"No, oh no, oh no!" Mike sobbed. He ran forth into the road to where Chris
lay unmoving. "Chris! CHRIS!!" he screamed, hysteric.
"I'm OK..." Chris muttered.
"What?" Mike asked, confused. A dog ran up, wagging its tail.
Chris smiled. "I don't know what it was, but I think that dog saved me in a way... So I'm OK." He got up. His older brother looked on in amazement. "But..." He trailed off.
"I got out of the way," Chris said. "I just tripped over a rock."
"You need to be more careful," Mike said sternly, trying to steady his voice. "Nothing, I mean NOTHING about this to Mum OR Dad."
A girl ran over and grabbed the dog by the leash. "Is he yours?" Chris asked her.
"Oh, no," she smiled. "He belongs to the animal shelter. No one's adopted him, though." Her smile almost disappeared. "If he's not adopted in some time, he has to be put to sleep. It's getting crowded in the shelter."
Christopher immediately flew off the handle. "WHAT?" he half shrieked.
"Chris, calm down!" Mike said.
His brother ignored him. "How much?" he asked the lady.
"What?"
"How much for him?"
Mike started, but it was already too late for him to stop Chris.
-_-_-_-_-
When they came home, their dad gave them a Look. "You're late," he said.
"Sorry," Mike said, setting the groceries down. "It took a while to find the stuff on sale."
"I'm sure." Their father eyed them.
Chris spoke up. "Hey, Dad, you know what you said about getting a dog?"
"Not until you can take full responsibility of it for yourself."
"Well... I think I can," Chris said, squaring his shoulders. His father raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he asked.
Chris smiled wryly. "Well, I, um, have to..."
His father started. "You didn't!"
"They were going to put him to sleep! The lady gave him to me pretty cheap, I guess."
"How much?"
"...Eighty-eight dollars."
"And WHERE is this money coming from? Surely you don't have eighty-eight."
Chris nodded. "I've been saving up."
Suddenly, Max burst through the door, breathless. His copper colored hair was soaking wet and water dripped off the ends. "911... Somebody all 911!" he panted. "What's happened?" Chris yelled as Max dashed for the phone. "Maa-aax!!"
His older brother didn't listen, just grabbed the phone and dialed. Outside, they all heard a scream. Their father went outside.
What he saw was a fairly old teen- maybe 18 or maybe even 20- holding a gun and shooting. Someone lay in the street. A small red stream trickled away from the person's body.
Angry, he swung open the door and marched outside.
Outside, a lot of kids were trying to hide from the psycho. He was going looking behind bushes and shooting kids. Floyd was hiding in a house's doorway. Max had had enough time to get to his house, and now Floyd was wishing he had gone with him.
Two shots rang out and a scream. Floyd shut his eyes tightly.
Suddenly, he heard a clear, strong, and angry voice ring out. "What are you DOING?"
Floyd peeked out of his hiding place. Standing on the sidewalk to Max's house, stood a man with long, raven black hair. His dark eyes flashed with anger. He had nothing to serve as a weapon. If only looks could kill. Max burst out of the door behind him. "Dad!" He screamed, visibly upset. He tried to join his father, but he was pushed back.
The psycho laughed almost drunkenly. "Whattur you goin' do?" Another boy, also black haired, came out of the house. He saw the psycho and screamed, then stumbled back.
"Mike!" his brother gasped, grabbing him.
The boy whispered something to his brother, at which point Floyd could see the elder's eyes fill with rage. He turned back to the psycho, whose gun was now pointed at his father.
"Shoot me!" the man said. "Come on, shoot!"
"Gladly!" the psycho guffawed, and two more shots rang out.
"DAD!!"
Floyd opened his eyes, only to see that the two brothers were on the house's threshold and a woman stood behind their father. She had obviously jerked him back. "What were you thinking?!" she gasped.
Max stepped forward, stooped down, and got a rock. He said to the psycho, "You beat up my brother, you shoot my friends, you shoot at my dad. Now... Shoot THIS!" With a mighty heave, he threw the rock right at the older boy. It hit him in the head. Max picked up another. "You want more? You want more?" he screamed angrily. "Now you know what it's like! To be down on the ground in pain! Now you know what it's like to be THIS LOW!!" He was kicking the boy with forceful kicks now. Angry tears ran down his cheeks and mingled with the rain. "Now you know! Now you know! NOW YOU KNOW!!" He finally stepped back, shaking, sobs racking his body.
