The Story of the Wild Ones

Chapter 19

Andy POV

I sat on the floor of the hut with Ashley and Jinxx, trying to figure out how to divide the limited amount of fighters we have when CC burst in, carrying Willow in his arms. Panic shot through me as I jumped up and raced over. "What happened?" I asked him. "I don't know! We were just walking back when she fell to her knees and started grabbing at her hair before passing out," he replied. "How long has she been out?" I asked. "About five to ten minutes if I had to guess," he told me. I gently took Willow from his arms, being sure not to drop her, and carried her to her mat where she slept. I laid her down carefully, checking for her pulse. It took a few seconds, but I felt a faint heartbeat in her. "God, Willow, don't die on me," I mumbled to her.

I could feel the time passing, my muscles began to ache, but I hadn't left her side. "Andy, come get some soup," Jake said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Not hungry," I replied, still watching her. "She'll wake up soon," he said, as if reading my mind. I looked up at him, and he smiled gently down at me. I gave Willow one last longing look before standing up and following Jake out to the main room. No one said anything as I grabbed a bowl of soup and sat down in the usual circle. I zoned out of their conversations, taking spoonfuls of soup every now and then. A hand snapped in front of my face, and I was forced back into reality. "I'm here," I said. "Andy, we need a backup plan in case Willow doesn't wake up in time, or she's too weak when she does. She was supposed to lead the group to unlock the cells because she knows how to unlock them the fastest," Ashley said. I sighed, racking my brain for anyone else that knew how to break the cell's lock quickly. "Can Jinxx use his fire to melt it?" I asked. "We don't want to risk anyone freaking out because of the fire, or the metal melting together," Jinxx answered. "What about Ashley and his shape shifting? Could we use that for anything?" I asked. Ashley contemplated it, then shook his head. "I don't know what I could turn into that would be beneficial," he said. "I could crush the locks..." CC suggested. "We might need you to defeat a FEAR shadow. All five of us should be fighting," I pointed out.

Jake opened his mouth to say something, but I shushed him. "What?" he asked, causing me to shush him again. I heard a soft shuffling coming from outside, along with shallow breaths. I got into a crouching position and sneaked over to the door, pressing my ear against it. I heard a rumble and smelled the familiar scent of smoke that could only mean one thing.

I turned to the guys and mouthed "shadow". Their eyes widened. We silently walked through the back entryway, giving us access to sneak up behind the FEAR shadow. I went first, and kicked my leg out, swiping the feet from the shadow out from under it. It toppled to the ground, glaring up at us. Jinxx grabbed the staff that the shadow had dropped and pierced it into the shadow's stomach. It let out a screech before bursting into dust and ashes. "Dude, i know you have super senses or whatever, but that was hella impressive," CC said, making me smile. Jinxx turned the staff in his hands, examining it thoroughly. "It's granite. Where the hell did they find this in the desert?" Jinxx questioned. I shrugged.

Jake's eyes widened as realization came across his face. "There must be more of them in other places," he whispered. We all looked at each other in horror and shock. "If there's more in other places...then..." Ashley started, but no one finished it. We were all thinking the same thing.

We might end up being the ones outmatched. Victory seemed less likely.

I shook my head. "Don't think like that. If we can get to them all before they have a chance to contact the other ones, then we won't have to worry about it," I told them. They nodded, still uneasy. "We can still win this," I said, not sure if I was trying to reassure them or myself.

**Author's note**

I may be speeding up the process of uploading this story because right now I feel really stressed out because I just realized how much writing I actually have to do, not only for uploading this but for my tumblr (justimagine1d5sos.tumblr.com . Shameless self-promotion) as well. It's probably just my mentality right now because I still need to do homework and its 11PM. I don't know, I'm sorry for rambling.

And the reason I say uploading and not writing is because I've already written this story, I'm just copying and pasting it onto wattpad. I don't trust myself enough to write something and upload it right after because I might want to go back and change it or I might have a lot of mistakes. But yeah, we're nearing the end now, it's pretty close. What am I even saying anymore. I just waste your time with these author's notes haha.