Sorry it took so long. Was having all sorts of problems with the chapter whenever it saved. Any ways, Doppelord is heavily inspired by one of my favorite game series. And when you get to the actual part about the Otami Underworld, my suggestion is "Don't read it at night." It contains some strong imagery and tones. Without further ado...
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The gate raised up into the stone wall as Mikey, Omni, Mage and Marshall got pushed into the arena. The stone walls rose twenty feet into the air as some of the Otami Warriors sat perched on the seats. The thunderous applause and cheering reminded Mikey of his first zOMG experience with the interface. “Well they’re certainly more lively than normal. Maybe they’ve got something big planned for today.” Mage calmly said as they waited for the gate across from them.
“What do they normally throw in here?” Mikey gulped.
“Buzz Terrors, Jaguar Statues, Masks of Joy and Despair, sometimes a horde of Wood Fluffs. But they’ve never been this excited, definitely something big.” Omni calmly waited. The cheering became even louder as the gate on the other side of the pit opened. Mikey’s eyes went wide as he saw coming from behind the gate a giant sized OMG. Its clawed feet scraped against the gravel of the pit as it let out a low growl. It bared it’s sharpened teeth as yellow-green drool dripped down.
“So that’s a Zomg. Looks… manageable.” Mikey dusted off his knees and began moving to the right.
“Oh yes perfectly manageable.” Mage began moving to the left.
“Well I think I can tank this.” Omni said as he began walking up to the beast.
“Just give us the signal when you’re ready Omni.” Mikey heard the crowd erupt in cheers as the Zomg began attacking Omni. The sharp claws left orange streaks across Omni’s chest as he stumbled back.
“Okay, this guy is tougher than I thought. I don’t think tanking him is going to happen.” Omni clutched his chest.
Mage stepped up and tried smacking the Zomg in the snout. It let out a sigh of steamy rancid breath and mage staggered back, “Whew it smells worse than rotting meat left out in the sun.” The Zomg let out a hiss as it lunged for Mage. He managed to jump back as the massive jaws snapped shut, tearing a shred of fabric from Mage’s scarf. Mage tried slashing the massive monster but his blade glanced off without much effect. The Zomg stumbled backwards as the tips of its feet turned red hot. Mage saw Mikey pointing his rings at the beast, the hot foot band on his finger glowed a pale red.
“Move it!” Mikey hacked at the Zomg and the blade sunk into the beast’s side. “Omni, you alright?” Omni managed to stand back up and nodded to Mikey.
“I think if you and Mage go all out, I can heal enough to keep you standing.” Omni used diagnose and some of the scratches on Mikey and Mage vanished.
“Alright, I think we can do this.” Mage hacked at the Zomg as it let out another roar.
“Just pretend it’s a really mad Landshark.” Mikey approached the Zomg from another angle. His rings flashed different colors as he cycled between hack, fire rain, and an imitated mantis. The flashes of light drew the Zomg’s attention to him. “Ghi’s only at 67, can’t do a burst.” He called over as he slowly backed away from the snarling beast. Its tail snapped like a scorpion’s as it jabbed the ground in front of Mikey.
“Wait you can actually burst with Ghi?” Omni yelled back.
“Tell you guys about it later.” Mikey jumped back just in time to avoid another tail jab as the Zomg bared its teeth in a snarl.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“I don’t care about the burn get these things off of me!” Diving in to help the Otami Warriors had left Henry with a few Wood Fluffs biting onto him as their form of attack. The fluffs weighed him down to the point he could barely move much less attack.
“If I try burning them off I could end up burning you!” Penelope squirmed at the idea of burning Henry.
“After the hot springs I thought you’d be all for burning me.” Penelope shot Henry a nasty look as she shot fireballs at him. “Ayiii! Watch your aim.” Henry protested as charred Wood Fluffs began falling off of him.