Floyd dashed to his friend. "Max, calm down..." He said, patting his friend's back. Max's brother came up. "It's OK. He got what he deserved."
"It's not OK," Max sobbed. "I've killed him." He gripped Floyd and Mike, who was visibly scared half to death. Liza came up slowly, and gripped Max's shoulder. The police came driving up, sirens wailing. They saw the boy lying in the street with the gun and the bodies of his victims, as well as Max falling to pieces.
Alex appeared from behind a bush. "Mike," she said in a small voice, unusual for her.
Mike saw her and said, "Alex, you're OK! You ARE OK, right?"
"Physically," she whispered. Mike nodded and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He looked up to the sky, rain hitting his face and mixing with his own tears. "Nirnaeth arnoediad..." He whispered under his breath.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Only Max's dad was composed enough to explain everything to the police. The massacre made it to the news, and almost everyone was interviewed. By that time, Alex was more angry than anything else. "That psycho," she said angrily on that night's news at five, "killed a whole bunch of people. And he's still alive? When Max- er, edit that- hit him over the head and jacked him up, he should've been dead!"
The media tried to interview Max after hearing he jacked up the psycho without getting hurt. But he lay on his bed in his room and refused to come out. But he finally came out after the news people had gone. He finally came out, a little more composed. Alex, Mike, Floyd and Liza asked him how he was doing. He managed a little smile and said, "Fine."
Afterwards, he acted like the event had never taken place. "It's better that way," Liza whispered to Floyd. "Tomorrow IS a school day."
"That's right," Floyd said. "I got a new schedule."
"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow," Liza smiled.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Yo, Max!"
It was the next morning at the bus stop. Max, who had been talking to Liza, turned to the approaching figure. It was Corey. His hair was done up in twisties and he wore his book bag over his right shoulder. "Yeah?" Max asked.
"I heard you jacked up that 'psychopath' yesterday."
Max laughed. "Me? Jack someone up? You're dreaming, Corey."
"It was all over the news," Corey argued.
Max laughed again. Inside, he thought, I don't want to have to go through this. It's a nice, sunny morning. I don't want to dwell on yesterday ever again. "Yeah, but they didn't say who beat that boy up," Liza pointed out. Max gave her a thank you Look.
Corey threw his backpack on the ground. "Yeah, but didn't you take out Ronnie Michaels in fourth grade? He was in sixth grade and you jacked him up good."
Liza gave her friend a wide-eyed stare. "You never told me THIS," she hissed.
"Sorry." Max rolled his eyes.
Then one of Corey's friends came up and they started talking about something completely different. At that same time, Floyd came up. He smiled. "Hi," he said to Liza and Max.
"Hi," they said back.
"I have a test today," Liza sighed. "In Mrs. DiJaurold's class."
"Mrs. DiJaurold yells too much," Max said. He eyed Floyd. "I heard you got a new schedule. Can I see it?"
Floyd handed him his schedule. Max's jaw dropped. "I'm in all these classes," he breathed. "Same periods, too."
"You're lying," the blond haired boy said.
"Not."
Liza laughed. "You sound like brothers. Or little kids."
This only earned her a Look.
"Soo-oo-rry!" she sang, backing away.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Maximillian Smith!"
"Here," Max said. It was the last period of the day, and they had a substitute. She had her hair in a tight bun and wore bright red lipstick. She wore half circle glasses and had on black high heels, a long black skirt that stopped at her ankles, and a tight-ish white blouse with ruffles at the neck. Her earrings were so large Max was amazed they didn't just rip through her ear and they were a deep aqua color. At that time, she was calling roll. Unfortunately, Floyd didn't sit anywhere near Max; they might as well have been in separate classes or, for that matter, separate periods. After she had called roll, the substitute said in her stiff voice, "I believe there is a new student in this classroom. Please state your name."
"Floyd Williams," Floyd said clearly.
"What?" the sub asked, squinting at Floyd.
"Floyd Williams," he reiterated, louder this time.
"Don't you yell at me, young man. It would be unfortunate if you had to go to the office on your first day in a new school," the sub said stiffly. Then she turned to the papers the teacher had left and passed them out. Max looked over at Floyd. He was rolling his eyes. Max cracked a smile, but it came as a surprise, since Floyd was so well mannered.
