Lazarus

Mwene felt the warm barrel of a gun press against the back of his head. An arm grabbed his arm and twisted it from behind. Mwene grunted in pain but before he could do anything else, the butt of a rifle flew into view at the corner of his eye. It hit him right on his left ear. His legs buckled as if they were made from spaghetti but the man behind him held him up while still twisting his arm. A sharp ringing filled his head and his vision went blurry as if he were heavily intoxicated.

He felt his legs drag against the sandy ground. After a moment he was tossed abruptly and he landed face first on the ground. Dust violently invaded his nostrils. He could make out muffled talking but the high-pitched ringing made it impossible to make out what was being said. His vision started to come to and he could make out a soldier unceremoniously dumping a body, a child no older than 10, into a well. Bullet wounds had been peppered all over the body. Then the ringing slowly began to fade.

"Anyone else?" Chase inquired

"No one else, beside the girl" The soldier replied

"Found someone," another soldier shouted from a distance. Mwene felt a boot press down against the back of his neck. The pressure was so immense that his neck would snap before he suffocated. Just as it seemed as if something would snap, someone else was thrown right beside him. It was an unconscious Nike with a bloodied nose.

Chase watched his men slowly torture Mwene. They kicked dust in his face. They took off his shoes and beat the soles of his feet. The pain streaked through his body like lightning. One of them twisted Mwene's arm whilst yanking it back violently, popping his shoulder out of its place. The other arm was held out whilst being stomped on, until his hand and wrist was nothing but bloodied flesh with random bits of bone sticking out. Chase watched every movement with his cold, unblinking eyes. His arms casually behind his back.

His earpiece softly chimes and he placed his two fingers on it to activate it. He held his arm up for a couple of seconds before he dropped it.

"Intel highlights a possible hiding place about a click north. I'm commandeering the Triumph. I'll give you five then you'll follow." Chase casually informed the soldiers as he walked towards the helicopter.

"The boys? "questioned one of the soldiers.

"Drown them then destroy the well. A stick of TNT should suffice "He said swiftly.

"Roger."

Mwene could hear a motorcycle roar and accelerate away. The dust blinded him, it coated the inside of his wide nostrils and it coated the inside of his mouth. Then he felt himself being hoisted onto a soldier's shoulder and being carried for a moment before being thrown into the well. His face scraped against the wall of the well as he fell before landing feet first into the cold, wine red water.

He kicked his legs, with great difficulty, and floated up to the surface. The water cleaned his eyes just enough for him to open them without much pain. He could make out random body parts floating in the water. He looked up and saw Nike's body fall. Nike landed right on top of him, his elbow sharply struck Mwene right in his left eye. Nike's limp body hits the water with Mwene sunk under him reeling from the pain of just being blinded

This was hell and he knew it was his fault they were both in his situation. Nike's body slowly began to sink gracefully into the unholy waters. Slowly it sank until it became completely submerged. A few bubbles broke the surface for a few moments until it stopped. The waters were still. It was peaceful only in the way death could bring peace.

Then Nike's body rises to the surface. He continued to rise, revealing a hand, then an arm, followed by the upper body of Mwene. His dislocated arm held up his best friend. His left eye was closed and bleeding. Pain coursed through his veins like disease. He could taste nothing but metal in his mouth. He could barely hear as the ringing returned but in spite of all of that he wouldn't quit. As long as he could breathe, he could fight back.

"We're not gonna die. We're not gonna die. We're not gonna die. We're not gonna die. We're not gonna die. We're not gonna die." Mwene repeated the phrase as if in a trance. Survival was all he could think, nothing else mattered.

Suddenly his medallion began to levitate. His body ignited, smokeless black flames consumed him. His eyes were now small white flames. Then the air around him exploded. His shockwaves uttered destroyed the well launched the soldiers, the helicopter, the cabins and the dismembered body parts in the well into the air. Only himself and Nike remained untouched. Then as soon as the flames ignited, they died down. He then slowly levitated back to the ground which was now a crater. The ground was cold to the touch. His body had been healed, his eyesight and hearing were perfect, his hand and shoulder felt like new. He was a reborn like Lazarus from the dead, the metaphysical had given him another chance.