Chapter 15 - Recovery
Exhausted, too tired to move, over-tired, might fall asleep in an instant, can't concentrate, need to rest, heavy eyes, can't move a muscle, fatigued.
"Why don't we stop?" Anthony said.
"No!" I replied panting, "I'm not done yet. We have to continue."
"You look exhausted," He continued, "You were able to catch the nail when the nail gun was at 95%, but you haven't been able to catch it at a 100% for about 30 minutes. I think this is your limit for now. I don't want you to get injured, why must we continue this?"
"I don't know what you mean, but..." I answered confused, "I'm not done yet."
That's right. It's simple. No matter how challenging the situation. There is only one reason to keep going. Because I haven't lost yet! As long as I don't give up, my chances of winning will never fall to 0%.
"Once more," I pleaded.
He fired the nail gun at 100% capability reluctantly. I cracked my fingers once more as the world began to slow down. I had a complete grasp of the situation ahead of me. The snow slowly falling down, the concentration on Anthony's face as he aimed for the target and the nail that was moving at incredible speeds even with time slowed down.
As lightning crackled around me, I stretch out to grab the nail. But I noticed something was different. The lightning. It was green...
When suddenly the whole world began to turn on its side as my mind began swirling and my breaths became shallow
I feel short of breath. My arms and legs feel so heavy and cold. My thoughts are so muddled, that I can't even properly assess the situation anymore. This is bad... I'm totally out of stamina!
The world rushed by in a blur, a blur that swirled out of existence. My hearing became muffled, as though I had a pair of earmuffs on, but I could still hear the remnants of Anthony's voice shouting my name as I fell onto the fluffy piles of snow below, breaking the fall. As I laid on the snow, I still felt dizzy and ill, and my vision had completely faded to black, but I was still conscious.
I could hear Anthony grunts of struggle as he lifted me up over his shoulder and whispered,
"High level of physical agility, speed and reflexes. Logical thinking process, finely tuned bodily control and..." Anthony said to my barely conscious body, "an obsession to win. You've got it all. Everything I've been trying to obtain. I don't know why you're pushing yourself so hard but, don't throw it all away over some useless fight."
Don't worry Anthony. I'm not brave enough to throw away my life. But no matter what, I'm going to find a way to save us all.
I knew he couldn't hear my thoughts, but it was I couldn't muster the strength to speak. He carried my limp body to the school nurse. Where he let me rest. My consciousness began to melt away and my mind began to go into free fall. I began swirling with a dream.
I stood in the middle of a vast ocean with amazing, light blue water. Small green bolts of lightning struck the water around me, as gravity began to pull me deeper into the water. I sank in the middle of the light blue water once again, but my arms and legs too weak to fight against the pull of gravity. The light blue water soon turned into a dirty swamp shade that made it appear as though I was in a completely different place.
A small silhouette of a person suddenly appeared beside me. It was also sinking in the water. A black rod was lowered above the silhouette, it released an electrical shock to the water causing the silhouette to scream in pain. I gather what little strength I had left to reach out to help the person, but I was stopped by an invisible wall.
I realised I was in a glass cage surrounded by thousands of identical cages all filled with water and a person inside. All of whom were screaming in pain as electrical currents were forced through their bodies.
Where the hell am I?
A black rod was soon lowered above me
Wait. I don't want to be shocked. Stop. Stop!!
The black rod sent a devastating shock through my body forcing me out of the dream. I emerged in the school's nurse's office out of breath.
"You're awake already?" Anthony laughed, "you recover quickly. You've only been sleeping for about 45 minutes."
"Anthony?" I replied, "Where are you?"
"What are you talking about?" Anthony said, "I'm right here."
"Everything is grey." I said terrified, "I can't see anything."
"Holy crap, what have we done?" He replied terrified, "I'll go get the nurse."
What is going on? Why is everything grey? Is it because I overused Zero-Tempo?
The nurse ran up to me with a small flashlight that she shined in my eyes.
"Your pupils are constricting," the nurse said, "I'll assume for now you have no brain damage and the blindness is temporary. I believe you just had a grey out."
"Grey out?" Anthony asked still worried.
"A transient loss of vision. It is a perceived dimming of light and colour, sometimes accompanied by a loss of peripheral vision," She explained, "It is a precursor to fainting or a blackout and is caused by hypoxia, often due to a loss of blood pressure."
"So how long is he going to be like this?" Anthony asked.
"Try and take some sugar and you'll be back to normal in about four hours or so," she replied as she left the room.
"Alex, you can't fight like this," Anthony said, "Even if all your stamina is recovered by the time this fight is supposed to start, you won't be able to see well enough for you to win."
"This doesn't change anything," I said, "I'm still going to fight."
"Why are you fighting these guys?! Why risk your life? Why would you when no one is asking you to?" He asked.
"To protect the people that are important to me," I answered trying to look at Anthony, "It doesn't matter how tough my opponent is. If anyone tries to take something important to me, I won't hesitate to fight. I'll cast aside all logical thinking if it means I get even the slightest chance at saving them! I won't give up, no matter what."
"Hmmm," Anthony replied, "that was an awesome speech but, you're facing the wall, not me."
We both laughed.
"Anthony," I asked in a serious voice, "could you do me a favour?"
"What is it this time?" He questioned, "Do you want me to shoot you in the head for real."
"No," I chuckled, "I need you to get me in trouble by letting the principal know we ditched class to hang out in a junkyard."
"You can't be serious!" Anthony said in an exhausted voice.
2 hours 30 minutes till Anthony's attempted murder.
YOU ARE READING
The Unwanted
Fantasy"Let the Lightning Engulf you" 15-year-old Alexander Charon embarks on his journey at a new school as he struggles to form bonds and relationships with those around him. He begins to unravel his hidden talents forcing his life to take an unexpected...
