CHAPTER 42

Okay, so the next chapter is NOT real. It is all part of Miguel's subconscious. Like last time he was in a coma, he dreamed of the All-Valley, this time he dreams this…

Running. That's what Miguel was doing. He sprinted through the hedge maze, crashing through the foliage as he went. Mist covered every inch of the maze and Miguel couldn't see two feet in front of him. He had no idea where he was going. He had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that he saw a tsunami of dirt chasing him, threatening to bury him alive. That was all he needed for his mind to convince his body to start running through the maze.

Miguel eventually came to a fork in the narrow passageway he was sprinting down. He had no idea which pathway would lead him to the end of the maze. He took a gamble and went left, but he swore as moments later, he reached a dead end. Turning on his Miguel, Miguel started tearing his way back to the fork, running towards the fast approaching tsunami. As Miguel finally made it back and turned right, the even felt pieces of dirt lick at his heels. He winced. The dirt was scalding hot, and he felt it burn into his ankle, the place where he got singed.

Miguel forced himself on, creating distance between him and the avalanche. He soon came to his next obstacle, but this one was far worse than the fork. It was his father standing right in front of him, grinning sadistically at him.

"What's up, boy?" His father asked. Miguel closed his eyes as his heart pounded. This isn't real. This isn't real. This is just a figment of his imagination.

"The fuck?" Miguel snapped. "What do you want?"

"If you want to get to the end of the maze, you're gonna have to get through me." His dad growled, balling his hands into fists. Miguel scowled at him and lunged, tackling his dad and grappling his dad to the ground. However, due to the size differential, Mr. Diaz quickly rolled over so he was on top of Miguel, but Miguel didn't let him get too close. Miguel quickly pulled his knees to his chest and kicked outwards, sending Mr. Diaz flying backwards and being buried by the dirt tsunami. Miguel nearly threw up as he watched his dad being sucked in, but he forced himself onwards, scrambling to his feet and taking off deeper into the maze.

As Miguel got further into the labyrinth, he eventually came to his next obstacle. Well, he didn't know what kind of obstacle it was. All he saw was a massive clearing, and Sam sitting on a bench in the middle. Behind her, there was a solid concrete wall. It was like the end of the road. A dead end. But for some reason, Miguel was drawn to it. He could sense something was wrong, but he ignored his feelings and continued walking closer. However, he stopped about halfway there when he saw a hooded figure sit on the bench next to her. The man pulled down his hood and Miguel's eyes widened in alarm when he saw who it was… it was Kreese!

Miguel started to run faster towards Sam, as Sam looked at Kreese, terrified. She looked so petrified that it was almost like she could see something from her angle that Miguel couldn't. As Miguel ran closer, Kreese and Sam finally heard him. They both turned around and saw him and when Miguel saw Kreese's chest, his heart stopped. Strapped to Kreese's chest was a suicide bomber vest!

Kreese nodded at Miguel.

"Ahhh, Mr. Diaz. Right on time!" He announced. "So, let me cut to the chase right here. This suicide vest is rigged to explode in 30 seconds. If you come near me or Sam, it automatically explodes, and all three of us die. If you back up and let the vest explode, Sam and I will die, but the concrete wall behind us will be broken down and you can run through and continue the maze."

Knowing that Sam was a figment of his subconscious, Miguel shrugged.

"Well, then obviously I'm gonna back up." Miguel stated. That was easy. Kreese chuckled.

"You make it sound so easy." Kreese remarked. "And people say I'm cold."

"MIGUEL, HELP ME! HELP ME, PLEASE!" Sam begged, her cries ringing through Miguel's ears as he backed up. Hearing his girlfriend - well, his ex-girlfriend - in so much pain literally broke his heart, and Miguel closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Sam." He whispered as he moved further back.

"MIGUEL! PLEASE! MIGUE…" Sam's pleas were cut off by a massive BOOM! The bomb exploded, and Miguel was forced to watch as Sam was blown up in a massive fireball. The blast sent Miguel flying backwards but didn't harm him. It also, as Kreese said, broke the wall down, revealing the path he was meant to take. Miguel limped towards it but as he made it to the blast site, Miguel actually did throw up. He looked down to see pieces of Sam's body dismembered and lying all over the place, completely with her severed head. The smell of blood and death caused Miguel to retch and cough and he would've passed out if not for the massive boiling dirt tsunami that was coming closer.

He forced himself deeper into this sick, twisted maze. He wanted to lie down and just give up but he knew he couldn't. He had the feeling that if he died in this maze, he would die in real life. He eventually made it to the last and final obstacle. It was Johnny. Miguel tensed up. Like in his obstacle with Sam, he had the feeling something was wrong. Having said that, he walked over to Johnny.

