Arc 3 - Chapter 24: Escaping The Richest

‘That’s one of the bigger boys … Kenichi Honda’ thought Pacifica.

Pressing both buttons, the chains of his saws rippled in a repeated pattern. Sparks fluttering from the base, they looked new, they looked fresh. The chains molded out of a different metal, more sparks trample the gravel rather than his clothes.

Walking toward the tanned woman, her body instantly crumbled to the ground. And it didn’t take long before he was in front of her, his eyes ghostly darkened.

“You’re still alive.”

All of her nerves stimulated the feeling of falling.

Her throat quivered, and her vocals ached the longer she remained frozen. Her blades rusted, her clothes botched in pink, and her skin irritated in red … trauma engulfed her.

‘Luke…’

She breathed through a parched throat. With Pacifica unable to fight, all of her body felt like a cow in a freezer.

‘I need your—’

It felt like time had stopped.

Dragged against her will, the gravel beneath her scraped her pants. Along with her boots, she blinked once, before feeling all of her organs shift to the right.

Time resuming for her, she gasped, and looked up toward her knight in shining armor. Having one hand on the reign, and his other on her back collar, he could barely constrain his bicep with her weight.

“Luna! Get on!”

Her whole body rippling with electricity, she immediately twirled her body against the donkey. Getting on top of it, she quickly wrapped her hands around Luke’s stomach. And looked behind her.

With the donkey facing South, Luna had her eyes on two to three other donkeys. Sean and Benn riding solo, Pacifica barely got onto her own, leaving Luke’s donkey the only one to carry two people. Dimming in the horizon were her two swords.

“Luke! My swords there—”

“Sorry Luna, but we’re out of time. The flames are getting worse by the second!”

The four of them rode South, while the flames from the East grew beyond imagination. Creating a whirlwind of inferno, it spread through the garlic crops like the bubonic plague.

“Everyone full speed!”

Ash began to corrode the sky. Inhaling it through their nostrils, and down their lungs, they felt the air convolute in lethality. Especially for the donkeys, who wheezed through heavy breaths.

—Come on … come on!

Heat began to dampen their skin, along with their clothes. Wrinkling like raisins, they continued their miraculous gallop, and yet, the ash continued to worsen.

Sean shook his head, but he then turned it right for a stalled time. Toward the west, he noticed another trail of fire, or rather … another inferno. Yes. An inferno.

‘Holy … shit…’

Looking like they were boxed in, it was a trump card that even Sean felt appalled. Crunching his own gums, he narrowed his eyes, and bumped the donkey’s thigh hard. Galloping with full force, Sean made his donkey outrun everyone else’s, especially Luke’s.

“Sean!”

“Push the donkeys to the limit! Force them into overdrive!”

Luke, Benn, and Pacifica glanced all around, and finally turned toward the West. Seeing yet another trail of fire, one that burned just as fast, they all widened their eyes at the Zirardges' own destruction.

Returning their eyes toward the South, they all bumped their donkeys to gallop faster. Benn and Pacifica had the same result as Sean, but for Luke … it didn’t exceed. In fact, he felt like it began to slow down.

—Come on! We could make it!

Blood began to draw from the donkey’s nuzzles, as the ash and smoke tormented their poor lungs. Dry wheezing puncturing their throats, they were barely halfway…

Blistering his own hands with the reigns, Luke growled from the insides of his throat.

—We could make it!

Benn, Pacifica, and Sean were outgunning him, as the heat trickled off sweat. From his forehead down to his toes, the heat and flames soured his cheeks and eyes. Shaking his head repeatedly, he huffed through a croaking throat until tears littered his eyes.

—Give me luck…

Memories of his own mom began to play.

Every second, every minute he played in his room, his mother watched. Checking on him, keeping tabs on him, she was there to keep him safe. But from what? He knew she was strong, but never a fighter. What kind of woman was she before she had him? Was she like Luna? Was she like Hope? What did she do to meet with his Dad?

All of his questions flashed in his mind; at the worst of times.

Until he remembered her smile. From the many times she did so … to finally the last smile she gave him. Underneath a pile of debris.

—So that way I won’t die on you yet.

