Heart of Mercy by C. C. Marks

Author:C. C. Marks
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Teen & Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Publisher: Timbercreek Press
Published: 2014-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Once I was under the water, the reality of what I was doing hit me, and I nearly turned back. The minute the horrible sight of a horde of Draghoul standing on the bottom of the pond came into focus, a sudden need to surface to catch my sudden lack of breath overwhelmed me, and nothing could of held me under at that point. Oh, my God. The view below the water was worthy of any scary movie I might have snuck a peek at before they became a thing of the past. An uncountable number of monsters stood under my feet, and though in a trance, sure death was a little too close for my comfort.

I raised my feet and treaded water, the thought of a slippery hand grabbing my ankle strong in my mind. The logical part of me acknowledged the fact the sun was still high in the sky, but the practical survivor in me said this was pure insanity. I shouldn’t be doing this.

The kid surfaced in front of me, and a scream, a pitiful, suppressed sound of terror escaped my mouth before I realized he was nothing to fear.

“Are you coming or not?”

“I…what…how…” I sucked air into my shaky lungs. “Too many Draghoul. We shouldn’t be here. I can’t be here.”

He rolled his eyes. “They can’t hurt you like this.” He twisted his mouth with a thoughtful look. “Tell you what, I’ll dive down and find her. Pull her up. When I do, you help me get to the edge.”

It seemed like a workable solution, but I hesitated to agree. With so many creatures down there, and as determined as he seemed, how long would it take? “Okay. But, we’re stopping long before sundown.”

“Duh.” With that settled, he took a full breath and disappeared below the water again.

I waited as the creepy feeling of not knowing what was going on below me stroked over me like cold fingers over the back of my neck. I gave up treading water and tried a “dead-man’s float” with my body weightless, my arms out at my shoulders and my legs out behind me. In this position, I could put my face in the water and try to make out what was going on. Two things made this unworkable. First, my legs kept drifting downward, and I had to kick them back up. And second, the water was murky from up here. I might as well stare at the ground, try to see the worms crawling beneath…if there were still worms crawling beneath. Mental sigh. The mysteries of my existence now.

After long minutes of no sign of my new partner, I began to worry something had gone wrong. One of the sure limitations of life for a human was the fact we breathed air, and I thought maybe the kid had forgotten this.

I didn’t have to worry long though. He surfaced, inhaled a few manic breaths followed by one deep one, and went back down. He was nothing if not persistent.

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