Hey, thanks a lot for the kind reviews. You guys really make me laugh with the different comments. I hope you like the rest of the story.

Swamp Creature

Chapter ten

"Where is it?" Dean whispered as he pulled Sam closer to him and held the gun out in front of them.

"It's not him Dean….It's just a small gator." Sam weakly picked up a rock lying nearby and tossed it at the alligator which turned and slid back into the slimy water. "Hey will you loosen up a little you're squeezing me to death." Sam said as he tried to remove his brother's arms from around his chest.

Dean released his hold on his brother.

"Sorry."

Sam gave a little laugh.

"Boy we must look pretty pathetic….You can't see so I should be protecting you, not you protecting me."

Dean smiled trying to hide his fear. What if it had been that thing? What if it had grabbed Sam and there was nothing he could do but listen to his brother cry out for him as it tore him apart? He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened him instead of blackness it looked as if he was underwater, everything was glassy and blurry. He looked around hoping to be able to make out shapes but all he could still see were different shades of grey, better then what he could see before, but still not enough to be of much help to Sam.

"You okay?" Sam asked seeing his brother look around. "Is your sight coming back?"

"No, not really. It's a little better but…"

"But not in time huh?"

"I don't know Sam…Hey maybe you killed it when you shot at it."

"But I don't even know if I hit it, I thought I did but…"

"Well, maybe you did and it crawled off somewhere and died."

"I don't think so Dean…My hand was screwed up and I could barely pull the trigger, I didn't have time to aim, I just shot." Sam carefully pulled himself out of Dean's arms. "Dean I'm feeling a little better and I think we need to get off this island and find another one. It knows where we are and it'll be back."

"How are we going to do that? You're hurt, you're not going to be able to walk through this muck and I can't see, I can't even help you."

"Yes you can. If I can just lean on you I can tell you which way to head."

Dean knew Sam was right, it would be slow going but it was better then doing nothing.

"Okay…maybe you're right; it beats hanging around here waiting for that thing to come back. Who knows, maybe a ranger might even come by and we can hitch a ride with him."

Dean stood up then pulled Sam up. At first Sam swayed a little and fell against Dean but finally he was able to stand on his own. He put his arm over his brother's shoulder.

"If I get too heavy let me know and we'll rest….Okay just start walking straight ahead…In about twenty feet or so we'll reach the edge of the swamp."

They reached the swamp then stepped into the slimy water and with Sam's directions Dean lead them out into the murky water. Dean took a couple of deep breaths trying to stay calm. A few days ago he never would have believed he'd be blind and in the middle of an alligator invested swamp with his badly injured brother. Even as scared as he was, he was terrified that if the thing attacked he wouldn't be able to protect Sam, and to him that was all that mattered.

Later

The going was extremely slow. Occasionally Dean would step into a deep pocket of water and they would have to swim till they reached an area where they could walk, but most of the time they were up to their knees in mud. Dean could hear Sam's ragged breathing and stopped often to let him rest. Even though Sam was in agony he was determined to get his brother to the safety of another island or die trying.

"Sam we've been going for at least two hours, you got to get some rest." Dean said as he felt Sam legs begin to give out.

"No…I got to get you out of here." Sam felt like he was about to pass out but he fought with every ounce of strength he had not to. If he did who would get Dean to safety?

"So that's what this is about? You getting me out of here? I think you got that wrong buddy, we're getting out of here together or we're not getting out at all."

"Dean…"

"I don't want to hear it Sammy."

"We both don't have to die Dean."

"Who said anything about one of us dying? No one is dying today Sam, not you, not me. If anyone's going to die it's that thing out there."

It was then Sam saw the island off in the distance. Once they got there he'd get Dean to high dry ground then leave him, it might be the only way to save his life. Hopefully the creature would follow his scent back into the swamp and leave Dean alone. In a day or two Dean's eyes should clear up and he could make his way out of the swamp without having the burden of dragging him with him. He knew Dean would be pissed off at him but he figured he wouldn't be around to have to listen to him.

TBC