Survive the Monsters and Breed 3 Chapter 1

“Holy good God in Heaven,” Devonna breathed. “We’re in a damn swamp.”

“And I’m guessing this isn’t outside,” Shanice sighed.

“No, I don’t think so.” I shook my head.

All that effort we’d exerted, and we hadn’t even gotten out of the building. Wherever we were, it was still inside the same building as the jungle and the desert. There was no doubt about it in my mind. This place was too perfect to not be constructed like the other rooms.

We were in a small sandy area just beyond the door we’d come through, but there was standing water all around us, and we had no way of telling how deep it was. The air was humid and cool, and there were insects and mosquitos swarming around everywhere.

“Sarah,” Natasha said.

“Yeah?” the redhead asked as she studied the area around us.

“You recall a moment ago, how you said this had to be better than the desert?” the Russian woman asked.

“Yeah, I remember,” Sarah sighed and slapped a mosquito on her arm.

“I do not think this is better than desert.” Natasha smirked.

“No, I don’t think so, either.” Sarah shook her head.

Suddenly, a loud bang on the door behind us made me whip around with my sword at the ready. The rattlesnake from the desert room had returned to peer through the crack we’d left in the door, so I jabbed my sword through the small opening as I grunted a firm “fuck off.”

The snake hissed and slithered off as my blade made contact with one of its two heads.

“Damn snake,” Devonna huffed.

“We’ll need to keep an eye out for it,” I said, and I winced as I put my sword back on my hip. “I’m guessing it will be hanging around for a while.”

“You’re injured,” Sarah said matter of factly.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said through gritted teeth.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.” She frowned. “Sit down, I need to look you over.”

I raised my hand to protest, but then I felt the pain in my side again, so I gulped and nodded before sitting back against the cool metal door.

Sarah hovered over me and quickly pulled the top half of my jumpsuit down so she could get a good look at my left side. My arm had some bruising, but the worst of it was on my ribs. Already they had turned a deep purple.

The bruising should mend quickly with the accelerated healing our bodies had in this place, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch.

“You must have taken a good hit.” Sarah frowned as she carefully moved her hands over the wound.

“I’m sure I took several,” I said, and I sucked in a breath as her fingers brushed a particularly sensitive spot. “It’s hard to say when it happened, though. With all the adrenaline I had rushing through me, I didn’t even feel this until just now.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said. “It should heal in a couple of days. Bruises seem to be the fastest things to heal in here.”

“Thanks, doc,” I joked.

“Y’all done playin’ doctor over there?” Devonna asked.

“I think so,” Sarah said as she helped me to my feet.

I winced yet again as she pulled me up, but I did my best to hide the pain and focus on the real problem at hand.

“Well, good,” Devonna said. “Because I’d like to know just what the hell our plan is now.”

“What do you mean?” Shanice asked. “Isn’t our plan the same as it was before?”

“Well, this certainly doesn’t seem like the outside world to me,” Devonna scoffed. “So, no, I don’t think our plan is the same as it was.”

“We’re not outside,” I agreed. “But our plan is still to get there.”

“Right.” Shanice nodded. “We need to keep going.”

“Shit!” Devonna spat as she slapped herself on the arm. “These damn mosquitos are eatin’ me alive.”

“They’re eating all of us alive,” Natasha said, and she swatted her hand in front of her face.

“We’re gonna need to figure out a way to keep them at bay,” Shanice said, and she shook her head vigorously and swatted at a stray bug.

“Shanice.” Sarah frowned as she looked at the beautiful cop. “Your head. It’s bleeding.”

“What?” Shanice asked, and she reached her fingers up and felt around until she got to the gash on her right temple.

“Let me look at it,” Sarah tsked, and then she looked around. “Is anybody else injured?”

“You should look over Em, too,” Natasha said.

“I’m alright,” the small Asian woman said.

