Hunt 6: Red Heat
Luckily, they weren’t his actual
last words. The same went for Luke,
Dante, and RJ; all four of the boys had survived, though not without a little
humiliation.
One by one they pulled their faces
out of the dirt, dusting them off and wiping grounded rock from their
tongues. “Okay, that could have gone
better,” said Luke, the first to recover (since he’d started spitting like a
camel). He massaged his back. It stung, but he figured he was lucky he
hadn’t shattered his spine in the fall.
But as he started to look around,
he felt himself wishing otherwise.
“Oh…this is not good.”
Dante raised his eyebrows. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”
“Well, what should I say?”
Wade raised a hand. “How about…’oh, hell.’”
No less than four volcanoes stood
in the distance; all of them spewed lava across its jagged slopes and onto the
ground, almost as if to form glowing orange roads. Columns of billowing brown smoke -- with
lightning and ash mixed within -- reached higher than any skyscraper the boys
had ever seen. The lava spewing from the
big tops helped to dye the sky red -- the sky, of course, being a cave roof
with singed stalactites. All four of the
volcanoes rumbled regularly, and more importantly made the area hot to the
point of suffocation. Even if they’d
started venturing, it wouldn’t help; they spotted more volcanoes, many of them
even larger than the nearest four, on the horizon.
But that wasn’t the most worrisome
part. Because between those volcanoes,
near and far, lay valleys. And within
those valleys lay several structures -- buildings, in the loosest sense of the
word. They looked as if they’d been hit
in a dozen bombing runs, with brown, decaying walls and massive chunks
practically bitten from their edges. Some
of them were tilted; others were toppled over; no matter what their alignment, steel
spikes erupted from whatever edge they could and pointed skyward. The streets -- if they could call that
cracking, uneven asphalt a street -- bent around each crumbling block, with its
sidewalks lined with fiery streaks. As
smoke spewed from the streets’ molten cracks, a few iron skulls drifted through
the sky; they diffused the smoke and left orange trails in their wake.
Luke, Dante, RJ, and Wade all stood
on a small mesa, giving them a view of the city ahead. And not just the city; though they couldn’t
make out everything through the smoldering haze, they could still see that this
place -- this place with certain, negative biblical connotations -- extended for
miles in every direction.
And they’d fallen from the
sky. A sky that they couldn’t hope to
reach without a space shuttle.
Once he picked up his shovel and
slid it back into his bag’s slots, Wade rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, I’m starting to think that joke of
mine was too obvious. I mean, I
should’ve put a little more thought into it and said --”
“Wade? Now’s not a very good time,” said Dante,
showing his big buddy his backhand.
Luke put his bat and flashlight
back in, and then nodded jerkily. “So
this place -- we’re all pretty much in agreement that this place is…is…”
Dante nodded as well. “Well…shit.
Looks like we’re in deep boys.
Better start digging in our heels.”
Wade peered up at the sky; as he
did, Luke and Dante noticed the beads of sweat beginning to form on his face --
and by extension, theirs as well. “Is
this really Hell?”
“Looks like it,” said Luke, trying
to stifle a shiver.
“But don’t we have to be dead to go
to Hell? You know, paying for our sins
and all that? I thought that was how it
worked -- like Hell is one big time-out corner.”
“Ah -- well, I guess, but…” Luke pursed his lips. They DID fall from an insane height, and
there was a gap in his memory -- that fall into the pit -- that he couldn’t
account for. He patted a hand against
his stomach; he certainly didn’t feel dead.
He could make out the beating of his heart, and the motions of his
lungs. A ghost wouldn’t have to worry
about that…at least, he hoped so. “RJ,
you’re the smart one,” he said, wiping his brow. “What do you think about all this?”
RJ didn’t answer.
“Uh, are you there RJ? We kind of need you.” He turned around to face him. Of course RJ hadn’t tried to run (it didn’t
work last time, after all); he just stood his ground, his body paled and
chilling, and his face turning a shade of blue that Luke thought only existed
in cartoons. And all the while, RJ kept
his hands glued to his mouth, convulsing rhythmically, and his throat
quivering.
“Oh man, I know that look,” said
Wade, pointing at RJ like a monkey in a zoo.
“That’s the look I get whenever I’m about to spew chunks all over the
place. You guys might wanna move; this
could get messy.”
Dante crossed his arms. “RJ, now’s not the time for you to be a
coward. Show some dignity for once, will
you?”
RJ shook his head. He kept his mouth covered, but that didn’t
stop a crunching noise from leaking out.
“He’s goin’ critical,” Wade
warned. “Seriously, this is way bigger
than anything I could ever do; we’re talking a real gourmet meltdown here.” He placed his hands on RJ’s shoulders and
started pivoting him around. “Only
question is, which way’s he gonna spew?”
“Not on me, I hope,” said
Dante.
“Well, whatever way he fires, we
should just let him do it. It’ll be good
for him to get it out of his system.”
“Why? So he can just puke all over again? This is RJ we’re talking about; a leaf
falling on his shoulder is enough to get his heart thumping.” Dante stroked his chin. “With nerves as bad as his, I think he’ll be
lucky to see thirty.”
“That’s enough joking around, you
two,” Luke said at last. He stepped
toward RJ -- whose cheeks had started puffing up with…well, something probably
unsavory -- and offered a soothing smile.
“Come on. I know things look bad
right now, but we can get through this together. You know that, right?”
RJ shook his head, and Luke heard
the…unfortunate liquid sloshing within.
