Crazies

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Darkness envelops me as I take a tentative step forward, only to feel my bare feet sink into cold, thick mud. I immediately try moving back as the freezing touch forms prickles of pain across the bottoms of my feet but my body doesn't want to listen to me.

Instead, it takes another step forward until I feel frigid cold water rush past my ankles. The icy temperature instantly numbs the flesh that's submerged under the dark depths and even then I can't seem to pull myself away from it.

"Sang..."

Confused, I search around me for the owner of the voice, fully expecting to see one of my boys.

Only darkness greets me.

"It's too late," I shakily tell the voice as my body begins to violently shiver, "the water's not stopping."

The freezing water inches higher and higher as it surges past me until my legs disappear within the murky depths.

"Sang... Sang..."

I don't try to glance back this time.

I close my eyes to the darkness as the water slowly creeps up my stomach and past my ribs. The biting cold forces the breath from my lungs and prevents me from taking another one in.

Leaving me gasping for life as I wait for the water to consume me completely.

*~*~*~*~*

"Sang." A warm hand pushes against my shoulder, pulling me from the dream. A shiver maneuvers its way down my body as my mind recalls the biting cold of the water. I rub the sleep from my eyes in an attempt to dispel the images when I hear, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answer, glancing up to find Karen hanging over the back of the couch. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Phil just sent me in here to tell you your time's up on that ice pack soooo thirty minutes or so," she says and I mumble thanks as I swing my legs out over the edge of the seat to sit up fully. The ice pack in question drops down next to my leg and I groan knowing it must have been the cause for that weird dream.

"What's everyone up to?" I ask and take a moment to look around. At some point, while I was asleep, the sun fully set. Leaving everything outside the window shrouded in darkness but inside is bright for the first time in days. I'm not sure when the power came back on but I'm grateful to have it for however long it's here.

"They just finished cleaning out the Jeep, annnnd," she lets the sentence hang, hinting that she wants my full attention, so I look back over my shoulder to see her pulling a bottle out from behind the couch. "I've come with a peace offering for selling you out to Doc."

I carefully lean back and grab the bottle from her outstretched hand and spin it around to read the label.

Absolut Vodka.

My nose scrunches up as my sleep fogged mind tries to piece together why she's handed me one of the Vodka bottles we found earlier today.

"How is this a peace offering?" A large smile stretches across her face but instead of answering she points over to the archway where Jess is standing with one of the reusable bags clamped in one hand. "What are you guys up to?"

"We're having a girl's night," Jess informs me cheerfully, "now let's go before we're caught with that." She gestures to the Vodka bottle in my hand before waving for me and Karen to quickly follow her out the front door.

I dart a confused look back at Karen while holding up the bottle. She just continues to smile before running after Jess. Leaving me with the evidence of their crime.