Alligator Eyes

Chapter 5

Jinyoung tells them they'll move on to Apora and stock up there before continuing into the jungle. But it means they'll stop as little as possible along the way. It isn't bad at first, with the immediate danger gone, they all seem tired and fall back asleep quickly.

The rain has stopped by sunrise, when they've woken up and re-situated. Mark's legs are asleep and he can hardly stretch them out in the cart. By noon Mark is becoming a bit crazy, with Yugyeom and Youngjae's never ending game of 'I spy' and BamBam actively avoiding him in the tiny space, Mark is starting to feel that throwing himself over the side of the cart and taking his chances is a better option then this.  Surprisingly, he isn't the first to snap.

"I can't take this anymore, stop the cart, I need to walk around, just five minutes!" Youngjae yells suddenly, as Yugyeom is spying something green for the millionth time.

"We keep moving" The edge in Jinyoung's voice is from something other than Youngjae's begging, Mark is sure of it.

"Jinyoung, please, I'm begging you, let us out. It's cramped back here" Jackson steps up to the front of the cart to make his plea.

"I said we're not stopping"

So Jackson taps Jaebum on the shoulder and signs to him instead. After several exchanges, Jaebum turns back to Jinyoung and asks if he can stop the cart. Jinyoung refuses and Jaebum shrugs an apology to Jackson.

"Please Jaebum," Jackson whines. "I'm about to throw myself off the side of this cart if I have to listen to Yugyeom find one more tree."

Jaebum laughs silently, shaking his head before he pulls on the reins.

"Jaebum stop! Come on, they're fine!" Jinyoung makes a grab for the reins but Jaebum moves them out of reach, apologizing as best he can without the use of his hands.

As soon as the cart stops they all jump out, groaning as they stretch their stiff muscles. The ground is still wet and muddy from the downpour earlier. Jaebum and Jinyoung argue back and forth for a minute but Jaebum gives up and climbs down off the seats to stretch, and pull food and water out for Ahern.

Jinyoung stalks off into the trees along the path, muttering to himself. Mark thinks about following him and of what could happen if he does. Ultimately, he decides that he has some things he wants to say away from Jaebum and follows him to the best of his abilities.

But he can't seem to find him. And Mark isn't a bad tracker, in fact he would call himself good. But Jinyoung's tracks just vanish and then there are only animal tracks. No water nearby to wade through so unless he suddenly began jumping between the trees, Mark hasn't got any ideas where he might have gone.

"Jinyoung," Mark calls softly, not wanting to draw too much attention from anything bigger than a person. The branches rustle nearby and Mark draws his hunting knife, approaching them slowly. But nothing comes out of them, they just continues to shake. So Mark parts them.

And panics.

Jinyoung is up to his mouth in quicksand, grabbing onto the branches to keep himself from sinking completely. Mark quickly grabs his arm, using a tree for leverage as he pulls until Jinyoung's head is completely uncovered.

"Holy shit, pull, pull"

"I am pulling" Mark repositions himself and restrengthens his grip, giving him another strong pull so that both his arms are uncovered. "Grab onto my legs"

Jinyoung does as he's told and Mark grabs the tree trunk with both arms using it as a bar to hoist Jinyoung fully out of the quicksand. Once he's out he scuttles away from the puddle, both of them watching as the liquid reforms around where he was buried.