RUN

CW: Contains mentions of bodily injury and suicide

As I look around me, my brain numbs. Newspapers, books, television broadcasts, and fliers...all saying the same thing; global warming. I'll admit, the heat is becoming unbearable. The town is starting to smell terrible because everything is getting super-heated. The concrete on the roads has all melted, buildings are dripping with paint, and road signs have tipped over in a ninety-degree angle. Things are bad, and it's all because of them; the Fire-breathers.

I glance at the television sets, which used to be behind glass. The shattered glass now lay across the heated sidewalk, cracking and groaning. The pictures that flash before my eyes are the same every time. Images of Antarctica and the South Pole, now just a large ocean. Polar Bears, Walruses, sea lions, penguins, and any other creature that lived in those areas are now extinct, the rest of the animal population following closely behind. Because of the large melt, California is almost completely underwater.

Another picture shows up on the pixel screen. It's of a woman and a child, The woman is crying. She is wearing a tank-top and has cut her jeans. Her hair is sticking to her skin, and her face is shimmering with sweat and tears. In her arms, a child is slumped over. The child is naked, which reveals the gender, male. He appears to be sleeping, but everyone knows the truth.

Death is common now. The heat makes people go crazy. Some take their lives, others just sit and weep until death takes them. It's all because of them-the Fire Breathers. No one knows what the Fire Breathers are, but they are described as large creatures with wings. Creatures with scaly eyes of blood red, teeth dripping with blood, and tails that could wrap around the throat of humanity. Creatures that once lived on this earth way before humans existed. People say that the humans drove these creatures away, faraway into myth. But they are back and they are taking vengeance on us.

The television screen flashes again to a picture of a forest. The forests have turned to ash. Fire erupted everywhere in the world. As I stand there, I take a deep breath. Yes, there is smoke in the air...plaguing it. Making people choke and gasp for fresh air every time they take a breath. There are no animals. There is no more beauty in this world. Everything is gone. Forests are black, valleys are gray with smoke. In the black forests and gray valleys, lurk those Fire Breathers. They are waiting. Torturing us humans until every last one of us is dead.

I turn away from the dreadful sites and scan my small town. People are now living on the banks of liquid asphalt.Woman and children huddle together under any shade they can find, under awnings and balconies. The heat that emanates from the river of concrete can be seen shimmering, almost ghost-like, towards the sky. I follow the waves to the grayish sky. The sun has not been seen for three years, nothing but smoke covers the earth now.

What are the human races to do? What is going to happen to us? A bone shaking roar overhead makes everyone's gaze turn to the sky.

The Fire Breathers are back.

Long blasts of fire fill the sky, making embers rain down upon us. Something seems different about this attack. The fire blasts are coming straight for us!

"Everyone run!" Someone's panicked voice sounds out. We all take off towards the forest. Hurrying along, I feel an intense heat on my back. The Fire-Breathers are getting closer!

We all run faster. As we run, we pass a riverbed that once had shimmer water. But that has long since evaporated. All we can do is run, and hope to the higher powers that we get out of this alive.The ground shakes and starts to split open. I whip my gaze around and see panicked faces.Tears stream down my face.The world is splitting open!

The crevasse gets bigger, and wider. It was like a monster out of hell! More fire erupts from this monster's mouth. I can feel hot embers stroke my skin, and scream as fire soon grabs me in its claws.This is it...my journey is over!

Just as quickly as the fire grabbed me; it released me. My body tingles with pain, but there was no real damage. Just blisters. I got lucky, but what stopped this attack? What made the fire disappear?

I stood up, my clothes tattered and burned, my hair felt singed. The other people were coughing and doubling over. The smoke was thicker here.

"We need to move. The town is gone now," said another man.

With that, we all steeled ourselves for a journey into the unknown recesses of this world-turned-to-hell. In the background, the sounds of the Fire-Breathers still lingered. They were destroying what was left of my home.What was left of my world. We, the humans, had nowhere else to go.No more strength. Is there anything out there that could save us? I sighed and kept walking.

"What is that?"A woman shouted out, pointing ahead of us.

I narrowed my eyes.A large black shadow loomed ahead of us.It was covered by a veil of thick smoke. Suddenly, my ears picked something up, "Is that...an engine!?"

"We're saved!"

"Oh, thank the Lord!"

The survivors cheered and started to run towards the sound. But…something felt off. Something felt–screams of terror rang out as the people started to run back. The black shadow moved and stalked. We had awoken something else…

Fear grasped my heart as the threat before me stood. At almost eight feet tall, this creature loomed over me and the others. It had a whip-like tail, and a furry, black body. Red eyes blinked and stared down at us. From its fangs dripped a green, stinky slime. The creature itself had a rancid smell to it. All around me I could hear the popping of wood as the forest burned to ashes.

