Sam was on the ground of the cave. Wrapped in bandages along his face, back and front. He was currently experiencing the worst pain he has ever felt.
"Ohhhhh…."
Sam could only groan as he lays on the floor. The venom from the Gaboon Viper was not something simple. He looked at his ankle and saw that it was already turning black around it.
"Necrosis…ughh…if it reaches my foot it comes off… please just… ohhhh…. Hang in there…"
Could only roll on the ground as his body was wracked with mind-breaking pain.
'This is even worse than when I cauterized my wounds.'
The venom inside him was pushing his body to its limit. He believes he extracted enough of the venom to make survival impossible, but that isn't saying much. His body is still dying and it's up to his mind and body whether it succumbs or not.
'I can't succumb! For Zola!'
"It's okay Samuel."
Sam felt his heart stop for a second. He looked up while he was still lying on the floor, raising his head to look.
"You don't need to fight anymore. Come to me."
Before Sam, was his beloved Zola. Completely in tact. She even had her eye that was cut out in the fight she had with the wind blade guy.
"Zola… I…"
"Shhh…"
She kneels in front of him and holds his face. She shows him a loving and pitying smile.
"It's okay. Just allow yourself to fall asleep, Samuel. Then it will end."
Sam couldn't take his eyes off of her, he could feel the warmth in her hands. He could hear her heart beating. Every single sense of his body was saying she was before him. But he couldn't accept it.
'Every bone in my body wants to acknowledge her and go limp. But I can tell. The moment I allow myself to fall asleep, I won't wake up again. Which means…'
"You're not real."
She gives Sam a face of pure heartbreak and despair. Sam feels his heart hurt, but he knows his Zola. He knows she would tell him to keep pushing through it.
"You… are not… real!"
Sam was staring right at the hurt Zola. Her tears fell as she stood back up and looked at Sam with an empty gaze.
Sam blinked, and the next thing he knew, she was gone.
"Great… the hallucinations are starting…"
Sam could only dread the future. This was only the beginning.
———
It's been a full day since the bite. Now, he was almost on deaths door. He was just barely hanging in there, surviving off of the pieces of meat he got from the old king.
His hallucinations have been getting worse.
He is seeing things and hearing things all around the cave, trying to get Sam to succumb. But he won't allow himself to do that.
Even as his pale, bloody and sweaty body laid on the cool ground of the cave, enduring the worst pain he ever felt, he still kept thinking about going home.
He knew he had to get through this.
But now things get worse for him
Suddenly a sharp ache goes through his head.
"Gahh!"
He holds his head now as he feels like it's about to explode.
Suddenly, he starts to see some things in his mind. At first, he thinks they are hallucinations, but he is sure they aren't.
"Are those… memories?"
Sam concentrated on those memories. Finally…
"Ahhhhhhh!!!!"
He feels a bunch of information and memories flood his head.
The next thing Sam knows he is not lying on the ground. He isn't even standing. He is climbing.
———
For seven hours, Sam and 49 other kids were forced to climb the side of a cliff. One thing Sam figured out about each of them, was that they were like him: quirkless.
But that mattered little. They were all brought through the harsh Jungle and given one directive. Climb. They had to climb all the way up a massive cliff side in the brutal African heat. No harnesses, no support, just pure strength.
But the worst part, was that they will only allow the first ten to make it to the top to live. The rest will be shot and killed from the top.
At the top, 6 men watched as kids kept trying to climb a cliff side. All of these kids were of different ethnicities and were all quirkless.
Sam was doing his best to climb the cliff, but he was bleeding, tired, hungry and he was too high to fall. He knew if he fell, it would be over for him.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
*thump!*
Sam looked and saw that a kid near him fell.
He had to keep going.
All around him, kids were crying in despair, begging to go home. But they could only obey as the moment the first kid fell and broke his leg after climbing a bit, a bullet went through his skull. A sniper was waiting to kill anyone who is deemed useless by this test.
Sam could hear some growls and roars from down below. He even heard some flesh tearing. It was without a doubt the apex predators living at the bottom of the cliff.
Sam kept pushing forward. He didn't want to become food for lions, hyenas and Jackals.
He kept moving upwards. By now, he could see that there were 10 kids around him. All of them are nearing the top.
Sam could see at the very top, the men's faces, except for one. The one he couldn't see, however, filled him with horror. All he could do is carry on. Finally, the first few kids reach the top.
"Yeah!!! I told you!"
"Goddamnit!"
"Shit!"
5 of the 6 men on the top were wagering who would reach the top. They were the ones who brought these quirkless kids here and they want the ones they brought to win. So they made a game.
'Monsters…'
Sam gritted his teeth as he just kept moving. One after another, they kept reaching the top one after another. It was already a given at this point that the ones who are at the bottom are giving up and are willing to become food.
The men are focused on the 11 that are nearing the top.
Finally the 9th kid reaches the top. All that's left near the top, is Sam and a young boy from Ireland.
Sam and him were neck and neck to reach the top. They both used all their strength to try and reach the top. When all of a sudden…
"Oww!!!"
