitting position.

  Dear lord! There was a sharp pain in my side. I didn’t think moving like that would hurt. I held my side, feeling an increase in the blood flow.

  My rash decision to get up quickly was the wrong move.

  It’s best to improvise then.

  Opening my coat, I grabbed the hem of my shirt with both hands before using my waning strength to rip a piece of it off. My attire contained several pockets and pouches. Looking through them, I tried my best to find anything useful.

  A hunter’s knife was my first find. I kept that out in my lap just in case I needed it to defend myself—a small bottle of water and a granola bar. At least I won’t dehydrate or starve. It won’t last me much.

  A compass! That’s… Well, in my current situation, it’s not terrible. I placed it back in the pouch it came from so I could search my back pockets.

  It was here that I felt my hope rise. Rubbing my fingers over the item’s texture, I verified my belief in what it was.

  Gauze.

  It was only when I pulled it out that my hopes were shattered, if only slightly. There was barely enough wrapping here to go over my body more than twice! Not enough to cover my whole wound.

  It would have to do, though. Lifting my shirt, I held the cloth I had torn and pressed firmly before wrapping what I could of the gauze around me.

  Surprised, I was to notice that I could wrap it around at least three and a half times. Luck was on my side, at least for the moment. At any rate, the wound is covered, and I could relax better.

  Moving my shirt back down and buttoning up my coat to keep warmth, I rested my head against the tree. Life always enjoyed throwing fastballs at me when I least expected it.

  I grabbed the water bottle and the granola bar. I needed to conserve these so I had enough to give my body energy. I sipped the water, enough to wet my mouth and clear my throat of dryness. I took a piece of the granola bar to have enough for later.

  After putting both back in the pouch, I decided it was best to get up and move. I wish I could rest right here, but knowing what type of wildlife could be out there made me rethink that. I needed to find a better place to make camp.

  Grabbing the knife, I used the tree to help me stand. It was a complicated process, considering my legs still ached, but I managed it.

  Then… I felt disturbed, and a foreboding feeling washed over me. The wind had all but stopped, and the howling of wolves could no longer be heard. These changes…

  Do not sit well with me.

  What was that?! A rustling from the bushes. My head swerved left. Right! Its movement sounded like it was coming from every direction! Then I heard another sound, one that made me shiver.

  Growling. That could only mean one thing.

  My eyes landed in front of me. Hiding within the bushes were amber eyes staring into my own. My breath hitched as the owner of those eyes stepped forward.

  The wolf was crouched low, stalking me. I spotted two others doing the same from the corner of my eye. Hunger filled their gaze. Their snouts set into a snarl as a way to intimidate me.

  Considering my current condition, it was working.

  My muscles were tense. The knife was clenched between my fingers. My fight-or-flight response was going crazy. The knife in my hand rose to my side, and the other hand clenched into a fist.

  I am too injured and weak to run, but I’ll be damn if I become food to the wild beast. The beasts in question snapped their jaws and came forth.

  And I was ready.