Living or Dying

Holding onto Stacy’s hand as he raced down the hill, Craig gripped a glass shard.      

“So what’s the plan?” Stacy asked, out of breath.   

“We’re going to hide behind a bush and I’m going to stab every Zenacog that comes by!”            

“Will that work?”                  

“Uh, I hope so...”Craig had no real idea what to do; all he could do was fight. If picking them off one by one was going to help Villany, it was worth doing. Just grasping Stacy’s hand reassured him that it was worth it. Every second with her was another second of bliss, even if there was the threat of death.               

Craig halted at the edge of the lake. He squinted, looking carefully for any sign of Villany. There was no way she would’ve held her breath that long �" but he could’ve missed her because of the flare.                           

Looking around him, he knew the fight must’ve moved elsewhere �" or the alternative, no. He wasn’t going to think about the alternative.    

Clutching Stacy’s hand even tighter, Craig pulled her around the lake, farther East. He was going to take her into the woods. If there was any possibility Villany was fine, she’d probably have headed in that direction.         

In the woods, Craig heard shuffling.                               

Suddenly, a Zenacog jumped down from a tree, bending its knees as it landed. It stood before them, a whole nine foot. Craig could feel Stacy’s hand wrap tightly around his as she stared up at it, frozen.

Craig thrust Stacy’s hand away and as the Zenacog clumsily got out a ray gun, Craig managed to jump up in the air and stab it directly in the heart. “Aroo!” It yelped, dropping its gun as it fell to the floor.      

Turning around, Craig watched as Stacy shielded her eyes, shaking.                                   

“Stacy,” he cooed, gently removing her hands from her face, one after the other, “We’ve got to do these sorts of things to survive. You know that.”                      

“Mm-mm,” she nodded, not making eye contact with him. She could only look to the floor, but not where the Zenacog fell.                               

Craig watched as Stacy placed a hand over her face and so he took hers, guiding her around the bodies with red arrows lodged in their backs.                                 

He made sure to step around, so Stacy wouldn’t have to feel the sensation of stepping on bodies. He really thought she would’ve grown accustomed to seeing death surrounding her, but this proved that maybe she hadn’t seen as much as he originally thought. If he really took things into consideration, he’d have seen the obvious - she had been sheltered from the war. When he found her in that underground bunker, she seemed too pure a soul. There was no way she’d been exposed to the atrocities he faced.

After stepping over the bodies, Craig wondered where the other Zenacogs were.  They’d chased after them and yet they weren’t here. In all the woods and even down here to the expanse of the lake, there was nothing to be found. He halted for a moment, trying to listen out for any shots.                      

“What’s going on?” Stacy asked, her voice hitting an octave higher than normal.          

“Shh.” Craig stayed absolutely still. For a few seconds there was silence, until he heard a squeal. He waited a few more.                                  

Bang!                                    

“Let’s go!”

The bang came from the other side of the woods, way off to the other side of the lake. The Zenacogs normally used silencers on their weapons �" to try and sneak up on the Xuxlors. Craig made sure to look around, hunched over as he and Stacy scurried across the landscape.                             

He knew they wouldn’t have much chance of spotting just one or two Zenacogs alone in the woods �" they were animals, masters of disguise. Though Craig was green and much smaller than a Zenacog, he still had a distinct smell that would stand out even among his cousins.    

It was a peculiar thought really, that he could be 98% related to a tree and yet it stayed so still, whilst his body was extremely flexible.                     

The flexibility gene came from rubber trees. Most Xuxlors possessed it, but what very few of them had was a hypnotic power.                        

That was his theory �" that Villany survived so long because of her hypnotic powers. She could hypnotise the enemy into going insane. It mostly worked in her favour, but if so much as a drop of water touched her, her powers were temporarily suspended.        

That’s what made Craig afraid when she fell into the lake �" that the Zenacogs had her in a position of weakness, where she’d be unable to make them shoot each other or run around in circles; and that instead she’d be trapped. The image of her resurfacing crossed his mind �" the horror on her face as those Zenacogs raised their guns at her face.                   

He hadn’t wanted to think that Villany wouldn’t have any choice. He didn’t want her fate sealed. Not if that was her fate.                              

No, he had to look on the bright side. It wasn’t that Villany was dead or anything �" she must’ve still been alive if there was still a fight going on off in the East.           

 “Are we there yet?” Stacy piped, still covering her face with a hand.                              

“No �" but you can look now.”         

She followed his direction, running along with him with confidence. She could see things for herself now, leaping over logs, avoiding dips in the floor. Even one trip could’ve been the difference between Villany living or dying.