Almost But Not Quite Human

Deadly Encounter

With only one good arm, George let Sapnap take the lead for the fight. The zombie was dispatched fairly quickly, but the boy's bad luck did not stop there. Zombie noises, click clacks, and spider hisses rang out from the woods, but what was most terrifying of all was a sound that neither George nor Sapnap ever thought they would hear. The gurgle of an Enderman.

"George, di-did you h-hear that?"

"Y-yeah. I thought tho-those things were only m-myths!"

"Me t-too, I think we mi-might be best just getting out of here..."

"Agreed"

So with a haste formerly unknown to Sapnap and George, they grabbed their main supplies from camp and darted away from their pursues.

Unfortunately, neither were familiar with running in the dense undergrowth, and George's shoulder still hurt like hell. A skeleton fired at them from a distance, and Sapnap realised with horror that one arrow had found its way into his calf.

Like a delayed reaction, Sapnap didn't feel the pain at first, but soon it spread out and blossomed over his leg and he fell to the ground, but didn't once cry out. George pulled Sapnap up slung his arm over his good shoulder.

Somehow, the sounds of the monsters slowly died away - but both boys were still on edge from the Enderman. It was rumoured those things could teleport... What if it decided to attack them later? Sapnap was in no condition to be fighting, and George wouldn't be much help either.

It seemed like a blessing when a cave entrance rose up to greet the weary boys. They made their way inside, keeping a little distance from the entrance after lighting it up with torches.

They were going to have to stay here for a little bit, not to mention the time lost from probably fleeing in the wrong direction. George hoped this cave would be noticeable enough on the map for them to be able to find their way back on track.

The boys were smart enough to bring some first aid supplies, and George knew a little bit of medicine practices himself. A bittersweet memory came to George as he prepared to remove the arrow and help Sapnap's leg. He thought of his mum, returning from work after a shift at the hospital. It was only a small place, considering the size of the town, and George's mum was a go-to persons when you needed help.

George remembered being fascinated by his mother's ability to help people as a young child. He wanted to be just like her...

George cleaned the would on Sapnap's leg and bandaged it up. Luckily, the arrow didn't go too deep, but they'd still have to wait before Sap was able to walk on it properly.

Sapnap was less of a healer than George, but he still did a good job patching up his shoulder.

They both slept for a good while after that, though it couldn't be said that their sleep was fulfilling. It was broken and restless.
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Sapnap woke up to a throbbing pain in his leg. Again.

Now that they were out of immediate danger, Sapnap had time to reflect on their little encounter with the zombie.

He'd killed it. It seemed like nothing at the time, but didn't that zombie used to be a person? A real, living person, with friends and a family and a life.

Then they got sick, then they died. And then they died again. For good.

The only thing keeping a wave of guilt from flooding Sapnap's heart was the reminder that it would have been the zombie or them. And the zombie wasn't really a person anymore, was it?

Sapnap chewed on his bottom lip - a habit that had him scolded many times and bleeding many times more - and couldn't help but feel anxious. What if they encountered many mobs again? And suppose one or both of them were hurt even worse...

Sapnal hated feeling anxious, he wasn't supposed to be afraid. He was supposed to be done with being afraid of anyone or anything that thought they could hurt him just because they were bigger, or stronger. It just want right for him to be scared.

Sapnap wondered if he was still thinking about the mobs, and not (his parents) something else.

He knew George would be concerned if he noticed Sapnap chewing his lip again (it was something he did only when he was upset), so he decided to focus on the pain in his leg instead.

It was going to be a long night.
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Ṫ̵̮̫̬͔͉̳͑̾̒̿̔h̷̹̬̳̞͔̓̍́̾͊̈́ę̴̱̪̽̆̓̈y̷͇̼͎̜͊̍̿͐̓̄͜'̸̼̬̿̾l̶̬͓̩̪͑͊̈́̆ͅl̴̹̯̦̙͙̉͆̀ ̵̢̙̝̻̐͂̎̐͜͝p̶̧̦̙̝̥̉̃͘͝͝a̵̢̡͈̤͗́̑͊̽͘y̶̧̗̻̯͎̓͐͠ ̸̺͛f̶̤̱̫̑̾̈́͑̊o̴̼͍͕͂̓͌̄͘ͅr̴̘̎̑́̏͘ ̵̼̖͍̿̍̎l̸̦̈́͆͘ȩ̴̨̣̘̮͎̂̒͝á̸̺͚̺͚̑̓̈́̚v̴̹̬͓̝͕̣̾̃̈́̒͘i̸̲̐͂̈́̍n̸̮̺͉͓̤̎͂͌̅g̸̠̹̪͊͆
̴̝͕̩̙̿͑̄