Jeremy’s hack collided with a Buzz Terror’s chainsaw arm as the two seem locked in one on one combat. Kerri and John each stood on opposite ends of the mask they fought, one face was twisted into a maniacal smile and looked at John while the other face was cracked with a frown. The frown attacked John and rooted him to the ground, while the smile attacked Kerri and made her feel sleepy. The mask whirled and spun as it tried to decide which face would attack whom. John’s amulet glowed as he punched the ground, the effect worked as he had planned and small mounds of earth shot up in a path to the mask. It was knocked off balance, giving Kerri a chance to recover and attack it. As her beam of energy connected with the mask it began to crack and break apart until there was nothing but a pile of dust where it had been. As she and the others regrouped they looked around and realized the remaining animated had begun fleeing into the jungle. They could hear a deafening roar from far off into the jungle, but didn’t have time to worry about it as they found themselves surrounded by the warriors they had been trying to aid.
“Speak quickly trespassers. We suffer no outlanders.” One of the warriors pointed an obsidian macuahuitl at Henry.
“Is that any way to thank someone who just tried to help you?” Henry glared, he almost regret the decision to get involved in the fight.
“Tiq tiq. Nabors ague, explernim, abit mal.” One of the warriors spoke to the one holding the blade. The one with the blade nodded his head a few times as they continued in a whisper.
“Very well, we shall not kill you here. We shall take you back with us to The Pit. You’d do best to follow closely or my mind may be changed.” Surrounded on all sides the group of five had no choice but to listen and follow.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Mikey rolled to the side as the Zomg tried jabbing him again, this time its tail lodged itself in the walls of the pit. It squirmed and roared as it tried to free itself. Mikey shoved Mage out of the way of the Zomg’s massive jaws only to find himself stuck between its teeth. “Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!” He shouted as the beast shook him like a dog does a chew toy. After what seemed an eternity of damp drool and razor sharp teeth Mikey found himself on the ground. The Zomg let out a massive roar as it collapsed onto the carved stone floor of the pit. It no longer moved as three Otami Warriors entered the arena to examine it.
“Cootau mah!” One shouted. The crowd erupted in applause and cheering.
“What just happened?” Mage asked.
“Judging that we just killed their most ferocious monster, I’d say they’re about to hang us or welcome us into the tribe.
“Here’s hoping.” Mikey looked around, “Dammit Marshall get up, the fight’s over.”
The four were led from the arena to a room that looked like it was meant for cleaning and preparation. Once their eyes adjusted to the light they could see they weren’t alone. As the figure approached them Marshall reacted. “Blaze? Blaze, sweetheart are you okay?”
“I’ve been fine dad. I wish I could have done something sooner, but the Otami wouldn’t believe what I said until you could prove yourself in the arena.” She clutched the blades that had been confiscated from Mikey when he’d been tied up. “This one is my mother’s,” She brandished the cutlass. “This one, I’ve not seen anything similar since I explored the Realm of the Ancients. Tell me, what happened to my mother.” Mage, Omni and Marshall looked to Mikey as he took a deep breath.
“Your mother fought bravely to defend a group of us in Isle de Gambino,” He paused a moment before screwing up the stoicism needed to deliver the next part, “She died to ensure my friends and I would survive. She bravely fought against the Mobster Lobster and Registered Offender, her sacrifice gave us the strength we needed to finish the fight.” He waited a moment gauging her reaction before adding, “I’m sorry.”
Blaze looked away a moment before her fiery gaze locked on Mikey. Her eyes burned like coals as they probed him for any reaction, “You speak the truth. Honorable considering how painful it is and the position you are currently in.”
“If I lied, my conscience would have killed me.” He replied.
“Honorable, for a player. You three are now honorary members of the Otami tribe. Through honesty and courage you have demonstrated your worthiness,” She handed Mikey back the blade from Guardus. “Now that you are part of the tribe you are free to roam the jungle, but be warned of the dangers out there.” An Otami Warrior approached Blaze and whispered something to her. “It seems you are not alone. Word is a scouting party has picked up more of you. Five to be precise.” Mikey’s eyes lit up.
“Blaze I must ask a favor. I am not ready to rejoin them. I still need to think about some things alone. I need them to receive these items so that we can finally eradicate the evil of Otami Underworld.” Mikey produced the box containing the Bloodstone Bracelets. He had already removed one and was wearing it.
“Strange you should ask this favor when it was I on behalf of the warriors that was going to ask you to destroy the evil there that mocks Doppelus, the Otami’s god of the afterlife.” Blaze took the box, “I shall make sure they reach the entrance to the Underworld and that they receive these.”
“Uhh did you forget about us?” Omni finally asked.
