Chereads / Escape From Paradise / Chapter 16 - Chapter 6 : Blood In The Water

Chapter 16 - Chapter 6 : Blood In The Water

They stood across from each other. The old piece of debris lay sporadically on the no man's land between them. Crushed and burning cars were littered all over the street with the odd body here and there. Sooner or later one of the burning men would join them in their eternal slumber. It walked menacingly towards Mwene; it's arms were on his side whilst Mwene held his arms up. It took no defence pose and left itself completely open. Mwene could smell it's blood.

Mwene charged at it and launched a jab at him when he was within range. It dodged to the left. He threw another and it dodged to the right. Mwene swung a wild uppercut and it wildly leaned back into a backflip. It's foot hit Mwene square on his chin. Mwene staggered back and quickly regained his footing. He looked forward and it had disappeared. He looked to the left and right but saw nothing. He looked upwards and it's knee drove right into his nose. His body collapsed and crashed into the ground creating a small crater whilst launching debris into the air.

It grabbed Mwene by his arm and flung him into a building wall about 10 metres from the ground. Mwene bounced off the wall and as he began to fall, it jumped and hammered him right on his chest with its knee again which thrust Mwene through the wall and into the room on the other side. Mwene got up quickly, ignoring the dull aching pain on his back and ribs. It stood at the other end of the room, watching, savouring the moment before it pounced at him. Mwene connected with a left hook on its face, but it had no effect as it grabbed Mwene by his collar and whipped him forward and headbutted him.

Mwene's vision briefly turned white before coming back to the room. He was looking at the ceiling but before he could do anything it whipped him forward again and connected with a headbutt and then another and another. Each hit slowly drained the willpower Mwene had. Each hit made it seem like his head was splitting more open. Just as it seemed like Mwene would have blacked out, it unceremoniously dropped him, and he fell like a rag doll onto the ground. Blood oozed from his head, his ears were ringing, and vision was blurry. Mwene's black flames began to wane just like his hold onto life did. He lay there damaged, defenceless, and helpless.

Ayla had managed to hit it with a couple of bullets before quickly hiding behind the wall from the building across the street. She knew they were ineffective but hopefully they would distract it long enough for Mwene to recover quickly enough to resume fighting. It walked to the window and scanned the area looking for the culprit. For a moment or two nothing happened until Ayla stepped on a piece of glass. The crunch caught it's attention. It's eyes watched the building across the street, searching for the source. Ayla did not dare to move.

It slightly bent it's legs readying to jump when Mwene speared it from behind. They both crashed through the glass window onto the street below. Mwene landed right on top of it. The crash rocked the entire street. Mwene immediately got on top of him and started to punch him. Each punch was stronger than the last. Just as it seemed like he had finally gotten the upper hand, his flames extinguished.

"Oh no" Mwene uttered under his breath before

"Your denial of reality has cost the boy. Now it will cost you your dreams, your blood and your friends." It's words echoed throughout Someone's head. They served as confirmation of his failure. It's leg lashed out and struck him on the back of his head. In one swift movement it flipped Mwene onto his back. With one hand grabbing the scruff of his neck he stood up and held Mwene high. It raised its other arm, palm out, in front of its face. It began to glow a blinding white. Just as the hand was as bright as the sun a car horn grabbed it's attention. A car crashed through it and rammed into him. A woman jumped out of the car just before it crashed into the building. The car crashed through the wall before exploding.

Mwene fell onto his back, his whole-body throbbing, and watched the whole ordeal despite his blurry vision. He tried to move but the pain crippled him into place. A heavy concrete slab crashed down a couple of metres away from him followed by several others. The building began to crumble with the top half leaning over the street. Mwene felt an arm grab him and holster him up. He had nothing left in his legs.

"There are plenty of days to die but not today." Anan tried to console Mwene. Steel and concrete crashed all around them, but Mwene could only hear it. His face was locked onto the floor, his head felt like it weighed a ton. The steel beams in the building groaned as it stained under the weight of the concrete testing it to it's limit. Mwene felt another person grab his other arm and place it on their shoulders. They moved faster as the world around them seemed to fall apart to pieces around them.

Second by second Mwene felt his legs become stronger. He gradually began to place more weight on them with each step he took. He looked to his right and saw a bloody and sweaty Anan look ahead. Mwene looked ahead and noticed an open sewage manhole opened. He looked to his left and saw a slender woman with a rather small button nose, no eyebrows, silky grey hair, and red eyes. She wore the same bodysuit as the boy but with a halo that magically seemed to float above her head.

Just as they reached the manhole a shadow eclipsed them. Mwene looked back and saw a giant chunk of the building right on top of them. With what little strength he had left he shoved Anan and the girl into the manhole. As they fell Mwene ignited again. He turned around and raised his arms. He caught the building and stopped it from falling for a moment until the sheer weight overwhelmed Mwene. He screamed with all he had left before it crashed onto him.