None of the others seemed inclined to help either. Shannon’s critical gaze landed on them. At least they had the decency to fidget under her gaze.
“Yellow bellied twats,” Shannon spat. They meandered off, and her eyes went to me. “Will you help me?”
“We should leave him. He’ll slow us down.” But I still went to the head-end of the bed and grabbed the handles.
“Thank you.” Her teeth ground together.
We ended up at the back of the group, and my arms struggled to hold Drew up. I thought about the great escape from the night before and the physical reminder of the dream I had reminded me that I’d already pushed my body to its limits. I couldn’t afford to rest now. Even when my body threatened to give out completely.
The steep incline made it that much more difficult. At least I wasn’t the only one huffing and puffing.
“Sorry I’m.” Drew struggled to whisper.
Up front the boys whined about their knees hurting, and I fought the urge to snap at them. I couldn’t waste energy on their idiocy. Gale navigated fine, but didn’t offer to relieve one of us, kindly reminding me that Gale only worked when it suited him.
For all his talk about no one being left behind, he was awfully silent now.
Whatever, I’d do everything, like always.
My eyes rested on the frizzy bun in front of me. No, I wasn’t alone this time. Shannon was in the shit with me.
Something soft and warm spread through my chest. Was this what it was like to have a friend?
My cheeks grew hot. Shannon wasn’t my friend. Her goodness rubbed off on me. That was all.
She wouldn’t be friends with the likes of me.
I had no clue how far we made it, felt like miles, when a growing annoyance that didn’t belong to me festered in my chest, but I couldn’t figure out why. “He’s mad.”
“Great.” She huffed tiredly.
Water moved alongside us, and I took steady breaths. “The left.”
We halted watching the motion, holding our breaths to see what he would do. The rest of the group was ignorant of what was happening.
“Guys,” Shannon said evenly, but no one paid attention, too busy complaining amongst themselves. “Guys!”
The monster jumped out of the water, flying over us in a way that was not natural for a creature that size. He grabbed Drew off the gurney, sending me and Shannon off kilter. Since Drew was strapped in, I slid down the incline a couple of inches, before digging my fingers and boots into the mud. Shannon yelped as she slid past me.
I reached out, grabbing her hand to help stabilize her. Her hazel eyes shone with appreciation that hit deep inside and threatened to make me feel valued.
Sticky rain trickled over us and the sky thundered as if to match the sudden downpour. Only to realize little drops of red were all over Shannon.
The silence was deafening as we stared at each other, as if neither of us could process what was happening.What is that,sat on my tongue, but didn’t leave my lips.
Probably because I already knew the answer.
A loud thud on the right and crack of bone made everything snap into place.
There he was with Drew pinned to the ground. Blood everywhere as he ripped Drew’s throat out. Drew didn’t even get the chance to scream.
One minute we were doing everything that we could for a sliver of hope that Drew could be saved, only to have that last thread ripped away from us.
Screams of terror that resonated inside me sliced through the silence. People stumbled over each other and shoved others down, to scatter in every direction that mattered. They were all dead meat.
“Stay on the path!” Gale yelled. “Come back.”
The monster’s eyes locked onto Shannon with a predatory gaze, and I knew he intended to make sure my plan never succeeded. No one was leaving this swamp.