The substitute ruled with an iron fist. If you even whispered, you were sent off to the office. It was as if it was dangerous to even breathe. So the class was stuck with dull (and dumb, really) worksheets without being able to speak to anyone. When the announcements came on, about fifteen people breathed out, "Yes!" And the sub sent them all to the office. "Oh my goodness!" One girl said, exasperated. "It's dismissal time. I ain't going to no office. I'm goin' to my locker. Bye y'all." And she walked right out of the classroom, followed by the others who had spoken. The sub wrote something down on a piece of paper.
Finally, they were dismissed. "Will we ALWAYS get substitutes like that?" he asked Max, who shook his head.
"Last time that particular teacher was absent, we had a really fun sub. She let us talk and do whatever. She was very nice, too."
They met up with Liza at her locker, and set out. They stopped at Caleb and Carl's elementary school first as always, because it was close, Max told Floyd. Carl stared at Floyd. "Who are you?" he asked.
"He's Floyd. My friend," Max said.
"He's gonna walk with us now?"
"Yup."
"Everyday?"
"Depends."
Meanwhile, Liza was talking to Caleb. "So he hit you, then insulted you. THEN you swung at him. Right?"
"Right," Caleb nodded. He had a band-aid on his arms, legs, knees, and elbows, plus an ice pack. "I gave him a good black eye, too." Liza tried not to giggle.
They picked Mike and Chris up next. They were on their way to Liza's when the Smith's (Max & his brothers) van drove up. Their mother stuck the twins out the window; saying hurriedly, "Take care of them, please. Your Aunt Martha called. Her microwave blew up. Gotta go. Bye. Have fun!" And they drove off, leaving Aaron and Adam cooing in Max's arms.
They decided to walk the beach, since they were in no hurry- "Unlike Mum and Dad," snickered Chris.
They came to a strange sort of bush up against a rock wall that looked like it had a tunnel in it and was very tall. Then, as they got closer, they realized they were really trees arching over to make a tunnel. Curious, they ducked in. When nothing interesting was seen near the mouth, they walked on in.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"It's dark," whined Carl. It was really very dark- pitch black.
"Are we all together?" Came Liza's voice. "Call out your name."
"Carl!"
"Caleb!"
"Chris!"
"Floyd,"
"Max,"
"Mike."
"Liza."
"Goo," gurgled the twins.
"Guess we're all here," Max laughed. "I wonder when this tunnel ends."
"If ever," Liza said.
They walked on more in silence until they saw dim light ahead. "Finally!" Carl said, running forward.
"Carl, wait!" Max called out, but it was too late. His little brother ran towards the dim light. Then he suddenly stopped and stood stock-still. The rest caught up with him and looked out the opening. They stopped abruptly.
"What on Earth...?" Liza gasped.
For all they could see was a wide, open land. There was a lake flowing out into an ocean, and it looked as though some people lived there. It was nighttime. Overhead stars shone brightly and the Moon shone down. It was a clear night, and the Moon and stars gave as much light as the highway at night with all the street lights on.
"This isn't OC," Liza breathed after a long silence.
"Very GOOD, Liza," Floyd muttered. Then he looked over at Max. His friend was looking drained and tired. "Max, are you OK?" he asked, worried.
Max nodded. "Just...tired. Is all." Mike nodded. "So am I," he said, his voice a whisper. Max's right hand went limp and it hurt around the wrist. As always, he thought grimly, setting his jaw. "Anyway, don't you think we ought to find somewhere to stay?"
"Why not go through the tunnel?" Liza asked. But even as she turned, she saw the tunnel was gone. "What happened?!" she cried.
Tyler shrugged. "Maybe we're trapped in this world. Never to return to ours." Agnes whimpered.
Strangely, Aaron and Adam were quite and seemed content. Even as the group made their way down from the little hill they'd been on with some trees with plenty of bumping and jolting, they didn't start crying.
They weren't very far away from the mouth of the river when something flashed out in front of Max, who was leading. He stopped abruptly, and now saw it was a drawn sword. Everyone stood still, and a figure emerged.
He was tall, with red-brown hair like Max's. He had dark eyes that looked upon the group suspiciously and wore armor and boots and had a long cape. He looked young, maybe about twenty-something. What Max noticed, but probably no one else did, was that the man didn't have his right hand. It looked as if it had been severed from his arm just above the wrist. Max's stomach flip-flopped and he felt dizzy, tired, and sick. But he kept his composure.
The man finally spoke. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We aren't from around here," Liza said. "We need shelter for the night."
The man sheathed his sword. "You look harmless," he muttered. His eyes moved to Aaron and Adam who were cradled in Max's arms. Then he turned and walked off, saying, "Come. Follow me."