“With the permission of the Otami, I had a special request for you and Mage.” Mikey said.
“Of course, what is it?” Mage asked.
“If you and your other friends will challenge the evil, I see no qualms with sending others elsewhere.” Blaze interpreted for an aged Otami Chieftain that had joined them.
“I hate sending you back down there, but you two know the tunnels of Durem Mines the best. I need to ask you to find a secret entrance to The Phantom’s lair that is supposedly hidden in the mines.” Mikey said wryly.
Mage and Omni looked at each other and nodded before saying, “We’re on it. Though, we don’t know the way to the mines from here.”
Blaze was interpreting again, “A small patrol will escort you to the machine made tunnels we know of. Meanwhile, we shall send this one ahead of his friends to underworld.”
“Sounds fair.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“That must be the pit.” Kerri noted as they passed a wooden building resembling the Roman Coliseum. There were drums nearby as they were brought to a stop in front of an ornate hut.
“So those that would selflessly give themselves to stop the parasites have arrived, welcome to our village.” The village elder stepped out of the shadows of the hut and greeted the group. “But we don’t have much time to share words.”
“What a way to greet friends. You bind them and lead them through the jungle.” Jeremy said indignantly.
“I must apologize for the warriors, they were merely following procedure. But now you must be off to the Underworld.” The chief’s smile glittered in the sunlight.
“Wait, you trust us right away? Why?” John asked. He added in a whisper to the others, “Normally, players have to prove themselves capable of entering the Underworld by battling the pit boss.”
“I have heard of your deeds in defending my warriors from the scouts who arrived back here. Aiding them without being asked, and giving yourselves so selflessly, you have already proven yourselves.” He went back into the hut.
“Something’s off, I can just feel it.” Henry whispered.
“So I wasn’t the only one feeling it?” Kerri asked.
“Something definitely happened before we got here. Letting us go straight to the Underworld.” John added.
“So what do we do?” Penelope asked.
“I think we should play along.” Jeremy was watching the entrance of the hut, he noticed the chief returning with a box, “Guys, shh.”
“We were entrusted these jewels. They were made to protect their bearers from the evil energies that swirl in the depths of the Underworld. I pray to Chaloc that they will see you well.” The chief handed the weathered box to the group. As they opened the lid the red of the bloodstones glittered in the jungle light. Penelope counted five bracelets but noticed an indentation where one had rested previously.
“Where is the sixth bracelet?” She looked at the chief intently.
“Sixth? No, there was no sixth. Now you five must be on your way.” The chief led them to a pathway behind the village that wound its way to the foot of a nearby mountain. “At the end of this path there is a door into the mountain. That is your road.” The chief looked away for a moment, “It takes our best pathfinders at least half a day’s march to reach it. May Chaloc watch over you.”
“Where is the sixth bracelet?” Penelope repeated as she stared into the Otami chieftain’s eyes.
“I told you there is no sixth. Now, you best be moving along.” The chieftain said. Penelope gave him a look that if it were acid would be corroding metal, but she had little choice with Henry and Jeremy pulling on her.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“He suffered some severe trauma in his frontal lobe. Several chemical receptors were damaged. I doubt he’ll ever be able to experience many emotions ever again. But that’s only the beginning of the laundry list of things whatever happened did.” The doctor was explaining Mikey’s injuries to his parents. They thought he was still unconscious, when he had in fact heard everything. “Judging by the amount of degradation and activity, I don’t see him making it to 25. Not without some serious psychological problems any way.”
Mikey bolted upright. The downpour that had started roused him from his sleep. He stared down from his treetop at the gorge below; he wondered which of the three bridges that spanned it was the real one. He remembered the warning Mage had given him before they parted ways. “Remember while there are three bridges, only one is real. The others collapse into the blackness below as you step across them. Going alone is dangerous at best.” After the warning Mikey had decided to wait at one of the bridges for the others to catch up. He thought it would be rather ironic to mend broken bridges around collapsed ones. As he shifted his position to remain dry in the pouring rain Mikey felt himself drifting back to sleep again.
“The fair is today only? I find that hard to believe. Or did you just wait until the last day like always?” His mother was washing dishes in the light of the setting sun. She didn’t like turning on lights until they were absolutely necessary. Mikey rolled his eyes at the remark and instead grabbed his shoes.
