Immersion World

by Max Jager

  Elliott moved over to Carley and checked his pulse. "He barely has a pulse, and it's getting weaker."

  "I don't know what to do. We need to get to the village, they must have someone there who can give everyone proper treatment." Fate said.

  "What is going on?" Sarah asked as she walked back into the tent and saw both Evelynn and Carley unconscious on the ground.

  Fate briefly explained the events of the last few minutes, then sighed. "Carley just suddenly passed out when healing Sophia. She is in bad shape, her pulse is growing weaker."

  "Hang on, I have a good guess to what the problem is." Sarah replied. She stepped out of the tent and walked over to Charles. "You still have an unused gemstone right? A charged one?"

  "Yep, why?" Charles asked.

  "One of them, Carley, might have overdone it with the magic. She apparently found a healing spell and tried healing everyone."

  Charles laughed for a moment. Then when he composed himself he reached into his bag. "Just like Cathrine, eh? Well it'll be good to have another doctor like her around in the village. The two of them, with their compelling desire to care for everyone but themselves should keep each other in check."

  Sarah laughed a little and nodded. "Yep. They will probably get along well."

  Charles took a small ruby ring out of his bag then handed it to Sarah. "I charged the gem the other day, you know how to make someone else take the energy?"

  Sarah nodded "Yeah I often use mine on Charley, I just never recharged it after the last use." She said as she took the ring.

  "Where is Charley anyways?" Charles asked.

  "He got beat up pretty bad in the last dungeon we were in. He's just resting in the village for a little." Sarah answered. "I think he also wanted to fly back to the mountains to see his family or something. He knows how to find me when he's ready for another dungeon run. Anyways, we'll be ready to leave shortly." She added then headed back into the tent.

  "Hang on guys." Sarah said as she walked over and pressed the ruby on the ring against Carley's chest. She focused, then the ring let out a brief glow. After a moment, the ring's glow seeped into Carley and disappeared.

  Elliott waited a few seconds then checked Carley's pulse again. "It's still weak, but it's much better than before. Thanks Sarah."

  "Thank Charles, it was his energy he was saving for an emergency." Sarah replied. "Are we ready to get moving?"

  "We are not sure how, so many of us are injured or unable to walk." Fate spoke up.

  Carley groggily opened his eyes, then silently cussed under his breath. "I did it again." He murmured. Once he was awake he skimmed the room and quickly moved over to Evelynn, trying to help wake her up.

  "Carley." Sarah firmly stated, and Carley froze. "No more healing magic. Not until you rest, you're just going to knock yourself out again."

  "I know, I figured that out before. Sorry. Thought I was strong enough to push through and use one more healing spell. I misjudged. Sorry." Carley answered and knelt down beside Evelynn. He began gently trying to wake her up.

  "Let's pack up and start heading to the village, it's just on the other side of this forest." Sarah instructed. "We'll just have to carry her."

  After a moment Evelynn groaned in pain and opened her eyes. "What happened?" She asked.

  "The child knocked you out." Damion answered, then he moved over to sit beside her and Carley.

  "Inami?" Evelynn asked.

  "No, she's still sleeping. Snipes did." Damion answered.

  "That stupid kid!" Evelynn immediately tried to get up but cringed in pain and couldn't move.

  "Relax, he's just a kid." Damion answered. "You seem really scared. Is this the first time you've lost people close to you?" He asked.

  Evelynn shook her head. "No I lost my parents when I was little. Lived with my grandparents my entire life until they too passed away. But by then I was old enough to live on my own." She answered. "I'm just scared of the situation we are in. I don't want to be next."

  "You were saying that yesterday Evelynn, and you're fine." Fate pointed out.

  "Then let's make haste to this new village, we should be safe there." Damion answered. He stood up and held out a hand. "Let me help you get up?" He offered.

  "I don't think I can walk, my side hurts so bad." Evelynn complained.

  "We need to move." Fate spoke up. "So you have to walk."

  "I'm hurt! I'm in a lot of pain! The stupid kid might have broken a rib." Evelynn protested.

  "Hey! I didn't kick you in the ribs, that was-" Snipes started saying but Brooke quickly covered his mouth.

  "Carley has been walking around with broken ribs for three days now. Get over it, you can spend one day walking to the city." Fate insisted. "Only the people with injured legs or severe injuries should be carried. That means Carley and Sophia, everyone else walks."

  "Who do you think you are? You don't get to boss us around!" Evelynn argued. "I need to be carried, I can not walk like this."

  "Fate and I are leading this group. Therefore whatever either of us says goes" George loudly interrupted. "If we weren't leading, most of you wouldn't have survived. So respect that for one more damn day and just do as we need you to do!"

  Evelynn looked like she was afraid of George, she quietly grabbed Damion's hand and pulled herself up. She was in a lot of pain, but was forcing herself to stand.

  "At least most of us can walk now. Thanks Carley." Chloe said as she stood up.

  "No problem." Carley quietly replied.

