Elemental

Chapter 22

We eventually find a place to sleep. I had been up for 24 hours (virtual hours) and was extremely tired. I went to sleep very fast and so did Zack. As soon as he hit the ground, he slept. And so did I.
I woke up at night, again, and so did Zack.
"I think my sleep schedule is never gonna be normal again," I say, groggily. He smiles as he rubs his eyes.
"Same," he says. "Sunrise?" I smile and nod.
"I've got some food for a mini picnic," I say.
"Perfect," he whispers, as he begins to make his way up a tree. I start to go up, but I stop.
What about Liam? What would he think? He said he was fine with it, but that was before we were dating. I hesitate, but go up. "That took a while," Zack says.
"Yeah, I, had to find something," I lie. I get out some jerky and freeze-dried fish I was saving, along with some fruit that Zack had given me. Zack hands me some pieces of wood that are carved into bowls. I pour some of the jerky and fruit into one and hand it to him. Then, I make one for myself.
We eat in silence as the sun goes up again. The sky turns pink, then orange.
"This is nice," I whisper. "But we should go somewhere else, we've been in the rainforest too long," I continue. Zack looks at me and scoots closer.
"Ok," he whispers, leaning in.
"Let's go!" I yell, scaring him back. I quickly gather my stuff and go down the branches. Zack follows.
I go straight ahead and we walk and walk for hours.
Soon we reach an opening. All I can see is grass and a few trees.
"A savanna," Zack whispers. We enter the savanna cautiously. The grass tickles and feels warm.
Here, there's nowhere to hide but grass and some thin trees.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant elephant walks across the plains.
"Wow," I gasp. Behind it is two giraffes. And behind them a pack of gazelles come running along with some zebras, wildebeests, and hyenas and some lions chasing them.
"Woah," Zack breathes. The herd of animals goes across and disappears into a wall of pixels, which reminds me that this is all fake.
"And moment over," I say. Zack laughs.
"Yep, that was quick," he says, "Let's find a pond to camp by."
"Sounds good," I say and we walk deeper into the grass.
The grass is taller than me or Zack. It makes me realize someone could actually be hiding here. So, I decide to keep the switchblade in my hand, pointed out.
We walk for a while, until the switchblade hits something.
"Ow!" I hear. "Who's there?" I call. I glance back at Zack. He shrugs and gestures for me to move up.
"STOP!" someone yells. "Oh no,no,no,no" they continue.
I slice some grass away from my face. There I see a muddy, sweaty Kelly. I freeze.
"Stop, please," she says with her eyes closed and her hands covering her face.
Slowly she steps back.
Zack strikes her with lightning. Her foot catches fire for a second and she flails around, cursing under her breath. I still can't move.
As soon as I gain control, she's gone.
"Are you ok?" Zack asks.
"Yeah, I just thought she was gonna...get me. I'm to far in to lose," I whisper.
"Let's go," he whispers. I nod and continue walking, slicing the grass to clear my path.
Occasionally, animals pass,but nothing else happens.
I slice and slice and slice, but still we don't reach a new biome or a pond.
"How long have we been going?" I mutter, out of breath. The sun is down, and the nocturnal animals are coming out.
"Long, too long, this doesn't make sense, the rainforest was so small. It was literally a square," he mumbles. I am so thirsty and broken down.
"We...need to...stop," I manage.
"Yeah, yeah," he says, nodding.
"I can't..." I mumble. The world spins and goes wavy and then black. And that's all I remember.