Chapter 37: God's Thumb

The next day, the group was digging their holes. Squall didn't bring any water today and Nobody seemed tired of this, no surprises in THAT since he was up most of the night. And the fact that Pendanski woke everyone up at five in the morning didn't help any. Squall DID, however, bring a backpack of sorts which he kept outside his hole.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Nobody asked, "I'm dyin' out here!"

Squall gave Nobody a scolding look, then answered, "As soon as you quit complainin', mate."

The water truck came driving by with a couple refreshments and Squall was the first up there with his backpack on his shoulder and, surprisingly, a shovel in hand. He got a few refreshments, namely Graham crackers and a full gallon of water. Pendanski gave Squall a good lookover, then grinned a mirthless grin. "Goin' somewhere, buddy? What have you got planned today, Scott?"

Squall looked Pendanski in the eye with what could only be described as casual indifference. "Well, first I'm gonna get me buddies some refreshments." The Aussie took a few more snacks and jammed them into his backpack. "And then, I'm gonna do THIS!"

Scott took his shovel in both hands, then belted Pendanski across the face with it. He looked at what he did before saying, "Crikey, I've been waitin' to do that."

Squall turned to the others, then asked, "Now, guys, how about we do what happens when a rhino charges?"

Nobody scratched his mess of black hair, then suggested, weakly, "Take their credit card? "

Squall gave Nobody a flat look, then answered in a calm demeanor. "Wasn't makin' a joke."

"Well, what do you suggest?" asked Ranger.

"Don't look back and RUN LIKE CRAZY!"

Nobody blinked twice, then said, "I could've thought of that…"

Without even turning to look back, Squall started sprinting away like there was no tomorrow, Ranger and Nobody hot on his heels. Upon spotting the three running away, Caveman and Zero hopped out of their holes and followed suit. Squall plucked Solar out of his hole like he was nothing and the six kept running into the desert. Squall leapt over holes like they were hurdles in a race and actually jumped clean over someone who was still digging their hole. "G'day!" He greeted, earning a strange look from the guy.

There was running, running, and even more running until they couldn't run anymore. When they stopped, the town was probably a good ways away, a mile or two maybe. Nobody collapsed and started trying to catch his breath. "Whew! Never had to run like THAT in a while!" He gasped.

Squall got out his backpack and dug in its depths before he pulled out a green, glass bottle. "Ale-8?" He asked, holding it out.

"Sure."

Nobody took the bottle of soda, opened it, then started chugging it down. He stopped, then let the drink settle in his stomach and cool him from the inside out.

"Sure, I'll take some." Solar said as he made to grab a bottle, but Squall pulled it back and shook his finger at him.

"Oh no you don't! The last thing YOU need is caffeine! Here, have some wohta." Squall reached into his pack again, then tossed Solar a canteen of water.

Solar looked at it for a while, then sighed in defeat. "Man, I NEVER get soda." he groaned, then decided it was better than nothing and took a swig of it.

Squall threw Caveman, Zero, and Ranger Ale-8 bottles. Ranger took a little swig, then looked at Squall, a little impressed with the Aussie. "Talk about prepared." he said, impressed.

Squall scoffed, then said, "Never leave home with a couple cases of Ale-8 1's. But, I've only got enough to last us a few days."

Ranger studied the contents of his bottle, then looked up at the distance to God's Thumb. "They could last us to the top." he figured.

Squall smiled, then said, "That be the case, then we're outta here for good!"

Caveman, for reasons unknown, pointed out a random fact about his family line. "Y'know, my great-grandfather almost died out here."

"Really?" asked Nobody.

Sarcasm rang in Zero's voice as he rolled his eyes. "That's real comforting."

The group of six soon started on their way through the desert and towards "God's Thumb". They were soon at the foot of the mountain and looked up at how high it was.

"So, your Gummi's at the top of this?" Ranger asked.

"You'd better believe it." Solar said, nodding.

"Guess we'd better get this over with. I miss the luxury of my Gummi Ship already." Nobody said to himself.

Then, with a great heave of courage, the group started climbing. Their climb lasted the entire day and into the night, because it was that tall.

The next day, while they were still climbing, Ranger lost his footing while climbing and was barely hanging on by his hand. Nobody was too far up with Caveman and Zero, so there wasn't anything he could do. Squall, however, was a lot closer and had other plans.

"Not on MY watch, you ain't!" He called out.

Squall jumped down and caught Ranger by the wrist before he lost his grip, using his other hand to get a hold on a rock. However, upon further inspection, Ranger noticed that the Aussie's arms seemed longer.

"What the heck…?!"

Squall's voice was so strained that he almost sounded like he was growling. "Don't…let…go!"

Ranger dangled from the mountainside as he asked, "Why are your arms…"

"I'll explain as soon as we're out of this mess!" Squall strained.

With a strenuous heave, Squall tossed Ranger back onto the mountain's ledge and heaved himself back up. The length of his arms then, slowly, returned to their normal length.

Ranger lay on his back, still a bit affected by the experience. "THAT was way too close!" He said, "Now, Squall, care to explain how you did that…thing back there?"

