Mateo's heart started racing when his eyes made four with the monster, unable to escape.
The monster was now standing above him. Its mouth slowly widened as it prepared to go in for the kill. Mateo knew he had to do something.
He glanced to his left to see a black bag lying just at the edge of his arm's reach. It was the bag he had been carrying before he had engaged the monster in combat. His eyes widened as an idea shot through his head like a bullet.
The horrific contents of the bag would be his saving grace. Quickly, Mateo reached for the bag. His fingers fiddled against the bag as he desperately tried to reach inside.
The monster's stale breath and teeth were now pressing against his face. He had to hurry or he would surely die.
Finally, his fingers hooked onto a hard sharp white object before he pulled it from his bag. It was the broken edge of a human ribcage, perfect for the situation.
"Save me once more, mother!" He shouted, jamming the broken bone into the monster's neck.
The monster screamed in agony as black blood poured from its mouth and neck, bathing Mateo's face.
"Is it... Is it dead?" A villager asked.
"I think so, it went straight through its neck."
Mateo and the villagers thought it was over. They heard a cracking sound coming from the monster's corpse. Suddenly, its belly burst open and started releasing gas.
"Gas from a corpse!? That can't be good!"
The villager that the monster had bitten knew he was vulnerable and would be a liability if they carried him on their backs along with trying to bring all the wood.
"We have to help him! Someone help him!" Mateo shouted in frustration from his aching body knowing he wouldn't be able to return the favor of saving him.
There was no time left, the gas was about to cover a huge radius from where they stood.
"Just leave me... I won't make it back to the village alive... I have nothing to live for... Now... I will finally be with my family." The wounded villager said with his last breath looking to the sky.
Another villager quickly ran towards Mateo and grabbed one of his arms, pulled him up off the ground, and ran.
Meanwhile, the other villagers grabbed all the wood they could and headed in the direction of the village, leaving the wounded villager behind.
Time passed and they've finally made it back to the village...
"Where... Are the others..? I... Thought... They'd be back... by now..!"
Parched and tired from all that running.
"They haven't made it back yet, your group is the first." An old female villager said.
"Hey! Glad your group made it back safely." Chief Bian shouted from a distance.
As he got closer and saw there faces, instantly he knew something terrifying had happened to them too.
"Safe!? Safe!? You sent us out for slaughter like we are nothing but fodder!" A villager shouted ignorantly.
"Calm down... We also lost someone from our group, there's no way I could have known we would have casualties. Since the dome appeared everything has been off." Chief bian explained.
The ignorant villager thought to himself and realized it made sense.
"At least I'm still alive..." The ignorant villager whispered to himself.
The villagers saw Mateo in very bad shape and decided to take him to the villagers tent for treatment. The elder healer placed warm green leaves on his skin and left him there to get some rest.
Meanwhile Chief Bian tried to figure out how to make the water drinkable.
"Someone start a fire and bring the buckets of water!" Said the Chief.
The fire was lit and all the water they had was poured into a big round pan to boil.
"Everyone step back and cover your nose and mouths!" The Chief shouted for everyones safety, hoping his idea will work or everyones life would be at risk.
The water slowly started boiling...
Though something seems off, the steam from the water had an unnatural color. First it was green and immediately turned black.
"Wha! What's happening?!" A villager panicked.
"Is that supposed to be happening?!" Another villager from the crowd shouted.
Suddenly, it went back to normal.
"I... Think it worked... I'll drink some and see."
Zuko held onto his dad's arm...
Bian gulped. "I'm going to be alright my son."
Chief Bian took a cup made from coconut shell and filled it with water. He blew on it to cool it and took a sip...
He was still alive after a few minutes...
"He's still alive... He would have been dead by now if the water was still intoxicated."
"Everyone can only have one full cup of water each day until we get more." The Chief stated.
Bian went to give Mateo a cup of water since he should be thirsty and exhausted from the fight.
"Hey Mateo... How are you feeling?"
"Is... That water..!"
Bian handed the water to Mateo.
Gulp Gulp Gulp
Mateo was so thirsty he swallowed the whole cup or water.
"You were that thirsty ugh." Bian chuckled. "I heard that you killed the monster that attacked, with a rather unusual piece of weapon you're carrying around in your bag over there." Bian continued
"Who told you that Chief?"
"Let me take a look inside your bag..."
Chief Bian slowly walked towards Mateo's bag, one foot after the other.
"Why are these remains so important to you?!"
"Don't touch my bag! My family's inside!"