Monster

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macabre-fantasies: Wow! I give a huge thanks to you! You helped me with ideas for the chapter, thanks! I give you credit! :D

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Four

I held my breath as I waded through thick peat, the boggy mixture reaching my thighs. Coach battled onwards before me, Ellis limp in his arms, but Nick was still at the swamp's edge. I moved back to him, his cologne masking the stench of rotting leaf matter. He was staring at the mud.

"Come on, Nick," I encouraged, "I'll get a new suit when we reach a town, okay?" He stared at me.

"No you won't." He turned his back on me, huffing like a petulant child. I frowned.

"At least I'm trying!" I snapped. He turned to me, shocked by my sudden outburst, but I was too inexplicably angry to stop now.

"Ro-" he began, but I cut him off.

"Don't 'Ro' me! I'm not some puppy! I trying to get a dying kid to safety - a dying kid who's in that condition because of you!" Nick's reply died in his throat as I said the last sentence. My eyes widened - I'd gone too far. "Nick-"

"No," he snapped. "You think I don't feel that way? I feel bad too! Just because I hate the kid it doesn't mean I want him dead!" I swallowed thickly, biting back tears.

"Nick, please-"

"No. Just carry on. Go on," he snapped. "Or are you too scared?" His features twisted into a sneer, but his eyes were sad; clouded with pain. I turned to leave. There was nothing more to say to him.

-Monster-Monster-Monster-Monster-

I pulled my legs through the thick bog, ignoring the sticky peat that soaked my jeans and filled my boots. Looking up at the trees, a faint most covered everything, but in the distance I could see the skyline of a city. Shaking my head at the distant location, I battled on. By the time I reached the end of the swamp, Coach had already left the mud and was on his way across the clearing, towards the river. Sighing with exhaustion, I began following. Freezing as a yell sounded behind me, I turned on my heel to see Nick - lying face down in the mud, sinking quickly. His arms were already submerged. I ran towards him, and cried out as a sticky appendage wrapped around me - a Smoker's tongue. As I was dragged towards the tumor-covered Infected, I heard a loud roar shake the forest. All the ravens and crows erupted into the air, disturbed, shrieks almost drowning out the sound of an incoming Tank. Eyes rolling in fear, I squirmed in the grip of the Smoker, but it was useless. Then I was faced with a huge wall of muscle, sweat beading the sinewy skin, sunken eyes glaring at me. One huge fist raised, the Tank snorted, a gust of hot, putrid air blasting my face. Then it's extremity crashed down, and the Smoker released me, stumbling back. I staggered back, clutching one broken arm. I pulled the tongue from my waist and began to run. Nimbly dodging the Tank's blows, I crouched beside Nick.

"Nick!" I hissed, shaking his shoulders. He was out cold. Looping one mud-caked arm around my shoulders, I dragged him forwards, focusing on what I thought his response would be when he realized how muddy he was, instead of the tremors in the ground as the Tank got nearer. I screamed as a mossy rock shattered beside me, shrapnel-like shards showering me as it broke. Nick stirred. I allowed myself a moment to recover, before continuing on. I was almost at the edge of the swamp when a fist smashed into my back, and I fell forwards; dropping Nick as I barreled into a tree. I heard Coach's yell.

"N-no, boy-" He was cut off by something unseen, and I was too busy to go look. Nick groaned as the Tank lifted him into the air.

"Over here!" I jumped up, waving my arms and yelling. The Tank turned, a threatening growl tumbling in its throat. I stepped back as it took thunder-like footsteps towards me, bellowing in rage. A glint of silver caught my eye, and I bent down. It was Nick's discarded shotgun! Lifting the heavy gun, I opened fire onto the Tank's chest. It roared in pain and fury, lifted its giant fists to crush me into the peat. But I stepped back, never ceasing fire, and the Tank fell to its knees, its last roar dying in its throat as it fell. It lay still. Coach came running over the bank, looking worried.

"Y'all, you better come quick, the young'un-"

"Stop!" Nick spat. "I didn't see you helping back there! Who died and made you a stupid coward?" Coach froze. Then, quietly, he spoke,

"Nobody died. But Ellis will."

-Monster-Monster-Monster-Monster-

I staggered backwards.

"What?" My voice was hoarse with the effort of stopping tears from being shed. My stomach clenched.

"He... I don't think he'll last much longer," Coach confessed. "He's bleeding out, and he's got a fever. I don't think he'll survive until we make it to another evacuation zone, and even if we do, who's to say he won't be immediately killed by soldiers there?"

"I..." I didn't know what to say. A hot, acidic feeling erupted at the back of my throat, and I bent over, emptying the decimated contents of my stomach.

"Ro!" Coach gasped, jogging to my side. He pulled strands of hair out of the way, and patted my back soothingly. I closed my mouth, shivering. The sour taste remained in my mouth, on my tongue, and I thankfully accepted a flask of water from Coach. Wiping my mouth, I swallowed down gulps of the fresh, clear liquid, then put the flask back in Coach's rucksack.

"Let's get Ellis." I was determined. Stepping over the grassy bank at the edge of the swamp, I ran towards a crumpled form on the ground. "Ellis!"

"Ro...?" Ellis murmured, opening his bloody eyes with effort. "You-" He broke off into a coughing fit, blood spattering the dirt, body weakly convulsing as his strength was sapped by such a simple task. I bit my lip, blinking back tears.

"Overalls-" Nick began, but I flashed him an angry look and he fell silent. Nobody wanted to hear his barbed comments at this moment in time.

"Sweetie? Honey, look at me, baby, its okay, come on..." Ellis didn't move. Sobbing, I scrabbled at his shirt, pressing my ear to his chest. I was met with a weak, palpitating pulse - weak but still there. Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked up at Coach and Nick, who were standing in silence behind me.

"He's still alive, but barely. We have to move!" Coach scooped up the limp figure in his muscular arms, and Nick got laboriously to his feet. I saw him limping out of the corner of my eye.

"Nick?" Coach had seen him too.

"What?" Nick snapped.

"Your leg, son," Coach remarked pointedly. "You gonna splint it?" When I looked closer, indeed I could see that Nick's leg was broken; I'd assumed the blood stains were from Infected, but, as Nick lifted the hem of his left trouser leg, I saw a bone - stark white against red blood and tanned skin.

"Shit."