Authors note: Same disclaimers...duh! Enjoy!
Theme 10: Breathe Again
She didn't see it coming. One minute she was making her awake across one of the many makeshift plank bridge in the tattered swamp town, the next she was completely submerged in the muddy water, her gun floating away in the other direction. Her feet couldn't touch the bottom, and she had never learned to swim properly beyond a very weak paddle. Thrashing her way to the surface, she waved her arms and coughed as water seeped into her mouth.
"HELP!" she managed to shout, before going under. Each time this occurred it got harder and harder to get back up to the surface. Up above, it was Ellis who managed to hear her over the gunfire and zombie noises. He rushed to the edge of a rickety metal roof and looked down to see Crystal go under again. This time she didn't come back up. Swearing, the young man dropped her gun with a clatter to the roof and dove in headfirst. The others came running up right after he jumped off, the last of the infected having been killed seconds before. They got there in to see Ellis' feet disappear into the dark water. They didn't see why he'd gone in and first, and thought an infected had caught up by surprise. But when he surfaced they got their reason.
A limp Crystal was held around the shoulders by one of his arms, his other arm cutting through the water as hard as it could, towards the closest metal ramp. Crystal eyes were shut, and in all honesty she looked dead. Coach helped Ellis' drag her up onto the roof. Ellis shook the oldest member of their group off, and checked her over. He remembered being forced, well it felt like being forced at the time, to take a CPR class before he'd left high school to help his pa at their auto shop.
After failing to find a pulse, he checked her breathing and found that it too had stopped. He looked up.
"Keep Nick back...I know what I'm doin'" he said, before starting the compressions and breathing that could save a life. It took all Coach and Rochelle had to hold onto Nick's arms, as he struggled. He leans down and breathed air into her, then did chest compressions. He didn't want to have to use the defib he was carrying yet if he didn't have to. After a few times of doing CPR normally, Crystal suddenly inhaled deeply, and started coughing. Ellis had done it..he'd gotten her to start breathing again. The others finally let go of Nick and Ellis backed up, slightly, to let the older man hold onto Crystal. He was mumbling something about 'thank god..', before looking at Ellis. The look in his pale blue eyes told Ellis everything, and he only had one response to say.
"You're welcome"
End of theme!