Coma

Coma


Maik Kiam was comatose for a few days already due to a car crash. His chances of survival were not good, but the doctors tried their best. A nurse was sitting next to his bed, carefully watching the cardiograph....

It was one of the days when it just would not stop raining. Mike wandered around in New York like a confused mother cat searching for her kittens. Although it rained like cats and dogs, many people were outside watching TV on huge flatscreens. There was some random talkshow running and everyone seemed to be paralyzed by it.
"Hey, what's that talkshow about?"
"Oh, it's about pregnancy, abortion and becoming a grandma," a woman answered. Mike could not really believe this: "But, but...Ma'am you must be kidding. Those 2 girls in the show are just 11 and the so called 'grandma' is 28."
"To be honest...I don't really get it, too. I mean, come on there is nothing special about being pregnant with like 10 and abort the child. Everyone does that."
Maik did not really know what to answer. Was it just irony? Or wasn't it? He could not tell and he did not want to. He just went on seeking for something unknown.

A good-looking girl caught his attention. She seemed to be conceited and amiable at the same time. She was also watching TV.
"Er...Hey there! What are you watching?" he asked.
"Oh, c‘mon! This is Roma Swick. She is just fabulous!"
"Ah i get it. I guess she is an actress or a singer?"
"Damn fool, I suppose you really don't know Roma Swick. She likes to party!" "And...that makes her famous and fabulous?"
"Of course, she is so great. Last week she did not wear any panties when she got out of the car! That was so amazing."
"To me she seems to be more like an attention whore."
"Oh, how dare you. Never ever insult Roma Swick. She is a living legend!" The girl slapped him in the face and went away. Maik was shocked and somehow flat on his back. Then he heard a whispering voice from the narrow street: "Hey you, come over here!" Without thinking Maik just moved his feet towards the voice. "Don't worry, I ain't harming you man." the guy said.
"I was listening to your conversation and noticed that you seem to be different. Looks like you aren't from New York, eh? Anyway, my name is John"
"Well, I just came here today. The funny thing is that I do not even know how I came here. I'm from Oklahoma. Oh, and my name is Maik Kiam. My parents called me Maik, because that is Kiam spelled backwards. That's the only thing I remember."
"Maik, you are an odd one. But we all are in some way around here."
"We?"
"Just take a look around. Over there is Ken and to your left Cindie."
"Yop Maik."
"Hey fellows."
Maik wanted to know what all the talkshows and especially Roma Swick are about. "Some years ago things looked different. Nowadays only party and luxury count," John replied heartlessly.

All of a sudden Cindie asked Maik a question: "Hey Maik, would you use something to have fun and make life easier at present....if it made it worse or even ruined it in the future?"
The answer seemed to be quite easy to Maik, however, something hindered him to answer.
"Sharp's the word Maik! The question was not that difficult, was it?"
"Sure, it wasn't, but... no-one would do that. No-one would harm the world to have fun at present just to suffer later on! That's right, isn't it?"
"Don't ask me if you are right or not. You have to decide on your own."
"Cindie stop asking weird questions, please. Maik is new to New York. Give him some time," Ken denounced .
"You can shake down on our settee tonight Maik."
"Oh thanks a lot John. I do appreciate that offer."

Maik could not sleep that night. How did he come to New York? Why were the people on the streets so superficial and hostile? And on the contrary Maik and his friends were so warm-hearted and gentle. Furthermore Cindie's question gave him a difficult time. He was pretty sure that no single person on earth would do something like that. He tried to get over it to sleep some. At like 5 a.m. they woke Maik up. John was soaked with sweat and shouted: "We have to get outta here as fast as possible! Rush out guys! Now! Immediately!" He took Maik and pulled him out of the house.
"What is going on here?", Maik asked full of surprise.
"Enmity is incoming. They found out our location."
"Who the hell is 'Enmity'?"
"Enmity is a special underground force. Some kind of bounty hunters. They hunt you down to get you out of the state's system."
"State's system?"
"Ye, they don't want people like us around who refuse to be stupid spoiled whores. 99.9% of our inhabitants do not even know what our president is doing. They are busy watching his daughter dating other men on TV,“ Ken responded .
"So for now, please stop asking questions and move your ass before Enmity gets us!"
Being winded John just yelled: "Get down to the sewer system! They cannot locate us there!"
At 5.05 a.m., just five minutes after Maik and the others left the house, a troop of armed men entered the house.
"Guys, it is vital to realise that those rats need to die. Go find them and kill them. Now!"

