Age

Chapter 3
Part 3

Chapter Description: It reveals itself....

Stan stood outside of the Fire Forest, which was adjacent to Fire Road. Locals knew well enough to stay away from this area due to the Forest Preservation Act, but tourists may not be so well informed. He wore his gas mask, in order to avoid coming under the effects of Fountainum. Dr. Briggs stood next to him, ready to enter. Two other officers, Tom Rogan and Julius “Slim” Marsh, accompanied them.

“Everyone ready?” Stan asked. He held a pistol for self-defense.

“Ready,” Dr. Briggs answered.

“Ready and willing,” Tom replied.

“Let’s do this,” Slim muttered.

Stan led the march into the Fire Forest.

The forest was old, that was obvious. The trees scraped the sky and one another. At several points Dr. Briggs, who wasn’t used to hiking, almost fell. Stan led the pack, watching for any threats.

“Where is the source anyway?” Slim asked. He was guarding Dr. Briggs.

“I contacted the F.B.I about the possible source of Fountainum and they sent me this,” the doctor replied, holding out a scanner of some sort. “It can pick up trace amounts of Fountainum in the air. Once it starts beeping, we can track it...”

The Fountainum Tracker started beeping. Dr. Briggs chuckled. “Speak of the devil.”

Dr. Briggs led the way now. He followed the beeping frequency through the forest. As it beeped faster, Stan noticed that the trees appeared to be getting smaller, and less dense. He also noticed a lack of animals.

They came into a clearing, or what Stan originally thought was a clearing. He came to realize it wasn’t. It was the Source.

No trees existed here; Stan assumed they were merely seeds. The trees before him had shrunk further and further until they became saplings, and now nothing. Stan looked around the artificial clearing.

“So where’s the Fountainum?” Stan asked.

Dr. Briggs read his scanner. It read that the air here was mainly Fountainum. “It’s everywhere.”

“Isn’t Fountainum a solid at room temperature though?”

Dr. Briggs nodded. “Yes, which makes me wonder...?”

A high-pitched roar interrupted the group. Stan looked around frantically, searching for the source.

A rumbling in the ground grew more intense as whatever had roared was approaching them. Stan then saw it.

It was appeared to be human, but it emitted immense waves of power. It seemed like it was trying to impress them. It had the physique of an old man. It had no hair and no genitalia. Its skin was a sickly blue.

“The hell is that?” Slim asked as he raised his handgun.

“Just shoot it!” Tom shouted. He fired at it. Wherever the bullet came into contact with the being, the being’s body turned to mist and then reformed. This must have angered it, because then it zoomed over to Tom.

“Oh shit!” Tom cried out as the creature knocked the gun out of his hand and grabbed his neck. Tom struggled and kicked, but the creature had amazing strength and held him with no trouble. The creature hissed as it ripped Tom’s gas mask clean off. It then seemed to project a strange gas into Tom’s mouth. Tom breathed it in reluctantly.

To the group’s amazement, Tom began to shrink in his clothes rapidly. His pants, shoes, underwear, and socks all fell off. The creature stood there, looking at the infant Tom’s face in his huge shirt. The creature then set Tom down and fled.