Scott took a deep breath through his nose, then sighed through his mouth. He wasn't quite sure how to explain this, but decided to do it as he went along. "Okay. Remember that thing Ryan and I signed up for?" the Aussie asked.

Nobody probed his memories, then remembered it as clear as a bell. "Yeah, but you didn't really explain what it was."

"I'm afraid I couldn't. Otherwise, the warden would've thrown us into the desert again." Squall explained, "That thing we signed up for was a human experiment. When they finished with me, the experiment gave me the ability to change my anatomical structure at will. In other words, I can change various forms of me body."

Squall then made himself more muscular than he used to be. THAT was the same build that he used in that fight.

"Well, THAT explains how you hog-tied that jerk at the wreck room." Nobody said, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"What about Ryan? And why'd you throw him into that hole that one time?" Ranger asked.

Squall sighed again, hoping to avoid more than what he deemed "necessary". "Better get comfy for this." Squall told them. Ranger and Nobody got comfortable and into more comfortable positions. Then, Squall sat down and relayed the story to them. "A few weeks after Ryan got his powers, a couple other kids found him using his powers—he skinned his knee when he fell off a bike and it healed over.

"They cornered him and…he was still new to his powers, he couldn't control them…but they tried to make him do it again. When he couldn't, they went a bit overboard trying to 'keep the freak from doing it again' and ever since then, his powers have never been the same. His healing factor was lost forever and he was left with the abilities of super speed, flight, and energy projection.

"However, it only works if he's in contact with sunlight. The power of the sun, stored up in a hyperactive kid. If he's away from sunlight for more than three days, he will slip into a coma and eventually die."

Solar nodded, then said, "And I don't really enjoy dying. I know a LOT of people are dying these days, but I'm just not one of those people."

"It was a lot easier when there were three of us." He said, glancing up into the sky.

Ranger cocked an eyebrow. A third one? "'Three of us'?" he asked, "Who was the third?"

Squall turned to face Ranger, then answered, "I'll only tell you that the people at Camp Greenlake dubbed him 'Survivor'. You might meet him someday."

Solar however, shook his fist as though he were holding a Heartless' throat in it. "HE'S THE MOST COWARDLY PERSON I EVER MET!" the kid said through gritted teeth, "HE ESCAPED WITHOUT US!"

"Zip it, Solar!" Squall said, "After all, he claimed there was nothing that could hold him for more than a week."

Ranger, deciding to avoid conversation about this person, decided to ask another question. "I take it that Caveman and Zero knew about this?"

Squall and Solar looked up from the little rant about the third person, then Squall answered Ranger. "Yes. We told them the instant we arrived." Squall stood up and looked up at the mountain. "Better get going. And with our powers known to you guys, it'll be a heck of a lot easier!"

Squall stretched out his arms as he growled in what appeared to be semi-constant pain. The Aussie's fingers extended to become longer and thinner with large flap skin between each of them. He had grown large, bat-like wings and everything needed for flight: large lungs, a massive heart, and lightweight bones.

Nobody stared at Squall, eyes wide in surprise and slight nausea. "Whoa. THAT will take a bit of getting used to." He said, slightly disgusted.

"All aboard!" Squall said, then grabbed Ranger in his feet, which had become like an eagle's talons and then proceeded to fly up the mountain. Ryan started climbing, because as Scott said, the little guy couldn't fly due to lack of sunlight. Caveman was carrying Zero and Nobody was climbing behind Solar.

As Caveman climbed, he could have sworn he heard an old woman's voice whisper through the wind. Then you must take Madame Zeroni up the mountain and sing while I drink so I can get strong, too.

The group finally made it to the top and were whooping for joy. Squall then noticed something and took a look down. "Strewth! What a view." He said.

"Squall, I know it's a nice view, but what's the truth about it again?" Solar asked.

"Uh, Ryan?" Ranger pointed out, "I think that was an Australian term for 'Holy Cow!'"

"Oh."

The distance between the runaways and the ground was monstrous: possibly fifteen or more stories above the ground. Caveman put a semi-conscious Zero down by a river and pulled at a leafy plant in the ground. When the roots exited the ground, it turned out to be a wild onion.

Ranger got a good look at the onion, then said, "Well, I'll be darned. A fresh water supply AND food!"

The group all got some onions and were chowing down on them when Zero regained consciousness. Caveman tossed Zero an onion and the little guy caught it, staring at it curiously. "What's that?" he asked.

Caveman answered, "A hot fudge sundae, eat it!"

Zero, without any form of hesitation, took a big bite of the onion and began chowing down with the others. He stopped eating a bit, then nodded as he looked at the onion. "Best onion I've ever had."

Caveman, much to their surprise, slumped down and began to chant something in a soft, yet audible rhythm. "'If only, if only' The woodpecker sighs, 'the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky.' While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, he cries to the moon, 'if only, if only.'"

Nobody had finished his first onion and was looking for his second, when he found something...a little more valuable, shall we say? It was a Summon Charm with several fiery lines that formed the Roman numerals for thirteen on it or XIII. THIS was one of the charms he left behind and he instantly pocketed it. They then laid themselves down for sleep. It was the only place they could sleep...for the moment.