The Eleven – Chapter 4
I noticed Alex, Karin, and everybody else who was in the church running towards Troy and I at full speed, but they were still two blocks away. Was I that fast? The man with the suit was in the back of the church when everybody was escaping so he had a head start, and Troy must be on the track team or something because he flew out the door. I had never really run hard since middle school when I played soccer. I guess I never lost my speed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The creature had only taken three steps, but in those three steps he moved from the back of the church, to right behind the running group of people. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The monster swung his sword, and it crashed into the ground eclipsing everyone who was running our way. Large pieces of road flew into the air and skidded across the ground crashing into buildings and cars. Troy and I took shelter behind a dumpster, but the man in the suit was on his knees in the middle of the street with his hands on his head. The beast lifted up the sword to reveal nobody had died. They all stood there, just feet away from the crater the sword had left in the street. The crater was long and deep and was blocking their path.
A man in a sweat suit tried climbing down into the crater and up the other side. "Ahhh!" he screamed as he fell in and hit the ground. The others panicked. Behind them was a giant ogre, in front of them a crater. Alex grabbed hold of his wife and ran left into an ally.
"Run, just run!" he cried. The others, while screaming, followed him and were now out of sight. A hand appeared on the edge of the crater.
"Help me up! Please, it's going to kill me! PLEASE!" apparently the man in the sweat suit had survived, and had climbed up the other side of the pit he fell into.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The beast looked to the sky and roared again.
I couldn't help him. If I ran out there I would have just died alongside him. I had already seen two people die today. I guess this is what war must be like. Even though it's terrifying I got used to the idea of death. Many people were going to die. If I didn't except that fact I would end up like the man in the suit crying in the middle of the street.
"Now!" Troy screamed, startling me to the extent that I fell down. He got up from behind the dumpster and ran towards the crater. "Grab my hand." Troy had reached his hand down into the hole. "Grab it! I'll save you!" He was trying to save the man in the crater. "Yes, that's it. Now hold on." The man in the sweat suit had grabbed on to Troy's hand, and Troy was pulling him up.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Screamed the monster as it begun swinging the sword around its head.
"Ah!" the man's hand was too sweaty and he slipped back into the pit.
Troy looked up at the monster. "Rrr, Grab my hand again. I won't let you fall this time!" He reached his hand down the pit once more. "Raaaa!" He pulled the man up in one fell swoop, and he fell on top of Troy. "Okay, hurry let's run." I couldn't believe it. Troy had saved the doomed man. I could see the man's frightened face as they were running back. He was so scared. Most people would be if they thought they were going to die just seconds earlier. But he was also grateful. He was almost smiling at the fact that a stranger cared enough to save his life. I saw Troy's face too. It was a strong face. It was a confident face. He had just saved a man's life, and was determined to get that man to safety. I thought I wanted to be like Troy. He was like a super hero. Saving a man's life no matter how dangerous the situation. Ha, I think I was envious. He was so much braver than anyone else I had ever known. That's when I knew I would remember Troy forever. The way he put his life on the line for someone he didn't even know. The strength it took to pull a grown man out of a crater in one pull. The look on his determined face. It was the same determined expression he had on his face when the beast swung his sword. It came down hard on top of Troy. It must have painful.
Pieces of road flew in my direction, but I didn't flinch. "No" I muttered. "You're not supposed to die. You're not supposed to die! Heroes don't die, Troy! HEROES DON'T DIE! Get up! You're not dead, get up! GET UP! You're the hero! YOU'RE THE HERO, TROY! You're not supposed to die!" Tears were streaming down my face. My vision was blurred, and I couldn't see anymore. "Please" I could barely talk. I was crying too much. "Just get up. You're… you're the hero, Troy." I was on my knees. I had never cried this much before. I had never been so hopeless. "Ah…no…" Now I couldn't talk. I was a sniveling mess. I tried wiping the tears from my eyes, but they just kept coming out. All was lost. I had become just like the man in the suit who was now lying on the ground pulling his knees to his chest. Everyone was going to die.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The creature didn't care. In its mind Troy was nothing more than a fly. I couldn't see what happened next. There were too many tears. All I know is that I ran away. I ran faster than when I was running from the church. Because when I was running from the church I thought I was going to die. This time I knew I was. I stumbled many times, but I kept blindly running while wiping the tears from my face. I heard someone scream while I was running. It was a terrible scream. It was the kind of scream that makes your ears ring, the kind of scream that's hard to forget. I tried listening closer to see which direction it was coming from, but I couldn't pinpoint it. It was close, but it didn't seem to even have a direction. That's when I realized that I was the one screaming. I would have been ashamed of myself if it wasn't for the current situation. Three people had died in less than ten minutes, and I witnessed it all.