Meanwhile in the sewer system:
"I start to remember things," said Maik. "I went out for a walk with my dog and then a car hit me. There is no denying that this here must be a dream. Enmity? Roma Swick? Hey come on, I never heard of any of those organisations or people."
Cindie raised a plea: "Maik, if you know it is a dream, how can you really be sure that it is a dream and not reality? Can you prove it?"
"Well, looks like I can't."
"Oh seriously could you stop nattering for just one second? I'm trying to find a way out of here." John appeared to be in an aggressive condition.
Cindie whispered: "Don't worry Maik, he is always like that if he doesn't get his so called medicine. He is addicted to some white crystal powder. To me it is a drug, nevertheless he doesn't care about my opinion, anyway."
"Cindie, shut up you moron," John bawled.
"Hey Cindie."
"Ye Maik?"
"I thought about your question. In my world people aren't like that. They never would use things
that are useful at present, but harm you in the future."
"Fooling yourself won't help it Maik. You just got used to it already. I'm sure the people in your society aren't that different. Trust me."
"Lunch time guys,“ Ken said in a happy way.
"I made this fantastic pasta! I'm sure you cannot resist. It is so yummy."
John was ignoring the others, still working on the plan.
"Ok here we go, after lunch we keep heading north to get out of New York. This way should be quite safe, since Enmity patrols only in the western and eastern region. If we went south we could encounter some other bounty hunters. I'm not up for killing any of them today, so we just avoid the trouble, go north and have a nice time for the rest of the day."
After lunch they headed north and left the canalization again in the assurance of being safe. As a rule Enmity never left the town to search for suspects. But things seemed to be different today. "Wait," Ken whispered. "Enmity, they are near. I smell them, their disgusting odour of faithlessness and blood."
"You must be wrong, I told you they never go north and we are not even in New York anymore."
"My nose cannot be wrong. It never is, John. And you know that for God's sake."
The silence lasted until one of the bounty hunters shot a bullet. It hit John in the right arm, causing it to bleed like a little cascade. Cindie started to cry: "We have to run. Get away. Else they kill us. We have to be fast. Run. Don't look back. Run. Don't stop. If you stop running, they will kill you!"
The leader of the bounty hunters was giving instructions to his troop: " Rush guys. Target J-X was successfully injured. One or two more shots and he is down. Guard all canalization entrances within a radius of 5km. Got that? Go!"
Maik and the others could escape into a forest north-east of New York.

"I cannot hold on any longer guys. This is my dream and you are ruining it!"
Cindie was surprised:"What do you mean by 'ruining it'?"
"You guys lured me to the narrow street, asking me silly questions, acting as if you were helpful people trying to be nice. And what did you do? I'm on the run for nothing. Only because I thought you were different. We got nothing in common. You are aggressive, addicted to drugs. Do you really think that you are better than any of those stupid spoiled whores? No way! Get that into your head and let me dream my dream!"
Maik took a knife and tried to stab Cindie. Before he could land the stab he was shot by John. "You don't get it douche bag. We fight for freedom. We try to help people. And you are simply selfish and pitiless. You, yes you aren't better than any of those weirdos around here."
"But, but I did not want to..."

"Dr. Hempson! Come fast. The cardiograph does not show any vital signs!" the nurse cried. The doctor came as fast as possible, but he could not do anything. "I'm sorry, but Maik Kiam has died."