Each step was accompanied by the sound of swishing water or a splash as our booted feet waded through the murky water that threatened to consume us. I had to watch where I stepped as during the march I slipped nearly three times as the ground fell out or crumbled beneath my feet. Other times I'd slip on some substance beneath the water, perhaps some insect or creature? Whatever it was I couldn't see it nor did I plan on looking for it. Looking to the canopy above I saw the streams of sunlight as it drifted through the breaches and attempted to bake us alive. We hadn't even left the vault an hour prior and everyone's jumpers were darkened by sweat.
The air that was at once filled with a rich, strong, earthly smell was now contaminated by our musk. It assaulted my nose making me want to breathe through my mouth, but that would've been worse. It was pungent enough to where one could taste it. The pits of my jumper were completely dark along with the entire back. Along the collars, it was more of the same. The humidity was so high that not even our sweat would evaporate. The heat was oppressive, wearing down on all of us.
Aaron and Damien being more active than myself were suffering worse than I was. The entire upper half of their jumpers were soaked and Aaron's blonde hair was slicked down from the mixture of sweat and humidity. Damien's bald head was literally pouring sweat and whenever a ray of sunlight hit his head just right it shined. Claire and Amarita didn't seem to sweat as much as us but it was still apparent on them. Amarita's neatly combed hair had started to become frizzy at the edges, and the front of her hairline was completely soaked. Her pits much like mine were stained and beneath her ample bosom, there were two stains drawing more attention to her chest. Claire's hair was up in a bun and her sweat had been contained to only her armpits.
Coming to a stop and leaning against a tree Aaron pulled out the standard issue Vault 84 canteen and took a long swig from it. "Don't drink too much, we don't know if we'll be able to find any clean water out here." Amarita chided him hitting Aaron on the arm. Growling Aaron capped his canteen and put it back.
Standing back and losing focus on the conversation while everyone took the break to catch their breath I looked down to my pip-boy. On the map, it showed that in the hour we'd all been walking we'd only gone a mile and a half. An all-time low, the swamp was slowing us down. If we'd been on even land, we would've probably crossed at the least three miles at this point. "We're moving too slow. At this rate, we won't reach Orlando for weeks, and that's if the swamp doesn't get worse…" Kicking at the water causing it to ripple I clenched my teeth. We were moving far too slow, I'd come on this mission, disobeyed the overseer, stolen from the Vault. All to try and find my sister and now that may have all been for naught due to how difficult it was to cross through the swamp.
Opening and closing my hands I turned away from the group as they chatted among themselves, my words had fallen on deaf ears. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to calm down. Slowing my breathing I took deep breaths and when I opened my eyes I saw something I hadn't noticed. Off to our right was a slight metallic glint, bright enough to nearly blind you if you looked into the glare. My curiosity getting the better of me I waded through the water towards whatever the object was. It wasn't till I was already a few meters away from the group that they noticed me leaving. "Nik where are you going?!"
"No, let him go. We don't need him, any of us can read a map."
"Shut the fuck up! You've had a dick up your ass since he's joined us. The overseer sent him, and I don't care what type of masculinity problems you have that makes you think you can push him ar-" At this point, I tuned out the argument and continued walking on. The closer I got to the object the clearer it became. What started as just a glint of metal took the all too familiar cylindrical shape. Within that cylinder and protruding from the water was a skeletal arm. The fingers were extended as if whoever had died was reaching out for something.
The breath was ripped from my lungs as I looked upon the arm, meat still clung to the bones, maggots still crawled upon it. My heartrate picked up now beating rapidly in my chest out of sheer shock and fear. "I found somebody!" I shouted back, whatever argument had been happening in my absence had to have been stopped as the sounds of approaching splashes of water could be heard. Approaching the corpse, I leaned down examining the pip-boy. It was covered in a thick moss, but the screen was still on showing the biometrics of the dead figure. As you'd expect it showed that all the individuals life signs had flatlined and that a majority of the bones were broken or shattered. Most of all the skull.
Reaching out I worked on the pip-boys lock mechanism to pry it free. The only way to identify the body would see who the item had been issued to. Every portion of me prayed that it wasn't Serah, that this was not my sister's body I was defiling.
I heard the others as they approached then with them there was a faint squeal that started but was quickly silenced. "Nik… We need you to come back to us now."
