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Swamp Creature

Chapter eleven

"There's an island straight ahead, it'll take about an hour or so to get there. We can stay there for the night."

Dean was glad Sam finally decided to stop, not for his sake but for Sam's. He could feel his brother growing weaker by the minute. He should be in a hospital not out in a dirty swamp slowly bleeding to death. Dean squeezed his eyes shut then slowly opened them. Things were slowly getting lighter but all he could see were blurry shapes, nothing clear. Maybe by tomorrow he'd have enough of his sight back, then if Sam passed out he'd be able to carry him if he had to. He knew it would be a struggle to carry him through the thick swamp but he'd do it. In a few days they'd both look back at this and laugh about what a pathetic sight they must have made Dean thought smiling to himself.

"Glad you found something to smile about." Sam said looking at his brother.

"Just thinking what we must look like."

Sam gave a little laugh.

"Yeah…some hunters aren't we? It's good Dad can't see us."

"Hey, it's just a little reversal of roles right now but just wait…that thing doesn't know who he's dealing with."

"Yeah, I bet we got him shaking in his boots."

"If he isn't now… he will be."

An hour and a half later they finally made their way up and onto the island each collapsing from exhaustion.

Later that evening

Neither one was aware of how long they slept but Dean woke and immediately felt around till he found Sam's body. He put his hand on his brother's chest and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the steady rise and fall of his chest. But the sound of his breathing had him worried. There was a rattling in Sam's chest each time he took a breath and Dean knew his brother could either have a punctured lung or a bad infection. He took a swig of water then settled down next to Sam and once more drifted off to sleep.

Later

Sam moaned softly as he woke up. He looked around the small island and knew he had to get his brother up to the highest point before leaving him. He prayed he was doing the right thing. It would hurt him to leave Dean alone on the island but if he stayed with him he could end up bringing the creature to him. The only way to save his brother would be to leave him.

"Dean." He said softly shaking Dean's shoulder.

Dean quickly sat up.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Easy, everything's okay. I just thought we better move away from the water as much as we can. There's a little hill further back on the island, we can stay there for the night."

Sam guided Dean to what he thought would be the safest part of the island. An old rotten boat lay on the small hill which he figured must have been grounded years ago. It would at least provide his brother a little shade and protection till his sight came back.

Later

Once they were settled in for the night Sam lay awake till he heard Dean breathing deeply and hoped he had fallen asleep. He laid the canteen of water next to Dean and blinked back tears as he stood up knowing he would never see his brother again.

"Take care Bro." He said softly as he began to walk away.

He had only gone a short distance when he heard Dean call out to him.

"Sam….Sammy!" Dean had woken up and began to panic when he discovered Sam wasn't lying next to him.

Sam watched as his brother felt around on the ground trying to find him. He didn't know whether to answer him or not but when Dean stood up and tried to walk Sam knew he had to.

"Dean stay where you are." He knew if Dean walked away from the relative safety of the boat he might not be able to find his way back.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"Dean….I'm sorry it's the only way."

"What the hell are you talking about? What the hell are you doing Sam?"

"Dean if I stay here we could both die. I didn't tell you before but…I think that thing was tracking us. It's coming for me Dean, not you. By tomorrow you should be able to see enough to be able to find your way out of here."

"Damn it Sammy you get back here! I am so going to kick your ass when I get hold of you!"

Sam swallowed hard as he heard Dean's voice crack with emotion as he spoke.

"I'm sorry Dean, I can't." Sam turned and blinked back tears as he headed back toward the swamp.

"Sam!" Dean screamed knowing Sam was about to sacrifice himself to try and save him. "Sammy!"

TBC