They Left Us For Dead

Swamp Fever: Swamp

"Rise and shine!" Rochelle cheers, and pours a little water on my face to wake me up.

"Do that again, I dare you." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sighed. This was going to be another long day. But at least I didn't have a piece of metal in me.

"Not a morning person, are ya?" Nick joked, but I didn't find it funny. I rolled my eyes, and got myself ready. Mentally, more than physically. 

We stepped out into the swamp. The real, wet, swampy swamp. I felt my shoes fill with murky water, and the warm water wet my pant-legs. It was disgusting. I couldn't fathom how people could live in such filth. Not only the feeling of the murky water, but the smell. It was utterly horrific.

"You good back there?" Coach yelled, doing fine amongst the waters. Ellis was managing and Rochelle was holding her breath and taking breaks but Nick and I were struggling. I couldn't help but stop every few miles and vomit. It was the worst experience of my life. We couldn't keep our faces from showing it, either. Just ew.

We were getting out of the water, and finally on to dryer territory. The trees were high, and the leaves were swaying low. This part of the swamp was actually kind of pretty. You could see the sky, winding itself between the treetops.

"Is that a dead army official?" Rochelle asks, horrified at the sight of a soldier hanging from a tree. He seemed to have used his parachute, but couldn't get any father down. Poor guy. Coach doesn't say much, but urges everyone to keep moving. If there was going to be an escape from the swamp, it probably wasn't going to happen more than once.

With every step, it felt like we were just wandering in circles of the trees and the water. Time slipped away, and just like that, things were going okay. That is, until we saw the downed plane. Not just any plane, but a commercial airliner.

"Oh my God! What's a plane doing in the swamp?" Rochelle looked like she had seen a ghost. But she kept her feet moving. Though her face never changed. She looked so overwhelmed and in emotional turmoil. But who could blame her?

As we got ourselves in the plane, in hopes of any survivors, we looked and found dead corpses. Everyone was dead. People who were like us once. With hopes and dreams, wishes of being somewhere with their loved ones. I took a deep breath, and we opened the door of the plane. The alarm sounded, and we ran as fast as we could through the high waters. I took an adrenaline shot and felt twice as fast as I ran. It was empowering and made me feel like I could do anything. Until it wore off.

"I can see the lights, we're almost there!" I shouted, signaling the near safe room to the group. They were quite a bit behind me, and I could no longer see them. I shouted behind myself, and decided it would be best to hide from the infected. Drawing anymore attention to myself could be bad.

"Where's Kelsey?" Coach asks, catching his breath.

"I thought she was with you?" Ellis looked to Nick who was confused.

"Do you see her with me? Exactly!"  

"I'm right here. Sorry, I didn't want to attract a horde. Let's get to the safe room." I came out from hiding and spoke. With that said, we rushed to close the door.

"Kelsey, what the hell was that?" Nick shouted at me, as he sat his guns down. He looked pissed, like I had done something wrong. I knew what he was thinking.

"I didn't try to leave you guys, I was trying to help you. Imagine if we had another horde on our asses, huh?" I explain myself, in a calm manner. I could feel Nick getting a bit closer with every word I spoke.

"That wasn't your call to make!" Nick commented. I looked to Rochelle, who got Ellis and Coach out of the room. Just in time for Nick to drop his temper.

"Then who's was it then?" He put his hand against the wall, resting his weight against it. I could feel his breath on my chest, my heart beating quicker with every passing second. Nick was smiling, with that stupid shit-eating grin.

"What's so funny?" I ask him, and he turns his head. His other hand graces my face, getting the hair out of my eyes. I couldn't help but smile.

"This." 

Nick roughly kisses me, and I don't try to push him away. He was passionate about it, pulling my hips closer to him. One hand graciously holding my head, and the other exploring every curve of my back.

He picked me up and placed me against the wall. He started kissing my neck, and I let out a slight moan. He knew what he was doing, and he knew I was weak. I unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the healing scar I stitched up. He undid my belt and slid my jeans off, it was just the two of us. In a little room, filled with guns. It was blissful and well-awaited. 

"You're a good man, Nick. You shouldn't hide who you really are." I spoke, out of breath. Laying on his bare chest, his hand in mine. I wanted this to last forever. But, I hadn't settled things with Ellis. I needed to tell him.