Alex lies there for several minutes. This is for two reasons.
The first reason is, of course, his extreme pain. In Alex's opinion, burns are the most painful injuries a person can have. Of course, Alex is not widely versed in the types of injuries a person can have. But during his life on the streets, he has been chilled by the cold of winter, baked by the heat of summer, starved for days at a time, gotten into knife fights with hoodlums, and burnt by the raging flames of bonfires.
He has disliked the burns the most.
Burns are a lingering pain that doesn't seem to go away. It's as though some of the heat from whatever caused the burns gets trapped underneath the skin and constantly emits pain. Every time the injured area moves, the pain flares up, and it becomes excruciating if something actually touches it. And that's only small burns!
Alex's injuries are far worse than those. He has been burnt by a strange super hot fire that has charred his skin and sent the heat deep. Not only that, but his slide across the pavement has scraped bits of flesh off and lodged debris in the exposed wounds.
And since most of the burns were concentrated on his legs, it's needless to say that they hurt too much to move yet.
The second reason Alex doesn't move is that he is seriously debating if getting up is even worth the effort.
The creature that set fire to the pawn shop is clearly targeting him. It's also clearly finding amusement in his suffering. So, it's probably watching Alex right now. In fact, it could be right behind him, and he wouldn't know.
Alex doesn't know whether the creature expected him to die in the fire or not, but upon thinking about it, it doesn't really matter. There are only four ways that this night can go.
One is that the creature has grown bored with Alex and has decided to kill him. If that's the case, then there's nothing Alex can do. In his current state, he can't put up any resistance at all. The creature will easily rip his throat out and Alex will die just like Fry did. If that's the case, getting up won't change anything.
Another possibility is that the creature did expect Alex to survive the burning building. If that's the case, then it will probably put Alex through even more trials tonight. Judging by how quickly things became deadly, each trial will probably become more perilous than the last. And, if he could barely survive this trial, there's no way he'll last the entire night. So, it might be better to save himself the trouble and stay there.
Of course, Alex might miraculously manage to survive the night. That's another way things could go. But, if that happens, he'll probably be killed by the creature just before the sun rises. And if not, the trials will probably just continue into the next day. The only change would be that he's hunted in the daylight instead. So, staying here is yet again the best option.
Finally, the fourth way this night could go is that Alex could steel himself and kill the creature. He could gather supplies, rally allies, make a plan, and pay the creature back for everything it's done to him. He is a rather vengeful person after all, and he does know of someone who can help him, so it isn't entirely impossible.
But, Alex is also realistic. It's not like the creature will neglect to torment him during his preparations. Not only that, but it's intelligent enough to know what he's doing and sabotage his plans. Not to mention, Alex doesn't even know what the creature is capable of.
It was able to completely burn down Fry's pawn shop in less than half an hour. Meanwhile, Alex doesn't have any access to guns, at least not quickly, so he'd be facing it with just a knife and large stick at best. Needless to say, those aren't good odds.
He probably has a better chance of winning the lottery than killing that thing!
Besides, he's had impossible to fulfill grudges before, and he's given up on them eventually. So what's one more?
In the end, the most logical course of action is to lie on the concrete, and wait to die.
"Ah, but with that said," Alex raspily whispers, "I really, really, want to kill that bastard."
He chuckles a little and pushes himself off the ground with a pained groan. His legs ache and burn to the point that he could cry out in pain, but he can still move them. And that means he can walk and run. He turns his head to the sky and, with a weak voice, shouts to no one in particular, "You hear that! I'm gonna murder you! And you can't do a damn thing to stop me!"
Yes, it would be much more logical to simply wait to die. It would be so much easier to just let the creature kill him. It would be so much more comfortable to not struggle in vain and instead die silently.
But Alex hasn't survived for seven years just to die on the street. What's the point of him giving up on everything if he's not going to fight for his life? Like he said before, he's given up all his hopes, goals, and dreams in order to survive! Wouldn't it be an insult to himself if he doesn't even try to live!? Wouldn't that mean he's wasted everything!?
Alex might be realistic, but he's stubborn too. It took years of hopelessness to forget those past grudges! Is he really going to give up after just one night? No! That creature can't possibly break his will that easily!
So yes, Alex will take the fleeting fourth option! It might be small, but there's still a chance he can live! He'll gather supplies, rally allies, set traps, make plans, do everything he can think of! He won't die easily! He won't be someone else's entertainment! If that creature wants to kill him, it'll have to work for it!
Alex will die from exhaustion before he lets someone else kill him!
Stumbling to his feet, Alex wears a grim smile on his thin face. His green eyes shimmer with malevolent intent, and he pats the dust off his raincoat. He turns his head in the direction of Tetanus Town. The decrepit buildings are lit by the flickering flames of a solitary campfire, and the rusted steel resembles dried blood in the dim light.
Then, he shakes his head and walks in the opposite direction. He's heading to the one person who might be willing to help him. He's heading to his friend, Jack Henlow.