A/N: ok, I had a hard describing what the group saw coming out of the tunnel. It's prolly not accurate, but oh well. :P~
"I'm OK..." Chris muttered.
"What?" Mike asked, confused. A dog ran up, wagging its tail.
Chris smiled. "I don't know what it was, but I think that dog saved me in a way... So I'm OK." He got up. His older brother looked on in amazement. "But..." He trailed off.
"I got out of the way," Chris said. "I just tripped over a rock."
"You need to be more careful," Mike said sternly, trying to steady his voice. "Nothing, I mean NOTHING about this to Mum OR Dad."
A girl ran over and grabbed the dog by the leash. "Is he yours?" Chris asked her.
"Oh, no," she smiled. "He belongs to the animal shelter. No one's adopted him, though." Her smile almost disappeared. "If he's not adopted in some time, he has to be put to sleep. It's getting crowded in the shelter."
Christopher immediately flew off the handle. "WHAT?" he half shrieked.
"Chris, calm down!" Mike said.
His brother ignored him. "How much?" he asked the lady.
"What?"
"How much for him?"
Mike started, but it was already too late for him to stop Chris.
-_-_-_-_-
When they came home, their dad gave them a Look. "You're late," he said.
"Sorry," Mike said, setting the groceries down. "It took a while to find the stuff on sale."
"I'm sure." Their father eyed them.
Chris spoke up. "Hey, Dad, you know what you said about getting a dog?"
"Not until you can take full responsibility of it for yourself."
"Well... I think I can," Chris said, squaring his shoulders. His father raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he asked.
Chris smiled wryly. "Well, I, um, have to..."
His father started. "You didn't!"
"They were going to put him to sleep! The lady gave him to me pretty cheap, I guess."
"How much?"
"...Eighty-eight dollars."
"And WHERE is this money coming from? Surely you don't have eighty-eight."
Chris nodded. "I've been saving up."
Suddenly, Max burst through the door, breathless. His copper colored hair was soaking wet and water dripped off the ends. "911... Somebody all 911!" he panted. "What's happened?" Chris yelled as Max dashed for the phone. "Maa-aax!!"
His older brother didn't listen, just grabbed the phone and dialed. Outside, they all heard a scream. Their father went outside.
What he saw was a fairly old teen- maybe 18 or maybe even 20- holding a gun and shooting. Someone lay in the street. A small red stream trickled away from the person's body.
Angry, he swung open the door and marched outside.
Outside, a lot of kids were trying to hide from the psycho. He was going looking behind bushes and shooting kids. Floyd was hiding in a house's doorway. Max had had enough time to get to his house, and now Floyd was wishing he had gone with him.
Two shots rang out and a scream. Floyd shut his eyes tightly.
Suddenly, he heard a clear, strong, and angry voice ring out. "What are you DOING?"
Floyd peeked out of his hiding place. Standing on the sidewalk to Max's house, stood a man with long, raven black hair. His dark eyes flashed with anger. He had nothing to serve as a weapon. If only looks could kill. Max burst out of the door behind him. "Dad!" He screamed, visibly upset. He tried to join his father, but he was pushed back.
The psycho laughed almost drunkenly. "Whattur you goin' do?" Another boy, also black haired, came out of the house. He saw the psycho and screamed, then stumbled back.
"Mike!" his brother gasped, grabbing him.
The boy whispered something to his brother, at which point Floyd could see the elder's eyes fill with rage. He turned back to the psycho, whose gun was now pointed at his father.
"Shoot me!" the man said. "Come on, shoot!"
"Gladly!" the psycho guffawed, and two more shots rang out.
"DAD!!"
Floyd opened his eyes, only to see that the two brothers were on the house's threshold and a woman stood behind their father. She had obviously jerked him back. "What were you thinking?!" she gasped.
Max stepped forward, stooped down, and got a rock. He said to the psycho, "You beat up my brother, you shoot my friends, you shoot at my dad. Now... Shoot THIS!" With a mighty heave, he threw the rock right at the older boy. It hit him in the head. Max picked up another. "You want more? You want more?" he screamed angrily. "Now you know what it's like! To be down on the ground in pain! Now you know what it's like to be THIS LOW!!" He was kicking the boy with forceful kicks now. Angry tears ran down his cheeks and mingled with the rain. "Now you know! Now you know! NOW YOU KNOW!!" He finally stepped back, shaking, sobs racking his body.
Floyd dashed to his friend. "Max, calm down..." He said, patting his friend's back. Max's brother came up. "It's OK. He got what he deserved."
