Marathon

The cliff of the mountain was fairly easy to avoid. All you had to do was run along the side of it or go in a different direction entirely. 

The mountain being rocky and having trees in random places was an unfavorable addition to the circumstances.

It was all irritating, but also fuel for ideas to spring up.

Soren had a thought. This idea didn't align with his previous actions, but would ultimately benefit him the most, should everything go right. 

'To risk it or not to risk it. Such a philosophical question in these trying times.'

He decided to go with it. His strengthening progress was too slow for him and if this worked, life would be more in his control. 

"I'll take most of the ants and go up the mountain. You four go elsewhere and survive." Soren yelled, his voice dampened as the wind flew past.

His blissful words were still heard.

The runners behind him didn't know why he said that until they also saw the mountain in the distance. They looked up and saw a death sentence for anyone going up there. It led to a cliff and that was all. Nothing could be done up there or at least anything they knew.

Maybe he felt bad for luring the ants to them?

Regardless, this caused many unknown feelings to arise. No one would risk their lives for them, they weren't important enough or strong enough. Who would bother?

Alan especially felt wronged and guilty at the same time. Why was this person who he treated badly, risking his life for him? 

He was a shallow person who never fit in with people. It was his fault really. Finding faults with anyone who didn't align with his thoughts, but he had found people here. Bill and Zed were similar to him and they felt the same against life.

Having them by his side, he was happy to have friends. 

However, he still treated others with the same hatred he had done his entire life. 

This doomed him to the current situation. Not allowing Soren to sleep in the tree, led him to bring ants to him whether on purpose or not. 

Now, that same person he cast aside was saving his life.

It wasn't right.

In his heart, something changed. The hatred that had enveloped him, dissolved. If they met in a future world, he would repay him.

The army ants were still charging at them. Covering ground much faster than the makeshift party could run.

Their abilities couldn't even slow the ants down let alone damage them.

They persisted in their marathon of a run. Thankfully, they had a break on the tall tree before this fiasco or they would be in hell by now.

Soren, wasn't so lucky and was currently dying inside.

'I regret this already.'

He was having trouble forming thoughts, his lungs burning furiously inside of him. He could barely breathe correctly, but the mountain was closer. Much closer than before. 

He committed to this plan. All that was needed was for It to be executed correctly.

In this way, he could build better relations with the Sunburned Mosquitoes members and hopefully gather many Stats. It was a deadly gamble.

At the start of the mountain, Soren stopped and started catching his breath. He turned off his item which appeared to be handling it all superbly well. Running faster sure had its benefits later on. 

He observed the situation. The ants were far behind, but still coming fast. His four party members understood what he wanted and were running towards him. 

They would split once the ants got close enough with Soren leading them up. 

'At least they have common sense.'

His lungs still burned with hatred for its owner, but Soren didn't care. These precious moments were needed for him to complete his plan, minimizing any potential problems. 

Time passed by fast. The members of the party looked as bad as he did, but they were getting close. So were the ants and they were now only 10 feet behind the runners. 

Finally, the group neared Soren. 

He was ready. Catching his breath was a blessing, but he knew that his stamina was going to diminish more while climbing the mountain.

'Guess it's time.' 

Soren prepared himself in a position set for a track race and reactivated his Shocking Speed. 

His teammates passed him. Immediately he moved forward forcing dirt off the ground. 

He wasn't in a full sprint yet as he still needed to take the attention of the army ants. 

That wasn't hard to do because the ants recognized him as the one who disrupted their peace. That didn't equate to all of them trying to kill him though. They were natural hunters, living nomadic lives on their life ventures. Fighting for food and their queen was their existence and it had always been that way.

As Soren waited for his members to leave, he grew secretly worried. The ants were slowly making their way closer to him because he was limited.

Irritation picked at Soren until he couldn't take it. "Change directions already! I'm not trying to die."

Roz was grateful to begin with. He didn't believe that Soren would intentionally lead the ants to them, so his opinion grew higher when he offered to risk his life for them.

However, that also made him feel very guilty when he was snapped at. He yelled back, "Sorry, doing it now!"

They turned away, not running up to the cliff but instead running along the side of the mountain.

The ants were either too focused on Soren or were dumb and decided to continue their regular chase. Only a couple split off to go after them.

'Finally, I can run at full speed.'

His speed doubled, creating a gap between him and the ants again.

'Now for the part of the plan I'm starting to doubt.'

The more he ran up the mountain, the more rocks were in unusual places, threatening to make him fall and be eaten alive. 

His stamina began failing him once again, causing his lungs to start flaring, and his previous actions questioned. 

'Why the hell is this mountain so tall.'

'Am I even going to make it to the top?'