The Irish boy was stung. By a scorpion. He grabbed a rock it was on.
Sam looked over and saw that it was a bigger one and not life-threatening. But he wouldn't be able to use that hand.
Sam praised his lucky stars. This was his chance.
"No… I can keep going… I can reach…"
Sam heard the Irish boy and looked at him.
His swollen hand was trying to grasp onto the rocks on the cliff side and climb up, but it was not possible. He was only hanging on with his good hand, but Sam could tell he was losing his grip.
"Well, the Irish brat is done for. Looks like we have our ten."
"Yeah. Damn it! I spent a pretty penny on the little wanker in Ireland!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Sam gritted his teeth in rage. They were laughing at seeing these kids trying not to die.
Sam wasn't about to let them have their way.
He tore off his shirt and climbed sideways toward the boy.
"Huh?"
The boy was shocked seeing Sam not ascending but going toward him.
"Here! I'm going to tie this shirt to you. And then I'm going to tie it to me. With your good hand we will climb together okay?"
Sam was determined to take the boy with him towards the top. He didn't wait for a response and tied it around the boys waist. And then he tied it around himself.
After that, he got ready to continue his ascent.
"Alright. You have a good hand and two working legs. I'll take care of the heavy weight, just keep moving and don't worry about losing your grip due to the hurt hand. With this, I won't let you fall!"
The Irish boy looked at Sam with teary eyes. But he shook his head and steeled himself.
"Yes!"
Sam smiled.
"Then let's go."
Sam started climbing and the Irish boy followed him, climbing with one arm and both feet. Sam could tell it was brutal and tiring. But Sam knew he could do it.
"Keep going, it's not too far!"
They kept going. Sam was having a hard time supporting the boys weight, but he refused to abandon him. He knew that the moment he fell, the shirt would rip, so he has to make sure they get there carefully as he is being gentle with the boy as he struggles to climb with one arm.
"Hang in there! We are almost there!"
Sam was happy to hear silence from the men. They were having so much fun betting on the fates of children, and now they were stunned to see Sam do something so dumb.
But Sam didn't care if it was dumb. He wasn't about to let them turn his soul into a mirror of their own.
He kept getting closer and closer, and finally, Sam could see reach the edge of the cliff. He looked down and saw the Irish boy about to pass out.
"Look! It's right there! Let's both go at the same time!"
Sam waited to reach the top and looked at the irish boy after a few minutes and a lot of strain, he caught up to Sam.
"…thank you… mate."
Sam just smirked. Just as he grabbed the edge of the cliff the Irish boy followed and went to grab it, but Sam noticed that he missed.
"No! It's right there!"
Sam yelled at the boy.
But his eyes were hazy and he was finally feeling the full power of the venom of the scorpion.
"I…can't…"
He falls backwards and just as Sam feared, he let go of the wall and started falling.
"Gahhh!"
Sam was suddenly hit with the kids entire weight, he also heard the shirt tearing. He could let it tear off and the kid will go plummeting to the bottom… but Sam is an idiot who won't let the scum up top have their way.
He reaches down to the shirt and grabs it with one hand while keeping his other on the side of the cliff.
He used all his strength to pull it, but his child body couldn't.
"Hey! Wake up!"
Sam wasn't getting anything from the boy.
"Hey! Do you want to die?! Do you want these guys to be right about you?! Get up!!!"
Suddenly the boys eyes flutter open and he sees Sam reaching for him. He reaches for Sam too.
The shirt is tearing, and it will rip in a few seconds. Sam reaches down as far as he can and grasps his good hand with his. However he wasn't sure he could stay like this for long as the shirt ripped.
*pop!*
"Owwww!"
Sam felt the moment the shirt snapped and he started to fall again, his arm took on the Irish boys weight and dislocated it.
Sam was now hanging on the edge of the cliff. One arm clutching onto the edge and one barely grasping the kids wrist.
"Please… please please!"
He pleads to any god above for a miracle. He starts to tear up as he starts to lose hope.
But just as he is about to start panicking, he heard feet and rocks shuffling again. He felt his arm was no longer holding the whole weight of the Irish boy. He was using the last of his energy to climb. Only using his good hand as Sam held his bad hand.
Sam found hope again. He felt the strain on his arm vanishing the closer he got. Until finally, the Irish boy grabs the edge of the cliff too.
"Let's… go up at the same time… one… two… three!"
They both pull each other up using the last of their energy to get to the top.
"Ahhhh!!"
The two of them were yelling, making the most of all their energy. The both only had one good hand, but almost as if they were connected, they both used there good hand to pull them up and support each other with their bad hands.
Finally, after another ten minutes of effort, they get their entire body to the top of the cliff. Both of them reaching it at the same time.
The men watching could only marvel at the stupidity of Sam. However, the man who couldn't be seen, now had a large and malicious smile.
"Boss, who do you think we should spare?"
One of the men ask the smiling man.
"Hmm… well, it was quite the show… I'll allow 11 this time. I think we will have ourselves a masterpiece… finally my vision can come true! My… canvas!"