Luna rubbed her cheek against his back, as if all of the trauma made her snooze. Hunching his back forward, he ignored all heat, and ignored all fear. His life riding on the balance of surviving, he couldn’t fail. Not now. Not ever.

His eyes blurred and strained, he noticed the wooden gate hundreds of meters away. The finish line closing in, Sean, Benn, and Pacificas’ donkeys jumped over the gate. Resting at last, everyone waited beneath the southern hill.

“He’s not going to make it.” Said Christian.

“Oh he’ll make it.” Said Jack.

“What makes you say that?”

“Why do you think he’s Lucky Luke for a reason?”

Embers from the burning crops pinched his cheeks and face, as ash rained on his clothes. Burnt garlic molesting his nostrils, and especially his lungs, the donkey’s crackling cracked harder. Biting down on all of his teeth, he braced it in his gut.

[So live…]

Ten meters.

Time flowing ever so slowly, Luke saw everyone waiting for him. Some sleeping, most of them waving, they all rode on Luke and Luna’s survival. And especially the luck that he rode on his sleeve.

[Live for me!]

One meter.

And then it jumped.

Unleashing all of its energy, it was the donkey’s last push. Stamina depleted, lungs inflated like balloons, no breath or energy dwelled in its system. Because once it landed on the other side … it allowed anyone who rode on it to roll off.

Both Luna and Luke tumbling into the grass, Luke himself stopped with his back on the ground. His breath slow, he stared up at the sky.

—I made it…

Turning to the North, the flames engulfed everything that involved garlic. If they were a second too late, being caught on fire would’ve been a hundred percent.

—I really made it …

Everyone else ran toward him, all the while he steadily got up. With Jack, Sean, and Benn helping him up, the four of them checked on the fire that burned and roared.

Wobbling his body back and forth, Luke began to walk toward the woman who slept soundly. Coughing once, he knelt down, and lowered his hands to grapple her legs and back. Carrying her princess style, her body weight began to hunker down to his knees.

“Just rest… you did good.”

Turning around, he faced everyone who didn’t sleep. With Hope and Miles not present, even Christian and Chris stared at him. Being in the back, they stalled with gripping boots, as the heat from the burning crops swelled their clothes in sweat.

“I would say this mission … was semi-successful. Nobody died, but we did create more of a mess than we should.”

“Don’t worry, we got what we came here for. I would say we were really successful.”

“We’ll see…”

Glancing down at Luna, he noticed the botches of pink that littered her clothes. Her swords missing, her skin littered in rashes … She was safe. They all were.

Walking toward them, he looked toward the Joshua tree on the top of the hill. For only two seconds, he returned his eyes toward his group, a group that he was in charge of.

“Come on. Let’s head to the van.”

“But what about the donkeys?”

“We’ll leave them here. They’re wild animals, so they’re more free in the wild than in a stable.”

Walking up the hill, the rest of them carried Hope and Miles, while Luke handled Luna. Every step burning his thighs, and especially his calves, he couldn’t falter. Looking back at the flames, he felt that same … feeling.

Like he was being watched.

Inhaling as much air as he could, he only tightened the hold on Luna. Tramping up the hill yet again, he didn’t look back…

________________________________________________________________________

“Keep walking Luke.”

Wielding himself binoculars, he had them press into his eyes. Wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, he slowly nodded, as the miniscule lens captured a young man carrying a woman. He then pulled away the binoculars.

As mystery clouded his shadow.

“One heck of a fighter, that woman. Guess me and you have similar tastes.”

Swatting away pecks of dead grass, he walked away from another hill due North.

Pushing both of his hands into his hoodie, he carried himself with a certain pride. One filled with knowledge, with strength, he had his binoculars inside his pockets. But wait … his pockets were small, and the item was large. How did it fit?

“I wished I told you more, but you wouldn’t get it. In fact …”

Eyeing one particular star, it shone brighter than any other. Blinking repeatedly, it took his eyes and his attention to the star. But he tightened his stomach.

“You’re still not ready. Not yet at least.”

Lowering his head forward, he continued his walk. With the air cold, and the wind soft and cheery, he cherished the life that plastered his face. Because after all … none should take for granted a planet that they call home.

“Not until you defeat him.”