“Alright, I suppose I’m going alone then.” He started lacing them up.
“You know your father took the only car to work this morning. He’s always working such eccentric hours.” His mother saw the look he gave her, “Alright, we’ll walk there. But grab your sister, we’ll go as a group.”
“Maria! Maria, gather up she said yes.” Mikey found his sister huddled over a sketchbook in her room, “What’s that?” He pointed to the blob she was drawing.
“I’ve been trying to draw that flower in the vase, but it isn’t working so well.” She put her pencil down. The sunlight caught her brown hair.
“You’ll have lots of time to practice later.”
“I suppose you’re right big brother.” She said as she reach under the bed and pulled out her shoes. They were the new ones she got the week before. She had barely worn them and the leathery exterior was still the bleached white of new shoes.
Mikey woke himself shivering, “No, not that memory. Not now.” The rain was still pouring as he shifted himself again. He didn’t enjoy the trees, but it did keep most of the ground dwelling animated from noticing him. It had taken him the better part of a day to sneak past most of the animated he felt he couldn’t fight alone. He eased back against the tree and drifted off again. His mind wandered this time to his late night conversation with Guardus.
“You have great potential Michael. There’s a great leader inside of you, a hero even, everyone around you sees it. You need to see it. You hold yourself back, why?” The red eyes of the armor glittered as they awaited a response.
“I’m no great leader. I’m not even a decent one.”
“You speak as if the past haunts you.”
“You have no idea of the pain or the guilt I live with every day.”
“Then why do you continue? If this pain and guilt were so bad wouldn’t you have given up already? Unless, you do feel like you can do more.”
“It was my fault that others have died, and I lived. To give up would be to throw away that curse of being allowed to live.”
“You view your life as a curse. And yet you would not throw it away as to not sour the memories of those that have passed on for you to have it. You are a very conflicted individual.” The armor shifted as it changed its seat, “You still can be great, you just need to see it in yourself. I’ll leave you to your thoughts now.” The armor rose and left the room.
Mikey added to himself once Guardus had left, “She said that to me once, about being great.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“The walking I wouldn’t mind so much, the jungle I wouldn’t mind so much, but all this rain.” Jeremy wiped his glasses off for the twelfth time.
“Look at the bright side. We can’t see the animated in this, which means they can’t see us.” Henry pushed ahead.
“Achhhoo! Yeah but the animated probably have warm holes to crawl into.” John sniffled. Their heavy steps splashed through the muddy undergrowth of the jungle as they kept marching. As the sun began poking out of the clouds they found themselves at a fork in the road.
“I didn’t expect it to mean literal fork.” There were several Otami pitchforks stuck into the ground as they approached the split.
“According to the map, each of the three paths leads to a bridge across the Gorge of Nerus. However, only one bridge is real, the other two are collapsing decoys.” Kerri was reading the information given to her by the Otami warriors on the region.
“Three paths and three bridges. I say we split up and each take a path.” Henry said.
“There’s only five of us. If we split up, who’s the odd one out? And how will we ensure we don’t find the wrong bridges?” They stood bickering at the crossroads for a few moments. John argued about how splitting up would be unfair to one of them. Henry raised the idea of drawing straws to determine the loner. But the discussion quickly devolved into a match of who was more intelligent. Even Penelope took shots about how ridiculous the idea of sending up flares if they ran into trouble would be because of the time it would take for the other teams to respond with help even if they did see the flare.
“Silence!” Kerri screamed at the top of her lungs to be heard over their argument. “I’ll go the right path alone, Jeremy and John take the middle, and Henry and Penelope get the left path. Send a flare up if your team runs into trouble. Otherwise use a light or a burst of your amulet to signal you found the right bridge. Is that understood?” The others looked at Kerri in awe a few minutes before they nodded. The pairs went down their paths before Kerri was content to take her own. By then the rain had cleared up.
The trees along her path seemed to crowd around until the very air itself seemed stuffy and thick. The pathway was hardly visible between the tangled roots, but it zigzagged ahead of her in the shadowy greens. Some distance ahead Kerri spotted a white pinprick of light between the branches, but it was still a good ten minutes’ walk ahead. Her mind began to wander again.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Mom! Mom! Mom, I got accepted to the university! Mom?” Kerri ran into the kitchen waving the letter she had found in the mail around. Her mom was nowhere to be found in the kitchen, she looked around the house and found her mom in the master bedroom, her back was to the door and she was on the phone with someone.
