Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (21 page)

When he surfaced, he quickly swam after them. He pushed through the water, fighting against the current, swimming as hard and as fast as he could. It was obvious the girls weren’t doing too well. Some of them bobbed along the top, arms flailing, and they were going to drown if he didn’t hurry.

Kicking her feet, struggling to stay afloat, Trish resurfaced, screaming as she sucked in a waterlogged breath. “Help me!”

She was the closest, so he swam in behind her and grabbed a hold of her, pinning her back to his chest. She struggled against him and he gripped her harder. “Stop fightin’ me or I’ll have to knock you out.”

That was enough to make her stop and relax, as much as possible as the waves kept trying to drown her. “What do I do?”

“Relax your body an’ just let me tow ya to shore.” She did as he said, and held onto his arm around her waist with a death grip. When she was close enough to shore, he pushed her away from him and towards it. “Get on land. I have to get the others.” That said, he turned, swimming back out into the dangerous water.

He grabbed each one of the girls, doing the same thing as before. Everything went like clockwork until he came to the last girl, Amber. She was the first one in the water and went through the worst of it, being pelted and pounded by white water. She was caught in the undercurrent, which confuses swimmers to which way is up and down and they usually drown.

He scanned across the surface and didn’t see her anywhere. Quickly, he dove down, looking through the murky water for any sign. It was hard to see and visibility was next to nothing. Once more, he resurfaced, turning to the girls on shore. “Do you girls see ‘er? I can’t find ‘er!”

After skimming the water for a few moments, Heather pointed. “What’s that floating in the water?”

Turning in that direction, Alex cried. “Oh my God! It’s Amber and she’s dead!”

Mark turned in the direction and quickly swam over. They were right. It was Amber floating on her stomach, not moving. This wasn’t good. He flipped her over onto her back and nestled her against his body. Keeping her head out of the water, he quickly towed her to shore. He was barely out before he started CPR on her. She wasn’t breathing, and didn’t have a pulse.

He kneeled against her side, pulsating her heart with the heel of his hand. He delivered five pushes, then tilted her head back, squeezed her nose and breathed into her mouth. He continued this for what seemed like hours, but it was just a few minutes.

“She’s not coming back! She’s dead!” Heather cried, running a hand through her hair. “What are we going to do?”

“She’s dead!” Alex screamed. “Oh my God, Amber is dead!”

“I’ve lost another sister!”

“Stop that!” Trina yelled. “She’s too mean to die like this.” She looked down at Amber, yelling in her face. “Fight this, you bitch!”

Mark continued CPR. While he pumped on her chest with his hand, he glared at the others. “I don’t think you’re screaming loud enough. Try an octave higher.” He hit her chest with his fist.

That did the trick! Soon enough, she was spitting out the gallons of water she had her lungs from the trip down the river. She continued sputtering water from her mouth and nose as she coughed, gagged, and tried to breathe through the attack. It took a few minutes and she thought she was going to die from the lack of breath, but soon enough she was able to breathe with a few coughs in between.

Turning, she glared at him. “I knew you were going to fucking drown me!”

He scoffed, shaking his head as he leaned back, taking a much-needed break. His muscles screamed from the overexerted workout. He was on the verge of exhaustion, but there was no time for that right now. He had to play the hero. “You’re un-fuckin’-believable, a real piece o’ work!” He rested on one of the rocks, trying to catch his breath.

“Well it’s true!”

“God, if this is the end o’ the world, please strike me dead with a lightnin’ bolt.”

“Amber!” Trina rushed over and hugged her and the others followed.

She sat up, pushing them off her in disgust. “In what world makes you think I want you hugging all over me!” She turned, glaring at Mark. “It was your idea to take the fucking boat! You almost killed us!”

Trish blinked with her mouth agape and glared at her. “Oh my God, Amber he brought you back from the dead. You were fucking dead!”

Trina looked at Mark, nodding. “You were great! You saved us. Thank you so much.”