“She took a good hit from that snake,” Devonna said. “I’m with Natasha, you should look her over. She was out cold for a solid thirty seconds or more.”

“Was it really that long?” Em asked, and her eyes widened slightly with concern.

“Alright.” Sarah nodded. “Everyone get comfortable for a minute while I check them out.”

“I don’t know how we’re supposed to do that with these damn mosquitos around,” Devonna grumbled. “But I guess I’ll try.”

The sound of a rattle behind the door sent a chill down my spine. The snake was still there and prowling for us even though we’d gotten into the next room. It didn’t sound like the damn thing was going to give up anytime soon.

“We should build fire,” Natasha suggested.

“I thought we were keepin’ movin’?” Devonna asked.

“I don’t think we’re going anywhere today,” Sarah said as she leaned down by Shanice. “It’s already midday, and we’ve got at least three injured people here. We should stay put for the night.”

“The door is probably safest place for us right now.” Natasha nodded. “We do not want to be out in strange room when it gets dark.”

“Good point,” Devonna sighed. “I’ll help with the fire. Maybe we can get rid of some of these mosquitoes.”

“Can you do that?” Em asked.

“Honey, I’m from Georgia,” Devonna chuckled. “I’m sure I can figure out how to ward the majority of them off. A little smoke should do the trick. The little pests don’t seem to like it too much as far as I recall.”

“Okay, but do you think you can make a fire in here?” the Asian woman pushed, and she bit her lip nervously. “Everything is so… wet.”

“It ain’t gonna be the easiest fire I’ve ever built.” Devonna shrugged. “But me and Natasha got this. Y’all just sit back and let Sarah look you over. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got one of them con-cushion things.”

“Concussion,” Natasha corrected dryly.

“Yeah, one of them like the football players get,” Devonna said with a shake of her head. “You hit that wall like a ton of bricks.”

“Oh.” Em frowned and reached up to carefully touch her head.

“Devonna, go build the fire and stop freaking my patients out, please,” Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’m just tellin’ it like it is,” the southern woman said before turning to Natasha. “Come on.”

While Sarah checked Shanice’s head injury, I watched Devonna lead Natasha over to a low-hanging branch at the edge of the sandy area we were on. There was a good bit of Spanish moss hanging there, and the two of them gathered it up and brought it to the center of our small island. I offered to help, but Devonna told me to sit my bruised ass down, so I laughed and did what she said.

Natasha quickly got a fire pit built while Devonna worked on starting the fire. The southern woman used her knives to try and get a spark, and after a while, she managed to get a small one. It wasn’t big, but it was enough to get a piece of the moss burning. Once that little piece was going, she blew on it lightly to bring some life into it, and before long she had a small fire roaring to life in Natasha’s handmade pit.

After that was done, the two of them gathered all the small branches lying around and set them near the fire to dry. The moss was burning fairly slowly, and the smoke was doing a decent job of keeping the mosquitoes at bay, so for the moment, we were as comfortable as we could be.

I spread my legs out so my feet were near the fire and enjoyed the feel of the warmth on my toes. This room was a lot cooler than the desert, and I knew it was only going to get colder once it got dark. The wood should be dry before then, though, so we would have plenty to keep us warm through the night.

“Alright,” Sarah said once she finished looking over Em. “You three are a little fucked up, but you’re not too bad off. I think you’ll be healed within a day or two.

“What about Em?” Natasha asked. “Does she have concussion?”

“Not that I can tell,” Sarah said. “She seems fine.”

“I’m alright,” Em said with a small smile. “Really.”

“You didn’t see how hard you hit the wall,” Devonna muttered and shook her head. “Natasha and I about pissed ourselves watchin’ you flail around like a rag doll.”

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Em chuckled sarcastically.

“Don’t apologize to me,” Devonna said. “You’re the one who’s hurt.”

“She’s okay,” Sarah assured everyone. “Nobody has any life-threatening injuries, just some small cuts and bruises. I think we’re going to be just fine.”