“Please tell me Joseph is alright.” She looked on the verge of weeping as whoever was on the other end began talking.
“Is everything alright?” Kerri carefully entered the room.
Her mom turned around and her face was streaked with her mascara, “Kerri, gather up some clothing for you and your brother. We need to go to the hospital.”
“Mom, what happened?” Kerri looked confused as she stared at her mother.
“Just pack a bag for you and your brother. Be ready in ten minutes.” Her mom went back to listening on the phone. When she saw Kerri hadn’t moved she waved her hand saying, “Go Kerri.”
After a hurried ten minutes Kerri was in the passenger seat as her mom drove to her brother’s school. “Mom, what’s going on? Is it something about dad?” Kerri knew with her father being a police officer there was always a chance of something happening.
Her mother gripped the wheel a little more tightly as she kept looking forward, “His unit got called in on a drug bust. Someone pulled a gun and all hell broke loose. We’re grabbing your brother so you two can visit him in the hospital before…” her mom got choked up a bit like she was going to begin weeping again.
“He’s… he’s not going to make it, is he?” Kerri shuddered. She’d always worried, but never thought it would happen.
“I don’t know.” Her mother said flatly, “I just want you and your brother to see him one last time.” She inhaled a bit and steadied herself, “I’ll be staying with him at the hospital, your Aunt Dot is meeting us there. She’s going to take care of you and your brother for a while until I figure out what to do.”
“Mom, be strong, for dad.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Mikey craned his head trying to listen, he had thought he heard someone approaching in the trees below. He crept down from his branch and slid along the trees quietly. Whoever or whatever it was didn’t notice him as he stalked behind it, darting from tree trunk to tree trunk. He stood at the tree line as the figure stepped into the light at the edge of a clearing carved out for one of the bridges. As his eyes adjusted he could see it was Kerri he was stalking. He was puzzled about why she was alone, especially in the jungle of all places. She hadn’t yet noticed him, and he pressed back against the trees. She either didn’t see him or wasn’t paying attention as she kept moving towards the bridge. Mikey watched for a few minutes as she tepidly stepped onto the worn stone pathway. And suddenly, she vanished. He took a few steps forward and could clearly hear the sound of falling stones.
“Ahhhh!” Mikey heard her screams over the falling stones and rushed forward. He slid to a stop and flopped himself down on the ground as he reached the lip of the cliff. Without thinking he reached over and grabbed Kerri’s arm with his right hand. As he looked over he saw a look of surprise on her face as a root pulled from the ground fell into the shadows below her.
“Just hold on! I got you!” Kerri’s eyes got wide as she heard his voice.
“It’s you. It’s really you. You came back.” Her voice shifted to agitation, “Where have you been? You know you had us worried about you.”
“Can’t really answer right now, a bit busy. Got any way of signaling the others for help?” Mikey shifted his position to better grip her arm.
“I can’t reach my flare. What can’t pull me up?” She shot back.
“Not from this angle, no. Figures I have to hold you and send up a flare.”
“You could just drop me.”
“Not going to happen. Hold on.” Mikey feebly raised his left arm from its grip on the edge to pointing at a nearby tree. A burst from his lancer hit the tree and ignited in a brilliant light show. “Hope that gets their attention. I don’t know how long I can hold you up.”
“Are you calling me fat?” Kerri shot back.
“No, and now isn’t the time to be pissed off.” Mikey tried to tighten his grip.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“I don’t feel right leaving Kerri alone like that, even if she’s the one that came up with the division plan.” Penelope and Henry had reached the edge of the jungle along their path and were staring at a massive stone bridge.
“I’m starting to wonder if the extra time to travel as a group to each of these bridges would be worth the safety. I mean what if there are animated along either of the other paths?” Henry shrugged, “John and Jeremy, I can them being able to hold their own in a fight, but Kerri alone, I just don’t know.” They reached the end of the massive stone bridge.
“So how do you want to cross this. I mean in case it is one of the fake ones.” Penelope heard a snap behind her as she tapped part of the stonework with her foot. Henry came trudging forward with a branch broken off of a nearby tree. He began to cautiously move across the bridge while prodding and poking the stones ahead of him. “What if it comes apart while you’re out there?” Penelope stared questioningly at Henry as he continued forward.
