Another World

Chapter 8

He held my hand and flew dragging me behind him, taking the same direction I did, a few minutes ago. He knocked down some of the guards blocking our way. I always thought those jelly creatures were impossible to fight. If their elastic, wiggly skin is practically impossible to tear apart or break, then how can any enemy attack and hurt those creatures and eventually win over them?

Plus, it seems that they can form any tool or weapon with their own body! I notice some of them forming different kinds and sizes of guns with their bare hands or tentacles or whatever they are. I really don't want to know how these weapons work!

We sprint from one room to another. We encounter some other jellies on our way, but the boy always manages to get rid of them with the same scripted moves each time. It looks as if he knew exactly where to hit them. Yes, he knew their weakness.

"How do you do that?" I ask panting with a heavy breath.

"Do what?"

"Kill the guards."

"I don't kill them; I deactivate them" he pauses for a moment then continues to speak "The eyes" he points at one of his eyes "Target the eyes it's the only way to deactivate their program. I'll teach you later. Let's at the moment focus on how to get out of here alive!"

We continue to run my hand clutched to his, squeezing it as hard as I can. I hope he doesn't mind. After several minutes, we reach a hallway with dark rooms to our right. Our eyes scan each area we encounter, hoping to find a good place to hide, but it seemed hopeless. All the rooms were vast, simple and clear. The walls were stark white, and there were very poor furniture.

Some of the guards behind us started aiming at us rather than at the ceiling which was maybe a warning or a chance for us to surrender before they start hurting us. Indeed, their targets became more precise. We miss some close calls, and at some point bullets were flying all over the place. The bullets had a spherical shape with hairlike structures above them, and some acidic juice stuck to them.

Then, another group of guards with guns appear at the end of the hallway blocking the way. I started to panic. I wish I would wake up and find out all of this was a dream. I am a person who would prefer to escape the real problems rather than face them and go with the flow like the boy next to me who seems so calm and prepared.

And before I knew it one of the bullets found its way right into my leg, sending fireworks through all my body.Sunken in the fleshy part of my left leg, the bullet caused some damage turning the color of my jeans crimson red. Slowly, I started loosing control of my leg, as if it wasn't part me of me anymore, until it became completely paralyzed. Now, I had a motionless, nonfunctioning, useless leg dangling behind me. One of my hands is leaning on his shoulder for support and the other is vibrating in the air helping me keep my balance as I hop helplessly trying to keep my distance from the attackers.

The thought of having a bullet in my leg disturbed me. The thought of not being able to walk again haunted me.

But that is in the future Ruby! And the future depends on what happens now! It's in being here now that's important. There is no past, and there is no future. All there ever is, is the now. All depends on the now. We can always look forward into the future, but do we know if there is one?

Don't use the future to escape the present... just focus on the now.

Somehow that voice inside my head was right, and I had to keep on going.

I continued jumping making more effort with every jump, but the method we were using was so slow and would only lead us to failure.

The boy seemed to have figured out a faster way of escaping. Without hesitation, he lifts me from the ground and starts running. Then, he enters a narrow path with a metal door at its end. He enters some digital passcode, and the door opens. The door reveals a huge room full of strange machines and outlandish inventions. He enters another set of numbers on a keyboard found on one of the tables and the wall on my right starts moving backwards exposing a large opening between it and the wall opposing it. That area is real dark, but it seems a good escape.