As the wind picked up, throwing ash and embers into the air, the creature moved from its spot behind the wall of smoke and took a step towards us. I felt paralyzed.What was this creature going to do?

A startling roar filled the sooty air as the creature went down upon four legs with an audible thud. My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized what this creature's intent was. A low growl escaped its throat as it took one step forward, and then another, then another. This creature was upon us within seconds.

Unable to move due to fear, all I could do was scream and stare at it as it came face to face with me, its breath making me choke, vomit rising into my mouth.

The creature's face was that of a dog, with black eyes and razor sharp teeth. But its body was that of a bear, hunched over and massive. I could feel its snake-like tail warp around my feet, and slowly make its way up my legs and then around my waist. I stifled a scream...I didn't dare make a noise.The creature stared straight into my face. Looking closer, I furrowed my eyes. Blind. This creature was blind!

The moment seemed to last a lifetime as the creature sniffed me. I was sweating profusely now as the fire around grew more intense. I could hardly catch my breath with the creature breathing on me. The others stared at the creature as it held me. I knew what they were contemplating...leave me? Or help me?

"Oh God no, they are coming back!" a woman screamed and pointed up to the sky.

I could hear it now; the roar of the Fire Breathers. The creature roared loudly, and suddenly whipped around. I felt a sharp pain go up my leg, heat exploded up my leg and spine. The creature that was before me just seconds ago, had vanished into the inferno. I fell to the scorched ground, my hands and knees singed at the sudden impact of heat. I felt dizzy, and put my hand on the back of my leg. I felt something protruding from it, something sharp. I cringed and clenched my jaw as I pulled it out. Bringing it forward I gasped as I looked at the spike. Blood dripped from it. I threw it to the ground and felt as though I was going to vomit.

"C'mon!" A woman grabbed my arm, "You need to get up!"

I felt my head spin as I stood. I held on to the woman who helped me up. The roar of the Fire Breathers were all around us. Blasts of fire filled the forest with yet another wave of heat. Sweat ran down into my eyes as the small group walked on, as quickly as we could. The scenery was all the same. The forests burnt to a crisp, the lakes and rivers gone, towns melted down. There was no hope. Nothing left for the human race anymore. The Fire Breathers were going to win back their land.

"A town is up ahead! We can rest there for the night," A man shouted as they neared yet another river of asphalt.

I looked up towards the sky. Because of the glowing orange of the fire, you could hardly see the black of night. No stars, no moon. Just an orange glow silhouetted by the black. As I looked down, I could see the tops of buildings. Something caught my eye. A bird?

I narrowed my eyes, not believing what I saw. Within a second, I saw another black dot join that one, two birds? As we walked, I felt something on my arms. Something I had, at one point, felt before. Back when there were no Fire Breathers, people would get little bumps up and down their arms when they were nervous, excited, or…cold.

The pain in my leg suddenly worsened. I looked down, cringing.The thumping in my head started to give me a migraine. I needed to stop. The woman looked down at me and pulled me back up, "You have to keep going. We will stop when we are safe," She looked worried, and I was thankful that she was there.

Walking along, the heat started to grow less intense. I could feel those little bumps grow up and down my body now. My headache grew more intense. I looked around; something was off again. I didn't feel as though I was in danger, but I felt as though I was being watched.

Suddenly my bare feet stepped on something prickly. Looking down, I gasped and stepped back. The woman also stepped back and looked at me. The small group now stood on a border line. There was singed ground with embers and fire, and on the other side, there was grass.

We looked into a world that was foreign to us. I now understood why I was feeling little bumps all over.

"W-What is this place?" Someone asked.

How had we gotten here? Where were we? Thoughts raced through my mind as we stared into a lush green forest, with birds chirping and water running. What was this place? Was this a trick? No one dared utter the words, “Are we dead?” But it was a thought that crossed our minds. I let go of the generous woman, and limped forward. I stuck my hand out. Instantly, a wave of coolness washed over me. I closed my eyes and grinned widely. It felt so good. There was no fire in this place. I turned around to face my group.

"We must keep going." I said.

The group looked at each other, thinking about what to do. In the end though, it was obvious. Behind us, there were Fire Breathers. In front of us, there was water, and most likely, food. We trudged forward into the forest. Not knowing where it was going to take us, and not really caring. Here, we weren't burning up. Here we were away from the Fire Breathers. We were out of the danger that had constantly loomed over our heads for months.

Or so we thought.