The Last Bus Ride - The Dream Void (Part 3)

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The second group entered the Red Zone. The zone had various shades of red along with white. Jack spoke up first, "We have to be in this zone for ten hours. What if we should stay in the outskirts of the zone. Perhaps we will can be safe here and not encounter any danger." A voice boomed out from the heavens. "You must move on. There is danger everywhere. If you do not move on, you most assuredly will die before ten hours are up. Listen to the voice of Flavoid." The children were shaken by this message. "We must move quickly," said Beth. "Hurry." Red clouds immersed the sky with strong electrical charges that struck at Xylo trees, Xylo bushes, and Xylo plants. The children bolted toward a small wooden structure. Unfortunately, on charge struck Paul. He was burnt to a crisp. "Oh no!" cried Rachel. "Paul is dead." The children entered the wooden structure. A short time later the electrical charges ceased. "What's next?" asked Al. "How are we going to survive?" "Look," said Tim. "Swords, knives, and spears are all on this table. Those are the weapons that Flavoid said would be for us." Each child picked up a weapon. The weapons felt heavy and awkward for the children to handle. After all, the children were only 9 years old. What did they know about weapons like these? For the next couple hours, the children stayed inside the home. They looked for food to eat. They saw pitchers of flavored drinks on another table. The home had no beds. It had no bathrooms. It was just there for their convenience and a chance to make plans to fight the unknown dangers. It didn't take much longer for a sound to be heard from outside. At first, it was faint. A few minutes later the sound became much louder. And then it happened. The home started to shake. An animal was battering the door from the outside. All the children grabbed their weapons. Jack noticed that there was one small weapon left on the table. He picked it up. It looked like a harmless squirt gun. However, Jack knew that nothing was harmless in this dream. One more bolt from the door, and it shattered into many wooden splinters. The animal was a Cork Hog. It was big and nasty. It was also very hungry. The children had weapons, but they knew that the Cork Hog would attack them before they ever had a chance to use their weapons. Jack stood closest to the Cork Hog. He pointed the weapon at the deadly creature. He pressed down on the trigger. A green and yellow smoke shot out of the weapon. The Cork Hog gasped for breath. In less than the minute, the Cork Hog was dead. Jack had saved the day. "We must go," said Jack. "Our safe home is demolished." "I think that we should go South," said Tim. "I have a hunch that there is a safe zone over there." The children set off toward the South. It just so happens that a compass was also in the home. Twenty minutes later, the children saw what appeared to be a castle. "I don't like the looks of that place," said Emily. "We have no choice. We have to go inside," exclaimed Tim. Before they reached the castle, a flock of Gunther Birds were screeching from the sky. Thy unleashed huge rocks at the children. "Quick, we have to get out of here. To the castle," yelled Steve. A rock almost struck Steve. Another rock came very close to Al. Connie was not so fortunate. The Gunther Bird did not miss striking Connie with a large, jagged rock. Connie was struck right in the chest. She was dead. One of the Gunther Birds picked her up and took her to a nest where her babies would now have an afternoon meal. "Oh my God," screamed Sarah. "Now we've lost Connie and Paul. And we still have six hours to go." The remaining children entered the castle. "I can't take it anymore," yelled Steve. "I don't think we'll be safe here either." The castle was built like a fortress. No animals would penetrate the castle from the outside. But what were the threats inside?" Al walked across a dark red marble floor. Voices were heard throughout the castle. "Ghosts of Briar Glenn are all around. You shall die and be buried under the ground." "Oh no, we're doomed!" said a frightened Lucy. The ceiling started to go down. The walls moved closer and closer together. The doors were shut. There was no escape. "What should we do?" asked Beth. Jack came up with the answer. "Let me have your knife," he said to Steve. "Okay, you want us dead. You have to understand that this is our dream. My knife has special powers that can destroy any ghost. Now stop trying to crush us or I shall make this dagger float and strike you dead." "But I am already dead," chuckled the ghost. "You cannot kill what is already dead." "Then I shall make you disappear. I shall cause you to vanish from the castle. Now stop what you are doing at once." The ghost thought about what Jack had to say. "Okay, you win. I'll play along for now." "Good," said Jack. "We will only need to stay here for another five hours. We'll be no trouble." "Five hours," wailed the ghost. "That is a long time, but I shall allow it." The remaining five hours were relatively quiet. The children talked to the ghost. They found out about the history of the castle. The ghost became quite chatty and actually enjoyed the company. At the end of five hours, the children said goodbye to the ghost. Minutes later, they were whisked back to the safety of the entrance of the Dream Void. Flavoid had some important announcements to make. What would be those announcements? Were the children going to be turned into human pets? Was the experiment going to be revealed? Would there be anymore deaths? Stay tune for the final chapter of The Last Bus Ride.