Headaches & Hazbins: Book 1: New Kind of Life, New Kind of Hell

Chapter 16: Cutthroat Competition: Part 3

Jerry: You take a closer look at the center. I'll make sure no one tries to snake up on us.

Asher: Please do a better job than ya did four days ago. We don't want to have any repeats.

[Jerry glares at Asher.]

Jerry: Yea, yea. (Muttering) Water under the bridge my ass...

[Asher snickers at Jerry's reply. He continues to walk forward while Jerry stops walking and begins to survey the treeline for any potential danger. After a few seconds of walking and carefully navigating down a small slope deeper into the crater, Asher arrives at the center. He takes a close look at the very center.]

Asher: Huh... Oddly pretty...

[The dirt ground of the center is giving off a faint white glow due to the plentiful amount of white cinders spread around the area. White sparks slowly rise from the cinders and delicately climb into the sky. The closer to the center of the crater you look the more cinders you can find. Mixed sporadically into the cinders looks to be a few specks of bright light. Kind of like the specks Asher saw when he looked up at the ceiling of Hell. Asher reaches into his vest and takes out a cigarette. He places it into his mouth and reaches into his vest for his li–]

Asher: (In Head) Oh... Right... My lighter is back in my bag... And I left the matches back in the truck... *Annoyed Growl* Dammit... How the hell am I going to–

[As Asher is just about to finish complaining, his eyes stop on the very center of the crater. He looks at a patch of glowing white embers mixed in with some burnt dirt. Asher stares at it for a few seconds, thinking his choice through.]

Asher: (In Head) I mean... I could... But am I really that desperate that I'm going to light my cigarette with what is essentially holy fire?

[He stands there for a few seconds blankly staring at the embers. Then he shrugs.]

Asher: (In Head) Yea, I guess I am.

[He takes two steps forward and crouches down in front of a small patch of white embers on a dried-out stick. Asher picks up the stick and holds it in front of himself. He quietly stares at the glowing white embers. A few cinders fly off of it and slowly float away directly upward. He continues to stare at it for a few seconds before shaking his head and snapping back to the situation. He then carefully moves the burning part of the stick to the tip of his cigarette. A few seconds later the cigarette begins to catch and gives off a bit of smoke. Asher pulls the stick away from the tip of the cigarette and places it back on the ground. He stands up and looks at the tip. It has glowing white embers on the tip of it and is giving off the same cinders as the stick. Asher looks at it a bit intrigued.]

Asher: (In Head) Huh... Well alright then...

[He closes his eyes and grabs his cigarette with his left hand.]

Asher: (In Head) If it works, it works I guess.

[He begins to take a nice puff from the cigarette.]

Asher: (In Head) Hopefully this will help me stay focused– *Cough*

[Before Asher can finish his thought his eyes shoot open and he begins coughing rapidly.]

Asher: *Cough* *Cough* What the fuck! *Cough* *Rapid Coughing*

[He then seems to lose his balance and fall to his knees forcing his hands onto the ground to hold him up so his head doesn't hit the dirt. Asher's vision starts to become distorted and gets brighter as the ground begins swirling and spinning around rapidly.]