Dream

Edward laid on one of the strongest branches of the tree, staring up into the sky. Brody had put off the campfire late, sending everyone to sleep for tomorrow. They had to throw away the remaining pieces of the Ostrich so as not to draw in predators or dangerous animals, using the sand below the tree to cover off the blood from the Ostrich.

Due to his strength, Edward could easily climb up to the highest and strongest branch of the tree. The thought of falling off the tree while sleeping never crossed his mind. He was never one to twist and turn while sleeping. Besides, falling off the tree at such a height would only result in mild scratches.

He looked down, watching the other sleep. The other one in the tree with him was Michael, fast asleep. Andrew sat up, leaning on the tree below Edward. With his arm folded across his chest, he was fast asleep. Ezekiel laid on the ground with no care for the sand, mumbling something in his sleep.

Leonardo was sleeping while sitting on the ground and leaning on the tree, with Emma leaning on his left shoulder while she slept. Last was Brody, who was still sitting beside the off campfire, deep in thought. As for Elizabeth, she had gone off to use the restroom. Only the three of them were still awake.

Edward turned back to the starry sky, remembering he had reached level five earlier. Andrew wanted to hunt one Ostrich to give to the woman for forgiveness, but he decided to kill four for that 35 extra Exp to reach level 5.

'I will allocate the points tomorrow.' He thought to himself, closing his eyes and allowing the chilly, night, savanna breeze to put him to sleep.

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The next time Edward opened his eyes, he found himself in an endless black void with the only thing in front of him being a white road that seemed to expand endlessly into the void. He had no clothes on him, and strangely enough, he had no genitals.

"What the hell?" Edward let out, looking around. "First time having a lucid dream." He didn't know how, but he knew he was still sleeping. He knew his body was back in the tree in the savanna, fast asleep, and he was in the dream world. 'Strange.'

Looking behind him, Edward noticed he was at the end of the road, concluding that all he could do was move forward, and forward he did. It confused him why he is dreaming of this, but he chose not to think much of it. Dreams never had meanings.

The first few walks were boring, just him and his thoughts in a void, so he decided on the next best option, running. With one step at a time, he took off into a full sprint, running with the tip of his toe as his arm swanged on his sides.

The ground didn't hurt or was not uncomfortable while he ran barefoot, making the run even the better. In less than 40 seconds, this sprint was reduced to him running at a constant pace.

As he ran, he used the time to think about his and the other's current predicament back in the savanna. They were out in the open, where they can easily be ambushed by animals of any sort. Snakes were the worst, as one bite from a Cobra would end anyone's life.

'But this is a strange dream. Why do I have perfect cognition while dreaming? Undead of.' Edward thought, looking around once more.

But as time went on, his run turned to a jog, and said jog turned into a walk. He was out of stamina, but he wasn't sweating. He was tired, but the thought of going to sleep in a dream didn't sound like something he should do.

So he kept moving. Maybe I will soon wake up, he thought. It was a dream, so there must be an end. But this thought soon vanished after hours of walking and sometimes, running. He knew he had crossed miles, more than he had ever walked or run in a single sitting.

He wanted to give up and wait to awake, but the curiosity about what could be at the end of the road forced him to continue. Besides, he had already walked for so long he couldn't even see the starting of the road. Giving up now would be wasting all his progress.

Time passed, and he finally stopped. He couldn't take it anymore. He was too tired, so he sat and rested. The good thing about this being a dream is that he felt no pain. If he did, walking that 5 miles or so would be torture.

Edward stood up after a while of resting, continuing onward. It had reached the point where he doubted there was an end to this road. He tried to venture out of the road and into the void, but an invisible wall stopped him from leaving the road.

All he could do was move forward on the road, going toward an unknown destination. Time passed once more, sprinting, running, jogging, walking, resting, and repeating. For hours or days, he didn't know. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Edward kept moving, expecting to find an end, but nothing. He suddenly gained an epiphany from an unknown source. Falling asleep would send him back to the real world. He immediately wanted to sleep and leave this place, but yet again his curiosity and anger stopped him.

He was curious about what could be at the end of the road and angry for wasting all this time moving when he could have just slept and awake from the torturous dream.

So, Edward continued onward. The further he went after the epiphany, the more tired he got. His eyelids become heavy, taking all his strength to keep them open. Someone or something kept telling him to sleep.

No. It was daring him to sleep. It told him to give up. It told him that there was nothing at the end of the road. Nothing was waiting for him. 'Just fall asleep, and everything will be over.' It said, 'Look at you. You will go mad!' It shouted, 'Please, sleep.' it begged.

It might be his body telling him these things, but Edward was determined to reach the end of the road if there was any. He would keep walking until he is forced out of this dream world and back to reality.

'You will die.' the voice came once more.

This word made him stop. "Is it possible?" He asked himself. Dying here might kill him in the real world. "Is it possible?" He asked the voice.

'Yes. Sleep, and it will all be over. Keep moving, and you will die.' It answered, once more yearning for him to sleep.

He fell to his knees. All his life, dying has always been a scary thing. Not because he might go to hell or heaven. It was because of the nothingness that came after death. There was nothing before you were born, so why would there be something after you die?

It was a scary thought. Something that kept him up all night when he was eight. Something that came to mind after his older sister...

"I will keep going." He said, not to himself but to the voice. It wasn't even about curiosity anymore. He just felt the need to. "They say curiosity killed the cat, so maybe it would kill me. If you want me to sleep, make me..." He said, determined. 'Please...'

'...' The voice didn't respond, so Edward kept moving. Minutes passed, and it turned into hours. 'Okey.' And the voice finally responded.

"Wake the fuck up!" Andrew's roar came as he felt a pain shoot through his left cheek, jolting him awake. The morning sunlight blinded him, forcing him to close them once more.

'I am awake...'