"It's not OK," Max sobbed. "I've killed him." He gripped Floyd and Mike, who was visibly scared half to death. Liza came up slowly, and gripped Max's shoulder. The police came driving up, sirens wailing. They saw the boy lying in the street with the gun and the bodies of his victims, as well as Max falling to pieces.
Alex appeared from behind a bush. "Mike," she said in a small voice, unusual for her.
Mike saw her and said, "Alex, you're OK! You ARE OK, right?"
"Physically," she whispered. Mike nodded and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He looked up to the sky, rain hitting his face and mixing with his own tears. "Nirnaeth arnoediad..." He whispered under his breath.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Only Max's dad was composed enough to explain everything to the police. The massacre made it to the news, and almost everyone was interviewed. By that time, Alex was more angry than anything else. "That psycho," she said angrily on that night's news at five, "killed a whole bunch of people. And he's still alive? When Max- er, edit that- hit him over the head and jacked him up, he should've been dead!"
The media tried to interview Max after hearing he jacked up the psycho without getting hurt. But he lay on his bed in his room and refused to come out. But he finally came out after the news people had gone. He finally came out, a little more composed. Alex, Mike, Floyd and Liza asked him how he was doing. He managed a little smile and said, "Fine."
Afterwards, he acted like the event had never taken place. "It's better that way," Liza whispered to Floyd. "Tomorrow IS a school day."
"That's right," Floyd said. "I got a new schedule."
"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow," Liza smiled.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Yo, Max!"
It was the next morning at the bus stop. Max, who had been talking to Liza, turned to the approaching figure. It was Corey. His hair was done up in twisties and he wore his book bag over his right shoulder. "Yeah?" Max asked.
"I heard you jacked up that 'psychopath' yesterday."
Max laughed. "Me? Jack someone up? You're dreaming, Corey."
"It was all over the news," Corey argued.
Max laughed again. Inside, he thought, I don't want to have to go through this. It's a nice, sunny morning. I don't want to dwell on yesterday ever again. "Yeah, but they didn't say who beat that boy up," Liza pointed out. Max gave her a thank you Look.
Corey threw his backpack on the ground. "Yeah, but didn't you take out Ronnie Michaels in fourth grade? He was in sixth grade and you jacked him up good."
Liza gave her friend a wide-eyed stare. "You never told me THIS," she hissed.
"Sorry." Max rolled his eyes.
Then one of Corey's friends came up and they started talking about something completely different. At that same time, Floyd came up. He smiled. "Hi," he said to Liza and Max.
"Hi," they said back.
"I have a test today," Liza sighed. "In Mrs. DiJaurold's class."
"Mrs. DiJaurold yells too much," Max said. He eyed Floyd. "I heard you got a new schedule. Can I see it?"
Floyd handed him his schedule. Max's jaw dropped. "I'm in all these classes," he breathed. "Same periods, too."
"You're lying," the blond haired boy said.
"Not."
Liza laughed. "You sound like brothers. Or little kids."
This only earned her a Look.
"Soo-oo-rry!" she sang, backing away.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Maximillian Smith!"
"Here," Max said. It was the last period of the day, and they had a substitute. She had her hair in a tight bun and wore bright red lipstick. She wore half circle glasses and had on black high heels, a long black skirt that stopped at her ankles, and a tight-ish white blouse with ruffles at the neck. Her earrings were so large Max was amazed they didn't just rip through her ear and they were a deep aqua color. At that time, she was calling roll. Unfortunately, Floyd didn't sit anywhere near Max; they might as well have been in separate classes or, for that matter, separate periods. After she had called roll, the substitute said in her stiff voice, "I believe there is a new student in this classroom. Please state your name."
"Floyd Williams," Floyd said clearly.
"What?" the sub asked, squinting at Floyd.
"Floyd Williams," he reiterated, louder this time.
"Don't you yell at me, young man. It would be unfortunate if you had to go to the office on your first day in a new school," the sub said stiffly. Then she turned to the papers the teacher had left and passed them out. Max looked over at Floyd. He was rolling his eyes. Max cracked a smile, but it came as a surprise, since Floyd was so well mannered.
The substitute ruled with an iron fist. If you even whispered, you were sent off to the office. It was as if it was dangerous to even breathe. So the class was stuck with dull (and dumb, really) worksheets without being able to speak to anyone. When the announcements came on, about fifteen people breathed out, "Yes!" And the sub sent them all to the office. "Oh my goodness!" One girl said, exasperated. "It's dismissal time. I ain't going to no office. I'm goin' to my locker. Bye y'all." And she walked right out of the classroom, followed by the others who had spoken. The sub wrote something down on a piece of paper.
