Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (23 page)

Mark was in so much pain, he spent the majority of his time in the water. Dropping the pack at the water’s edge, he soaked for an hour. After that, he walked for ten minutes until the pain was so unbearable, then he was back to soaking to repeat the process. Each time, he added less walking time and more soaking to his agenda. Every time they stopped, the girls grabbed something to eat, smoke, or drink and tried not to complain. Trina gave him pain pills until he was so high it didn’t matter.

After they walked for a whole five minutes, Mark decided to take a break, crawling back in the water. “God, this feels good on my head.”

“Oh come on!” Amber yelled. She slapped her hand at her side as he sank back under. “At this rate, we’re never going to get there! Fuck! He has to rest for five hours after walking for a whole fifteen minutes.”

Trina glared at her. “He’s trying to fight an infection leave him alone! The more he rests, the faster he will heal. The water obviously makes him feel better. We can wait. He did save our lives.”

“It was his job!”

“Yeah, well he’s sick, so leave him alone.”

“Wait, what do you mean he’s fighting an infection?”

“The bear got him good. It’s already infected.”

“How do we know he doesn’t have what all those other people have?”

“I’m,” Trina looked back at him, “not sure what he’s got. If I had to guess, I’d say the bear gave him something, because he was fine before that.”

“Does anyone else think this might not be the best for us?”

Chewing on a Slim Jim, Trish looked over. “What are you blabbing about now?”

“I don’t think we should walk with him. What if he gives us whatever he’s got?”

“And what the hell do you propose we do with him? Just leave him in the woods to die?” Alex asked, looking at her with an upturned brow.

“You mean river. Do you really want to get whatever he’s got?”

“One, we don’t know that he even has anything for us to get.”

“Trina just said he did!”

Trina shook her head. “No, I said the bear attacked him and the scratches are infected.”

“That’s not what it sounded like to me. How do we know that we aren’t going to be trying to climb up a tree to get away from him?”

Heather took a bite of her Slim Jim, looking at Mark. “You know, he saved our lives. He didn’t have to do that.”

“Bullshit! It’s his
job
to make sure people in this campsite don’t drown or get eaten by some weird things if he can help it.”

Trish shook her head. “I seriously doubt anyone would have cared if we died.”

“I’m sure his boss would frown on that.”

“His boss is most likely dead. He did that because it’s who he is. He’s sarcastic. A bit of an asshole. Very opinionated and full of himself, but he’s not going to leave five girls out here alone to fend for ourselves. He’s not the type to let us drown either.”

Mark smirked while soaking in the water.

Amber shook her head. “Maybe we should all start swimming instead of walking and we might get there faster. As it is, it will be nightfall before we get out of the water.”

Looking around, Trina nodded. “Ooh, she has a point. We’re going to get stuck out here again… at night. I didn’t think about that.”

“Yeah, at this rate it’s going to take us a week. See, so maybe I do have a point. With all this waiting around we’re going to be stuck in the middle of this shit storm with everything trying to eat us!”

“So we need to find a safe place they can’t get us,” Trish said in agreement with the others.

“Or we leave water boy in the river and go find safety elsewhere.”

Trina shook her head. “No! We’re not leaving him. You may not value your life, but I value mine. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“We could always take a chapter from his book and use his death to our advantage and get to safety.”

Alex snapped her fingers. “Shut up! We’re not leaving him behind so shut your fucking mouth already!”

Heather nodded. “Yeah, either help us think of how to help the man and ourselves at the same time or stop flapping your lips. I’m so tired of hearing you whine.”

Mark laughed. “I was wrong about some o’ you girls! You’re all right!”

Trina looked out at him. “We’re not leaving you here by yourself. However, we might want to think about swimming if it’s going to be faster. All these breaks are killing us on time.”

Alex looked at the sky. “Yeah, it’s going to be dark soon, so we need to think about how we’re going to protect ourselves, since we’re going to be stuck out here.”

He looked around. Near where he laid in the water was a rocky area that looked like a sand dune. “Well, we could always lay here in the water close to shore. The water’s low enough, we won’t drown, an’ high enough, the creatures won’t come near it. Hell, we could even use the rocks as pillows.”

Amber scoffed. “What if fish are like those creatures?”

“I’ve been in here for a long time an’ nothin’ has tried eatin’ me. There’s nothin’ in the river big enough to eat you anyway.”

“Piranha aren’t that big and you see the damage they do in seconds.”

“I think you’re safe. Only thing in here is; walleye musky, blue gills, bass, sunfish, catfish, an’ a few others, but the last time I checked, piranha wasn’t part o’ that list, an’ I’ve yet to have an encounter with an alligator. Then again a water moccasin can be a bitch if ya get bit.”

“What about sharks?”

He furrowed his brows. “Sharks?”

“Yeah, you know like the ones from Jaws? Big teeth, big bodies, fins, supposedly don’t like the taste of humans, but sure as hell didn’t spit them out after tasting?”

He laughed. “They’re not usually fresh water river creatures.”

“Bullshit! I’ve watched River Monsters and I’m telling you they do have river sharks. Not to mention a Bull Shark can easily come up a river.”

“Hmm, well Mrs. National Geographic, they’re not in this river.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s Animal Planet, you ass.”

Trish looked around. “What about that trailer where all those tubes were?”

Mark looked over, curiously. “What about it?”

“Couldn’t we camp out in there?”

“We could, but not tonight. Our best bet is to stay right here in the water an’ stay safe until its daylight again.”

“Why?”

“It’s gonna be dark soon. We don’t wanna travel in the darkness, in the river with logs an’ rocks to have to climb over. Some of ‘em are very sharp an’ it’s very dangerous. Now, once we get there, we can do that. We can tie a few o’ the rafts together so each of us has our own room, as it were.”

