Chapter 12: Escaping
The herd increased their speed as Crash and Eddie jumped from the tree to join them again. Other animals were running as well, and they started screaming.
"Manny, where are we going?!" Ellie asked as she was running.
"I don't know! As far as the lava will take us!"
"You know, you should have thought about where we were going before."
"I have no idea what's going to be in front of us!"
"But you could have thought of an idea!
"Guys, keep up the paste!" Diego exclaimed.
"I am!" Manny exclaimed at the tiger. He started to get angry with Ellie again. He hated it when she got mad at him for something he thought was stupid. How was he supposed to know where to go? But Ellie was too freaked about to think about that. She probably depended on him now, since he was right about traveling at day.
"Manny, I'm scared!" Ellie exclaimed. "Please, where are we going?! I have to know! How will we know when to stop!"
"Ellie, I don't know! You'll just have to live with that!"
Those words made Ellie tingle. She then remembered when Manny said that about the possums earlier, that they will have to live with the heat. "I will not live with that! This is a very serious situation!"
"Guys, slow down!" Sid exclaimed from the back. "You're going to fast!"
Manny suddenly grabbed reached his trunk back there, and grabbed Sid's neck.
The sloth gagged a bit when he was grabbed, but then was put onto Manny's back.
"Manny, I don't want to argue about this!" Ellie shouted.
"I don't want to either, now be quiet!" Manny exclaimed.
Ellie gasped. "Lood out!"
Manny came to a sudden stop with the rest, when a big bolder fell right in front of them. Sid was in total shock of the situation, Diego was panting, and the three possums were holding onto each other.
The earth was shaking again, and rocks started to tumble all over the place.
"Let's go!" Manny exclaimed, and ran with the others pass the bolder.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" a little beaver exclaimed; the same one with the acorn, and looked up at his mother.
"Don't worry, honey," his mother tried to calm him down. "We're going to get out of this. Just keep running."
"AHHH!" Scrat attacked the little beaver, and started pulling the acorn away from him.
"Hey, that's mine!" the beaver exclaimed.
Scrat didn't say anything about it. He pulled and pulled. Finally, he got it out of the beaver's hands, and fell on his back.
Before the beaver could get it back, his mother pushed him, and got him running with her.
Scrat sighed, and hugged his acorn when he heard the roar again from the volcano. "AHHH!" he started running away with the other panicking animals.
Manny with Sid on his back, Ellie with the possums on her head, and Diego were all running very fast this time. "Hurry!" Manny exclaimed.
"Come on!" Ellie also exclaimed.
Diego was finally running ahead of the others.
Ellie was just staring at the tiger as she ran. She wished that she could run as fast as Diego, and started to get very tired. Not just because of the running, but because of the heat. "Manny," she started.
"What!" Manny exclaimed.
"I'm starting to..." Ellie then gasped. "Diego!"
Diego stopped and looked back, as big rocks were falling between him in the others.
"Diego, no!" Sid exclaimed.
The rocks kept falling. They fell and fell, and when they stopped, there was dust everywhere.
"Diego!" Manny exclaimed and ran over to the rocks.
Sid jumped from Manny's back, and went closer to the rocks that had just fallen. "Diego!" He put his hands on the rocks, and started to doubt. "Diego."
Ellie finally ran over, and the three possums jumped off and ran over to the rocks. "Diego, no!" Eddie exclaimed.
Sandy got very scared, and started to cry a bit.
"Diego!" Sid exclaimed and put his head on the rocks.
Everybody started to doubt, and were very sad.
"You guys!" Diego's voiced cried out. "I'm ok!"
The herd gasped, and they came closer to the rocks.
Diego stood safely on the other side. "I'm fine!"
"Are you hurt!" Ellie asked.
"No!"
"Any broken bones?!" Sid asked.
"Nothing touched me, Sid. I'm fine!"
The possums sighed with relieve.
"How are we gonna get across?" Ellie asked.
Manny looked up at the rocks. He had no idea what to, since the rocks had created a wall, which he couldn't climb. "I don't know."
Sandy suddenly jumped up on the rocks, and grabbed a hold of the first ledge.
Ellie gasped. "Mom?"
"What are you doing?" Eddie asked.
"Trying to see if I can find away to knock these down," Sandy answered.
"How are you supposed to do that?" Crash asked curiously.
"I...I don't know." Sandy started climbing again.
Other animals started screaming and panicking.
Manny and Ellie looked back, and saw the lava coming, about 50 feet away. Ellie gasped. "It's coming!"