  Fate walked over to Inami and gently tapped the small girl on her shoulder. "Inami? Wake up we need to go." She softly said.

  "Thomas?" Inami murmured and quietly looked up at Fate. But when she saw Fate she immediately looked very upset.

  "No I'm not Thomas, but we are going to start walking now. There's supposedly a little village on the other side of the forest, that's your best chance to find Thomas." Fate replied.

  Inami slowly and quietly stood up. She looked around at everyone who was hurt and lowered her head a little.

  "It isn't your fault Inami." Brooke stepped in. "Those two people were bad people. Come On, let's go outside." She said as she took Inami's hand and lead her out of the tent. "Lets play a game while the others pack up the tent, alright?"

  "A game?" Inami asked.

  "Yeah, why don't we play tag?" Brooke suggested. She glanced back at the others and saw them leaving the tent. Then they began taking it down and packing it up to give back to Charles.

  "Tag?" Inami tilted her head and looked up at Brooke with a very confused expression on her face. "I no know what is." She paused for a moment and looked like she was in deep thought. She murmured something about 'Thomas said' under her breath then turned back to Brooke. "I not know what is. Yes? I speak right?" She looked like she was proud of herself for remembering something she learned.

  Snipes walked over to the group. "No that isn't-" He started to say but Brooke elbowed him in a not so subtle way of telling him not to say anything.

  "You did great Inami. You have some more learning to do, but you're getting better. A lot better." Brooke bluffed, and Inami grinned widely when she heard that.

  "Really?!" inami excitedly asked. However as she spoke her entire body turned into green ones and zeros for just a fraction of a second before turning back to normal.

  "I'm not the only one who saw that, right?" Snipes asked.

  "See… No, saw what?" Inami asked.

  "Oh one of the boys just dropped something, nothing to worry about." Brooke replied, but gave a brief nod to Snipes to confirm. "Anyways, let's play." She added, then briefly explained how to play. Once Inami understood the rules, the three of them began running around and playing together.

  The others, except for Evelynn and Sophia, were packing up the big tent for about five minutes before Elliott spotted Jackson walking out of the woods, towards the group.

  "How long till we reach the village?" Jackson asked Sarah and Charles.

  "I
t's just on the other side of the forest, so it isn't much further." Sarah replied.

  "Will we reach it before nightfall?" Jackson asked.

  "Hopefully." Charles spoke up. "I do not want to have to make camp in the forest. But we have lost a lot of time already. Nobody in this group but you seems to understand that we really need to get moving instead of arguing over petty things."

  "That's a little too harsh Charles." Sarah replied. "But yeah."

  "I scouted the forest last night. There's... werewolves out there. These kids aren't going to survive a night with-" Jackson started to say.

  "Tag!" Inami shouted out as she poked Jackson in the arm then she jumped back. She was eagerly bouncing up and down, waiting for him to join in and play.

  Jackson slowly turned around to face Inami, he could see Brooke and Snipes standing in the background with shocked expressions on their faces, as if they expected something bad to happen. They both knew he wouldn't hurt her, but they didn't think he'd be kind either.

  Reading everyone else's reactions, Inami started to look nervous. She looked down and tensed, as if she expected to be scolded for doing something wrong.

  "Tag." Jackson tapped her on the head, then he turned back around to Sarah and Charles. "Anyways, I saw the werewolves hunting some deer. These kids would never-"

  "Tag!" Inami called out again as she quickly tapped his back and ran backwards a few feet. Keeping more distance between them this time.

  "These kids wouldn't survive an encounter with them." Jackson finished, then he reached over and tapped Elliott's shoulder with his cudgel. "Tag. Go keep the kid entertained." He said to Elliott, and Elliott left to go play with Inami and the others.

  "We do have a way of keeping the werewolves away if it comes down to that." Charles replied. "But yes, we do not want to take that risk."

  "Good. What is it?" Jackson asked.

  "Well, to start with" Sarah started "Most of the ones in the woods were already hunted down. There's just a couple roaming packs of werewolves and a werecat here and there so we probably won't run into any. But me and Charles do have backup silver weapons just in case, and we also have a silver barrier we can put around the campsite. Silver isn't just their weakness, they fear it. In their wolf form they act like normal wolves, so if they see silver they'll probably run away. As long as they don't feel threatened. If they somehow still attack us, Charles and I will be the only ones fighting."

  Jackson nodded "Right… I'll help where I can."

  Sarah shook her head. "That would be a fight that's out of your hands. You wouldn't be able to help without silver."

  Jackson reiterates. "Like I said, I'll help where I can."

  Once the tent was packed up and put back into its case, the case suddenly shrunk down to pocket size. Then Charles took it and attached the little pouch to his belt again. "Alright everyone! Let's get moving!" He called out. "The city is a three to four hour walk from here."

  "You guys are killing me with all this walking." Matthew complained.

  "Ya know you don't have to come." George stated bluntly.