“We’ll find a way out. But we need your help. You’re the smart one. Just like Wade’s the big guy and Dante’s the
cool one. The four of us working
together can do anything. You’ve just
gotta believe, okay?” He tapped RJ’s
shoulder and nodded, his smile brightening.
“Have a little courage. So how
about you swallow all that negativity and think positive? Who knows?
You might even surprise Dante.”
“Emphasis on might,” Dante added, “but it’s the best you can hope for.”
Luke shrugged him off. “So what do you say? Ready to go on an adventure? For science?”
RJ stared wide-eyed at Luke for a
moment -- a full minute, before giving a rigid nod. As he did, he swallowed every bit of juice;
when his cheeks compressed, he started coughing and choking. “Ohhhh man…that is a lot of stomach acid to
be shuffling around,” he sputtered.
“Hey, look on the bright side. At least you don’t look like a hamster
anymore.” Luke wrapped a hand around
RJ’s shoulder and moved him forward, then gestured for his friends to follow
with a wave. “Okay, now that that’s
settled, I think we’d better get moving.
No sense in hanging around here, right?”
“So what’s the plan, then?” Wade
asked. “Stumble around down here for a
while? That doesn’t seem too helpful.”
“Getting a move-on is the first
step,” said Dante, moving to the head of the pack. “Something made it possible for us to get
down here. So something -- or maybe
someone -- should be able to get us back up.”
Wade looked around, scratching his
head. Outside of the occasional flying
skull, the four boys were alone. “We’re
gonna find someone, right?”
“Dude. It’s Hell.”
“So what, five, ten people maybe?”
Dante looked pleadingly over his
shoulder to Luke. “There’s no telling
what we’ll find,” Luke said, trying to reassure both his friends and himself as
they trekked across the mesa. “But
whatever happens, I’m sure we’ll be --”
Unfortunately, Luke had to cut his
pep talk short. He and his pals had a
guest to entertain: a meteor hurtling towards them at a thousand miles per
hour.
“Hit the deck!” Dante yelled. Not that he needed to; all four boys ran a
few paces, and flung themselves onto the ground with heads covered. It didn’t do much to stop the meteor, but it
did keep them from having their faces burned off.
THWOOOOM!
A tsunami of rock and flames
splashed just a foot above the boys, and the chaos diffused in an array of red
and orange hues. Garnet sparks singed
their heels; they could only lay there and hope that no rogue sparks set their
butts aflame.
The roar quieted a bit, and the
rumble that had nearly thrown them across the city finally died down. One by one, Luke, Dante, Wade and RJ rolled
over, peering at the rock.
Except it wasn’t a rock. It was a man -- one that stood at a solid
eight feet, with a body exploding with slate-hued muscle. No shirt, no shoes; just a tattered,
zebra-patterned skirt over black shorts, and fists that could crush fire
hydrants wrapped in frayed ropes. He
drew himself up to his full height, exposing the X-shaped scar across a chest
so cut it could slice a diamond. His
beard, bristled and bushy, shook in tandem with his black mane. And all the while, he stared at the sky,
taking in one slow breath at a time.
The four boys stood up and stared
at him. “Whoa. That’s big,” said Wade with eyebrows raised.
“What’s this guy want with us?”
Dante asked, tensing up. “If he’s
looking for trouble, he’s come to the right place.”
But Luke shook his head and
stumbled forward. “H-hold on you
guys. Maybe this guy is just what we need
to get out of here.” He took a deep
breath and walked toward the gray giant.
“H-h-hi there,” he called out with a wave and a nervous laugh. “I’m Luke.
I’m…well, I’m kind of new here.
Do you think you can help us out a bit?”
He shoved a hand into his pocket and wriggled his fingers about. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I can pay
you a little bit.”
RJ leaned forward, fists
clenched. “Luke, don’t!” he wailed.
“What? This is as good a chance as any to get our
bearings straight.”
“No, not that!” He pointed a quivering finger at Luke’s
pocket. “Keep your money to
yourself! How will you be able to afford
anything if you throw your money around like some kind of…of spendthrift!”
“Spendthrift? That’s the word you’re going with, huh?”
Dante muttered.
Luke glanced over his shoulder and
offered a calming smile. “It’s
fine. This guy’s not so bad, I think;
it’s only natural that I show my tha-”
“GET DOWN! GOOD MORNING!
FUCK YOUR LOVE AND DIE!”
The boys stared at him, mere
seconds away from having their jaws fall from their faces.
“Uh…nice…song?” Luke asked.
Wade raised a hand. “I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything, but I
think I heard something in there about dying.
Where I come from, that’s not a good sign.”
“Come on, he couldn’t possibly mean
--”
The gray giant leaned forward,
exposing a pair of glowing red eyes -- and more importantly, fangs that could
tear through an elephant. “LUKE! GOOD BOY!
FIGHT OR GET EATEN! AND GET YOUR
JOLLIES ON THE READY LINE!”
“Uh, that doesn’t sound too good, sir.”
The gray giant pulled back a
fist. Luke leapt back a few feet -- just
far enough to avoid his attack. Just far
enough to avoid an explosion of flame and rubble.
“Okay, THAT doesn’t look too good,”
said Luke, flung onto his back and now staring at the crater before him. “Maybe we should run.”
But RJ would do no such thing. His legs crumpled, and he fell to the ground
in a heap, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“At least he didn’t throw up,” said
Wade.
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