He lurched upright, panic blighting his thoughts. This is what it’s like to be dead, he thought: no heartbeat, no breath of life. A terrible silence filled the cavity of his chest, like a void. He had been asleep for several hours on a cot in one corner of the house. Crickets chirruped outside a window nearby. It was hard to believe, listening to the sounds of nature, that he’d see nothing but desolation if he raised his head to look outside. No heartbeat, no breath of life. Am I even alive? Slowly, deliberately, he once again sucked air into his lungs. It heaved his chest out and he felt a nitrate-like rush, expanding like a bubble through his brain. He exhaled again. In, then out – after several seconds Kendrick didn’t have to think about it any more. He could feel his hands shaking, his thoughts clear and adrenalin-tinged. Kendrick looked down again at the fine threads coating his skin.