Crash and Eddie then jumped up the rocks, and started climbing with their mother.
"Guys, no!" Ellie exclaimed.
"We need to help her!" Eddie exclaimed.
"She needs some help!" Crash also exclaimed.
Diego couldn't handle this. He felt useless just standing there, so he jumped up, and tried to climb. He struggled as his claws dug into the edge of the bolder, and pushed up with his feet to go further.
The possums continued climbing, and Crash and Eddie finally got as far as Sandy did.
Manny could hear the animals scream again, and looked back at the lava that was coming closer.
Sid looked back also, and gasped. "Manny, you have to try and knock down these rocks!"
"I can't! Not when the possums are climbing it!"
Diego continued climbing, and didn't do as well as the possums did, but he still continued.
The possums were also struggling, even though they were doing it better than Diego. They were almost half way there, and they were starting to loose grip.
Ellie gasped. "I don't like this at all! Crash, Eddie, mom! Get back down here!"
Sid suddenly felt useless, so he started to climb the rocks, but Ellie grabbed him before he did.
"We're almost there!" Eddie cried.
"No you're not!" Ellie exclaimed. "Get back down here!"
"No!" Crash called.
Diego was finally almost there, and his climbing was finally getting faster and stronger.
Sid looked back at the lava, which was probably about 30 feet away. It wasn't going that fast, but Sid gasped. "Manny!"
The volcano suddenly roared again, causing the earth to shake; harder then before.
Crash and Eddie suddenly fell, but grabbed a hold of the edge.
The volcano then broke some more, and lots of lava bursted out, very fast, as if it were a waterfall. It flowed and flowed very fast. It went so fast, that it finally made it to the water park in two minuets. There were, though, rocks everywhere, covering the water. So the lava did not go in the water. It just went over the rocks. It was then away from the water park in five minuets.
Sandy stopped for a moment, and looked back. She could see the lava coming closer, and a small bird came flying over. "More lava!" it called. "More is coming!" Sandy looked again, but could only see the first bit of lava coming.
Manny looked at a big tree, and suddenly thought of a plan. "Ellie, help me with this." He walked toward the tree, and Ellie followed, as Sid just stood there, watching the lava coming closer.
Manny and Ellie worked together, and started pulling the trunk of the tree. They pulled and pulled.
"Manny!" Sid exclaimed, and pointed, as the lava was now 20 feet away.
Manny and Ellie continued pulling, and the tree was starting to come loose from the ground.
Diego kept climbing, and was only four feet from the top. The possums were now five feet from the top, and stopped when they saw the two mammoths pulling the tree. They were curious of what they were doing.
Manny and Ellie continued pulling, when the tree finally came loose from the ground. They carried it over toward the rocks. "Ok, we're going to make a bridge!" Manny called. So they both sat the tree against the rocks hard.
Sandy gasped, and then smiled when she knew that the tree trunk would work. But she also hoped that it would be strong enough for everybody.
Other animals were also trying to climb other piles of rocks.
Diego finally made it to the top, and looked down at the possums. "Up here!" he called.
The possums all looked at him, and gasped with excitement. Crash and Eddie both climbed on top of them, as well as Sandy. Diego then stood there, waiting for the other three to get up.
"Come on!" Manny called, read for them to climb up the tree trunk. "You go first, Ellie."
Ellie started for the tree trunk, and started walking up. She then smiled, not doubting that it would hold her.
Manny then grabbed Sid, who was still staring at the lava. "Sid, go!" he exclaimed as he put the sloth on the tree trunk. Sid started walking up behind Ellie, who smiled as she got closer to Diego and the possums.
Now it was Manny's turn. He slowly walked up behind Ellie and Sid.
"Manny, hurry!" Diego exclaimed, as he saw the lava ten feet away.
Ellie finally made it to the top, and she looked down, hoping that she could make it. She then stepped down.
"Ellie!" Eddie exclaimed.
But she didn't listen. Her body finally went down, causing the rocks to fall a bit. Diego then started jumping down with the possums on his back. He finally made it to the bottom, but Ellie didn't get down easy enough.
"Ellie!" Sid called, who got to the top.
Ellie opened her eyes. "I'm fine!"
Sid suddenly felt a soft trunk wrap around his neck, and he started to panic. "Manny, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to throw you down there, Sid," he answered. "The rocks are falling."
"What? No! Don't!"
"Ellie, catch Sid!"
Ellie looked up, and put her trunk out.
"NO!" Sid exclaimed, who was finally released, and started screaming. "NO!"
