CHAPTER NINE

We exited the green building and found that the sun had not quite gone down. This was very encouraging to me. I wanted to get back to the village as early as possible tomorrow morning, so I felt it necessary to walk part of the way tonight. My plan was to walk back into the woods and then build a fire all around Weena and myself so that we could sleep safely. Heading toward the woods, I gathered as many sticks and leaves as I could. Soon, I had large collection in my arms, but it made walking quite difficult, seriously slowing us down. At this point, I had been awake for two days and one night. I was becoming increasingly tired and feared that I would not be able to go much further.

By the time we reached the edge of the forest, the sun had gone completely down. The forest looked as dark and unfriendly as it had the night before. Weena did not want to enter, but as I looked back toward where we had just come from, I could see a few moving shadows, and I decided that we should keep moving forward. On the other side of the forest I remembered seeing a hill without trees, and I thought that that might be the safest place for us to rest tonight. But we would have to get through the forest as quickly as we could, and to do that I would have to empty my arms and hands of this heavy load of sticks and leaves.

Seeing the shadows coming toward us, I thought of an idea. Throwing the sticks and leaves to the ground, I set it afire, hoping that it might keep the Morlocks from following. Once lit, the fire grew quickly and Weena, who had never seen a fire that large before, became excited and almost jumped into it. I had to grab her and hold her as tightly as I could to prevent her from hurting herself. Because she would not walk away from the fire, I had to pick her up and carry her into the woods. After about ten meters or so, I put her down again and looked back to see how the fire was doing. It seemed to have spread to the surrounding dry grass and was quickly making its way up the hill toward the shadows I had earlier seen.

Walking forward, the darkness all around us was soon complete. Everything seemed very quiet, for the only sound we could hear was of our own footsteps. However, then I began to hear other sounds, other footsteps! I pulled Weena faster through the trees, knowing exactly what was coming toward us, but no matter how fast we walked, the Morlocks seemed to still get closer and closer. Soon I could hear their voices as well as their walking, and suddenly there was something pulling at my coat.

I had to let go of Weena's hand for a moment as I quickly searched for my box of matches. At the same time, I felt more and more hands feeling about my body. Finally, I got a hold of the matches and lit one. In the light I could see the white creatures running away, while on the ground lay Weena, her arms wrapped tightly around my legs. I could not tell if she was breathing. A terrible fear came over me and I bent down to see if she was still alive. From the sounds all around us, it seemed that there were dozens of Morlocks waiting in the shadows for my match to burn-out. I took out the oil I had found in the museum and lit it. I threw it to the ground and it immediately grew into a large flame. Now I felt it was safe to examine Weena. So, taking hold of her wrist, I found that she had only fainted.

I picked her up and put her over my shoulder, preparing to continue our journey. However, after fighting off the Morlocks coming at me from all directions, I no longer knew which way would get us through the woods. I decided that the best thing to do was to remain where we were. Putting Weena gently on the ground, I began to gather more sticks and leaves in order to build a fire. While I did this I could see the light of the fire reflecting from the eyes of the surrounding Morlocks.

Moments later, my fire went out, but I was ready with a match. As soon as I had lit it, I could see that two Morlocks who had been getting closer and closer to Weena were now running away. One was so blinded by the match that he ran directly toward me. I hit him in the side with my fist. He cried out in pain and then ran off into the trees. I now had enough wood and leaves to build a fire. As soon as it was burning well, I tried to wake Weena, but it was as if she were dead. I gave up and looked about me for more wood to burn, for this fire would only last one hour. I gathered up some more sticks and then, tired from all of the work I had done that night, decided to sit down and rest a while.

