Bitten for Love

Chapter 34

We did it. We actually did it.

Marshall and I made it to the top of the mountain by late afternoon. Now, the only problem was getting to the bottom, on the side we need to be on.

"The fastest way would be to find a river. We can build a raft and ride down it," I said.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Marshall asked me.

"First, we need to find the river, obviously. Second, I can figure out to make a raft, easy," I said.

"You're hurt, Darling," he said to me.

"I'm still going to help," I said.

He let out a sigh of frustration. I know he didn't want me to push myself, but I had to. For him. For us.

Making a raft would be very easy, but I still wish I was healed.

"I will build the raft, but I need you to gather the supplies," I said.

"Fine, as long as you don't walk around," Marshall said.

We heard the sound of trickling water, and we moved towards that direction. We ended up finding a tiny stream, and I instructed Marshall to follow it.

It wasn't long before the stream widened into a river.

Marshall set me down onto the soft, damp grass and kissed the top of my head.

"What do I need to gather?" he asked me.

I instructed him to gather logs, vines, and sticks. When he ran off, I looked through the backpack for any other extra supplies I could use.

I pulled out a pocket knife and some water proof duct tape. I grinned, mentally patting myself on the back for being so prepared. I decided to come up with a design for the raft.

If I had known there was going to be a river to take to the bottom of the mountain, I'd have brought an inflatable one. It never occurred to me that all of the past events would have happened.

I sighed, looking down at my bandages. I was going to have to spend a bit of time in the castle's medical room.

I knew it was unhealthy to shrug off the thoughts about my wounds, but I did it anyway. I had to think about right now, at this very second.

Marshall came back with some logs, but it wasn't enough. I shooed him off to get more, while I began to work. Since I couldn't walk, I crawled on my hands and knees.

I lined up all the logs and pushed them together as close as I could. I had to rearrange a few, to make them fit better. It was really tough without being able to stand, and I had to pull out multiple splinters.

Marshall Lee showed up once more with another stack of logs. He helped me set them together tightly, and I began to give him more orders.

"I need you to bring me some vines," I told him. He let out an annoyed huff of air like a child who was just told to clean his room.

"Fine, I'll get what I can," he said and kissed the top of my head before running off.

I began to use some of the duct tape to attach the logs, and it was actually working pretty well. Lucky for me, I had a large roll of it. I taped them together in pairs of two, and when Marshall returned, he helped me tape the pairs into one huge raft.

I used the vines to tie the logs tighter, and it was a huge help. We took a blanket and taped it down over the raft to make it easier to sit on.

I could tell that Marshall felt accomplished, like he had done something right without messing up. He smiled and I nodded to him, signaling him to drag it to the water. I helped gather our things and Marshall set them all on the raft before putting me on it as well.

"Are you ready?" he asked me. I nodded and held onto our things with one hand, and I gripped the raft with the other. He pushed off the ground and jumped on behind me, and we were on our way.

The river was moving pretty quickly; I knew we'd be there in no time. Marshall wrapped his arms around my waist gently and held me. I smiled and pulled out the map.

"It looks like when we reach the lake, we'll make it to the town," I informed him.

He smiled and I looked down at the ring on his finger. We had a whole day left, and it was early afternoon. We'd make it in plenty of time.

***

We had been on the river for who knows how long. I had fallen asleep in Marshall's arms until he shook me, waking me up.

"Gumball! Gumball, get up!" he said.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" I asked him groggily.

"Did we ever discuss what to do if we came across a waterfall?" he asked me.

"What?!" I shot up from my sleeping position and stared ahead. The water was getting rough and bumpy. Jagged rocks poked up to the surface.

We were too far from the grass to get off the raft, and it was way too dangerous to try to swim away.

"Marshall, paddle!" I commanded, and we both put our best effort into paddling to the grass. We were nearing the edge of the river, the water picking up faster and faster.

"What do we do?!" I asked, panicking.

"We hold on tight for dear life," he said quietly.

"No, there has to be a better way!" I cried.

"Gumball, listen to me. We can't paddle to shore, and if we swim, we'll get either cut up by rocks or drown from how fast the water is going. Now, hold on tight to me and don't let go," he said.

I did what I was told, reluctantly. I couldn't believe how brave he was, while I was sitting there crying. I wrapped my arms around him and I held on tighter than I ever have before.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," he said back.

As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, we plummeted into the murky depths below.