Chapter 33

  Total darkness surrounded him. Jake couldn’t see or hear anything at first. He felt himself hurtling through the vast emptiness, the sense of weightlessness overwhelming him. He tried to scream in horror, but to his surprise, no sound came out. The sensation of free fall sted only a few seds, and then he found himself lying on his ba the solid ground. Quickly sitting up, he gazed around in astonishment. The sky dispyed various shades of purple, with a massive thundercloud swirling like a vortex directly above him. The grouh him was a brownish-red hue, and sparse vegetation—or peared to be pnts—dotted the desote ndscape. It was an alien world he found himself in.

  What the hell? Where am I? This ish!

  Jake released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. As he attempted to inhale, a chilling realization dawned on him—the air in this alien realm was not breathable, at least not by human standards. Before he could get really scared by that fact, he felt a powerful force pluck him out of that strange world. Once more, he found himself in total darkness, the sense of free fall overwhelming his senses again.

  After a few moments, the darkness dissipated, revealing a new enviro. Instantly, he reized that he was submerged uer. The intense pressure enveloping him was so immehat he marveled at his body not being instantly crushed. With visibility limited to about a doze, Jake watched luminous creatures gliding through the water around him. Some bore a resembo jellyfish, while others looked so bizarre he couldn’t even likeo ahly creatures he knew.

  At least, they are not predatory.

  As soon as he thought that, his sense of safety shattered as he noticed a malevolent being emerging from the shadows. The creature was so dark and stealthy that he only became aware of its presence when it was within three feet of him. The creature bared its jaw, dispying rows upon rows e teeth. The monster aimed either to swallow him whole or take a massive bite out of him.

  Just as the creature’s teeth were about to tear into him, he was once again yanked out of the water world by the unseen powerful force. After a few seds of free-falling in total darkness, he suddenly nded in what seemed to be a cave. The walls were covered in a lumi growth, bathing the cavern in an eerie greenish glow. Transparent cos, resembling replication pods, dangled from the high ceiling. Ihem were weird-looking creatures in different stages of development.

  Jake found himself trapped in one of those cos.

  In a panic, he attempted to punch the pod enclosing him, but his efforts were futile. The pod’s walls were posed of aic material that stretched outward when struck, only to quickly revert to their inal shape. Jake thrashed his arms and legs, his movements sluggish and slow in the fluid-filled pod. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t break free from the co. His clothes started to dissolve as if the liquid within the pod was acidic.

  Suddenly, a bck splotch materialized in the liquid, resembling ink spilled into the pod. However, it was no ink. Whatever it was, it seemed to be a living anism of some kind. Several more of these splotches emerged around Jake and began to drift toward him like jellyfish. They adhered to his body, causing intense pain wherever they made tact. The number of bck creatures within the pod tio grow, surrounding him from all dires until all he could see was darkness. In seds, his entire body felt as though it were engulfed in fmes. He had no idea what was happening, only aware of the excruciating pain engulfing him. At that moment, the agony he experienced was all he could think about.

  Suddenly, he experiehe familiar feeling of free fall, indig that the unseen force had removed him from the uling cave. Within moments, his vision cleared, and he found himself hurtling toward the grassy ground. A sed ter, he collided with the earth with a heavy thud. He y still for a moment, his gaze fixed on the sky. Which was blue and adorned with white clouds drifting across it. The grass beh him was of the familiar gree dawned on him that he had returo his own world.

  He turned his head slowly to look behind him, his gaze fixing on the Dark Void about fifteen yards away. Lying at the edge of the bck circle of scorched earth, he came to the realization that the anomaly had ejected him much like it had doh the ex-human leaper before.

  He had to distance himself from the Dark Void.

  Jake tried to get up only to realize he cked the strength to stand. His knees gave way, causing him to colpse to the ground again. He resorted to crawling, primarily using his hands to propel himself forward. His fingers dug into the earth, clutg at the bdes of grass as he dragged his exhausted body along. He could see that his arms were wrinkled and bed as if charred. He had no idea what had happeo his body or whether he would survive, but as long as he was alive and could move, he was determio get as far away from the Dark Void as possible. He vaguely remembered how the anomaly ighe beefed-up leaper after disg it. So, perhaps, now that the Dark Void was doh him, it might pay him no mind from now on as well. The anomaly’s pull no longer affected him, which supported his take. Still, just to be on the safe side, he wao put some distaween him and the Dark Void.

  He kept crawling across the clearing, too weak to stand up. The world around him had reduced to the sensation of the gritty soil beh his palms and the harsh pull of grass slipping through his fingers. He once again wondered what happeo his skin. It was as bck as ink and had a strange rough texture to it. Whatever had happeo him in that pod had left him feeling frightened. He was exhausted and couldn’t think straight. A thought crossed his mind that he might be dying, so there probably was no point in straining himself trying to crawl away from the anomaly.

  And still, he pushed on. With grim determination, he ti himself across the clearing, ing closer and closer to the tree line. His legs, weakened and unsteady, kicked behind him, seeking purchase in the ground and pushing him forward. As he dragged himself across the unfiving terrain, he heard a mutant scream somewhere behind him. With fear tightening its grip on his heart, he gnced over his shoulder, half expeg to see the mutant lurking nearby. To his surprise, there were no mutants behind him; the clearing was empty and devoid of any threats. What the heck? He had heard the mutant’s scream so clearly, as if the screamer was nearby. How e there weren’t any creatures ao be seen in the clearing?

  Jake shook his head, dismissing the thought for now. His immediate was more pressing. He o reach the retive safety of the trees where the anomaly’s pull wouldn’t be able to reach him if it suddenly ged its mind about him. He tio crawl across the ground, ing closer to his goal. With a final desperate lunge, he finally reached the threshold of his destination. Dragging his body into the thick bushes lining the edge of the clearing, he slumped onto the ground, his strength pletely spent. His body trembled with exhaustion. He expected to hear his breath e in ragged gasps, but there was nothing. He couldn’t hear himself breathing at all, as if he had already succumbed to death.

  Just as the thought crossed his mind, the world around him plunged into darkness. A moment before his sciousness pletely shut down, a question arose in his mind: would he wake up?