The smoke from the fire, as well as the smell of the burning oil, made my eyes heavy. I felt that I had only closed my eyes for a moment, however, when I opened them I could see that the fire had died long ago, and my entire body was in the hands of several Morlocks. I tried fighting them off, reaching into my pocket for the matches, but they were not there. The monsters had a hold of my arms, legs, and hair and were pulling me down to the ground. I felt their sharp teeth starting to bite at my neck and I thought that I was sure to die there in that distant time in which I did not belong. But then my right arm became free and I felt around the ground for my metal bar. Once I had found it I struggled with all my strength to get back onto my feet, and then started swinging the bar wildly around me. Several times I felt it hit something soft, followed by a painful scream.

Soon I was free again and it seemed that the Morlocks might have given up on trying to capture me, for my metal bar no longer struck any bodies. My eyes quickly got used to the darkness and moments later I could see several dead Morlocks at my feet. When I looked up again, I could see others running away from me at great speed. I thought that maybe I had frightened them, but feeling something hot behind me, I turned and found that my original fire had quickly grown huge, and was now coming toward me. Looking all over the ground, I could not find Weena anywhere. I had very little time to think; I had to move or the fire would soon catch up to me. I started to run after the Morlocks.

As I ran, the fire raced past me and cut me off, forcing me to run to my left. It did not take long before I found myself among the escaping Morlocks. I struck them from behind with my bar as they ran, killing some of them and badly injuring others. I had feelings of extreme anger combined with extreme fear and this made me stronger and more violent than usual. I hit at anything that came near me. In a small clearing, I ran into about thirty or more Morlocks, all blinded by the forest fire, running in circles and screaming from fear. I searched about for Weena, but she was not there. A new and stronger anger took hold of me and I ran into that group of pitiful creatures, screaming like a crazy man, and determined to kill every last one of them. I smashed their bones with my metal bar and crushed their heads under my feet. My hands squeezed the last drop of blood from their miserable bodies. I do not know how long I carried on in this way, but when it was all over, I found myself surrounded by dozens of dead Morlocks. There were many more still alive, but I realized that they had been made harmless by the fire. Many of them were so confused that they ran directly into the fire, killing themselves. Seeing this, I decided not to waste my time and energy any further. I now devoted myself to looking for Weena.

All night I searched, but never did find her. It became clear that the Morlocks had taken her, but having become so blind and frightened by the fire, they dropped her in the woods and left her there to die. It felt like a terrible dream. I could not believe that what had just happened was real. I lay on the ground among the dead crying to God to wake me up, but I found myself ignored and had nothing more to do than sit there with my head in my hands among the painful cries of the remaining dying Morlocks.

The sun then began to rise. As the light of day grew brighter, I could see smoke rising from the blackened ground of the now destroyed forest. I was deeply sad to see what destruction my foolishness had caused, and I considered it my own fault that Weena had died. I hated myself for having started that fire and for later falling asleep. But it was now a fact that both Weena and this forest were gone. There was nothing I could do to change that. I felt alone and helpless in the world again. I began to miss my home and all of my friends. It hurt me deeply to think that I had possibly lost everything I once loved. However, through this sadness I could still see some hope. There was still the possibility of getting my time machine back.

I did my best to wipe away the dried blood that covered my hands and then wrapped dry grass around my feet for protection. Standing up, I tried to get a sense of which direction the village was in. Then, out of the corner of my right eye, I saw something purple just at the edge of the burned forest. "Weena!" I shouted as I ran toward what appeared to be her gown. And, indeed, it was her clothing. However, her body was nowhere to be found. I assumed that it had somehow come off while she was being carried away, and had remained in the hands of one of the Morlocks, only to be dropped here during his flight from the forest. I picked up the gown and put it to my nose to try and smell Weena again, but the odor of smoke was too strong. Tying it around my waist, I looked for the way back to the village.

Since there was no forest now, I could see the green building clearly. Using the green building as a guide, I decided that the way back to the statue and the village lay to my right. I began my walk, more tired and lonely than I had ever been before, determined to beat down the walls of that bird-man statue with my bare hands if necessary, for there was nothing more for me in this world. It was time to go home.

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