Playing with Fire

12

I hear gunfire within the distance.

I shoot up from the tree where I was sleeping upon and I stand up, grabbing my bag to see everyone up as well.

"They're getting close..." Ruben gulps.

Willow mews with confusion, Ruben strokes her calmly to ease her anxiety.

"I never knew they were heavy-equipped." Adam states. He looks at me but I can only see him from the corner of my eye. What I'm focusing on is two black figures, looking around their surroundings.

"Run," I tell everyone behind me and them wanting to stay as a group, they all head off deeper into the forest, leaving me behind.

"Lawrence, come on!" Toboni cries.

"Go or stay!"

Silence.

Toboni strides to me and stands at my side.

The silhouettes draw closer and closer and I am not retreating.

Not retreating.

Not retreating.

Not going to run.

"There she is!" I can make out a male voice. They keep running.

"Lawrence... come on..." Toboni begins to shake with fear.

My heart is racing with fear too but I will not show it to them.

I raise my hands out but what's weird is that fire shoots from my hands, hitting them directly in the chest. Caught alight, they don't know what to do other than to flail.

"What the HECK just happe-"

I get tugged away before I could finish my sentence by Toboni, not realising I may have just set the whole forest into flames.

"Come on, FASTER!!!!!" she screams.

I keep running away from the inferno. I don't care if I fall over a vine like those stereotypical horror scenes will always feature, nor stepping on some weird substance OR tredding on twigs.

All I care about is getting away from the inferno.

"LAWRENCE, WATCH OUT!" Toboni halts and a tree collapses in front of us, smothered in flickering flames, devouring every last bit of it.

I scan the area and I see light - well, not smoltering light but daylight.

"That way!" I point and I keep on running, followed by Toboni who easily overtakes me. With every flaming obstacle we pass, we either jump over it, sidestep or what Toboni does is skid underneath them.

Panting, spluttering, suffocating.

My head feels like it's spiraling as the lack of oxygen is getting through to me.

All I'm breathing in is a thick cloud of smoke and ashes.

Toboni realises I'm lacking behind and stops. "Oh no, Lawrence!" She turns back picks me up just before I collapse.

I can still walk, but my vision. It's all blurry. I can see fragments of what I am supposed to see: trees blazing alight, the Earth whizzing by, more fire and Toboni facing forwards, sometimes looking down to me - just to check on me.

I feel pathetic.

Surely I should do this.

The flames soon disappear and we enter a place where a few people were standing.

"Toboni, Lawrence! What happened there?!" it was Adam. Not Daniel.

I push myself away and I splutter, throw up some weird substance and continue coughing.

I feel a hand rub down my back and I cannot stop coughing.

My vision clears up and I remember I have a water bottle. I grab my bag, unzip it and I draw out my bottle, unscrew it and I chuck the water down my dry mouth.

I stop coughing and I realise who was rubbing my back. It was Adam.

"Adam?" I question.

"It's me." then he embraces me into his arms. "You're alive. That's the main thing."

I blush and I remember what my mum wrote: "when you're older, make friends,"

I pat his back awkwardly and he lets me go.

"Girls, when we were running we met someone," Daniel says.

I get up and Toboni and I stare at the new male.

He has blonde hair, tanned, but he has bandages across his eyes, quite tall and broad. He has a small stubble growing upon his face. His clothing is a checkered red, white and black shirt - a very thin type - with a black shirt underneath, blue denim jeans and what looks like steel-capped boots.

"Hi, I'm Lee." he says, waving but he was gnawing at his bottom lip as if he did something wrong.

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