Two or three guys approached us with pistols drawn. If we moved, we'd be shot. Suddenly, the leader started shooting those around me for no apparent reason. He noticed my expression and smiled. "You gonna move?"

He laughed and shot someone next to me. Their body fell and rolled a ways down the hill. He started moving again... closer toward me. He shot another person and they fell to the ground. The air was thick with fear. If I moved, I would be shot... then again, if I just stood there, I'd be shot as well. I didn't want to die. No one dared to move.

As he neared me, I leapt at him and grabbed the gun. We both fell to the ground and wrestled for the weapon as we rolled down the hill toward the trees. The gun went off twice, hitting me in the right shoulder and side.

The gun went off once again. I got him through the head.

Everything was quiet as I stood up. The guy's followers had vanished and the surviving group stared down the hill as I turned the gun around and held it by the barrel. It was difficult to walk back up the steep hill and, as I approached, I could see everyone's expressions... they needed to know.

I held up the gun and looked at my feet. "He's dead."

They cheered.

Blackout.

The survivors of the group were gathering in some sort of office not far from the hill. There was a tall bank counter along one side of the wall with plexiglas windows that could slide shut if that position was closed. The counter was so tall that I had to stand on tiptoe in order for my chin to come even with the ledge.

As each person entered the office, they stood in a line. The secretary, who was on the phone to 911, looked at me and I told her their name and how they were injured. Toward the end, I was having difficulty remembering their names and had to turn and ask them before relaying the information to the secretary. I never mentioned my own injuries.

Blackout.

Ambulances had arrived, but not enough to take everyone to the hospital. They were trying to find other vehicles that could take less critical cases in. An elementary teacher pulled up a minivan and folded down some of the seats in the back. This was to be the last ride to the hospital so I climbed in and collapsed in one of the seats. The lady didn't believe I was injured but she didn't have time to force me back out of the van... since there were others who actually needed to get to the hospital.

She gave me a rude look and started driving. I dazed out in the seat... I was starting to feel very, very tired.

Blackout.

I was in a strange building... I think it was supposed to be the hospital, but it looked more like one of those old downtown office buildings that are connected to a huge parking garage....

At first, I was in the waiting room, but then I was suddenly in another room... some sort of examination room that doubled as the doc's office.

The doc was speaking to a patient and I don't think I was an actual character in the dream at this point because neither doctor nor patient seemed to notice me suddenly standing in the room.

All the lights were out except those from the x-ray board on the far wall. The patient's right hand was the size of an infant's because, for some reason, it had never grown. His arm was a normal size out to the wrist and then, on the end, was a fully functional miniature hand.

The doctor did... something... can't remember what. Suddenly, the guy's hand [and part of his arm] was filled with a bluish liquid which glowed as if it were under blacklight. His hand was the size of an adult hand, but the "skin" was transparent and I could see the tiny hand's bones inside starting to grow to fill the newly designed adult hand. After many weeks of this, his hand would eventually look like a normal hand.

...but that wasn't all.

Suddenly, the man was gone and a cat was sitting calmly on the examination table. Its tail swished lazily back and forth and it looked like a perfectly normal housecat... except, it was lacking a head.

Once again, the doctor fiddled around with something and suddenly there was a transparent "head" filled with a glowing bluish liquid. Inside, I could see the spine slowly regenerating and, as with the man's hand, after many weeks of treatment, the cat would eventually have a new head.

Blackout.

I was walking down the stairs to get to the ground level. They were metal and covered in chipped white paint. They echoed and clanged as I descended. I pushed open the door at the bottom and left.

Blackout.

I was standing in an empty elementary school hallway. The sudden feeling of pain and weight let me know I was once more a character and not some mere figment. My legs gave way under me and I fell forward onto the floor.

It was at this point that I realized I was younger than when this little adventure had started. In fact, throughout this whole dream, I had slowly started getting younger and younger. At this point, I was about the age of a 5th grader.

However, I still had two serious bullet wounds that needed looking after. I was too exhausted to stand, so I pulled myself slowly against the wall with my legs as I counted the closed doors. I had never been to this school before, but I knew which door led to the school nurse's office.

Blackout.

There was a waiting room and a woman sitting in one of the plastic chairs staring at me as I pulled myself in along the floor. This wasn't a nurse's office... it was a pediatric doctor's office.

I couldn't move... couldn't speak. It felt like I was in a vacuum and even thought required energy I no longer had. I was dying. I could feel it.

The woman laughed... thinking I was playing a game.

The doctor came out from a back room and turned me over.

The woman stopped laughing.

...and I woke up.