Chapter Forty-Three

My shoulders and back ached as I woke up. Groaning, I tried to turn over and I realized I was still on the rocky shore of the river. The sun was high in the sky as it heated my skin and dried my lips to the point I could feel them bleeding through the cracks. 

I squinted, trying to adjust to the brightness of the day. I stretched my shoulders as I stood and glanced around me. 

I couldn’t stop the immediate bile that came up and spewed out of my mouth. I grabbed onto my knees as I tried to calm my breathing.  

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Clumps of red mass gathered here and there that I could assume were body parts. I swallowed down the gathering saliva in my mouth as I dry heaved again. 

I thought back to last night and know they had