“Do not fucking let go,” she growls.
I nod quickly, the jarring motion only making me sink faster.
If I had been out here, alone, or got caught in this mess when I was searching the island with the Voyagers, I wouldn’t have survived. Now, we have a chance, all because of Weston’s order never to search alone.
I squeeze Sig’s arms back, as tight as she is holding me, and look into her face. The fear I feel is reflected at me, and I squeeze even tighter, hoping she can sense how thankful I am she is here.
Something hits the ground near us, and Sig releases one of my arms.
“Don’t let go!” I squeal. The muck rises up my neck, dripping into my clothes. It’s going so fast now I lean my head back, trying to keep my face above the surface as long as I can. I suck in rapid breaths, but the pressure around my chest is constricting, and I can barely breathe.
“Sig!” My voice is a squeak, the air trapped in my chest as I flail the arm she released around, searching for her other hand.
“Lennox, listen. I’m going to scoop you out. You have to trust me, alright?”
I don’t answer. I can’t. I’ve run out of time. All I can do is gasp in one last breath and trust she has a plan.
Sig releases my other arm and my hands fly free above the surface, fingers grasping the empty air. I slam my eyes and mouth shut as the mud engulfs me, and I can’t stop the panic.
My breath is running out and I can’t feel Sig as my shoulders sink lower, my hands now the only part of me still free above the surface. I try to calm my mind, but I can’t. There’s no air. There’s no Sig. Did she abandon me, even after telling me to trust her? Did she sink just as fast as me?
Somewhere deep inside, I thought after finding the healing waters, the island would have no need to protect them from me anymore. I was wrong. Maybe this is the punishment for being unworthy. Who knew that I could drown without even being in water?
My thoughts grow hazy, and the worry starts to dissipate when I feel something. An arm, wrapping under mine and clasping around my back.
Sig.
She didn’t abandon me.
Pain erupts in my chest as she squeezes tighter than anything I’ve felt before, and suddenly I’m being pulled from both sides;a war between the Castaways and the mud. I move my arms and wrap them around her, holding tight right before my face breaks the surface.
My mouth fills with mud as I suck in a breath, and I splutter, spitting out the sludge, then heaving in air as the rest of my body is yanked from the marsh.
I fall on top of Sig as we’re dragged away from the sinking pit through the pools and reeds. We stop on solid ground and I roll off of Sig, throwing my arms out to my sides, chest heaving and unable to speak.
Stassia collapses to her knees just behind my head, and I look up to see Auralie doubled over, breathing deeply. A rope lays at their feet, and I follow it, to find it tied under Sig’s arms. One of them must have had it on their belt. I hadn’t realized they came prepared with anything more than weapons.
Thank the gods they were, because if they hadn’t been, Sig and I would be dead.
I swipe the mud from my face, tossing down large chunks of it onto the ground. My entire body is caked in a thick layer, and I look over to find Sig looks the same, though only from the neck down. She lies on her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and she stares at the night sky.
I look between each of them, and say the first thing that comes to my mind.
“Thank you, all of you.”
Just like when the bridge broke with Mara, none of them had to help me, but they did anyway. Sig threw herself into the sinking mud to save me, when we both easily could have been pulled under if Stassia and Auralie hadn’t gotten to us in time. They barely know me, and they don’t know I’m plotting against them, but they didn’t hesitate to be there when I needed them. My chest swells, and my vision blurs with tears that I’m glad are hidden by the darkness and mud.
“Cap is going to fucking kill me,” Sig groans toward the sky.
Stassia walks over and reaches down to her, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. “No, he won’t. If we leave now, we’ll be back before he wakes up. He can’t kill you if he never finds out.”
“I won’t tell,” Auralie says as she rounds Stassia and reaches down to me. I take her hand and pull to stand.
All three of their heads swivel toward me, and I scoff.
“I barely want to talk to him. There’s no way I’ll tell him about this.”
A quiet chorus of laughter fills the space between us, and my chest warms.