“We should still have flight ability. Shouldn’t we?” Henry continued his pace across the bridge. Penelope stayed rooted at the end of the bridge as she watched Henry cross the middle of the bridge. She looked down the deep gorge and could see faintly the center bridge where John and Jeremy should be, but what caught her eyes was a plume of smoke and an array of flashing lights even further down the gorge.
“Henry!” Penelope called out. He twisted around before staring in disbelief.
“Not one of our flares, but it looks like it’s coming far enough away to be Kerri’s location. Should we-?” Henry didn’t finish his question before he saw Penelope tearing off back towards the jungle.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Yes, we were originally going to make about ten Ghi-Infused weapons. They were going to be super rare to the point that you could spend months in the areas to find them and still only have one. The idea was to later offer epic recipes to craft them in the cash shop. Being the easier and less time consuming route we hoped this would raise money for zOMG. There would be item avi poses, and in game equipment abilities. In fact that blade that was given to Mikey was one of the original ideas for Ghi weapons.” John rattled on. He and Jeremy had been taking their route at a leisurely pace while discussing several intended aspects of zOMG’s second chapter.
“So each of these Ghi weapons had a different effect. What weapons were there going to be and what effects would they have?” Jeremy and John hardly noticed the glowing circle of light ahead.
“A sword, which you have already seen was going to be the most basic with some energy channeling and slash attacks.”
“The blade Guardus gave to Mikey?”
“The same. The next was to be a shield hidden in the Realm of the Ancients. It’s effects depended on what kind of attack hit it. An energy based attack would be negated, and the energy would be channeled into recharging the shield bearer’s stamina and health. I physical attack would see its damage halved, with no recharge.”
“Sounds a bit broken there.”
“We realized this at some point and made it the rarest Ghi weapon until we could figure out how to rebalance it.”
“I see. What other items were there?”
“There was a chest armor that could fire a beam from the chest that would put a lancer ring to shame. The drawback is the beam would deplete half the user’s Ghi with each use.”
“How did you balance that? I mean each use would be like, 50, 25, 12, 6, 3, 2, 1, right?”
“We made the damage it does scale to the amount of Ghi it uses. There was a hammer that was a super powered version of the sword, but without the energy channeling ability. A pair of gauntlets with the ability to paralyze animated for a few seconds.”
“How long is a few seconds?”
“About 15. There was also a bow, I forget what it does. An eye patch that increases critical hit rate at the expense of decreasing accuracy. There was also a pair of purple pants that increased speed and reduced the amount of stamina needed to use attacks. Hmm I also remember a staff that could temporarily turn a group of animated into personal minions.”
“Sword, shield, hammer, armor, gauntlets, bow, eye patch, pants, staff… wait you said ten. What was the last one?” Jeremy asked.
“A pirate’s cutlass. It could shoot energy disks from the blade in addition to channeling energy.” John squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight.
“So, how do we determine if we can cross this bridge without falling in?” Jeremy looked at the blackness below.
“The bridge if it’s a fake should crumble the minute someone steps far enough out onto it. Here, try this.” John pulled some vines from a nearby tree and tied a loop in it.
“Why do I have to be the one sent out on the bridge?” Jeremy tightened the vine around his waist.
“Because you’re lighter. If it breaks under you it’s easier for me to pull you back up than it would be for you to pull me.” John clutched the coils of vine as Jeremy began making his way across the bridge. Before he got five steps out the bridge began to crack and crumble. John’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the vine, as he saw Jeremy disappear over the horizon the green rope went taught. After a few labored minutes of panting and pulling John finally pulled Jeremy over the cliff side.
“Guess that means we got one of the decoy bridges.” Jeremy and John laid still on the ground exhausted from the workout of climbing and pulling.
“Yeah, I suppose it does. Hey, are you seeing those lights in the sky or is it just me?” John puffed as he pointed. Jeremy tilted his head to look before he took on a more hurried tone.
“That’s where Kerri is. She needs our help.” Jeremy quickly jumped to his feet and dragged John up by his arm. They nodded to each other before running back into the jungle.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
100
100
100