"Hey, Miguel." Johnny smiled at him.

"Johnny, what's going on?" Miguel asked. "What's the obstacle? What do I have to do? Do I have to fight you?"

"No way. I'm not going to fight you. You do have to do one thing though to get to the end of the maze."

"What's that?" Miguel asked.

"You have to kill me." Johnny replied, completely serious. Suddenly, a small dagger appeared in Miguel's hands. Miguel looked at Johnny, alarmed.

"I'm sorry, what?" Miguel stammered. Johnny shrugged.

"You heard me." Johnny replied. "Stab me. Come on. Do it. It's the only way."

Miguel shook his head furiously.

"No! I'm not going to do that!" Miguel exclaimed, despite the fact that Johnny was not actually real. He walked past Johnny and attempted to get to the next part of the path, but he was immediately thrown back as if by some invisible force field. Miguel groaned in pain and got to his feet. Johnny tutted.

"Come on, Miguel. The dirt tsunami is coming." Johnny said. Miguel turned around and saw that he was around. With trembling hands, Miguel's fingers curled around the dagger and he edged closer to Johnny. He pulled his hand back, ready to push forward and stab Johnny in the stomach but he stopped himself right when he was about to do it.

"I can't do this." Miguel murmured.

"Yes, you can! You have to!" Johnny shouted. "STAB ME!"

"No! I can't!" Miguel shouted as the tsunami edged closer and closer.

"DO IT! DO IT NOW! DO IT!" Johnny yelled. Miguel cried out in pain and before he could stop himself, he plunged the dagger into Johnny's gut. Johnny screamed in pain and Miguel cried as Johnny collapsed to the ground. Miguel immediately leaned down to treat Johnny but Johnny suddenly disintegrated to ash. Miguel was sobbing furiously at this point. He had enough. He was done with this sick game his mind had created. He curled up into a ball, saying a final prayer, as the tsunami finally crashed over him…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The first thing Miguel felt was the heat. It was excruciatingly painful. It was like he was being stabbed by a million knives all over his body. The next thing he felt was the suffocation. To his surprise, being taken over by the dirt avalanche wasn't like being buried by dirt. It was like he was drowning underwater. Other than the minute worth of air he had sucked in before he was buried, he had no source of oxygen. As he looked up, he saw the surface high, high above him. Way too far for him to reach. He was screwed. Bound to die. He began to relax his limbs and he accepted his fate.

Weirdly, never in his life had Miguel been so calm. It was peacefully silent, no sound coming from underwater other than his thin stream of air bubbles. He knew he was going to die, so he didn't feel any of his constant pressures about grades, karate, girls, any of it. It was just him, all alone. He was ready to punch his ticket for death. However, suddenly, the silence was broken as Miguel heard extremely familiar voices from the surface.

"There would have to be some serious paperwork fuckup up there for him not to be in the highest place in heaven."

Miguel faintly heard Johnny's voice utter those words, sending shivers down his spines. He was talking to someone and they were talking about him as if he was already dead. But he wasn't! He didn't want to die! But he didn't have the strength to make it to the surface in time.

"He really loved you, you know?"

Johnny's voice echoed through Miguel's skull, but it was frustrating that Miguel had no idea who he was talking to. Carmen? His yaya? I mean, how many people in the world did he really love?

"That makes two of us…"

Hearing Sam's voice sent shockwaves through Miguel's entire system, waking him up from the doze he seemed to be in. Sam was there, and she was saying she still loved him! Knowing that simple fact gave him the strength to start kicking his legs and charge towards the surface…

Moments later, Miguel learned the hard way that it was MUCH harder to swim in this substance than water. He was already exhausted, and this sludge he was in was a lot thicker than water. It took him around triple the effort to travel half the distance. He forced himself to keep going though. He had to make it to the surface, or die trying at least! As Miguel quickly ran down the amount of air in his lungs, he slowly made it higher and higher and soon, he was only a couple of yards away from the top. However, he was completely out of air now. He felt like he was about to pass out. Black spots danced above his eyes. He didn't have long - maybe 10 seconds before he passed out and died.

"That makes two of us…"

Sam's words continued to ring through Miguel's ears, and he forced himself higher and higher, kicking with every fiber of his strength. Up, up, up he went and just as he was about to pass out, his head broke the surface, gasping and spluttering…

When he looked around, he realised that all of the mud and maze were gone. He was in a hospital room, but he couldn't see anyone other than the 4 nurses and doctors standing over him. Miguel let out a massive sigh of relief and he immediately passed out again, peaceful sleep not death overtaking him…