by Unknown
Mini-Chapter 32
The brave young man took out his small water bottle and emptied the water it contained in an empty box; then, he opened the lid of the tube. Once he had unscrewed it completely, he pressed it, and the ointment started to come out. He took as much as he could, and filled up his bottle. He got carried away by the excitement and tripped over a box. He didn't fall, but the box did and it crashed against the floor making a lot of noise. He heard someone was coming to see what was going on: it was the night-shift clerk. Johnny knew exactly what he had to do: to run. He ran as fast as he could, jumping from shelf to shelf. On his path, he found several bandages. This time, he did not have the previous problem: he knew them by heart; they were no different to the ones used by the citizens of Happy Town. He stretched the bandages and, with a swift movement, he managed to cut a piece of it. He tried to make a regular cut. Once he was done, he rolled the bandage around his left arm as fast as he could. Then, he jumped to another shelf; then, to the next, and so forth, until he reached the floor. After that, he took shelter in the wall. From there, he could see a tired young woman surprised to find the medicine scattered all over the floor; and how another, older woman, told her: “Daniela, what happened here? Why are the ointments on the floor?” The girl did not know what to say.
Johnny took advantage of the lack of attention and again ran as fast as he could. Once he had crossed the fence, he heard the owner say: “Daniela, I'll discount this from your salary. You are irresponsible!” For a moment, he felt a little sorry for the girl, since he had gotten her into trouble, but he needed the medicine to help his friend; so before he was discovered, he jumped the fence. Rock, who had been waiting for him all this time, caught him before he hit the pavement. Then, he put him down. “Did you get it?” He asked. Johnny Dash smiled faintly: “Yes, I have the medicine. Now, let's get out of here!” Both young men ran until they turned on the corner. They stopped. Before they continued walking, the young man drew an «X» on the wall.
Despite all, Johnny Dash felt pain on his feet: they had been walking for too long on that city, which didn't seem to sleep, in the middle of that cold that treated them with such hostility. After walking for half an hour, they finally found a home supply store, but it was closed. Johnny looked at the store for a while; it was even bigger than the pharmacy. He examined the place. How could they get in? Must there be a possibility? After searching everywhere, he found something that could help them.
Mini-Chapter 33
In the lower part of the wall, there was a hole that went unnoticed for most people. He was not surprised by their existence, since he knew there were mice that lived with humans, hiding just like the first citizens of Happy Town. Then, he told Rock: “We have to go through this small tunnel.” However, the Warrior preferred to stay outside: he was too big and could not get into such a small hole, so he decided to stay outside and watch the entrance. Johnny managed to pass quickly: he had managed to get into the store. He was very surprised when he saw that, in the inside, it was a lot bigger than it seemed. He got on a shelf. From its highest part, he managed to see a small box with duct tape, which was on top of the most forgotten table in the store. The young man thought in detail. How would he reach the table, which seemed to be so far away?
Mini-Chapter 34
Johnny Dash threw his rope, which had a small stone on one end, the same one he had used to reach the tree at the beginning of their journey. After several failed attempts, he finally managed to get the rope to spin around and tangle on the upper section of the other shelf; after that, he climbed down the rope. He was more relaxed now. He had, in front of him, the box filled with duct tape he needed so much. And, unlike in the pharmacy, he could be calmed, because the owners were sleeping. Slowly, he untangled it. Then, he rolled the tape he had cut over itself once again. Once he had done this, he got off the table and saved the rope in his backpack. Now, the only thing left was going back the way they had come. He thought it would be much simpler than in the pharmacy, but he was wrong: when he had taken a couple of steps, he noticed something that terrified him.
Mini-Chapter 35
A hungry, unforgiving cat was watching him from the back store, near the big table. Johnny did not hesitate and ran with all his strength once again. The feline, on his part, chased him. It was big and strong; besides, it was angry because its master, the shop owner, had gone to bed without feeding it. Knowing that the cat was after him, Johnny Dash ran as fast as he could; however, he was very tired, and the pain in his legs was unbearable. He felt how the strength ran out of his legs and that, although he knew he should not do it, he ran increasingly slow. The cat, on the other hand, had been sleeping all day and had energy to spare. Johnny thought that if the chase continued that way, the cat would end up catching him, for avoiding this, he thought of a plan. But he had to be very quick for that to work; besides, he only had one chance, which is why failing was not an option. Since he saw there was some space in between the shelves, he held to a shelf with one hand and, using his feet, he changed his trajectory and kept running through another alley. The move was so sudden and quick, that the cat had no chance to react and, by its momentum, it went right ahead and hit a tool box. Johnny Dash kept running, the only thing he wanted was to look for the tunnel he had entered through, but everything was so confusing in that moment. After looking for so long, he finally found it. However, the cat had already recovered and was once again after him. It was a lot angrier due to the hit it had taken, so it attacked very aggressively. But Johnny jumped and entered the tunnel. The cat tried to catch him, but it was in vain, since the space was too small. Johnny Dash felt safe, for only the cat's paws could get into that hole. “That was close! That cat looked like a lion!” He thought. Then, he went forward. Before leaving the tunnel, he watched as the cat left. In the end, it had given up.
