Last One's Standing

Chapter 2 (9), Season 2 - Smoke and Flames

            James was the first to awaken. His eyes shot open the very moment he felt the blazing heat and smoke on his body. He was groggy, confused at first. He unzipped the tent and looked outside, all around their camp fires were raging throughout the entire forest. Everything was engulfed in flames. Everything. The midnight sky stars were blacked out with the smoke of the raging fires. He could already tell that he was getting lightheaded from the smoke so he ripped a piece of fabric off of his tent and made a grey bandana. He went back inside and woke Karly up. He shook her vigorously until she too awoke. He briefed her on the situation and instructed her to salvage as much as possible. James coughed through the smoke and made his way to the middle of the small campsite. He then proceeded to raise his gun and fire it three times in a row to wake everyone up. Once he heard and saw movement in the tents as people started to panic in confusion he started explaining what was going on. Rather loudly.

          "EVERYBODY GET THE %$#& UP NOW!" He screamed as he clapped for extra loudness. Soon enough everyone was running around and salvaging as much as they could as the fires circled them. Jack was about to run for the guitar which was left outside before James stopped him.

                 "We have no time! We have to go, We have to leave!" He coughed through the smoke as he pulled Jack back. The flames circled them. It was now or never. They were all back to back in a circle, each unaware of what to do. Due to the smoke and flames nobody could tell which direction they were going. It was all happening so suddenly, nobody really knew what was happening or why. Suddenly, due to all the noise Groaners came from the forest. They walked through the flames, completely unaffected by their skin being on fire. James fired at them, headshot, headshot, shoulder, miss. Then he had to reload. Not a good time as the one he shot in the shoulder and missed came at him. He didn't have enough time to get his Knife out so he pushed it back by the shoulders into Karly's line of sight where she fired right through the side of the temple and through the brain.

       "T-The Lake!" Jessica coughed as she covered her mouth with her arm.

       "Which way!?" Jack yelled over the roaring flames. At this point each one of them had weapons out, if not a gun, a knife or in James' case his fire axe which he managed to retrieve. Hannah tried to listen for the sounds of the white waters but it was hard to hear over everyone screaming and the sounds of the roaring flames. She tried her best but she couldn't spot it. The flames circled them more but there was a small opening, just none of them knew if it was worth the risk until suddenly Judas appeared in the untouched pathway. They couldn't hear him but they all saw him ushering them to follow him. Good thing they did because the moment they started running a tree fell and crashed onto their tents. The tree sent ash and flames up into the black sky. All of their lives depended on some people they met just 24 hours ago. They had no other choice so they ran for it. They pushed down Groaners as they ran. Judas, Mary and the other two lead them to the water where they would have to escape. They made it to the shore without being separated.

            "Everyone grab each other's hands!" Jessica yelled as they ran into the cold waters. They did, everyone was holding onto each other so the water wouldn't separate them. They were all one line. They walked into the waters to be quickly swept away in the current. They all got soaked instantly, they would have to let the water take them until they could get somewhere safe. James and Eric, the physically strongest carried the backpacks, Jessica carried one too because of how good of a swimmer she was. They all drifted down the white waters trying to grasp for a breath whenever they could. James, who was most likely the best in life or death situations was fortunately at the front. They flew roughly through the white waters as trees burned and fell around them. It was a terrifying situation for the entire group. Each and every one of them got cut up and scrapped by rocks and branches in the water. They all managed to avoid getting serious injuries until right before the waters started slowing down Charles was sent underwater and while he tried to resurface at the wrong time, smacking his forehead off of a thick branch which was overhanging. He was knocked out cold, but luckily Jack and Hannah realized quickly and grabbed his wrists. Now the real problem was keeping him above water and breathing air. Luckily the water started to slow, but still with the amount of people they had and destructive things going on it wasn't really an upgrade. A few people realized what was happening and tried to help as much as possible but nothing really worked. After 5 more minutes of being carried by the current they reached the opening of the Lake. Fortunately, the fire had not reached there yet. They were now able to break off and swim for shore. After about a minute of swimming they landed on the shore.