Finally, they were dismissed. "Will we ALWAYS get substitutes like that?" he asked Max, who shook his head.
"Last time that particular teacher was absent, we had a really fun sub. She let us talk and do whatever. She was very nice, too."
They met up with Liza at her locker, and set out. They stopped at Caleb and Carl's elementary school first as always, because it was close, Max told Floyd. Carl stared at Floyd. "Who are you?" he asked.
"He's Floyd. My friend," Max said.
"He's gonna walk with us now?"
"Yup."
"Everyday?"
"Depends."
Meanwhile, Liza was talking to Caleb. "So he hit you, then insulted you. THEN you swung at him. Right?"
"Right," Caleb nodded. He had a band-aid on his arms, legs, knees, and elbows, plus an ice pack. "I gave him a good black eye, too." Liza tried not to giggle.
They picked Mike and Chris up next. They were on their way to Liza's when the Smith's (Max & his brothers) van drove up. Their mother stuck the twins out the window; saying hurriedly, "Take care of them, please. Your Aunt Martha called. Her microwave blew up. Gotta go. Bye. Have fun!" And they drove off, leaving Aaron and Adam cooing in Max's arms.
They decided to walk the beach, since they were in no hurry- "Unlike Mum and Dad," snickered Chris.
They came to a strange sort of bush up against a rock wall that looked like it had a tunnel in it and was very tall. Then, as they got closer, they realized they were really trees arching over to make a tunnel. Curious, they ducked in. When nothing interesting was seen near the mouth, they walked on in.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"It's dark," whined Carl. It was really very dark- pitch black.
"Are we all together?" Came Liza's voice. "Call out your name."
"Carl!"
"Caleb!"
"Chris!"
"Floyd,"
"Max,"
"Mike."
"Liza."
"Goo," gurgled the twins.
"Guess we're all here," Max laughed. "I wonder when this tunnel ends."
"If ever," Liza said.
They walked on more in silence until they saw dim light ahead. "Finally!" Carl said, running forward.
"Carl, wait!" Max called out, but it was too late. His little brother ran towards the dim light. Then he suddenly stopped and stood stock-still. The rest caught up with him and looked out the opening. They stopped abruptly.
"What on Earth...?" Liza gasped.
For all they could see was a wide, open land. There was a lake flowing out into an ocean, and it looked as though some people lived there. It was nighttime. Overhead stars shone brightly and the Moon shone down. It was a clear night, and the Moon and stars gave as much light as the highway at night with all the street lights on.
"This isn't OC," Liza breathed after a long silence.
"Very GOOD, Liza," Floyd muttered. Then he looked over at Max. His friend was looking drained and tired. "Max, are you OK?" he asked, worried.
Max nodded. "Just...tired. Is all." Mike nodded. "So am I," he said, his voice a whisper. Max's right hand went limp and it hurt around the wrist. As always, he thought grimly, setting his jaw. "Anyway, don't you think we ought to find somewhere to stay?"
"Why not go through the tunnel?" Liza asked. But even as she turned, she saw the tunnel was gone. "What happened?!" she cried.
Tyler shrugged. "Maybe we're trapped in this world. Never to return to ours." Agnes whimpered.
Strangely, Aaron and Adam were quite and seemed content. Even as the group made their way down from the little hill they'd been on with some trees with plenty of bumping and jolting, they didn't start crying.
They weren't very far away from the mouth of the river when something flashed out in front of Max, who was leading. He stopped abruptly, and now saw it was a drawn sword. Everyone stood still, and a figure emerged.
He was tall, with red-brown hair like Max's. He had dark eyes that looked upon the group suspiciously and wore armor and boots and had a long cape. He looked young, maybe about twenty-something. What Max noticed, but probably no one else did, was that the man didn't have his right hand. It looked as if it had been severed from his arm just above the wrist. Max's stomach flip-flopped and he felt dizzy, tired, and sick. But he kept his composure.
The man finally spoke. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We aren't from around here," Liza said. "We need shelter for the night."
The man sheathed his sword. "You look harmless," he muttered. His eyes moved to Aaron and Adam who were cradled in Max's arms. Then he turned and walked off, saying, "Come. Follow me."
A/N: ok, I had a hard describing what the group saw coming out of the tunnel. It's prolly not accurate, but oh well. :P~