Chapter three

Crash! The ground shook. Mark and Figment tried to run, but very time they got to moving, the quaking ground knocked them back over. 

The healed doctor leaped onto the boulder. He yanked the twine from the tiny dead man’s hands, and began spinning it in arcs through the air. He aimed them at three of the little men and the hooks whirred through the air and hooked into their skin. Because they were  on the doctor’s backs They each jolted forward. Possibly for the first time ever, each of them showed expressions of confusion. It was obvious they were so well used to being in control that this surprise jolted their emotion as strongly as their bodies.

“It’s time... Go time...” said Figment, breathless, running here and there, haphazardly, “gotta go...no more time.” Figment and Mark immediately stood up.

Mark’s stomach ached so much, he felt as if it would turn him inside out, but by this time he was as concerned of living through the confusion as getting through the pain. The one free little man began to swing his hooks into the air, still stunned, but less so than the others. They whistled through the mist, spun around Figment’s right arm and hooked Figment and Mark on their shoulders. Mark felt a piercing pain as a hook penetrated his skin, and rip into his skin as it pulled at him. Mark grabbed the strands, and they both gave a tug. But the little guy was ready. He tugged at the same time. Mark and Figment jolted backward, onto the ground, toward the four remaining Doctors.

Crash! The noise was nearly right on top of them now. “Oh baby, where are you?” Mark heard a booming echo of a female voice in the distance.

The freed doctor spun one of the twine in loops as the hooks remained in Mark and Figment. The twine whistled, and then arced around the free little man and throttled his neck. 

The little man yanked back on his reigns, removed the loop from his neck, and jerked Mark and Figment another three feet. The muscles on the tiny man were massive, and would have been large even for a human. The shock of the pain was immense. Mark felt the hook slide under his skin and twist.

“Where’s your pipe?” Mark barked.   

Figment grabbed it, and held it in front of Mark. “Here. Why?”

“Give it to me.”

“No!” Mark grabbed at it, but Figment pulled it away. They felt another yank, and the hook dug deeper.

Crash! Mark tried to keep his bearings as his body became thrown about.  The quake was making everything much worse. 

The little man dragged both of their bodies another couple of feet.

“Come on. Give it to me!” The muscular little man yanked hard. Mark and Figment slid across the dirt on the ground, Mark grabbed at the hooks, but he could not remove them while there was tension. Mark felt his skin being shredded against the ground. It hurt, but he didn't let go.  

“Forget it!” It was obvious Figment was in pain, but he was as stubborn as he was showing he was hurting.

Crash! The ground shook so hard, that a small tree fell to the surface near Mark and Figment.

Mark knew they only had a few feet left. “If you want to live, give it to me.” He tried to snatch at the pipe, but Figment was surprisingly quick. The little man began to pull them in hand over hand.

“If you’re smart, you’ll refrain from trying to inhale from my pipe.”

The little man yanked the twine and pulled them even closer to him.

Mark decided Figment was being irrational, and he wasn’t going to stand for it. He would just have to do what he was trying to do another way. Their lives depended on it, he decided. “Fine, just inhale deeply.” While Figment was inhaling, Mark twisted the twine around Figment’s finger by twisting Figment’s finger causing the twine to curve around it. It must have hurt immensely, and it was obviously cutting off his circulation. From that moment Figment caught on. He placed the burning ash in the pipe onto his wrapped finger, let it sit as he inhaled, until he heard a ‘snap!’ and saw the little man fly off of the Doctor.  Mark yanked off the other hook.  

Mark placed the berries in the doctor’s bag. He and Figment got up, but Mark’s body felt like it had been shredded to pieces, which wasn't far from the truth. Bloody cuts and new bruises shown across his body. He could feel the pain everywhere, but he felt excited and invigorated. He had no idea this would be the outcome, but he was happy the way things turned out.

“So do we go up the hill or into the woods?” Said Mark, in a panic.

“Have you, at all, been paying attention to what has been happening here?” cried Figment, his face red with panic.

Mark heard more hooks zipping by, as he and Figment ran out of range.  The small men were strong, but they were small, and it was obviously not easy to make the doctors run. Mark looked back, they were following them, though slowly. He still didn’t know what to do. Maybe he should have listened to the Doctors. After all, they were Doctors. If you can’t trust a doctor, who can you trust? “If we are not supposed to go onto the hill, then why were the Doctors pointing there?”

“Because that’s the status quo. Those choices weren’t the Doctor’s choices, it was the little men on their backs. It’s their job to keep the status quo.  Nobody wants to do things the unknown way. They want what feels comfortable. They want what’s done, not what’s real. Wholly mackerel, make your choice, we’re out of time.” 

Figment kept taking ten steps toward the woods as if to get a running start, and there were no choices, but then he would come back, and do it all over again.   

Mark finally headed toward the woods. Mark thought about the woman, and wondered if she was heading toward the Doctors. “Figment?”

“Yes Mark?” Said Figment.

“Do you think the Doctors will be OK?”

Figment refrained to answer. They ran deeper into the forest.