"Got ya, Sid!" Ellie exclaimed, who caught the sloth.
Sid sighed, and wanted to faint, but didn't.
Manny then stepped down, and hoped it wouldn't hurt.
The others started to back up, knowing that the rocks were coming.
"Manny!" Ellie exclaimed.
Manny was suddenly riding on a rock that he was standing on. He slid down, and Manny got down safely. He then got up and looked up, as more rocks were falling. He started to run with the others, and they soon stopped and looked back.
All of the rocks were down, but the lava was finally touching them. "Come on!" Manny called, as he and the others continued running.
"Where do we go now?" Ellie asked.
Manny didn't know what to say. As he ran, he looked ahead of him and all over the place, finding the perfect place to head for. But he had no idea where to go. There was no sign at all. But he didn't want to argue with Ellie again. "Don't worry! Just keep running!"
The herd was suddenly coming toward two path ways, and that's when they got curious. "Which way?" Ellie asked.
Manny tried to figure out which way would be safe, but he had no idea. He then came to a sudden stop when he got to the two path ways, and the others stopped as well. "Uhh..."
"Hurry!" Eddie exclaimed.
Manny was very concerned of which way to go. He was afraid that one of them could be dangerous. But both of them could be dangerous as well.
Diego looked back, and he saw that the lava was only 10 feet away. "This way!" he exclaimed, as he started running on the left path way. Even though he didn't know which way would be safer, he just wanted him and the others to get away from the lava. They then followed him.
As Diego ran, he suddenly saw a small pond ahead of him. "Huh?" he asked himself curiously, but also concerned. He wanted to stop. But he didn't. He just kept running, and finally jumped on a rock that was in the water about three feet away from the shore. He jumped quickly on a big bark that was floating, then jumped on a smaller rock, and finally got to the other side.
Diego stopped, when he remembered that his herd was still coming.
Sid was next. When he finally got to the edge of the pond, he quickly stopped, and had no idea what to do.
"Sid, jump!" Diego called.
Sid leaned down on his belly, and looked at the water nervously.
"Sid!"
Ellie gasped when she and Manny got to the pond.
"You have to get across!" Diego called.
The three possums looked at each other, and quickly jumped off of Ellie. They then went across Sid, and jumped on the first rock, one by one. They also, one by one, jumped on the piece of bark, and got to the last rock. Then they finally made it across.
"Sid, come on!" Diego called.
Sid stood back up, and jumped as far as he could. And yet he almost fell in, he made it. He sighed with relief, and looked at the bark ahead of him. It was too far away, and he knew he wouldn't be able to jump that far.
"Sid, come on!"
Sid waited five seconds for the bark to come closer, and he finally jumped. When he jumped, he closed his eyes, hoping that the bark would not let him go down. Sid opened his eyes, and was laying on his belly. The bark did not let him sink, but he still lay there, not wanting to move.
"Sid, come on!"
"Manny, is it safe?" Ellie asked.
Manny just looked at the water. "I...I don't know."
Sid looked down at the water, and carefully put his claw in, and screamed when he pulled it out. The water was hot, and steam came up.
"It's not."
"Oh no," Ellie said, concerned. "What do we do?"
"Sid, jump!"
Sid finally came to his senses, got up, and jumped on the other rock. He stood on his two feet, and looked ahead.
"Come on!" Crash and Eddie exclaimed.
Sid finally jumped to the shore, and made it, falling face down.
Manny and Ellie both looked back, and saw the lava about five feet away from the two pathways. "We can't get across," Manny said.
"What do we do?" Ellie replied.
"Ellie!" Eddie cried.
"It's ok!" Manny called out. "We're going to go and see if there is a better way for us!"
"Are you sure?" Ellie asked.
"Come on." Manny started turning back with Ellie.
"But Manny!" Sid exclaimed.
"We'll be ok!"
The others didn't know what to say, and the possum brothers were freaked out.
"What do we do, Diego?" Sid asked.
"ROAR!"
"AHHH!" the possums screamed, and looked at a bear near them.
Diego and Sid gasped, when the bear started coming toward them.
"Run!" Sandy cried, as she and her two sons started running.
Diego would have tried to fight the bear. But he decided to run with the possums and sloth.
But the bear didn't just stand there; it went after them. And it was the same bear that attacked them earlier.
SP-so that was my 12th chapter. Wow, it was like the longest chapter I wrote for this story! Well, the story isn't over yet! There is still more peril to come with the bear, and there will be 3 more chapters left. Sorry, it's going to end so soon! But it has to end sometime! But the chapters are worth it!