Long Way Home

7. Ollie

Chapter 7.

Ollie.

Just to clarify, I didn't lead anyone into this intentionally. I saw the tyre tracks and followed them, desperate to find life or any sign of people.

The second plan would have been to hot wire the car and drive as far as we could which would cut a lot of walking time over the next few days until we would eventually reach somewhere.

And guess what? Life's a bitch. Nothing's ever simple. You think you're getting a car handed to you for free but instead you end up running into a trap and having vines wrapped around your legs.

As usual, I stayed calm.

Kind of.

The long vines curled tightly around my ankle like a boa constrictor, ravelling around my calf and gripping harder. I bent down and tried to tear at them but they wouldn't budge, they just kept coming.

Fumbling around in my pocket I searched for my knife and pulled it out, flicking it open. I heard Nicole and Theo shouting in fear and I saw them try to get away. Looking between them and my knife I made quite a generous decision.

"Murray!" I shouted at Theo, holding up my knife. He understood and held out his hands as I threw it at him, catching it cleanly and beginning to hack at the deadly plants.

Despite having no knife I wasn't completely defenceless. I did have one little trick up my sleeve I just wasn't sure if it would work.

The night before, I'd woken up with my hands on fire but it hadn't burnt me. This morning I'd lit a flame without matches or a lighter, I just imagined having it there and when I opened my eyes there it was, crackling away healthily.

Closing my eyes, I imagined my hands burning white hot like a furnace. Sure enough, when I opened them they were blazing wildly. Pressing them against the vines, I watched the plants curl and crumble into black ashes, vaporising completely.

Sprinting over to Nicole I dropped to my knees beside her, ignoring her screams about seeing my hands alight again. A thicker vine wrapped around my ankle and I held one hand near it for just enough time to turn it to dust. Making short work of the vines around Nicole's feet I pulled her away from them and went to help Theo.

He'd already hacked away at most of the plants but I shot a ball of fire at the last one, causing it to sever and writhe around on the floor as if it was in pain. Can plants even feel pain?

I pulled him away, letting the flames go out in my hands. Looking at both of them I wiped a bead of sweat off of my forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just when I thought we were safe again the ground shook violently, knocking the three of us off balance and causing us to stumble to the floor. I caught my knife as it slid out of Theo's hand and towards the crack in the floor threatening to disappear forever. I pushed it into my pocket to keep it safe and tried to climb to my feet.

My legs fell from beneath me again and I felt my ankles being tugged. Looking down I cursed again, attacking the fresh wave of vines with another burst of fire.

Hearing a scream behind me I turned to see two thick vines crawling around Nicole's neck. Theo tried to help but he too was caught and pulled to the ground by the plant.

Running forwards I felt another bunch of vines try to hold me back. My whole body flared up, disintegrating them all immediately. I was metres away from her when a stone wall leapt up in front of me out of the ground.

I ran head first into it and fell to the ground, my fire going out. Groaning, I clambered to my feet and took a running jump at the wall, vaulting over it.