* * *
Mosquito-bitten and worn, Logan pushed aside tangled rushes and reeds using a flashlight as a guide to wade through the shallow marsh. It didn’t help that the pouring rain flooded the sedges they stepped over as lightning streaked across the sky.
The light landed on a crocodile on the hunt. A hiss broke from the reptile’s snout, which opened, exposing its conical teeth. Reeda squealed and rushed away.
“Help me!” a voice shouted. Logan spun around, just in time to see Reeda, sinking deeper into the Earth submerged in quicksand. The six of them rushed to save her. Francis and Logan gripped onto her hands.
“I’m being swallowed!” Reeda said as Francis and Logan pulled on her. They could feel the sand enclosing around her torso and hardening.
“Reeda, if we continue to pull, we will d
