The one thing he didn’t see much of was blood, or some gruesome viscera spread across the highway. The animal even had a helmet, which had insulated its head from the crash. "Shit. You're not a deer. Where the hell did you come from?"

The animal reacted. It turned its head up towards Eric, fixing him with huge, intelligent eyes. "H-help... me."

It took Eric's brain several seconds to process what he had just heard. The voice wasn't human exactly, but his words were so clear! "I must be imagining things," he muttered to himself. "You can't be talking to me." Eric dropped to one knee beside the animal, just over his head. "If you're alive, say something."

The animal groaned, shifting his legs under him. He managed to extend one leg further than the others, pointing off into the gloom. "Book. Can't... help..." He slumped to the ground seconds later. Whether dead or just unconscious, the darkness and pouring rain did not make it easy to say.