"Hold on, just a bit more." The lock had been rusted shut and it was taking all my strength to work away at the metal, so much so that I had completely toned out all my surroundings that was till I heard a faint hissing. A hissing that sent a chill descending down my spine. You know that fear where your heart stops and you can't speak? That's what I felt as the hissing became louder. From the trees above I heard a slithering that was now all too apparent.
"Nik run!" Amarita screamed.
Obeying I snatched one final time at the pip-boy. This time it broke free, but only because the skeletal arm had snapped off with it. The force I had yanked flung me away from the area as a massive creature fell from the trees above to land where I had once been. This was unlike anything I had ever seen in any of the history books or reading material. I'd heard about snakes, but none such as this. The creatures body was long and a slick black, the scales with a triangular pattern with patches of gray. It was as wide as two cows standing side by side and its mouth would've been capable of swallowing Damien whole.
I stared directly into this large maw as it opened revealing four large fangs that were about the size of Claire's arm. "FUCK!" I screamed scrambling backward through the mud and water trying to put as much space between me and the beast as I could. In my right hand, I clasped onto the pip-boy and it was hampering me due to the arm still attached to it.
The massive snake's body coiled as its upper half reared back preparing to strike. "FIRE!" Aaron bellowed and over my head, I saw at first one red bolt that struck the snakes body. The bolt drew a sharp hiss from the creature leaving a small burn mark on its body. Another bolt followed, and with it this time more came. Bolt after bolt struck the creatures body. I was frozen in horror, almost like the snake had turned me to stone. My legs were jelly and my arms wanted to give out.
Joining the laser bolts was a loud thoom. It was the sound of Damien's shotgun. As the slug pounded into the snake's body the creature flailed backward. This was the first major sign of damage as a chunk of meat was blown out of the snake. There was the sound of the shotgun being pumped before another shot was fired. This one took off a portion of the snakes' jaw.
Feeling a heavy grip on the back of my collar that yanked me to my feet I saw Damien standing at my side. The man's eyes were filled with a fierce fire, a determination that I could only admire. He fired again, this one hitting the snake between the eyes. With a final hiss of defeat, the creature began a hasty retreat. Behind it what was once brown water was now dyed red.
I could barely breathe; my mouth was suddenly dry and I felt on the verge of tears. "Thank you." I gasped out to Damien.
"Now you owe me… Don't go off alone again, we can't risk losing you."
With the threat of the massive predator gone the others came closer. The first to reach me was Amarita who slapped me. The slap wasn't a playful one, no this one had power and emotion behind it. So much so that my cheek stung. There was a whistle from someone but I didn't know who. "Who told you to wander off from the group like that?! You could've been killed! What was so important that you would do that?!" Amarita asked. Her eyebrows furrowed, hands on her hips and her eyes glaring at me like an upset parent.
"I found a corpse… One with a pip-boy." Holding up the pip-boy I realized that somehow the skeletal arm had slipped free during the tussle with the snake and I didn't know where it had gotten to.
Eyes widening Amarita looked at it. "Is it operational?"
"Somewhat, I'll have to work on it to figure out who's it was but I don't want to do it here." Looking back at the trail of blood I swallowed. It hurt to do so as my throat felt like a dessert.
"You're right we've wasted enough time and we need to keep moving. Everybody reload, keep your weapons at the ready. We need to be ready. If there was one there will be more. No more single file either. We'll do pairs. Me and Aaron at the front, Damien, and Claire in the back. Nik, you continue to navigate and see if you can work on that pip-boy while we're moving. If there's anything useful on it. A final recording or something we need to hear it. Any information in this situation is better than none."
"Yes, mam!" We all said in unison. That's when it became clear why Amarita had been chosen. She was a natural born leader. She had her head on straight and she knew how to get people to respond to her commands. It was an impressive trait, one I craved. It seemed I was nothing but a hindrance as once again I was placed in the middle and delegated to the menial task of navigating and fixing the pip-boy.
Taking up formation I cast one more look back at the way the snake had fled. My thoughts were now dominated by what else we could run into out here in the wilds of the Everglades. We'd learned about all sorts of insects, creatures, and mammals that had once lived out here… During the times before the bombs dropped the Everglades were a dangerous place. If all the creatures that once resided there had become mutated in some way like the snake we'd be in for one hell of a fight. It began to make sense why we hadn't heard back from the other survivors. This was a suicide mission.