He looked at Trina. “Thanks.”

“You’re a hero.”

“Not a hero, but I do what I can. I couldn’t let you all drown.”

“So now we owe you our lives. Who do ya want first?” Alex asked.

He smiled. “For now I’ll pass, but maybe later.”

Wiggling her brows, Heather winked. “I’ll bite the bullet and take ya first.”

He shook his head. “Stop claimin’ my damn sperm.”

“Jesus, where did you learn how to steer that damn thing? You went right into that rock! I think you were trying to kill us,” Amber yelled.

He turned to her and her accusation. “If ya didn’t have your fat ass bouncin’ all over the raft, my steerin’ would’ve worked, but no. You had to bounce.”

“My ass isn’t fat, thank you very much!”

He stood, running a hand through his hair. “God, what a day it’s been.” He turned, looking around. He needed to figure out where they were. Boulder sized rocks littered the river and the steep embankment led up to a guardrail and it was obvious there was a road behind that. Groaning, he stood and walked towards the grass, pulling himself up the hill, quicker than his muscles would’ve liked.

Trina watched him, curiously. “What are you doing?”

“We aren’t gonna get what we need on these rocks.”

Amber scrambled out of the water. “Do you even know where we’re going? What if we find more of those people who want to kill us?”

“After being with you for a short time, I doubt that’s somethin’ new.”

“Oh ha-ha. Seriously.”

“Look, you can follow or stay here. I’ve proven I won’t let anythin’ happen to you, but I’m not gonna hold your fuckin’ hand either.”

“I’m not asking you to!”

He turned, continuing up the path to the guardrail. Once at the top of the hill, he looked around. There was a gas station across the road, surrounded by woods all around. There were signs in the window that bragged about how they were the cheapest cigarette place around. There were a few dead bodies in the parking lot and cars abandoned at the pumps. He winced. “Oh hell no. We came this far?”

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked as she made it up the hill and stood beside him. “I don’t see anyone.”

“Good thing,” Trish said, looking in each direction.

“There might not be anyone around, but we’re far from where I wanna be,” he sighed. “Well, while we’re here…”

“Of all the people to get stuck with,” Amber groaned, following closely behind him.

“Trust me. I feel your pain.” Stepping over the guardrail, he quickly ran across the street to the store. He didn’t stop until he was at the door. Being the first one in, he checked the store, only seeing a few dead people scattered within, before holding the door open for the others. Once they were inside, he locked it, before turning and moving through the store. Stopping at the beer cooler, he reached in and grabbed one, draining it quickly. When he finished, he held it to his forehead.

Watching him, Amber shook her head in disgust. “Drinking beer now? I don’t think that’s going to help us one bit.”

“After the day I’ve had, I deserve it.”

“As long as you’re not planning on getting drunk.”

“I’m not getting’ drunk with one fuckin’ beer. God, get off my back already.”

Heather rolled her eyes, grabbing a soda, drinking, as she grabbed more snacks. “Amber, give the man a break! If he wants a fucking beer let him have it.”

He went behind the counter and found a backpack. Dumping out the contents, he filled it with cartons of cigarettes and snack food. He chose certain ones; Slim Jims, sucker candy, candy bars, as well as small bags of chips. He tossed in a few cookie packages, cheese, and crackers. It wasn’t the most nutritious meal he could find, but it was close enough.

“I suggest you girls get somethin’ to eat an’ drink an’ now. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take us to get where we need to go. We’re gonna have to make these rations last.” He grabbed a few bags of hard candy, cramming it into the top.

Amber watched him, curiously. “You’re grabbing candy?”

He grabbed the plastic bags, putting one inside the other. Rushing over to the drinks, he filled them with bottles of water. “Yes. It’ll help when eatin’ an’ drinkin’ aren’t possible so we don’t get thirsty. In ancient times, they’d take a smooth pebble an’ suck on it for long journeys.”