“Now that everyone’s checked out,” I said. “I think it’s time we figure out what we’re doing.”

“I thought y’all already said we were gonna keep goin’ and try to get out of here?” Devonna asked.

“Well, yeah.” I nodded. “As long as that’s what everyone wants to do.”

“I don’t think we really have a choice.” Sarah frowned. “The snake is still outside the door. We can’t go back without having to deal with that.”

“Right,” I agreed. “But we also can’t just walk around here until we find the next door. We have no idea how deep this water is.”

“You’re right,” Shanice sighed. “This isn’t going to be an easy place to navigate.”

“No, it’s not,” I agreed as I stared out at the water. “We’re going to need to figure out a way to get around.”

“We’re gonna have to build a raft or something,” Shanice said. “Otherwise, we’re putting ourselves at risk.”

“Da.” Natasha nodded. “This water is filthy. Is impossible to see what is down there.”

“Even still, I don’t want to turn back,” Shanice said. “We’re already here, we may as well explore the area.”

“Agreed.” Sarah nodded. “There’s no sense in going back to the desert now. We would have to deal with that snake, and besides, we already know there isn’t a way out from that room.”

“But we don’t know if there’s a way out from here, either,” Em pointed out.

“No.” I shook my head. “But I think it’s better to explore a new area versus going back to one where we know we can’t get out of.”

“You’re right,” the Asian woman agreed. But…”

“What?” My brow furrowed as I watched her bite her lip.

“I mean, if this is another room, then how big is this building?” Em asked, and she gestured wide. “It’s got to be massive to house all these different rooms.”

“I’m sure it is,” I agreed. “But there’s got to be a way out of it. We got in here somehow, and that means we can get out.”

“We should be on high alert while we’re here,” Shanice said grimly. “There are probably more people in here.”

“You’re right,” I said, and I suddenly found myself searching the trees for signs of others.

“What, you think another three men and three women?” Sarah asked.

“That rule has held up for the last two rooms, right?” Em said. “I would think it would be the same in here.”

“We should especially be careful since Jake, Em, and I are injured,” Shanice said. “That’s half of our group out right there.”

“And our best fighters,” Sarah sighed.

“We’ll need to keep watch tonight for sure,” I said.

“This is nuts.” Devonna shook her head. “Em’s right. This building is massive. Just how many more rooms are there in this place? This is the third room I’ve been to now, and each one is worse than the last.”

“That’s not true,” Sarah said. “I don’t think the desert monsters were quite as bad as the jungle monsters.”

“Maybe not,” Devonna agreed. “But we still haven’t found a way out yet, and now we have to go through another room? How many more of these damn things do we have to go through just to get back to the real world?”

We were all quiet for a moment as we took in Devonna’s words. We were all thinking it, but only she had the nerve to say it. I thought we were going to get out the first time we found a door, and then I was hopeful for the second time, but now it seemed like this was never-ending. Still, I had to remind myself that no matter how hopeless it seemed, there was always a way out.

“We got in here,” I repeated in a serious voice. “We’ll get out.”

“Jake’s right,” Shanice agreed. “There has to be an end to this at some point. This building can’t go on forever.”

“It feels like it already has.” Devonna rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“I know,” I said, and I looked into her dark blue eyes. “But we’re going to get out of here, I promise.”

Devonna sighed and nodded. “I believe you, I just hate that we have another room to get through. And I hate even more that it’s a damn swamp.”

“I would have thought you’d like it,” Natasha teased. “Doesn’t it remind you of home?”

“It does,” Devonna chuckled. “And that’s exactly the problem. I don’t wanna be in the swamp any more than any of you do. It’s filthy, full of creepy crawlies, and ain’t no tellin’ what’s in that water there.”

“Sounds like you aren’t too fond of where you’re from,” Em said.

