Hours later, Ren woke up with a cold sweat, gasping for air.
'A nightmare?'
Scenes continued to flash through his mind just to fade moments later; the memories of his past.
"No!"
A hoarse voice came out of his mouth as he tried to hold on.
Ren felt that it was important, that he shouldn't forgot. The feeling of sadness still clung to him, but he couldn't recall what it was from.
Ren tried his best to remember before it faded for good, but despite his best efforts he couldn't.
A chance to find out his past came and went.
"No..."
Ren said again but this time in a dejected tone.
Even more memories came to his mind, but this time it wasn't of the past Ren; it's what happened just hours ago.
Recalling what had happened earlier, Ren groaned. He didn't realize it then, but now...there was no way he survive anymore... his water was gone.
His limited time just became even shorter. It'd be a miracle if he even lasted one day without water.
Right now, the sun was at it's highest, making the air around Ren assault him with heat.
'No. I can't even last a couple hours in this heat.'
Since Ren was trying to ration the water, he only gave himself tiny sips to keep his body functioning, but he was starting to regret not drinking a little more. Even now, Ren's mouth was dirt dry, and it would only get worse.
His mind played through his death. Ren was going to die. Still he tried to come up with a solution that would make him survive.
If he stayed still, Ren might be able to last a couple more hours and then die.
Or...Ren could move further reducing his already little time.
If he stayed here, it would be all but impossible for someone to find him. Even if he saw someone right now, by the time they got to him, Ren would already be dead. So that left one option...
As fast as he could, Ren would search for someone. It was a gamble, but it was better than nothing.
Thinking the plan over once more, he decided to leave the bag behind. Although useful, right now it was nothing but deadweight. Similarly, Ren also decided to strip of his shirt. He did this not because of the weight but because of the heat. Even if he got sunburnt, anything that caused him to sweat would have to go — well anything that was not below the waist. Even if he was found, if it were naked, Ren would almost rather die.
Taking a couple pieces of jerky, Ren started walking.
There wasn't much for him to do while walking. A game would slow him down too much, and thinking too much could indirectly use more water. So in the end, Ren just counted. He counted to when he thought he would die.
'2 hours.'
Knowing how much time he had left would also give him the general idea of what pace he should be at. This was what Ren deemed the most productive thing he could do at the moment.
*
'5546...5547...5548...'
Time went by slowly. The dehydration caused Ren the pain to grow.
'5549...5550'
He had just shy of the thirty minutes left, and still no sign of anything much less anyone. Ren wanted so badly to give up and live his last half hour without pain, or as least amount as possible. But, he persisted. In just thirty minutes, whether he was saved or not, the pain would be gone anyways.
Ren would probably be crying right now if he could spare the tears. Despite only be alive for a couple of days, he didn't want it to end like this.
Maybe he should of just died fighting that centipede. At least that would be cool, unlike dying from thirst.
'5597...5598...5599...5600'
Death drew closer.
No longer wanting his eyes to be in pain from the constant attack of the sun's light reflecting off the white terrain, Ren closed his eyes. And maybe that's why he heard it...
-clang
It was so faint that at first Ren thought he was hearing things.
-clang
Until it happened again.
-clang
And again.
It sounded like a clash between metal.
'People?'
It could've been other people or it could be something even scarier than what Ren ran into previously. Either way, it didn't matter to him.
Trying to pinpoint the sound he focused on it, he heard it to his right.
Ren looked over his shoulder seeing nothing. Still he ran, ignoring the pain. He had no time to waste.
Judging that it was too far away to see but just close enough to hear Ren had a chance in making it on time.
Five minutes passed by before he could see what the sound was coming from. To his horror, it was another monster, a crab-like behemoth.
It was dark in color with two spikes as hands and six more for legs. The spikes covered it's shell too, leaving Ren to wondered what could possibly be fighting that.
But there was still a chance of humans.
Another five minutes, passed then ten, and Ren finally saw them. A group of six people attacking the monster.
"Oppr eerr!"
Ren tried to shout waving his hands in the air, but his mouth wouldn't listen and only weird sounds came.
'Please. Please hear me.'
"OPER EAR!!!!"
He yelled again but to no avail. The sounds of metal against carapace were too loud.
As more time past he waved and screamed, yet he still couldn't catch their attention.
Ren's run slowed back to a limp. His pain skyrocketed and he threw up blood. Even taking a breath cause him to flinch in pain.
Soon even his legs gave out as he collapsed to his knees. Ren's skin looked to be on the verge of burning. His heart felt weak.
Ren's body gave up.