Michael was trapped, he felt his chest being slowly crushed by the weight of the vehicle on top of him. His memory was fuzzy, all he remembered was a truck barrelling across the wrong side of traffic. He had tried to move his own car to avoid a head-on collision, but alas. His ears rang, numbness seeped through his body. It was hard to focus, his head felt like it was falling off his own body.

With great difficulty, Michael was able to remove whatever part of his vehicle was putting pressure on his chest. However, he wasn’t conscious enough to keep the piece of metal off of him for long. He tried his best to slide out through the driver’s side window, which had been utterly destroyed. Michael was able to remove most of his body, but before he could maneuver his arm out of the way, his strength gave out.

The scrap that had been crushing his chest now slammed on his left arm. He screamed loudly, the pain more intense than anything he had ever felt. It was as if his forearm had been forced to endure the weight of a hydraulic press. Michael squirmed in pain, his body scraping across the asphalt. He pulled, twisted, turned, and did everything possible to free his forearm, but it was no use. He called for help, yet no onlooker seemed to be present.

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Through his pain, Michael noticed fuel leaking out of his car, as well as a light flame that came from his engine. Fear and panic set in, his heart rate spiked, he had to free himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, using his teeth to uncurl the blade. Michael gritted as he stared at his forearm, placing the edge up to his skin. He sliced, stabbed, picked, and completely destroyed the flesh surrounding the bone, all while letting out an ear-piercing wail. All that remained connected was the bone itself.

Michael, somehow still conscious from the adrenaline, placed his arm up against a piece of metal, used the leverage, and snapped the bone with great force. The pain was too much to comprehend, causing Michael to pass out, unable to move any further.

It felt like seconds, but he was awake once more. Someone was pulling him away from the destroyed vehicle. Huffing was heard behind him, “Why…why did you…do that to your arm?” said the man pulling him. Michael’s eyes fluttered open as sharp, violent pain entered his mind. “Car…going to…explode…fire…gas,” he muttered softly. “What? No, there’s no fire, what are you talking about?”

As Michael’s eyes returned to the scene, he noticed that the man was right, there was no fire from the engine, only smoke, and no leaking gas could be seen either. In his panicked, shocked state, his brain had betrayed him, made him see things that weren’t there. “Dammit…” Michael whispered as he looked at the bloody stump that was once his arm, drifting into unconsciousness.