Chapter 6: Cool! I have Superpowers!

Chapter 6: Cool! I have superpowers!

"Good morning, Harlow! Good morning, Tasha! Good morning, China!" Sachi had a bright smile when he greeted us.

The sun was up, and we were lucky not to see Terras roaming around last night.

It has been about four days since we entered the jungle. Every morning, we venture farther, but at night, we either climb up trees or hide in bushes.

So far, we have not encountered Terras. Well, not face-to-face. When we would climb trees for the night, some Terras run around, and some people did too.

Some nights, I tried to search for people, but I just couldn't seem to get a chance to actually save them, and Tasha kept worrying, so I only went a couple of times.

By now, I have come to learn that there are many types of Terras and they are all equally violent and rancid.

I have learned that this world is dangerously different from Earth.

"Do you know how to start a fire? How about we heat these alphabet soups up? "Tasha said while showing me two cans of Alma's Alphabet Soup.

"My favorite. Well, my cousin taught me how; maybe I can manage." Grabbing some dried-up leaves and some twigs, I tried to start the fire. Luckily, I still remembered how to do it; not a moment passed after we had a fire to cook the soup in. Thank you, Almighty! And my snotty cousin!

"Look, Harlow! I can form the word "blue" here." Sachi proudly showed me his can.

Smiling at him and patting his head, I said, "I can do better."

I know he was a kid, and it would be silly, but I'm feeling competitive. We started spelling out more words while Tasha looked at us, laughing whenever I was frustrated with forming words with the floating letters. It's not my fault those letters were floating so stubbornly!

Sometime after eating and our little alphabet-soup-spelling competition, we decided to start walking.

I really have no clue where we are headed, but walking straight ahead will be most better than staying at one place. Besides, if possible, I want to meet other people who might have more information about this world.

The forest, just like any forest, was filled with different plants. Some plants resemble plants we had back on Earth. But no animal seemed to be the same as what we have back home.

We were all busy paying attention to our path when I heard a sound.

It sounded like a current. Wait, I know this sound!

I turned to look at Sachi and Tasha to confirm if they heard the noise, too. Their constant head turning made me confirm that they did.

We quickly paced and headed towards it, speedily carving arrows for Sachi's sibling and Tasha's boyfriend.

"Water!" We all ran to the vast river.

The shoreline was filled with huge rocks and a generous amount of pebbles. The land on the other side would be at least 20 meters away from us. The current was calm but at the same time loud, making only our clear bliss audible.

My hands touched the water and automatically splashed it onto my sweat-filled face. The icy water melted all the heat that was present in my head.

"Woah! This is Awesommmmmeee!" I happily said while bucketing a handful of water and splashing it on my face again.

Sachi played among the water while Tasha took some time to wash her dirt tainted skin. China also ran along some puddles while he was leashed into one of the rocks.

"Be careful. We don't want you hurt, don't we?" I cautioned Sachi when he almost fell. It was a good thing he managed to balance himself.

I could see how much fun he was having, but I told him to lower it a bit. I was aware that they were not too active in the morning, but Tasha never said they weren't around during the day.

I can't be as right as I was at that time.

"Harlow, I'll just look around for a while to see if the coast is clear." Tasha said as she held her gun up. I nodded in reply. We had to see if we could camp here for the day. Somehow, I feel like we're heroes in an action film with guns and monsters and all.

When Tasha left, I kept my eyes on Sachi, who was still happily playing on the water by himself. We tied China to a tree not too long ago because he was starting to shiver.

My seven-year-old companion was still busy splashing water into the air and throwing pebbles toward the water.

It was sometime later when I noticed a wild change in the flow of the water. From afar, it seemed as if there was something defying the current and it was moving fast. Weird.

Earnestly inspecting the movement, I got a glimpse of what it was and where it was headed; quickly, I grabbed Sachi by the arm, pulling him far from the water.

