Chapter 38:
Dying Days
Day 37 – Nowhere is Safe
Mia Alvarez had seen plenty of dead bodies.
But never this many.
Never all at once.
The river stretched wide before them, its muddy waters slow-moving, dark.
And floating along the edges—
Bodies.
Dozens of them.
Some tangled in the roots of dead trees.
Some half-submerged, their skin bloated and gray.
Some barely recognizable as human anymore.
Leo stood beside her, shotgun gripped in both hands.
His voice was tight. "What the hell happened here?"
Mia swallowed hard.
She had a bad feeling she already knew.
The CrossingThe river was their only way forward.
There was no going back.
No other bridges for miles.
Mia crouched by the bank, testing the depth with a branch.
The water was deceptively deep.
Emily stood behind her, arms wrapped around herself.
"We’re not… actually going in there, right?"
Mia didn’t answer right away.
She was studying the bodies.
Looking for something specific.
Then—she found it.
A mark.
Faded, half-washed away.
But still clear enough to read.
A black sigil burned into the shoulder of one of the dead men.
She had seen that mark before.
Back in Alabama.
Back in the towns Calloway’s militia had burned.
Mia exhaled.
"This wasn’t an accident."
Leo frowned. "You think they were executed?"
Mia stood, dusting off her hands.
"I think they were dumped."
Silence.
Then Leo muttered, "We need to get the hell out of here."
Mia agreed.
But that meant crossing the river.
And that?
That was going to be a problem.
The Hard ChoiceThey had two options.
Find a way across. Risk the bodies, the disease, the unknown.Leo ran a hand through his hair.
"I really don’t like this."
Mia didn’t either.
But time wasn’t on their side.
They needed to move.
Now.
So she looked at the bodies.
The ones that were floating, not sinking.
And made a third choice.
"We build a raft."
A Bridge of the DeadLeo didn’t argue.
He just sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and started pulling branches from the shore.
Emily hesitated.
Then, reluctantly, she helped.
Mia worked fast, lashing together a makeshift raft with vines and strips of fabric.
It wasn’t much.
But it would float.
At least, for a little while.
By the time the sun had started sinking behind the trees, it was ready.
A crude, ugly thing.
Held together with knots and desperation.
Mia stepped onto it first.
It didn’t sink.
That was good enough.
She looked back at Leo and Emily.
"Let’s go."
The River Takes EverythingThe current was slow.
But it was still moving.
The raft drifted, water lapping at its edges, the bodies floating around them like ghosts.
Leo sat rigidly still, his eyes locked on the water.
Emily was muttering to herself, whispering prayers that no longer mattered.
Mia just watched the trees.
Because if Calloway’s men had dumped these bodies—
They might still be nearby.
She had that thought for exactly ten seconds.
And then—
A gunshot rang out.
The AmbushThe first bullet ripped through the water, missing Mia’s arm by inches.
She hit the raft hard, flipping onto her stomach.
Leo cursed.
Emily screamed.
More gunfire.
The raft jerked, splinters flying as bullets chewed through the wood.
Mia’s mind was racing.
The river was too wide to swim across.
Too deep to walk through.
That left only one option.
She grabbed Leo’s arm.
"Jump."
The Drowning and the HuntThe water hit like ice.
Mia’s body plunged downward, the river swallowing her whole.
For a second, all she could hear was the roar of the current.
Then—
She broke the surface, gasping.
Leo surfaced beside her, coughing.
Emily—
Mia turned.
No sign of her.
Then—another gunshot.
And Mia realized something.
Emily hadn’t jumped.
She had stayed on the raft.
And now?
She was being dragged toward the riverbank.
By men in black armbands.
Calloway’s men.
Mia’s stomach twisted.
Because Emily was still alive.
And that meant one thing.
They weren’t going to kill her.
They were going to take her.
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