I SURVIVE (#Wattys2017)

CHAPTER 17

*New and Improved Version*

The very first thing I saw after standing on the cliff was a fastened zip line to a tree's trunk. Behind me, Tatum grunted as she struggled with the climbing. "If I ever need to climb walls again," She grumbled. "Trust me; I will die right on the spot!"

The tree with the secured zip line was planted at the cliff's edge which overlooked a narrow canyon below. When I was leaning for a better view on the other side of where we stood, I felt tiny spiders were crawling on my back to neck. The land on the other side was thick with fog and there was no knowing whether dangerous living things were hiding in there. But Tatum seemed like she did not care. She was holding the line and nodded to me.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll see you there."

And with that, she zipped down by the line, wearing leather gloves to prevent burnt skin, as her red hair vanished into the thick, ghost-grey, crawling fog. To people who do not understand her behavior, they would think that she is crazy revealing herself towards an unpredictable circumstances. However, it seemed normal to me.

My palms were sweating right this minute as I held the line tightly. I took several deep breaths while ignoring the fact that I might pass out while dashing across. It sounded deadly enough to anyone. A light bulb clicked above my head unexpectedly. I tied my left wrist to the line with a rope in case I did faint to avoid falling down into the narrow canyon. 'That's a smart step!' I said to myself as I proudly beamed. After that, I kicked off and slid down the zip line while closing my eyes and survived the ride without fainting.

An unknown object flew passed me and I intended to dash to a boulder, forgetting that my wrist was still firm to the line, so I was pulled back and sat on the ground with my left arm up in the air. "Damn you," I muttered under my breath. The fog was not that thick at all for I could see these unknown flying objects clearly. As bullets and arrows flying in the air and with men screams and roars accompanying the ammunition, I cut the rope with my trusty dagger and ducked behind a tree.

'Where is that little red head?' I thought.

After rolling behind a boulder to take cover and swiping out bow and arrows, I killed two men who were in a soldier's attire and dodged a flying can with green gas trailing behind it. Feeling exposed to danger, I tried to stay calm and silent as my ears do their job in tracking enemies. Leaves were rustling on my left and I whipped out my dagger. I awaited another move then responded with throwing the dagger to the source. I got back a cry in return.

I saw the victim from where I stood which was about three meters away from where he lay, with a bloody hand stuck to a tree. The thrown dagger's blade had founded its home in his meaty flesh of a hand that was stuck to a tree's bark. A green fluid flowed out of a can from somewhere behind the man and exploded. That gas can was meant for me but he died because of it. Well, what goes around comes around.

Eyes of mine were witnessing an archer tumbling down on my right with Tatum on her fast long feet as she grabbed my hand and we ran out of the chaos at once. We ran straight and stopped at a small cabin. I skidded to a halt at the sight of a boring gas-man, two savage archers and a fierce gunner that stood in the opening. We were hiding behind the cabin.

"I'll take out that boring man with those gas cans, you take down the archers," I whispered to her. Tatum smiled at me, tied her hair into a ponytail and held two knives in her hand. She was going to throw them just like I did. "Don't think you're the only one who can do that," she grinned. Did I mention she had a good throwing arm? Anything flings by her, I am certain that it will never miss the target.

Tatum aimed at an archer who was sitting underneath a tree, hidden away from the rest of his teammates and threw the knife after counting five seconds. It swiftly darted in the air and landed in the side of his head. "That was one sharp knife you got there," I said.

The archer fell down quietly. His other teammates did not know our presence. Well, not until Tatum shot another archer down and created mayhem. Two men left standing, and they were scattering into position. The gas-man threw a can at us as we scrambled out of the way. Tatum must have burst her temper because she suddenly bolted to him and both of them crashed down to the ground. I went for the gunner and gave him a head shot.

"Don't tell me you lose your bloody temper," I gave her a grave look.

"Nope," she answered cheekily. "I got too interested with the bombs."

She showed me petrol bombs and three champagne bottles. But instead of the writing, 'Best Champagne in the world' on the sticker, it said, 'Molotov Cocktail.' Each of the green 'champagne' bottles have white piece of clothing held in place by the bottle's stopper. It is what William called, 'burning cloth wick.'

"Molotov Cocktail is a breakable glass bottle which contains flammable substance such as petrol or maybe napalm-like mixture with some motor oil added into it. It's usually a source of ignition such as this future burning cloth wick. The wick is soaked in alcohol or kerosene," Tatum lectured.

"Thanks for that useful information," I said and held one bottle of Molotov cocktail in my hand. "This comes in handy."

"Although I prefer the Tsar Bomba," Tatum said and put on her mischievous grin. "It's a hydrogen bomb and the most powerful thermo nuclear bomb ever made."

"You're crazy, now let's drop this bomb conversation and move on," I giggled uncomfortably.

"Wait," she glanced at the cabin. "I hear grunting noise."

Indeed there was a grunting noise and it was disturbing. I slowly sneaked to a window and tried to peer inside. Nevertheless, I could not see for the window was dirty. It was dusty and disfigured. I was afraid it would creak or fall suddenly down the other side and break into shard pieces. Yet, I could see a blurry feature of a boy. He looked like he was in a serious injury.

I just do not know whether I can trust my eyes for now.