Stolen Powers: Rise of the NGZ

Chapter Fifteen: We Gotta Keep Going

The smoke burned my eyes, and my chest was feeling the impact as well. I wanted to get out of this forest so badly and get into some sort of civilization and rest for a day.

However, that wasn't the case. We were all convinced that Alonzo had to have been nearby, so that's why we tried to stay for as long as we possibly could. I'll admit it, we needed Alonzo more than anything now. He was our only hope of getting to Bolivia and rescuing my dad. That's why I tried my hardest to stay in the burning woods. At least until we have no other option but to evacuate the forest.

"How long do you think we can stay?" asked Jamie, who was staring with us at the distant plane that continued to smolder.

"I'd give it about thirty solid minutes if that," answered Landon. "By then, the fire will reach our camp. We should split up into teams of two and three while somebody stays behind to keep an eye on the fire. Who's willing to do that?"

"I will," Quentin said, raising his hand.

Landon nodded. "That's fine. We shouldn't have to go very far around the wreckage to search for him. Just holler when the fire gets close to the camp, alright?"

He nodded. "I got you. Now go! We don't have much time!"

"Landon, you and I will go south while Jamie, Bailey, and Donovan head north," I suggested, and Landon nodded in agreement. "That sounds fine. Now, let's go guys!"

With that, we plunged into the flames. I kept my shirt tightly around my mouth to help keep the smoke from getting into my lungs. I glanced over at Landon, and he was doing the same. The only thing I could really do was stay closely behind Landon, hoping that he could see in the thick smoke and try not to get separated. The two of us called Alonzo's name multiple times.

"Do you see anything?" I yelled over the crackling fire.

I saw him hesitate for a split second. "It's fuzzy, but yeah! Just stick with me!"

A distance ahead of us, something heavy fell on top of the plane. Sparks flew up into the air and began to descend on us. It burned onto my clothes and then into my skin. I hissed in pain.

"We can't stay here for much longer," announced Landon, his voice sounding hoarse from a mix of yelling and coughing up smoke. "I can only give it a couple of more minutes."

I coughed hard again, unresponsive to his statement. Another minute passed, and I stopped to cough again, gripping on Landon's shirt. I threw up onto the forest ground, and it was black like tar. It was obvious that my body was trying to push the smoke out of my system.

"Hang in there, Mason," Landon said as I continued to heave. "Let's head back."

I'm sorry, Alonzo, but we don't have any other choice. We met back up at the camp, and Landon lead us southwest.

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Aside from a few burn marks from the fire and a few bruises from landing, none of us were too badly hurt. Once we got out of the smoke radius, we stopped puking our guts out.

"Let's rest here for a little while," Landon suggested. "We'll continue walking in a few."

"Can't we go to sleep for a few hours?" Bailey asked in an exhausted tone. "I'm so tired."

"As much as I want to do just that, we can't risk getting caught by the NGZ," he answered. "I'm sure that this was their planning and they're probably going to be after us."

Nobody said anything after that. For the first time, I could really see the exhaustion on everyone's faces. Jamie had visible bags under her eyes as she was leaning against Donovan, who actually seemed to be wide awake. We made eye contact, but he looked towards the sky. It was bright with stars and the moon was in its third-quarter phase. It was relaxing to look at. I looked to Quentin, but he was slumped against a tree with his eyes closed, although, something told me that he wasn't really asleep.