̵̨̳̇͂͊̽̀͋F̸͖̹͕͖͖̾͜o̴͇͈̯͆̍͊͝ŕ̴̛̼̇ ̶̱͐̽̊̍̎̓ļ̸̼̯̆̀͠e̷̖̘͖̪̪̯͌̆̐a̵̢̪̳̮̎́̀͗̇͜͠v̷̳͍̬̥͕̒i̴̢̩̪͍͓̰̒͗̎̈n̷͙̝̳͎̝͌̔͠͠͝g̵̹̽̈͘ a̶̼̫̺͘l̸̡̡̡̡̛̟̝̙̖̥̳͉͙̒̉̔̉̃l̴̢̼̻̜̘̻̈́̏̄ ̶̜͓̞̞͉̯̞̏̑͆͂̏̒̇́̐̌͑̈́́͘͜o̶͔͙͙̺̤̹̭̻̮̥͕̳̦̻͙̅̆̎̽̆̊̔̎͑̈̎̃̔̚f̸̧̛̩̱͈̫͈̮̠̣̄̒̿͌̈ ̴̨̛̛͖̭͍̮̲̤͎̝̙̺̭̂̊̆͌͑̿͜͝͝u̷̢̧̦̲̙̼͎̼̻̹̠̣͕̣̙̲̇̓͘͝s̸̡͙̮͕̪͖̤̠̖̠͎̰͔͍̹̖̃̌̓͑̾̇́̎̾͛̔̆̍ ̶̨̼͈̙͕͍͙̭̼̘̾̋̈̒͆̉̓̋̊̋͘͠ṫ̵̺̠̫̪̓̋̇́̅͒̆̂̿͗́͂̚̕o̵̡̤͎̫̯̙̻̜͉͈͙͇͚̥͍̓̈́̐͒̀̂̅͗̋̏̀͌̕̕͝ ̶͍͔̘̻̗̂̅͂̀̀͌̆͆̊̄͊̚͝ͅţ̸̡̳͚̯͇͔̗̟̬͕̫̜̟͂̿̉͛̂̓̚͘̕h̸̭̬̞̟̙̼͍͐͂̓͒̔̀̊i̴̻͙̠͚̗̘̗̅̈́͌̀̏̑͊̂̀͠͝s̴̡̛͖͙̼̖̟̝͎̜͎̙̅̀̏̎̅̕̕͜͝͠

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Ohoho, someone is getting angry aren't they?

I wonder who it is

Sincerely, T̵͇̯̥̤̯̠̰͔̻̲͎̘̈́̌͐h̷̡͚̼̝̮̣̞̱̘̦͍̱͙͕̟̰͛̂̏͊͆͛̂̽̂ͅë̷̢̡̹̻͉̭̬̼͉̬̤̼͍̟̣̲̗́ͅͅ ̵̨̢͇̲̲̳͍̫̲̼̩͙͕͎̲̹̰̜̗̳̲̟̮͓̲͓̰̘̯͙̲̽̅͐̀͗́ͅǵ̴̨̨̢̨̨̝͍̖͖̟̖͉͙̱̤̉͌̓̐͗̚ͅl̶̤̓͗̇̇̇͋̈́̍͑̾̄͑̓̇̂̎̂̈́̈́̀͗́̔̓͘̚̕͠i̴̧̧͕̮̗̥̝͉̥̼̫̝̗̭̜̳̮͓͔̤̰͈̥̹͚̳̫̼̜̺̰̯͍̬̟̞̐ͅͅţ̵͎̖̩̳͚͎̮͎͓͕̝̹̱̳̮͛c̸̡̳̜̼̫̭̮̤͍̮̈́̆̿͌̔̂̿͋́͑̊̄͂̇́̑͑̈́̀̏̌͑̎͗͗̓̄̈͒̋̚̚̚͘͠͠͠͝h̷̡̡̧̬͙̝̮͕̗͍̲̮̪̒̊̊̑ͅ ̸̢̧̡̜͈͙͔͍̥̭̗̫͈̹̟͒̂͌̃̃̋͑́̋͒͋̉͗̉̊͋̅͂̈́̉͆̏̂̔̐͆̀̈́͆̈́͘͝ͅͅt̵̡̧͈͎̱̤͖̰̻̭͎̲̤̽̍̍̊̽̇̋̋͌̽̒̍̍̽̍̀́͜͝ë̵̛̞̯͖́̽́͊̊̍̀͆̄́͑̆̑̇̂̅͆͘̕͠ẍ̵̛̣́͋̈̏̉̄̈́̈̄̔̽͛͆̏͋̉̉̔̓̎̏͒̕͘͝͠t̵̨̧̧̛̠̮͎̞̮̬͚͔̲͉̟̹̫̼̫̼̩̺͇͈͓̖̹͖̥̺̘̙́̓̾̋̒͌̽̎͗̅̃͂́͆͋̾̕͜ͅ ̵̧̼̥̻̦̫͈̹̹̒̓̇̈́̒̊͌̓̋̋̌͊̏̊͂̆͐͊̕͜͠g̸̡̧̡̡̧̲̯̭̯̺̰̠̭̠̮͕̭͈̥̗̲̱̘̟̭̮̬̝̠͕̜̺̗͚̻̈́̈́̕͜ơ̶̡̡̨̢̢̡̘̲̯͉͓͔̗̠̯̳̹̖͍̟̹̬͉̤͇̤͉̼̫͗̌̂͛̊̊͊̂͒́̆̅͌̽͐̾́́̓͋̈́̂̔͑͗̕̕̕̚͜͠͝ḑ̵̢̰̖͉̼͇̥̥̙̰̘̺͎̮̳̳̞̻͆͒͊̐̐̐̂͒̈́́̿̅͆̋͂̌͜͠͠