Almost Dead

He'd left me to die.
There was no mistaking that. What with me waking up half clothed in the middle of the woods in the pouring rain...yah. There was no mistaking that Mike had tried to kill me. Unfortunately for him though. He'd failed. I could feel the wound on my neck, and it hurt to breathe, but he'd just knocked me out, not actually killed me. And for that, that I was grateful. I wasn't ready to die yet.
Cautiously, a hand to my throat to cover the wound. I sat up, working to breathe calmly, though I was failing miserably at it. It was dark. I was freezing. And I had no idea where I was. A forest? I thought I could hear water nearby, but with the cloud cover and the rain. I had no idea how close I was to anywhere. Shivering, sniffling, and trying to not faint again, I pushed myself up to my feet and made myself as decent as I could. I needed shelter and quick. I may not be able to make a fire or find civilization in the darkness, but surely I could find a tree to hide under until the sun rose. Wobbling in my steps, I cautiously felt my way barefootedly through the undergrowth. Hand blindly outstretched searching for a branch or something that would indicate that I was close to a tree trunk. Oh, and definitely head away from trickling water. I didn't need to stumble into a river and get carried away.
It took me a while. Mostly because I had to fight blacking out again and being upright was difficult in my condition. Whatever Mike had done after I'd fainted, it hadn't been gentle. I felt bruised all over.
I gritted my teeth, finally taking cover under a tree, shivering against the rough trunk. He wouldn't get away with this.

And he didn't.
It was a day and a half before I heard voices yelling out my name.
Turns out I'd been unconscious for almost 24 hours before the rain had woken me up.
But I'd been found. I had to stumble to them, unable to cry out because of the slash on my neck. But oh. The warm blanket. The smiles of relief that the searchers had found me alive. The cries and hugs from my family when I was reunited. It felt good to be back.
And it felt even better to write Mike's name down for the officer. Sealing his prison fate as the one who'd tried to kill me.

Because I...I was a survivor.

-Inspiration from watching Swamp Murders