“Well that’s thirty seconds of my life I won’t get back.”

“Maybe you should stop talkin’. If ya wanna a special kind o’ soda, get it now. If ya make your plastic bag heavy enough, it should be sturdy enough to carry.”

“I’m not carrying anything heavy.”

“Then fuckin’ starve. Look, you might be used to someone takin’ care o’ your ass, but that’s not gonna happen now. Ya need to pull your own weight an’ if ‘at means carryin’ your own diet soda, then you’ll do it or go without.”

“Fine!” Amber grabbed a bag and a few diets of her choosing. “Happy now?”

Once they were finished, each of them stood at the door with an oversized stuff plastic bag in hand. Mark had tied a few, filled with all the water he could find, to the backpack, so they had plenty of drinking water. They all stood behind him at the door, but he wasn’t exiting the store.

“So, where are we going?” Trish asked, looking out the window.

“Nowhere. Not until those people leave,” he told them, bending down, motioning for them to do the same.

Running towards the store was a woman. Long blonde hair disheveled, bright blue eyes wide with fright, dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a floral shirt, both covered in blood. The rather large gash in her cheek dripped down her shirt, and the deep gash in the top of her thigh added to her already bloody appearance.

Her mournful screams for someone please help went unanswered as she ran. A man was chasing her. She was losing a lot of blood, evident by the trail following her. She limped, before falling to the ground, tripping over her own feet. Struggling to stand proved to be too much, as she tripped when her feet slipped out from under her. Smacking into the concrete once more, she crawled around on the ground like a toddler, quickly moving to the closest vehicle for safety. Her bare knees took the full blunt. Adding to her anguish with cuts, scrapes, causing her to scream out in pain.

The man who followed behind her, half-ran, half-walked towards her. He was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. His beard was stained with red. He had a crazed, serial-killer expression in his eyes, as he tried to get her.

Ducking down behind Mark, Heather watched the scene through the door. “Where did they come from?”

He shrugged. “Got me. I wasn’t in charge of watchin’ out for ‘em.”

Amber looked out, shaking her head. “I don’t see this ending well for the screamer.”

“It never does,” Heather told her. “It makes you wonder why the bitch isn’t running. She’s just crawling around, screaming her head off. Like that’s going to chase him away.”

“Shh! I mean if you girls want him to know we’re here, I’ll open the door an’ you can go an’ ask ‘im,” he said, hushing them.

“Just saying...”

Inquisitively, Trina looked at him. “Aren’t you gonna help her?”

He watched the couple. “I want to, but I can’t. Look at ‘er. She’s got a bad cut on ‘er leg an’ on ‘er face. She’d slow us down. Besides, we’re gonna use ‘er death to get away.”

Surprised, Alex turned to him. “What?”

“What do you mean;
we’re going to use her death
?” Trina asked.

He nodded. “Well, the way I see it, she’s gonna die anyway. Instead, while he’s doin’ whatever he’s gonna do with ‘er, we’re gonna sneak out. I figure the trees might be the safest place. If we cut through the woods, it’s definitely gonna be the shortest distance.”

“That sounds heartless.”

Alex shrugged. “Sounds like a plan, I guess.”

“When I head out, you follow behind me single file an’ don’t look back. Run as if your lives depend on it, because it does an’ for God’s sake, don’t make any noise!”

The man grabbed the woman, pulling her into his chest, burying his face in her neck. The woman let out a blood-curdling, mournful sound as he bit her. The arterial spray hit him in the face, causing him to open his mouth. She stopped struggling as he held her close, eating her. It almost look like some weird sexual act the way he appeared to hump into her as he ate her.

When the attack began, Mark opened the door and led the way out. They quietly snuck around in single file formation. When he was around the side of the building, where they were no longer visible to the man, he turned, motioning for the girls to run around the dumpster, around the fence, up to the back property, to the wooded area. He helped them up the hill, rushing towards the heart of the woods.