This World is Outrageous { BOOK 2 }

Chapter 7--Bay

Chapter 7

Bay

Pain radiates throughout my limbs as I am thrown back.

I struggle to bring myself to an upright position as the taste of metal swims around my mouth. I see double of everything for about fifteen seconds. I realize I'm bleeding more than just in my mouth, but on my face as well. My helmet is completely gone, no longer in existence, which isn't the best of news for me. Other than my face, the explosion didn't seem to do much harm to me. The explosion happened so close to me I'm surprised it didn't do further damage. Clearly it was close enough to make my ears ring and my vision swim and to desolate my helmet.

Black forms around the edges of my eyesight as I struggle to move from the position I worked myself into. More than anything, the minute explosion knocked the breath out of me. Ridge falls a little further away from Casper and I, appearing to land hard on his right arm.

I breathe heavily, unable to hear anything but that annoying ring that echoes through my ears. I see Ridge's mouth moving a mile a minute as he scampers onto his feet, but I still can't hear—yet alone comprehend anything he says. I don't reply, still trying to get onto my own two feet.

When I finally manage to get up, I don't move far from where I stand. I am afraid that any movement might trigger another mine. Instead I collapse beside Casper and stay absolutely still. I raise my gloved hands up to my ears and draw back crimson on the white fabric.

No explanation that I can think of can be found for the mine field being out here in the middle of nowhere. What was the point of it, more importantly, what was the mine field protecting against? Nearby there are a few homes that appear to be obliterated but there's nothing worth salvaging or protecting.

Surely these mines are for a trick that is meant to come later—which explains why the Jotunn easily avoided it, because they know of these mines already. It still doesn't make sense being that Ohio has already been demolished, none of the state remaining.

It's easy to deduce that even the slightest wrong movement can trigger the mines. But if a simple movement from a human being could make one sound off, then so could something else. I am positive that this field is meant for further destruction of Ohio. Perhaps it's meant to take out any remaining life forms in the state. My stomach churns at the thought. What if the Jotunn have mine fields set up in every state of Exitium, the Warriors just waiting to detonate their weapons. When the time is right, they'd strike. I can only imagine how long these mines have been out here, but surely the dilapidated houses were destroyed by these mines, if not something similar to them.

I remain stumped on how we didn't trigger the mines beforehand. For God's sake, we walked all across this area of land before anything ever happened. It boggles my mind, but I say nothing about it, trying to work the situation over in my head. Even if I did speak I wasn't sure what to say or if I should even say anything. There's a good chance everyone's ears are still ringing and we wouldn't be able to hear each other, anyways. Hell, I can't even properly hear myself at the time being, so best to mull it over by myself until I can hear my own voice.

In the silence and my thinking, I begin to count the seconds it takes until I can hear again. Has the explosion damaged my ears? Am I permanently deaf? Surely I'm not. The ringing grows intensely in my ears which makes it hard for me to focus.

I carefully roll over in place and pick up a nearby rock. Am I terrified that even the slightest movement might trigger another explosion? Yes, very terrified. But what if there is only the one mine that we had set off? Maybe the remaining mines have been touched before. Maybe it was a fluke that the mine we set off never detonated before now. Wouldn't that be nice? I take up the rock in the blood-stained glove as I bring myself back into a sitting position. I am careful to make sure I don't move anything other than my upper-half. I leave my legs glued to the spot and move my arms around before taking up a stance to throw the rock. In one swift motion I throw the stone as far and as hard as I can. The rock soars through the sky and crashes to the ground with what I can only assume is a loud thud. At first nothing happens. Fear eats away at my insides and leaves me filled with dread as I count the seconds. By the time I've counted to seven, I assume there won't be an explosion. At nine seconds, nothing comes. But at fourteen seconds, another explosion pierces the air. Only this time, it isn't only one mine that's sounding off. It's a chain reaction that I caused by throwing that damn rock. One explosion follows the next and I sit there, completely dumbfounded. What the hell was the purpose of this randomly located mine field?