Page 61 of Second Chance Serenity

“Are you all right?” she asks.

“I’ll survive. We need to get moving.”

“First.” She reaches into the top of her dress and withdraws the cell phone. “Yes! Signal. What’s Lance’s number?” I give it to her and she types it in as I barely manage to stay on my feet. My vision is blurred, my body going numb. “Lance. It’s Reyna.” I can’t hear what he says, but she presses the phone to my ear.

“Hey, boss.”

“Michael. It is good to hear your voice. Elijah is working to trace the call.”

“Good. We don’t know where we are. A swamp of some kind. So, maybe in the south?”

“We’ll figure it ou?—”

The line goes dead. “It’s not on anymore.”

Reyna pulls it away. “The battery is dead. Come on!” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this. Get out of here first, panic later.” She shoves the phone back into her dress then begins walking again.

The air is thick around us, the humidity alone stifling. And that’s not even taking into account the mosquitos that are already making a dinner out of my exposed skin. The stench of the swamp is rancid, but we’re alive—so there’s that.

“Where are we?” she asks.

I doubt Elijah had time to trace the call before the phone died, but I’m holding out hope he managed to ping us on a nearby cell tower. That way, they can send out reinforcements and be here by the time we manage to make it to dry ground.

“I have no clue. But I’m fairly certain we’re not in Maine anymore.”

“This whole thing is insane.”

“We’re going to be okay, Reyna.” You’re going to be okay. Because truth be told, with how I’m feeling, I’m not entirely sure I’m going to make it out of this swamp. Images of the desert fill my mind.

The hopelessness I felt when I lay there, bloody, waiting for God to call me home.

“How?” she asks. “How do you know we’re going to be okay?” She turns her head to look up at me.

Even with the pain and the less-than-stellar circumstances, I’m taken by how beautiful she is. Delicate features, gorgeous wide eyes…I could fall in love with her for the rest of my life. And it’s more than her looks that have always drawn me to her. Reyna is a pure soul. A kindhearted do-gooder who has always deserved a whole lot better than me.

A whole lot better than this.

“We have God,” I tell her, nodding toward the sky. “And He is going to carry us through this.” Dear God, please let it be true. Please, God, let us survive.

“This isn’t the first time He’s guided me out of a life-or-death situation.” I try to joke, but my attempt at lightening the mood falls flat. Likely because my tone betrays the pain every step causes me.

It is true, though. There were many times on the battlefield when I’d taken a hit then had to walk or even carry someone else. More times than I care to count where I shouldn’t have made it, but I managed to pull through because God kept me alive.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope this is the last time He has to do it,” she replies.

“We can hope,” I reply.

As we continue walking, I keep my gaze focused on the way the water moves around us, hoping that if there is an alligator nearby, I’ll have time to react before it pulls us down.

One good thing about walking through a swamp though? Our footprints will be hidden. So on the off chance someone does try to follow us, it’ll make tracking us incredibly difficult.

I have no idea how long we walk, but by nightfall, I’m barely staying on my feet and Reyna’s breathing is ragged. My muscles burn with exertion, and the injury in my shoulder has finally reached the point where the pain is so great that it’s nearly numb, but thankfully we’ve run into none of the typical predators one might find in the swamps.

I’ve been watching for any sign of alligators, snakes, anything that could cause us more trouble. I haven’t seen one yet, though I know that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t there. Especially now that night has fallen.

Reyna grunts as she guides me up onto an embankment, then falls down beside me. I hit the ground with a heavy thud, legs collapsing as I lie back.

“I’m sorry.” She groans and turns her head toward me.

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