Heartbeat in the Ashes

Dante

The world returned in fragments.

Sound first, muffled, distant, like my ears were underwater. Someone shouting my name. Heavy boots crunching through debris. A car engine rumbling, too close, too loud.

Then smell, smoke, burning metal, diesel.

Then pain.

A brutal crushing weight on my ribs, sharp stones digging into my spine, heat licking the back of my neck like the breath of some demon. My