My System has a Glitch

Ingrid let go of the branch and she fell but mother had already swung for her head.

She missed by a hair and her marcher dug into the body of the tree and the sound of the impact echoed the power she had behind it.

Ingrid landed on a branch far below her previous one, just as she had planned to do so after she spotted it at the last moment.

Her landing was bad and the moist body of the tree only made it worse causing her to slip but she quickly grabbed onto the tree and stopped herself from falling off.

Before she could catch her breath she heard another gunfire and the impact was just beside her. She panicked as realized that Junior had missed her by a couple inches.

'It's a good thing he's a bad shot,' she thought.' But he's getting better.'

She could hear mother struggling to pull her machete out of the tree

'Here's my chance.'

Ingrid spots a bridge a few feet below the branch she was on. The drop would be easy. The only problem was that it was red, it was the kind that wasn't snake repellent and also it was very close to the snake pool, like six or four feet from it.

But there was no time to think, she heard the machete clink as the mother finally pulled it out of the tree and Ingrid knew she was in a lot more trouble than she was just a moment ago.

She jumped for it but heard gunfire on her way down, this time it was a hit and the impact struck her in mid air causing her to almost miss the bridge.

She landed on the edge of it and had to grab onto the rope quickly or else she would have fallen off.

"Great shot son!"

"Thanks mama, but I was aiming for her head though."

"Just keep aiming for her head and if you're lucky enough maybe you'll hit her heart."

"You really mean it mama? You think I can win her heart if I keep trying."

"What? I said hit! Hit! Not win! Now shut up and keep shooting! What's wrong with all the men in my life? Maybe I should have listened to my mother and married that farmer but then if I did I wouldn't be having so much fun right now!"

She smiled gleefully and prepared to swing the vine towards Ingrid.

'My shield couldn't do a thing, was that a special bullet?'

[-30mins LOST]

'What! That bastard is stealing my time!'

She looked at the wound on her arm and saw the butt of the bullet sticking out. She could see neon lights glowing from the butt of the bullet.

The neon lights were actually numbers, the number displayed on the bullet was the number thirty (30) and she realized that at any moment she would lose another thirty minutes if she didn't do something.

Ingrid got on her feet and ran as fast as she could on the unstable bridge.

'I've got to get there on time, he needs me. I can't let another person die, I won't.'

She glanced back and saw the crazed mother coming after her on the vine with a grin on her face.

'Where do I go from here?'

She turned to her left then her right and only saw thousands of snakes at both side

'There's nowhere to go, I'm sorry William, I'm not sure I'll make it.'

She heard the mother's laugh echo through the jungle as she swung directly at her

"I love it, mother cried, I love, I love it, she's a sitting duck. Die! You old hag!"

She swung the machete at her head but Ingrid dove downward and the blade slid past her.

"You bitch!" mother screamed as the vine took her away from. "That's no matter, I'll kill you when I return."

She cleverly slid down the vine as it brought her back towards Ingrid just so she would be at the proper level to cut off her head.

Ingrid couldn't do a thing, she couldn't get up fast enough to evade her attack , she could only hope her shield would take the blow.

"Die you old bag!"

"Mom! Watch out!"

She couldn't see him coming, not with how fast she moved, he hit her away knocking the machete off her hand.

Ingrid watched the machete fall and hit the rope bridge, it landed just inches from her but she wasn't worried about how close it had been, no, she could see the rope beginning to sever where the sharp end of the machete had struck it.

Ingrid quickly got on her feet and was about to run away when she heard junior scream, "don't worry mama, I'll shoot him!"

She turned back and saw Nod struggling with the crazed woman. She was trying to gouge out his eyes and was trying to push her away but her legs were wrapped around his waist and their combined weight was putting a heavy strain on the kite that was clearly on a downward trajectory.

"Nod!" Ingrid cried.

"Get out of here!" he screamed at her.

"Forget me son, make sure you kill her!"

"You crazy bitch!" Nod tried to punch her but she dodged and bit into his arm.

The kite was pulling their weight just mere feet above the snake pits and it was clear it wouldn't hold them for long.

Junior glanced back and forth between his mother and Ingrid as she ran away.

"What do I do? What do I do? Wait! What would dad do?... Dad would let mom die so he could hook up with the little birdie."

He smiled for a moment as he thought about the idea of having Ingrid all to himself, then he shook the thought out of his head like an evil temptation.

"No, dad's wrong. What would mom do?" He smiled. "She'd save herself!"

He quickly took aim, trying to make sure he had Nod well in his sights.

Nod knew he was in trouble, the kite was fading and with this woman trying to claw out his eyes he wouldn't get the chance to save himself but still he had no idea how worse it could get.

He heard gunfire and felt the burn of the bullet. He froze for a moment as he saw blood and wondered if it was his own.

"That was a good shot son," she said but not as loud as she had hoped. She wanted him to know it was just that but she just couldn't find the strength to force the words through the surge of blood that strangled her.

"It was a good shot son," she muttered in a fading voice.

The bullet had hit the back of her neck and came out the front, heavily grazing the side of Nod's face as it made its exit. She spat blood at Nod's face and he covered his eyes.

"No!" Junior cried from the tree tops, he was too scared to shoot again.

"It was a good shot son," she tried to say but Nod l punched her away and sent her falling into the pool of snakes.

The kite was starting to dissolve and using his intent he activated his guide and went straight to the tools and using the directive from activating a get away kite he swung his hand forward in the direction he wanted it to go and It shot straight out of his palm in a flash of white light.

The kite flew out of his palm, it went away from him for a moment then it calmly turned around and came straight at him, hitting him in the chest and going through his body.

It pulled him away from the snake pit and by his intent it took him behind a tree and past it as junior gunfire tore through the bark of that tree.

"Damn it," Junior cried then he turned his attention to Ingrid but she was already gone.

******

Ingrid made it back to where she had left William but he wasn't there. She had no idea of the series of deadly episodes William had been through and No idea where Nod had left him.

She looked around frantically, she was tired and exasperated and all that she had been through in such a short time has left her in a disheveled state. So much so that it took a while before she remembered she could track him with her special tool.

She pulled out her tracker and immediately a system notice came up

[-30mins LOST]

What?

She looked down at her arm and saw the bleeding wound.

How could I have forgotten that?

She stuck her finger into the wound and squeezed her face as she tried to pull the bullet out. It quickly felt like a tug of war as it was clear to her she was fighting against the intent of its owner.

It felt like there was an invisible force pulling it inside, she gritted her teeth and pulled as hard as she could. The pain got so intense her knees buckled putting her in danger of falling off the tree.

She finally managed to pull it out and she crushed it in her palm.

[Threat Eliminated]

She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to catch her breath but then she remembered William and it jolted her awake, she pulled out the tracker and found him but then she gasped as she realized he wasn't alone.