Camron grimly held onto the rope as he was pulled up to the solid ground. One of the soldiers stepped forward and pulled David's body out of his grip. While Camron got his bearings and climbed out of the bog, his two friends attempted to revive David. After a few moments, they gave up and respectfully laid a sheet over him that someone had grabbed. David's mother sat by his body and cried, leaving people to awkwardly try to comfort her.
Camron shook his head over the loss. The priest prayed over the body, and he realized this was the second one drowning in the bog in a short time. He wondered if those displaced from their homes werewere getting bored and walking around in the swamp, which might explain why they had an influx of deaths.
He wiped the gritty water from his face as he listened to one of the older kids. What really happened to his friend?
Private Johnson and Private Dowel questioned the boys and the priest. They didn't know about the drunk, but the boy's death sounded preventable. Camron wondered if they could keep people out of the swamp, but they couldn't spare the personnel to keep people out if they wanted in. He hoped the two deaths would be enough to discourage others. He hoped, but he also knew human nature was a fickle thing and didn't like to be constrained. Tell folks what to do, and they would run to do the opposite.
There was another thing that puzzled Camron. The bog was gritty with sand and pebbles, but it was more liquid than solid. He had easily swum down to the kid's body. There shouldn't have been any reason the kid couldn't just pull himself up or even swim to lower solid ground. He suddenly wondered if one of the other kids had actually tried to drown the luckless boy. He would discuss that with the police when they came. In the meantime, he would head back to the tent shelter, shower, and change into dry fatigues.
Camron didn't like that swamp.
~
Back at the clubhouse the boys were already talking about David's death. Josh relayed what he saw in detail about the hands. The other boys were skeptical.
"Hands?" Ben asked, "What would hands be doing in the bog? You can't breathe under there, not even with a mask and stuff."
"I just know what I saw," Josh said crossly.
"Well, what should we do about it? It's too late for David."
The door opened, and Erin came in excited. Have you heard about Bob Evergreen?"
Brian frowned. "The guy that's always drunk?"
"Yeah, He drowned in the bog, man! Just like David."
"No shit?" Brian said. "Really? where at?"
"Over by the old fishing shack. I heard he looked really grody. You want to come see David's body? The cops are still there."
"Dumbass, they won't let us see him, and if the cops are there, they probably already covered the body." Ben said and flipped through a mechanics magazine.
Josh's face fell. "Oh yeah, they probably did. What do you think happened?"
Erin was dealing a hand of solitaire on the small scarred table they had salvaged. "Probably got drunk, took a walk, and fell in. He was drunk. I mean, he was drunk all the time."
Josh became bored and glanced out the window. He squinted as a thin fog whirled around outside. It was while he was drifting off to a daydream he saw it, lying half on their tiny island and half in the swamp water.
He stepped out of the clubhouse to get a better look. After a moment, the other boys followed him out to see why he stood outside.
"What's that?" Brian frowned, playing with his stick, poking at the swampy bog water around them.