“Yeah, but what’s to stop us from going back down the river and flipping over again?”

“We’ll tie off to each other an’ anchor us down. A few rocks per raft should make sure we don’t go anywhere.”

Trina nodded. “That’s a great idea! How’s your pain level?”

“I’m doin’ just fine here. No pain.”

“Good. You want some company?”

He patted the rock beside him. “Sure. Come on out, darlin’. We can soak together.”

Amber plopped down on a rock, grabbing the backpack and pulling out a bag of chips. “Smoke if ya got ‘em. Eat if you’re hungry. It looks like we’re taking another break.”

Heather groaned. “Shut up, Amber!”

Alex sat down on a rock. “I know, always bitching. Don’t you get tired of hearing yourself talk?”

“No!” Amber yelled, crunching a chip.

“Well we do,” Heather warned. “So shut the fuck up.”

Trina laughed, wading out to Mark. “Ugh, getting in the water with clothes on after they dried feels... funny. I feel like I’m going to sink in the mud!”

“Walk on the rocks. There’s no mud there.” He told her as he stared up at the sky. “Ya ever watched the clouds make their pretty pictures?”

She laid down beside him, looking up at the clouds. “Yep, I see a bunny rabbit over there.” She lifted her arm pointing to the sky.

“Where? I see a dragon, a ship… a… Oh! Bunny! I see it.” He laughed like a five year old while clapping his hands. “I wonder if it’s Bugs.”

“Bugs?” Amber asked the others, who shrugged, rolling their eyes.

Heather sighed, grabbing a Slim Jim and a cigarette. “We stop too many more times, I’m going to get fat.”

Trina laughed. She looked at the picture shaking her head. “No, if it was Bugs, he’d stand holding a carrot saying, ‘What’s up Doc?’”

He laughed. “See, she got it! The one I wanted to get it got it. How cool is ‘at?”

Heather groaned. “Happy for ya there, baby cakes.”

“Ya ever wonder if everyone has a soul mate why yours hasn’t come along yet.”

“Yeah, I figured he was lost somewhere needing a map to get to me, but how do you know when you meet that one person? Is it a tingle when you think of them? Is it that you’re paired to be together so there’s a connection between the two of you?”

“Hmm, good question. I feel like I’ve been lost for so long an’ just didn’t know which way to go.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe I came in time to show you. I had a feeling there was a reason I had to go on this trip. I almost didn’t.”

“Why not? Who doesn’t wanna come out into the woods an’ have a good time?”

Trina smiled. “Well, I had told them I wasn’t going, but at the last minute, I raced out with my bags packed, ready to go. I’m glad I came. I guess this was my destination to meet you.”

He looked at her and smiled. He leaned over and kissed her. It was just a little peck at first, but then he put his arms around her, gripping a handful of hair and the kiss grew more intense. Trina was shocked when he kissed her. It surprised her when she felt his tongue thrusting in and out of her mouth, but she didn’t hold back. As he gripped her hair, she felt herself growing aroused.

Trish groaned, shaking her head. “Okay, we might have to stop so you can soak, but I’m not going to watch you two making out. Go find a tree or some shit.”

Heather sighed. “Oh God, I guess we know who he took first.”

Alex shook her head. “Damn her and those pills.”

Amber laughed. “That’s okay. He’s not my type anyway.”

“He’s male, isn’t he?”

The kiss ended and he pulled back smiling. “I think I found my map home.”

Trina smiled, nodding. “Yeah, I feel that way too.”

The two of them held hands, looking up at the clouds. They giggled together and kissed each other when the girls weren’t watching. An hour later Trina felt bad. She felt sick to her stomach and ended up puking around a tree, telling the others she had to use the bathroom. She didn’t want to tell the girls. They would swear it was because of Mark. She wasn’t sure what it was from, thinking it might be all the water she ingested when they were tossed out of the raft. She still didn’t want to say anything, but found just as much comfort in the water as he did. That slowed the group down even more.

Amber groaned as they stopped again. “Jesus, I feel like we’re babysitting. We’re watching them have fun while we slowly bake in the sun.”

Alex sighed. “Yeah, my tan’s never looked so good.”

Heather shrugged. “What are we going to do? Just sit back and try not to be too bored.”

“Yeah, ignore the fact they’re making out in the water. Like we can’t see them.”

The first day they moved barely a neighborhood block and hadn’t reached the trailer. They had to rest on the rocky sand dune Mark showed them. He was right. It was low enough they were still wet, but high enough they wouldn’t drown. The animals could sense their presence, but couldn’t get to them. If one of them got too close, they splashed water at them and made them run away.

The second day was the same. Mark and Trina were too worried about playing in the water and the girls barely moved off the rocks. They had to sleep another night in the same area.

However, the third day both Trina and Mark moved faster than before, to the point the others could barely keep up. Amber walked along the bank of the river, stepping over rocks and logs. Even though they were moving a little quicker than she liked, she was just happy they were moving again. “Thank God. If I had to sleep in the water one more night…”

Heather nodded as she huffed, trying to keep up with the two in the water. “I agree.”

Alex sighed. “Well now they’re hustling. Yeah, I never knew what it meant to be a prune… until I couldn’t get out of the water. I hope we get there soon. I can’t handle being waterlogged.”

Trish shook her head. “We still have to sleep in the water. We just get to do it from the safety of a raft.”

Amber groaned. “Damn, I’ll be so happy to sleep in a bed again.”

“If that’s ever going to happen.”

They finally made their way to the trailer. When they saw it come into view, the girls all cheered and laughed. It was a sight for drenched eyes.

Alex did a little dance. “I didn’t think I was going to be so glad to see this place again!”

Heather chuckled. “Yeah. You and me both.”