Immunity Fire

Chapter 8

Night was falling. The wind was catching on while Alex and Zain had nothing to keep them warm. They were sitting by the beach side where things got colder knowing they are facing the cold blue ocean. Alex and Zain hardly said a word to each other; there was nothing to say but chattering their teeth and wrapping themselves into balls.

"I'm gonna go and get some firewood," Alex got up and left Zain behind.

"Please!" Zain begged with his chattering teeth. He hated that he had to wait; he wished that the firewood would come immediately, assuming it is going to take a while.

Alex walked deep into the jungle filled with webs and vines. It was so dark that he couldn't see what he was walking into or what he was stepping on. He constantly had to move plants out of the way as if he felt squashed with bushes and vines and trees; he couldn't help but touch everything around him, not knowing what they were. He accidently touched sharp trees and stepped into thorns whilst bare foot, they were sharper than needles, so sharp that Alex couldn't help but exclaim in pain. It was almost impossible to find firewood in this area. He was lost and didn't even know how he was going to get back to the beach.

Zain was tired of waiting. He got up and decided to take a sprint across the beach to heat up. Back in the Bronze City, Zain used to go for a jog every morning before Alex wakes up outside the town for half an hour before breakfast; he used jogging as an act of stress release for the day and was his only escape from reality. He panted and panted but he kept going and going until sweat was showering him all over his body. He never stopped; he kept going no matter how warm he was getting. He ran and ran until he came across a curious sight.

Zain froze with curiosity.

There were burned ruins of dead concrete. The sight was completely empty and seemed to be rather ancient. Zain decided to go and check it out.

Zain was shocked to see how sad it was to lose such a beautiful home as this. He imagined it to be a beautiful peaceful place filled with joy and happiness; until all hell broke loose. He saw burned skeletons surrounded by ash and dust and cobwebs all over them; it appeared as if these people were burned alive; the skulls had open jaws as if the last thing they did was scream until death finally took them. Bricks and stone walls were crashed on the ground and some have crushed many bodies. Zain felt like he just walked into the depths of hell where he was the only lifeful thing left there. Zain was breathing with terror through his chest. He couldn't help but feel terrified of what he was witnessing; he felt pity for what those people went through. What was even worse, some weren't only men, but also women carrying their children. He even saw the skeletons of animals near the dead doorways. Zain couldn't bare the sight of this any longer; without hesitation, he ran back to the beach; he sprinted as if death was chasing him.

Zain ran and ran hoping he could find the spot he was in before.

As Zain kept going, he was stopped by something frightful. A ginormous cheetah was flying across him as if it was being pushed away by an explosion. It fell hard into the sand and Zain couldn't help but notice that there were bloody scratches and marks over it. The cheetah lay there as if it grew tired. The scratches were so bad that there seemed to be a lesser number of spots on it whilst the rest were covered in blood and scars. The blood was even pouring down until it met with the sand. Zain screamed.

Suddenly, two leopards revealed themselves out of the darkness and were growling at the cheetah. The cheetah and the leopards were like the sizes of werewolves; larger than Zain that he seemed even more terrified than he should be. The leopards were white, and their spots were glowing with an unusual red. Zain froze and had no idea what to do. He didn't want to leave the cheetah for dead, nor did he want to fight the leopards. Zain took a knife and was prepared to fight. He was shaking intensely and was breathing loudly. He felt stupid, for he seemed to be preparing for his death.

The leopards, who were continuously growling at Zain, sneaked up towards him, preparing to pounce and attack. They got so close until they heard the sound of gunshots. The gunshots echoed so loudly at an unknown distance, that they began to startle the leopards and they ran away back into the darkness.

Zain approached the injured cheetah, squealing in pain. Zain didn't know what he could do.

The cheetah growled at him. Zain could tell that the cheetah didn't trust him.

"It's okay! It's okay! I'm here to help you."

The cheetah kept growling until its volume lowered down.

Zain had no idea what to do. He tried to quickly go into the jungle to find herbs, but he couldn't find any in the dark. He hasn't had his first Experimental Studies class yet; it's a class he shall have tomorrow afternoon after his Swordplay class. He panicked for the cheetah's life was in his hands. He couldn't think for his fear was too loud.

"I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do!" Zain was not calm; he was so anxious that he kept saying that to himself.

Until he decided to break one little rule, "Alex is starting to become a major bad influence on me," he thought. "I'm gonna get Mr. Troxley." He sprinted through the jungle without hesitation and he left the Demising Grounds.