Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 239: Going To Die

Chapter 239: Going To Die

The guys might have been asleep for an hour when I first felt a shift in the forest.

I was trying to experiment with my power, taking my own limited life force and adding it to the artery of energy around me. It was like I was walking through the trees on both sides of the highway at the same time, feeling everything.

I felt the wind through the trees and the restlessness of the animals.

And that was when I felt it: a heavy foot coming down on the grass.

I felt the pressure as if it was stepping on my chest, making it hard to breathe. Gasping, I pulled away from everything and dove back into my body.

"Little Bird?" asked Rip, a look of concern on his face. I shook my head but didn’t say anything.

Tentatively, this time, I went back into the well of power around me to see if I could figure out what was going on.

Only to discover I really didn’t want to.

We were surrounded by at least 30 Reavers, their footsteps absolutely silent in the darkness.

There was no way the guys would be able to fight back against them. Not even Rip could take on that number and come out on top.

I could feel myself begin to panic as I gripped onto Rip. "Reavers," I whispered, trying to be quiet. But the footsteps in the forest stopped. Fuck. They heard me.

Rip nodded his head and kicked the guy nearest to him; Bin An Sha. Raising a finger to his lips, he motioned for him to get the others.

Bin An Sha nodded his head and gently shook the man to his right, holding up a finger for quiet as well.

But even if all of the guys were awake, that didn’t mean we still stood a chance.

If only I could get close enough to touch them, I could suck the life force out of them. However, I had only done that on a one on one basis. I had no idea what would happen if I was touching two at the same time.

And that still left 28 for the guys to deal with.

Shaking that plan out of my head, I moved on to another one.

I had physically felt them when they stepped on the grass. Could I use that to my advantage?

Taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes.

Picturing my life force spreading out from under me where I sat on the ground, I watched it connect to the trees around me. Then, my energy continued to expand through the root systems, just under the top layer of soil and mulch.

The Reavers hadn’t moved since I had spoken, but I could feel the pressure on their feet on the grass under them. They were spread out, 15 on one side and another 15 on the other, but I could feel each one of them as if they were touching me.

Not knowing exactly what I was doing but feeling the drain on my power the longer I did nothing, I pictured my energy being part of the crushed grass. The blades turned into my fingers, where they brushed against their feet and ankles.

There! I had a direct connection to their life force! I could use the environment around me as an extension of myself! I didn’t have to physically touch someone; all I had to do was be connected to something they touched.

Holy fuck.

Power screamed into me as I quickly connected to all 30 Reavers and pulled their life force down through the roots and into my body. I felt like I should have been lit up like a Christmas tree with all the energy, but I didn’t dare open my eyes to check.

First one Reaver dropped to his knees on the forest floor, giving me even more access to his life force as I continued to pull it out of his body.

The guys must have heard it because they swung what I assumed to be their guns around to where I knew the Reaver to be. I couldn’t see exactly what they were doing, but I could see the energy in their hands raised up to their face. They looked like they were holding invisible guns, as if they were just playing around. But I knew better.

The next Reaver dropped to the ground as his energy fled from his body, answering my call.

And then another, and another, and another until all 30 Reavers were on their hands and knees, gripping the dirt under them as they tried to figure out what was going on.

However, none of them were dead yet. I had to keep going until I was sure that they were no longer a threat to me and mine. And the only way I could ensure that was to kill them.

But I was feeling way too bloated. Like I had eaten too much, and if I took so much as one more bite, I was going to be sick to my stomach.

I needed to stop taking in the power before it hurt me. But I couldn’t, I had to keep going no matter what. My guys were depending on me.

"Let it out," grunted Bin An Sha. "You need to release the power, liking that idea, or you are going to die."

"I can’t," I grunted, worried that if I released the power, it would just flow back into the Reavers. "I am so close," I assured him, fighting against the pain in my body. This was nothing. I had experienced worse.

"Then give it to me," replied Bin An Sha, gripping my shoulder. "I’ll share it with the guys."

I nodded liking that idea and started to feed my excess power through the bond that Bin An Sha created. Out of the corner of my eye, I could then see him giving it to Cheng Bo Jing, who was holding his shoulder. And then, after filling up Cheng Bo Jing, my power moved on to Bai Long Qiang, then Si Dong, until everyone was coursing with power.

I tightened my hand in Rip’s giving him part of my power too.

The man didn’t have a power like the rest of us, but I could feel his tiredness. My power give him a jolt of energy just like it did with the others until everyone was humming.

Unfortunately, the Reavers were still holding on, too.