At the same moment, Sachi reached me, a humongous creature jumped out of the water, nearly snatching the boy's tiny body. Its big mouth is widely open, displaying its huge set of dangerously sharp teeth, not to mention its snout.

Landing on the shallow part of the river, its body was exposed to us. Towering us by nearly three feet, the giant exterior of the creature looked tough and hard, with occasional bony structures making some sharp-looking mounds on its back; it was as if it were a shell. Its head protrudes from its excessively long neck. It would have looked like a tortoise if it wasn't as big as a minivan and deadly-looking.

It did not take time until it snapped its head toward our direction. Its eyes were glistening green with slit pupils; I could tell that it was not happy that it missed its lunch.

After setting its eyes on us—its prey—the creature made a swift motion and turned. Aiming to hit us with its huge tail.

With reflex, I managed to throw Sachi out of the way but failed to move my own body.

The impact of the hit sent me crashing against one of the huge, farther rocks. The pain of hitting the rock traveled throughout my body.

"Crap!" I hissed, holding on to my stomach, trying to push back pain.

Still slightly paralyzed by the pain that was climbing my limbs, I slumped into a sitting position with my hand, hastily searching for the gun on my back. Luckily, it was still intact on the waistband of my sweatpants. Shakily, I reached for it and held it with my hand. Usually, this is a scene in the movie when some police get here and shoot the monster down, but then this isn't a movie, and I doubt any police are around.

The beast was now getting closer; it was walking at a slow pace, showing how confident it was that I was a sure meal. Jerk!

Arms trembling, I managed to point the gun at it.

It was getting closer to me, and my hand still had no clear aim; I was inhaling sharply, my eyes closed. I felt that it was about a few feet away from my slumped and aching body when the beast suddenly stopped.

"Get away from Harlow! You big mutant turtle!" Sachi was up on his feet and was throwing a handful of pebbles at the creature, gaining its attention. Angered, it turned its back on me. My heart paced when I realized that it was heading for the young boy. Crap!

My focus was a blur, and shots at it only missed; its four feet only walked faster toward the still-throwing boy.

It was getting closer to Sachi, and I was out of bullets. Forcing my body to stand, I hurried to Sachi, but it was fast, and I knew I wouldn't get there in time, especially when every step was an impending faint for my body.

Still trying to outrun the monster, I suddenly heard a faint voice inside my head: "Tell it to stop. It'll listen."

"This isn't the time to go, cuckoo Harlow!" Yelling to myself, I continued to half run and half walk towards Sachi.

"Make it stop!" The voice inside my head was louder. The monster was only a few feet away from Sachi, so I decided to trust the voice. I knew I was completely stupid to risk Sachi's life by listening to the detached voice that might probably be just a figment of your imagination! But it was the only chance I had.

"Stop!" With no other choice, I had followed the probably impending voice of insanity. I was a lunatic who hoped the monster would stop by simply ordering it, but I tried again, this time with conviction. It has to work. It has to!

"STOP!" Shouting my lungs out, I roared. For a moment, my mind felt like it connected itself to something, like I was transmitting something.

And as if on cue, the monster paused. It turned its head at me. This time, its eyes were not green but yellow, and it seemed to be in some sort of trance.

"Come." Not thinking anymore, I was commanded only to obey quickly. The giant beast walked almost immediately and closed the distance between us, staring completely into my eyes. At that moment, I knew it was indeed listening to me.

Reaching out my hand to its large head, it gently pushed itself to my touch. Instantly, the connection I felt became stronger.

I was still shocked at what was happening when I heard Tasha's voice.

"Harlow! Watch out!" Automatically, my head snapped to her, but I was too late. A sharp pinch had reached my neck, and a gunshot erupted; suddenly, the monster on my touch fell. The black liquid oozed from its head.

Slowly, my body collapsed. Falling to the ground, the last thing I saw were pairs of feet heading to me, too many to be Sachi's and Tasha's.

And in the midst of all of that, I manage to say, "Cool! I have superpowers!"