  "Yeah, I know." Matthew sighed. "Just complaining. This is far too much action and walking, I'm not used to it."

  "We will be there soon, then you can rest as long as you like." Charles replied.

  The group set out into the forest. George, Sarah, Matthew, Charles, and Fate were leading the group. They traveled as one small group and were talking amongst themselves. A short distance behind them were Chloe, Brooke and Elliott, who was carrying Sophia, and Carley was even traveling with them. The number of people in the group was dwindling, Carley wanted to be nearby to protect them just in case they were the next targets.

  Evelynn walked alone a short distance behind them, but after a little Damion joined her to talk to her.

  Snipes and Inami were both still playing tag, but were running around the group and sticking somewhat close.

  Jackson was trailing a short distance behind everyone, as he usually did.

  After walking for about two hours the group could hear a growling sound coming from somewhere in the bushes nearby. Everyone stopped and moved a little closer together, they started to look around. Inami shrunk back and looked a little scared.

  A pack of seven wolves walked out of the bushes, surrounding the group. They were growling and preparing to attack, they just needed an opportunity. Everyone readied their weapons, except Sarah.

  "Wait everyone!" Sarah called out. "Let me handle this." She added. She skimmed the group of wolves and turned to a big gray wolf who seemed to be the leader. "Hello, we mean you no harm please let us pass." Sarah said.

  Everyone except Charles looked at Sarah as if she were crazy. However the large wolf responded, it looked shocked and took a step back, then it sat down and the rest of the pack skeptically followed along.

  "You can speak?" The gray wolf questioned.

  "Yep." Sarah replied with a brief smile. "We are a pretty powerful group of humans, many of you would get hurt and die if you attacked us. We don't want to fight though, we are hoping to just pass through."

  The group looked confused, they could hear and understand Sarah but couldn't hear the wolf responding. It looked like she was talking to herself.

  While Sarah was talking Inami was starting to panic, she was slowly backing away, and then as soon as she saw an opportunity she bolted and ran into the woods.

  "Inami!" Snipes shouted out and sprinted off after her.

  "Snipes!" Elliott called out, he went to run after the kids but the wolves got up and growled at him, forcing him to take a step back.

  "Guys! Don't-" Sarah started, but the kids were gone before she could finish. "Look we really need to get going our kids just ran off."

  "They aren't very smart kids if they are going to run off alone." The wolf countered.

  "I know." Sarah sighed. "We just need to pass through."

  "And we just need food." The wolf countered.

  Sarah sighed and reached into her bag, then pulled out three big pieces of steak. Those with a sharp eye noticed that, like Charles's tent, the steaks were smaller when Sarah pulled them out of the bag, but then grew bigger once they were out of the magic bag. She took them out of the containers they had been in and put the containers back in the bag. Then she threw them at the gray wolf. "We don't want to fight." Sarah insisted. "I like animals. I really don't want to have to kill one."

  The gray wolf sniffed the steak, then grabbed it in his mouth and ran off. The rest of the wolves turned and followed him.

  "Which way did Snipes and Inami run?" Sarah asked.

  "This way." Brooke answered as her and Elliott lead the way.

  As soon as the wolves left Jackson sprinted after the kids, leaving the group behind.

  "Inami! Slow down!" Snipes yelled out as he chased her through the woods. She was fast and agile for a child. She ran through the trees, weaving around bigger obstacles but hurtling over smaller ones. Snipes was keeping up at first, but lost track of her when she jumped over a 3' tall rock.

  Snipes tried to jump the rock after her, but couldn't, he got half over it then hit the rock and fell off. "Inami!" he called out. Snipes ran around the rock but couldn't see where she had gone. "Inami where are you?!" Snipes called out.

  Although he got his answer sooner then he had expected. He heard Inami scream and quickly ran after where the sound came from. "Inami?" He asked as he stepped into a clearing. He immediately saw Inami backing away from whatever had scared her.

  "WOOSH!" Inami called out as she pointed at something, but nothing happened. "WOOSH?" Still nothing. "...woosh?..." She fearfully murmured, but nothing happened. "It no work anymore…" She looked like she was about to cry. "They everywhere…" She was shaking from fear and didn't know what to do.

  Snipes ran a little closer and saw what she was afraid of. A zombie was slowly stumbling towards her. But he watched as she gave up, and in fear she dropped to the ground and curled up again, covering her ears.

&
nbsp; "Inami move!" Snipes called out, but she couldn't hear him now.

  Snipes rushed in and immediately tried to ram his shoulder into the zombie to knock it away from Inami. He knocked the zombie to the ground, and then using his knowledge of zombies from his games he quickly went to stab it in the head with his knife.

  As he moved in the zombie reached up and grabbed his right arm. It gripped his arm with bone crushing strength, causing Snipes to scream it in pain.

  Snipes tried to pull his arm out of the zombies grip, but it was way too strong. The zombie didn't get off the ground, it just began pulling him closer in an effort to bite him. Snipes struggled against it but couldn't break free.