When he came out, he realized that Rock was still there. He told him he had found everything they needed, and that they had to go back to the rooftop where the rest of the crew was waiting. The Warrior congratulated him and showed him a huge object with wheels he had found by chance. After checking it out, Johnny said: “It is a skateboard. Someone must have forgotten it here in the sidewalk. How did you find it?” Rock told him that a kid who lived in the house in front had dropped it; he had arrived in a taxi, along with his parents. Johnny Dash was about to congratulate him, when he saw something that alarmed him once again.
Mini-Chapter 36
The cat was looking at them from the half-open window of the home supply store. The feline gathered momentum and jumped instinctively. When it fell, Johnny and Rock were already on the skate board, a few meters ahead of it. Both crewmembers held as best as they could, while they saw that the cat started to follow them. In the beginning, they thought it would not catch them, since they were far away. However, it was a lot faster than it seemed and, in a few seconds, it was already catching up to them. With each thrust given by Rock's muscled legs, the skate board gained distance, but the cat was very stubborn. Besides, it was driven by hunger and rage, so it would not easily give up.
Mini-Chapter 37
Johnny Dash took control and placed himself in the front part of the skateboard. From there, he gave directions. He remembered the place they had to go perfectly, because as the skateboard moved forward, and even when they were going very fast, he could see the marks he had left behind, since they stood out in the middle if the night because of their brightness. The two young men avoided obstacles at full speed. After having advanced a lot, Rock started to lose strength; the cat, on the other hand, seemed invincible. Both crew members arrived to the street in front of the house where their friends were. Then, Rock made a last effort and the skateboard managed to cross the street. Quickly, they got into the pipe. The cat wanted to catch them, but it hit against the skate, what it broke in two pieces of wood. The feline, tired and hurt by the big and painful hit it had received, left for home: this time it had definitely given up.
After
reaching the rooftop on which their friends were, Johnny fell heavily.
Mini-Chapter 38
The brave young man was completely exhausted and he only wanted to rest. Nonetheless, his friends quickly sprung to meet them, and Captain Ernest helped him to get on his feet and took him to the box where all of their other partners received them with comforting hugs. When he felt better, Johnny Dash handed the ointment, the bandages and the duct tape to his friends. Even though the others would not stop congratulating him, he slowly fell asleep. The physicians applied the ointment to the scientist’s feet and he felt an almost instantaneous relief. Then, carefully, they put the ankle joint back in place and bandaged his whole foot. Once they did this, they said: “We have applied everything we know, now we just have to wait. The cream had proven to be very efficient, we are sure that Leonardo will be better tomorrow...”
Mini-Chapter 39
The fourth expedition day had barely started and many of the crew members were already awake, since they had to fix the balloon as fast as possible. In spite of all that had happened, the situation had started to change for the better: Leonardo's condition had gotten a lot better, the swelling of his ankle had been drastically reduced, and he could even stand without feeling much pain.
The other crew members worked hard to be able to fly again. However, the main objective was to rescue the balloon, since it was still hanging from the highest part of the antenna. After having a conversation, they decided that a member of the crew had to go up. Although it was very risky, someone had to do it. Unanimously, they chose Olympus, another warrior, since Rock had already helped a lot the previous night, just like Johnny. The muscled crew member started to climb on the pipe —which was used so that the water accumulated by the constant rain would go down to street level, preventing the rooftop to be flooded— using his colossal force, The Olympic Warrior managed to advance. Once he had reached the highest point, he took a hold of the ladder and he managed to lift the balloon with ease. Then, he let it drop. The crew members, who had been paying attention during the whole process, had been waiting below and managed to catch it. Together, they extended it all over the floor to examine it better. Only then did they realize something which made them happy.
