The Unusual Era (II)

This time around, Alex was more cautious, having encountered some intimidating insects that left him uneasy. Silently, he navigated around the peculiar creatures, collecting leaves and rubbing them on himself and his clothes to blend in with the environment. On the go, he managed to cut some rope from the bundled cotton and stitched leaves together, fashioning a makeshift cap to avoid standing out as according to him, standing out meant asking to get eaten.

While running and multitasking, Alex hoped fervently for a dormant volcano or something akin to it. Such a scenario would significantly improve his chances of survival. Otherwise, with every passing moment, the odds will be abysmal.

In the midst of his escape, Alex couldn't help but ponder, 'What if the egg is just a regular one and fries instantly upon entering the volcano? Wouldn't that be considered suicide? As the egg dies, I die, and if I kill the egg, I kill myself. What the heck, it's a paradox.' Clearly disturbed by the earlier encounter with some peculiar creatures has left him unstable, he was just attempting to console himself.

As he ascended higher, the density of trees decreased. Alex, realizing the vulnerability of his position, shifted to a path with more trees, contemplating, 'At this rate, I'll be the worm that the flying monsters will feast on during its dinner.'

Navigating through the changing landscape, he considered his next challenge, 'What about water? It'll be tough to find.' Amidst his thoughts about the forthcoming days, he decided, 'First, I'll hide this egg, and then I'll focus on survival. Otherwise, I might go for hunting for prey, and if a snake-like creature finds egg and eat it, I won't even know how I died.'

Now near the summit, Alex pondered his encounters with the wild beasts. They appeared less densely populated, with only the giant one leaving a lasting impression, accompanied by smaller, albeit scarier, insects. Deciding to secure a safe spot for the night after placing the egg, he approached the area near the smoke, approximately one mile away.

However, doubt crept into Alex's thoughts. "I don't have too much confidence in the volcano, and what if it doesn't work?" he mused to himself.

Considering his options, he wondered, "What do these animals fear the most, something I could do to keep them in check?" Time was running out, and he estimated, looking at the sun, that it had been around five hours since his arrival (actually, five and a half). "My guesses might be half an hour late or early. If I take the worst case, it's one hour left."

While contemplating this and running, he suddenly noticed a tree with an unusual shape. Recalling information from the guide, he knew it could be useful for lighting a fire, as it caught fire easily and was recommended for making bonfires.

Alex got an idea. He immediately stopped, opened the guidebook, and read about it. "So, this plant is found near volcanoes as they grow in soil from molten magma." Closing the book, he went near the tree, took out his axe, and started cutting the majority of branches with high leaf density.

He swiftly pulled out his sleeping bag, stuffed all the branches into it, and began jumping on it. Though the noise was conspicuous, Alex couldn't afford to care; time was slipping away. He grabbed the sleeping bag, placed it on his back, and went to a nearby tree. Plucking a branch, he positioned it at the tree's foot. Repeating the process with another tree, he then joined the two fallen branches.

With the branches set up, he reached into his sleeping bag, retrieved the crushed rubble, and sprinkled it over both branches. In a frantic rush, he sprinted as fast as he could, creating a tree branch fence by connecting one tree's foot to another with their branches. Sprinkling more rubble from his sleeping bag, he worked with precision.

Calculating that he had covered approximately 8 miles of circumference in the fastest time possible, which took him at least 50 minutes, the entire fence was finally in place. Exhausted from the intense effort, his body succumbed to fatigue.

But now was not the time to dwell on such matters. Alex hoped his plan worked. Having created a fence by joining one tree to another over a one mile of the radius, he took out his lighter.

"This has to work. Let's create a real bonfire," he muttered, approaching the fence and igniting it with the lighter. The flames slowly started to burn the branch then the tree and then the branch nearby, causing an intense fire that initiated a chain reaction. As the forest was quite closely connected for it to not get affected. 

He then sprinted towards his backpack and rushed towards the top of the mountain, a task that took him 6-8 minutes as fatigue had set in earlier.

From the summit, he looked at the view—a bathtub-sized hole in a crater the size of a football field, covered with rubble from ancient explosions. The lava could be seen in the bathtub size hole. Taking the egg out, he ignited the lighter and placed the egg on it." Let's see if it gives a reaction or not ". After 5-6 minutes of heat, the egg showed no response. Alex smiled. 

"It's time for you to take a dive, baby," he muttered. Alex wrapped the egg in a bundle of cotton ropes, tested its security by swinging the rope slowly at the starting then increased its speed, after getting satisfied that it wouldn't pop out, Alex who was worried that the egg might break or something initially, sighed thankfully nothing happened otherwise, he muttered "how could I tell people the cause of my death? It would have been the most stupid one—a person committed suicide by cracking an egg. Ha-ha."

He then tied the other end of the rope to the bottom of the largest rock near that lava hole, he could find. Slowly, he approached the bathtub-sized hole and let the egg in slowly to see any reaction from it then hung the egg as it showed no response to intense heat. He covered the already black cotton rope with cooled debris of lava to hide it from animals.

"If they went for the egg directly," Alex looked at the bathtub size hole and said, "Then Lava-Sama, I leave those bastards to you, ha-ha-ha."

He looked at his handiwork and sighed, uncertainty lingering about the remaining time. As he went to the edge of the crater, sat down, and sighed again, "Quite the rollercoaster my life has become".

He gazed at the burning forest, As the sun descended, its orange glow felt like a farewell and a gentle reminder of the approaching nightfall.

[##**Author's NOTE: - The character and scene pictures are in the comment section. Be sure to check them out! **##]