"No!" the man in the suit yelled. BOOM! The monster took a step. I didn't hear the man say anything else.
I wanted to run out of the town. I wanted to get away from this place as fast as I could. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The thing was drawing closer. I didn't want to look back. I just kept running. CRASH! A car had fallen out of the air and landed right in front of me blocking my path. I turned around. BOOM! The beast had taken one more step and appeared right in front of me. I could see its large, black eyes widen. I could hear it breathing fast. Thump, thump. I heard a soft booming noise. Thump, thump. It was coming from inside the monster. Thump, thump. It was its heart beat. It was fast. I stared into its eyes, and it stared back at mine. The thing was excited.
It bent over and put its head right in front of mine and looked closely into my eyes. I felt its breath on my face. It smelled like rotten fish. I could see into its mouth. There wasn't much to see. It only had three rotten teeth, and a bumpy green tongue. It was drooling profusely, and the saliva was pooling on the ground forming large puddles. It took a deep breath through its nose. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It was a point blank battle cry. I fell backwards and got covered in drool head to toe. I tried to wipe it off my face as best I could, but my sleeve was already soaked from tears. The monster was still staring at me. Now sitting on my butt I tried scooting backwards, but the thing didn't like that. It stood back up and roared again. The creature lifted up its sword and started swinging it around in the air like a helicopter blade.
I didn't want to die. I didn't want to die like Troy and the others. I wanted to live. If I died here, then that would mean Troy died for nothing. He was better than me in every aspect. He didn't deserve a meaningless death, but I couldn't escape from this monster. It was faster than me. It was stronger than me. I couldn't run. I couldn't fight. No matter how badly I wanted to live it just seemed impossible. I had to come to terms. The thing was still swinging its sword. I prayed for more time. I reached into my pocket to grab my cell phone. I knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted to try to call my dad one last time. I wanted to hear his voice just once more. I got out my phone and was ready to dial the number when I noticed something small on the ground beside me. It was the blue cube that I had picked up earlier when I was still on the road. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I pulled out my cell phone. I picked it to take a closer look.
"RAAAAAAAAAAA!" The monster didn't care about my curiosity. Its sword was coming down fast. It was over. There was nothing left for me to do. I got distracted by a stupid toy, and missed a chance to hear my dad's voice again.
I wasn't in control of my body anymore. Reflexes told me to cover my head with my arms so I did. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists. BOOM! The sword hit. It was less painful then I expected. I barely felt anything. I guess that's what death was like. At least it was painless. Maybe I'll become a ghost. I guess that would be cool. But at least it's all over now. I'm free from this hell. Or…wait, what? I was thinking! I was conscious! "Hah, hah, hah" I was breathing! I was alive! I was really alive! I opened my eyes, and it was dark. I looked up and the monster's sword was hovering just inches above me. I wondered why it decided to spare my life. I followed the tip of the sword to the top of my head. It wasn't hovering. There was a strange blue light coming from one of my hands, and the sword was resting on it. No, it was more like it was struggling to break through it.
The light extended about two feet from my right hand, and formed a pulsating point at the end. It wasn't so much a sword as it was a kind of narrow cone. The beast lifted his sword. "RAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it was angry. I struggled to get to my feet. I couldn't believe I was still alive. There was so much adrenaline running through me. Just seconds ago I thought I was going to die, but now I felt more alive than ever. The pulsating blue light was still being emitted from my clenched fist. I just looked at it for a while, not knowing what to think. "RAAAAAAAAA!" the sword came down again, and again I covered my head with my hands. BOOM! The sword hit the light and stopped dead. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Again and again the thing swung its sword, but the light never weakened. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!" it was even angrier now. Frustrated, the monster threw its sword to the ground and a small earthquake ensued knocking me to the ground once more. I quickly stood back up.
I was somehow obtained a magical blue light which could protect me from anything. Not quite sure what to do with this new found power I started waving my arm up and down to see if the light would fall off or go out. It didn't.
It was getting darker now as a large shadow appeared over me. I looked up and it was the beast's giant fist coming down right on top of me. I fell back and held up the arm with the blue light, point up. It was pitch black now, but I was still alive. The beast lifted up its fist and there was blood all around me. I was covered in it. "OOOOOOOOH!" a deep cry echoed through the streets. But this time it wasn't mine. The thing's fist lifted up into the air and more blood rained down from the sky. I had unknowingly injured the monster's hand with my blue light. I could do this. I had the same look on my face as Troy when he saved that man. With this light I could defeat the monster and avenge Troy's death! I was alive now and it was going to stay that way forever! I was going to survive!
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The enormous creature took two steps back and readied itself to charge.
I was standing there covered in blood, sweat, and tears. "raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" and did the same.
-End of Chapter 4-