Mini-Chapter 40
The basket was intact; nevertheless, the surface of the balloon had a big rip. Despite of all this, the situation was not as dire as it seemed, since the most important part, the propane burner, was safe and sound. This gave them their hopes back, since they only needed to fix the surface, and —if it all went well— the balloon would fly again. They all helped to unwind the duct tape that Johnny had managed to obtain and used it to fix the rip. Little by little, the rip became smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely. The crew members used more tape on top, in several directions, to avoid possible problems. Then, they left the balloon rest for an hour, so it would stick together. After that, they started inflating the balloon again. They used the propane burner to insufflate hot air. Slowly, the balloon started regaining its original form, and elevated. After verifying that there was no air loss, and that the duct tape was strong enough to hold during the complete inflation process, the crew members celebrated, they had done it. Their balloon was ready to fly. However, the majority decided that they would let the aircraft rest, since they did not want to have the same problem. The next day, they would continue on their journey.
Mini-Chapter 41
The morning of the fifth day, Johnny Dash contemplated for some seconds how the sunrays reflected on the hundreds of glasses of houses and car windows and acquired the most varied and beautiful colors that, seen from above, were a complete show filled with art and fantasy and he thought: “The sun is like hope, which sometimes cannot be seen, or we see it from far away, but that does not mean that it has disappeared, it is always there.”
Once they were all aboard, Captain Ernest gave the order, and the warriors set the balloon on motion which, slowly, started to elevate above the now illuminated City of Humans. The techs' Fires worked perfectly, which is why they knew the exact trajectory to avoid the telephone poles. This time, they would be a lot more cautious, since they knew the balloon could not take another hit. From afar, they could see how they left the rooftop and that house which had been their refuge is such a noble way. They passed by buildings and hundreds of houses until they realized there were less facades, they were finally leaving the immense City of Normal Humans, which had caused them so many troubles. Nonetheless, they did not hold any hard feelings.
Captain Ernest told the rest of the crew: “Soldiers, the sun is setting and we are about to enter another geographic area which is completely different to the City of Humans, an area where there is only mountains and rocks. There are much more dangerous animals in this area, which is why the best we can do is elaborating a plan to face them. We already had problems in the city for not being prepared. Now, soldiers, let’s get to work!” All the members of the crew obeyed, and they got together to think of a strategy to be able to survive in the new environment in which they were. However, something interrupted them.
Mini-Chapter 42
The balloon had torn again and was losing height. A quick maneuver of the Captain Ernest stopped the balloon from crashing heavily, although the whole crew ended up falling down anyway. In contrast with the previous times, no one was injured since they fell on sand. They realized they could not advance anymore: the wind was too strong in that area and the balloon was too weak to continue, so they decided it was time to change vehicle. If they continued in the balloon, they would only end up crashing against the mountains, which would be terrible. After thinking for a long time, they came to a conclusion: they had to make a new vehicle quickly, since it was too risky to be in the open; however, they did not have the necessary resources. Captain Ernest ordered: “Soldiers, we all have to collaborate. Everyone look for something which may help us build a vehicle! But do not stray afar, because there are predators.” Once he said this, the crew dispersed and, after one hour, they all came back. Each one brought something different. The scientists had found wood; the warriors, rocks that could be used to make weapons; Johnny, on his part, only found loneliness. It was the techs who made the most important discovery.
Mini-Chapter 43
Several hundred meters away, there was a small camp. Apparently, some normal humans from other countries came to the desert once in a while to practice extreme sports. They had tents to spend the night, as well as water and food. When he heard this, the Captain said: “Tell me the exact location of this camp, soldiers! It is of the utmost importance for us.” The techs guided them and after walking for a long time, they finally found the camp on the sand. After observing with great patience, the scientists came to the conclusion that they practiced sandboarding. “What is that?” Johnny asked, because he had never heard the term. Leonardo and Edison explained: “It is a sport which consists in sliding on desert dunes using some boards specially designed to accomplish that objective. Apparently, normal humans find this childish activity pretty funny.” On the other hand, the brave ones had a very risky plan.
Mini-Chapter 44
They would wait for the campers to go to sleep, and then, they would see if they could find something which may help them continue with their journey. After the tourists went to sleep, the crew finally came out. The Captain ordered that only the physicians stayed back, Leonardo, who was still recovering from his foot injury; and Taylor, the young tech. The rest had to go, enter the human camp and search for what they needed very carefully. Before carrying out their new plan, they checked that everyone knew what they had to do: since they had almost run out of water, Edison had the task of finding something to drink; Jeff had to watch and stay vigilant; the warriors had the mission of bringing something that may help them move through that arid terrain; lastly, Johnny Dash and Captain Ernest had to look for some food. After half an hour, they would all go back to that place and, if there was any problem, each crew member had to s
ignal the rest of the crew who, in that case, had to abandon what they were doing and go help whoever was in danger. Once everything was planned, Captain Ernest gave the order, and all the brave ones parted in different directions, decided to execute their plan.
