BLACKOUT; JR [1]

9.6

We were on the move again, walking through the drizzle of rain. On the way, we passed a few more of the strange items hanging form the trees. I did my best to ignore them, something about them gave me a bad vibe. We were all so tired from walking, but once we saw a familiar sight, we perked up instantly.

"Isn't that where we spent the night?" Jake asked, pointing to the little palm-tree hut that we'd constructed on our night in the woods. I smiled quickly, breathing out a strangled laugh, then nodded to him. Sam then ran off again, not speaking a word, and we followed him eagerly. Once we were no longer in the small clearing, we started slowing down, but the momentum continued to build.

"We're going home!" Sam cried, basically leaping from place to place, running no longer being a necessary way to move. Our cheers echoed through the bush as we hurried along, seeming to copy Sam's actions. I nearly slipped over on the mud, but I caught myself before I lost my balance completely. There was a strange feeling in my stomach, it made my legs move faster. It must have been the excitement, maybe there was too much of it. Our laughter was cut short when Sam took an usually large leap, and then tripped over rather ungracefully. Jake, practically running on top of him, fell over Sam and also ended up on the ground. When they landed with a strange oof sound, I realised it wasn't their accident.

Before any of us could react, a massive net dropped from the trees and landed right on Sam and Jake, covering them in a camouflaged sheet of mesh. Felix was a few feet behind them, and although he'd seen them both fall down, and seen the net fall next, he just couldn't stop running. A second too late, he put his brakes on, and the impact of the sudden stop caused him to fall forward and land in the dirt right beside the struggling pair. Andy was behind me, and we were lucky not to be caught up in the mess on the ground in front of us.

"Are you okay?" Andy asked them, his voice urgent and his face startled. They were both exaggerating, but Sam more so. His screaming was just getting louder and louder the longer he was trapped, and it had only been about ten seconds.

"Just get us out!" Jake ordered, thrashing around under the heavy net. I was beginning to wonder if they were claustrophobic, but it wouldn't be the best idea to wait and see. I moved forward just as Felix stood up, and he ran ahead.

"The talisman!" He almost shouted, falling onto his hands and knees and crawling across the forest floor like a mad man, like the mad man he was. Sam screamed again, making it hard to decide who out of the three was being more dramatic. I dropped down to their level, trying to find any edge of the mesh so I could lift it. But they both continued to move, and Sam continued to yelp.

"Stop!" Jake yelled at him, his hands on covering his face. "You're making it worse!" Sam took no notice of the boy beside him, and continued to thrash. He threw his hands near my face, almost punching me accidentally. I reached for his hands, successfully grabbing them and pressing his wrists together tightly while he kicked around.

"Sam, calm down." I told him, yanking his hands in my direction. The jerking motion seemed to get his attention, and his panic attack was momentarily paused. I looked to Andy for help, but his mind was elsewhere. He stood a few feet away, his arms outstretched in an awkward position.

"Guys, I can't find it!" Felix was still yelling, but he seemed to be alone in his efforts. Too much was going on, and I couldn't keep up. He continued to crawl, practically digging around in the dirt like a child. "I don't know where it is!" He was growing more desperate with each stroke through the mud, and there was nothing I could do.

Sam's clawing actions started up again, and when I looked down at him, I realised that my window of opportunity had closed. Jake did nothing to calm him, and apparently Sam's panic was rubbing off on him, because he started to grab at the net with more ferocity than before. "Help us out of here!" Jake yelled, his words directed at Andy, who was still standing there with no agenda.

"Wait." I heard him mumble from behind me, but his voice was nearly inaudible when competing with Sam's struggled moaning. He tried to sit up, but the net was too restricting and it forced him back down again. The way he quickly tried to gasp for air gave me the impression that he was winded. Understandable, this panicked him even more.

"Holy shit, Sam!" I shrieked, my hands pushing his down on his chest. Now it was my hands that were restricting his ability to sit up, I didn't give the net a chance. "Stop!"

"Something's coming." Andy said, his voice still mumbled and creepy. This time I turned to him, and my stomach fell. In the next second, something jumped out of the trees and stopped right in front of Andy. I would have screamed at the sight, if it wasn't for Sam. He'd tried to sit up again, and this time he'd succeeded. He moved so sharply that his chest smashed right into my back, and all the air was blown out of my lungs.

Then Andy smiled, and that confused me for a couple of seconds before I realised the same thing he did.

"It's Roland."