Chapter Nine

You know the feeling when you feel like everything has turned out okay and there was nothing else to do to settle the problem. That's how I'm feeling right now. I'm just so relieved and happy that Danther who we thought was a terrifying monster was all along a loyal companion of my family. I feel invincible. Like there's nothing in the world that can harm me. And if they try to, Danther would be there to fight for me. Now she was leading the way down a long spiral staircase. The entrance was underneath a huge pile of rocks which gave way when Danther came out earlier. The hole is so huge to fit such big lion. Danther is probably the size of eight elephants. The hole is even bigger since the spiral staircase runs along the side. Simply put, the hole is like a giant cylinder. Danther went in first and we proceeded down the stairs into the darkness.

'Anyone has a light source or torch or anything?' I said. Suddenly, the hole lit up with very bright light. It came from the end below. I looked down, Danther's mane was glowing. A bright gold colour, very magnificent.

'I'm getting more jealous of that lion' Fayre said.

'That lion has a name' I said.

'Yes I know' Fayre said, laughing a little. I'm probably very overprotective all of a sudden to my new friend.

'How much further?' Miss Janet asked.

'I haven't count the number of steps' I said.

Soon we reached the bottom. I am so impressed of the structure in here. Our forefathers built this place so big that it can fit Danther and us and the stairs, and if there is another Danther, there might still be extra space. Danther bent down and blowed into the large dark tunnel in front of us. Fire lit automatically on torches fixed into the walls on the sides.

'Wow, what more powers can she do?' Orion said. The tunnel's height can't fit Danther so we have to go on without her. A quick thought came to me. Danther was in here for the whole time before she goes up to meet us. How long really has she been in here. The only place she can stay is the bottom of the stairs since the tunnel is too small for her. She probably went out to eat the infected when she's hungry and came back here to sleep when she's full. No wonder her breath smells of rotten flesh. But the point is, I would be claustrophobic if I were her.

'Come on, this is it. Place the sphere, the blood drop and then we won. We'll reclaim back our rights' Draven said.

'I don't think there'll be any zombies down here but just in case, everyone be alert' Fayre said. 'We can never be sure what's to come'

'Before we go, I would like to apologise to everyone, especially Fayre for being a big jerk' Michael said. I guess we were all surprised by that. I could tell Fayre wasn't expecting that either. We couldn't imagine before, Michael would ever put aside his ego.

'I'm sorry too for being so harsh and bossy to you, to everyone' Fayre said.

'I'm sorry if I wasn't much of a motivator for the pass hours' Norman said. This is beautiful. Everyone is setting aside their ego and apologising for their mistakes. No one is turning away and ignoring one another. Well, no one except Miss Janet who I still think wasn't happy that she has to listen to children.

'I'm sorry if I'm too emotional' Orion said.

'That's nothing to be sorry about' myself and a few others said this almost at the same time.

'I'm sorry if whatever I say or decide is not agreeable to you' I said.

'You're a natural leader Zac' Michael said. And he was sincere. I pulled him into a bro hug. I'm also kind of emotional.

'I'm sorry if whatever I did was wrong to you guys' Tazanna said.

'We all make mistakes Taz' Fayre said and hugged her. It's funny how Fayre gave the short form name for Tazanna. I'm sure they're both best of friends already. What touches my heart even more is Dane suddenly joined in the hug. And the next thing happens is we all did a group hug. All except Miss Janet again. Who was busy minding her own business.

'Can we move now? Once we're done here, we can kick the government's butt' Miss Janet said.

'Can't you see what we're doing?' Tazanna said. They both exchange a strange glance. Tazanna's eyes were filled with anger and understanding. Miss Janet's were filled with disappointment and also understanding. I'm just kidding, I can't read their eyes. It's just their reaction every time they stare at each other is like they both understand something we don't. But it's probably nothing. Or just my imagination. Because this isn't the first time I saw something which only to me seems odd. And what happened afterwards is we have to escape the city. But thinking back, all of this would never have happened if I had not assaulted Fanny Pace back in school.

'Let's go' I said, tugging Malcolm's bag, ensuring it stays on my shoulders. And so we walked deeper into the tunnel. It is quite the distance. No doors except a wide opening at the end. And inside, I saw a big platform with stones and stands. The biggest is in the middle and that is definitely the place for the sphere.