I SURVIVE (#Wattys2017)

CHAPTER 9

*New and Improved Version*

The gate proudly stood high in the middle of the woods. In front of the stone gate were two beautifully carved stone wheels firmly on the stone ground. The wheels could be described as a pirate ship's steering wheel facing upwards so that the handles stuck out from the side. They were enormous and had long four handles.

John was busy pushing the nearest wheel to him and we observed the situation where the transmission gears turned slowly.

William took hold of the other one and turned it with his strength. But he stopped half-way. The wheel's rusty gears were thirsty for oil. The gate would not open unless two of the wheels and gears turned together. Because when John had stopped pushing his wheel, and since its twin was not turning, the wheel turned counterclockwise. So it was back to the start.

We decided to try again after I explained the problems but failure came bouncing back. A rumble from above had forced us to quit pushing as rain and thunders were at work again. It was a downpour.

"We'll try again tomorrow!" William shouted in the rain and we ran to get out of the woods.

Lightning stroked and I sworn I had saw something that flashed brightly in front of me. John let out a loud yelp unexpectedly and we turned and found him missing. He had vanished into thin air. William looked at me alarmingly.

"John?" He called out to our disappeared fellow.

Something huge came out from nowhere and pinned William to the ground abruptly as it dragged him away into the darkness. My feet were in the mud at that time and all I could do was shouting for him but he was already gone in the rain. It was that moment where your heart beat loudly as you trembled in fear, waiting for your test result. Only, this feeling which I suffered was much worse than examination result.

Soon, I got out from the mud and faced back to where my teammates vanished, attacked by somewhat kind of a beast. I took a step back when I heard a snarling noise and it continued with a long series of growling. They startled me. My foot was suddenly caught in a trap, which had teeth as it sink inside my flesh deeper, making me unable to move.

Lightning illuminated the sky once more and I saw that the painful teeth were from a wolf trap. Blood trickled from the holes that the teeth had perforated. Tears of pain rolled down to my cheeks. A beast charged at me and slashed my arm. I weakly took out my bow and arrow and waited for it to attack. It did and I shot it down.

I fought the pain whilst tears poured from my eyes and at the same moment, killed two more wolves. When a huge wolf, bigger than the rest came and met my eyes. It stood in front of me, knowing that I had surrender.

By the time it regained strength, it bolted straight to me when suddenly, a tree fell on the wolf right in front of my face. The lightning had saved my life by choosing the right tree to kill the beast. The beast's gang retreated just as I got up to get out of the woods. The rain fell softly on me now, not pelting on my head.

There I sat on the ground, opening the trap and after three efforts, it broke. The teeth of the trap were deep in my foot and I pulled it hard to get it out whilst biting my handkerchief in my mouth. Blood gushed out and I had that trap in my hands. It was terrifying so I threw it away.
Weakly, I limped back to the camp with a bloody foot that streamed out from each holes. I was lucky not to encounter living things. Fortunately, that trap was not covered in poison. However, it might take me several weeks for my foot to heal.

Every step I took, spots of blood dropped and I left a long trail of it behind. I managed to reach the waterfall and bathe the wound. Dawn had arisen. I felt drowsy. The blood cells inside my body were decreasing according to my imagination. Tatum and Kate came to rescue at the same time I drifted off to a peaceful sleep.