“Oh, I love Georgia,” Devonna said. “But I don’t like all the bugs and puddles and nastiness that comes along with the swamps ‘round there. That’s just too much for me. If you ever visit the south, you’ll find that most of us are homey type people.”

“What does this mean?” Natasha asked. “‘Homey type people?’”

“We like to stay at home.” Devonna raised an eyebrow at the Russian woman, and then she looked at me. “We aren’t like you granola lovin’ westerners who like to go hikin’ and all that jazz. The great outdoors aren’t so great when alligators start sneakin’ into people’s backyards and eatin’ their little dogs.”

“Jesus,” Sarah chuckled.

“Jesus ain’t got nothin’ to do with them gators.” Devonna shook her head. “He gave us all free will, and they chose to be mean as hell. It ain’t the good lord’s fault.”

“Isn’t he the one who made gators?” Shanice asked.

“Alright, enough with the Jesus talk.” Devonna narrowed her eyes on Shanice. “All I’m sayin’ is that down south you’ll find we like our AC, and we like to stay inside and bake or go out back and barbecue. We ain’t climbin’ mountains or nothin’, and this right here is why.”

She gestured out to the swamp and shook her head.

“I never thought of myself as granola loving,” I laughed. “But I guess I do like it as far as I can remember.”

“You definitely fit the stereotype,” Sarah told me.

“I do?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Shanice nodded. “Westerners, especially from the Pacific Northwest, are well known for being outdoorsy. And driving hybrids.”

“To be fair, hybrids aren’t nearly as uncommon as they were when you guys were taken initially,” I told them quickly.

“Whatever you gotta tell yourself,” Devonna teased.

“I don’t mind being the outdoorsy guy,” I said. “I’ll take the title if it means I get the knowledge to go along with it.”

“And I’m damn sure you got the knowledge,” Devonna agreed. “I don’t think I would’ve survived this long without you.”

“You ‘don’t think?’” Shanice raised an eyebrow at the southern woman.

“Oh, you hush.” Devonna rolled her eyes. “All I’m sayin’ is that swamps are the worst. They’re horrible and I hate ‘em. Particularly because I’ve lived near ‘em.”

“Yeah, I think we all got that the first time,” Sarah chuckled.

“If not first time, then by fifth time, at least,” Natasha joked.

“Well, I’m sorry for wantin’ to drive the point home,” Devonna scoffed. “I’m just tryin’ to let y’all know how dangerous this place is.”

“You think it’s more dangerous than the jungle or the desert?” Shanice asked. “I’m sure we can handle whatever is in here.”

“You sound real confident for someone who can’t breathe underwater,” Devonna said with a serious look.

“Devonna has a point.” I pursed my lips. “Whatever creatures are in here are probably going to be at least partially amphibious. And we’re surrounded by water. Getting pulled under is a serious threat here, and we need to treat it as such.”

“Thank you, Jakey.” Devonna nodded and smiled. “Finally, somebody gets my point.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure you had like five points in there,” Sarah said.

“Maybe,” Devonna said with a shrug. “But that was the most important one.”

“We’ll need to keep an eye out for any animals that might be under the water,” I said. “As well as any people who could be roaming around here.”

“So, you want us to be on our game like always?” Shanice asked with a playful smile.

“That’s right,” I agreed with a laugh.

We all settled in by the fire, and Sarah pulled out some dried meat and fruit and passed it around to everyone, along with some of the fresh water we’d brought.

I allowed the fire to warm my boots as I sat back and ate my jerky. My muscles hurt like hell, and even though I didn’t have any wide-open cuts, I knew I wasn’t going to feel one hundred percent better for a couple of days. At this point, it was starting to feel like I was injured more often than not. The desert hadn’t been too bad, but I’d gotten a few bumps and bruises. Natasha had gotten the worst of it with her head injury, but she seemed to be mostly healed by now.

As often as I was injured, I still found it incredibly strange how quickly I healed. I knew it had to be the result of something done by whoever had brought us here in the first place, but that didn’t help me feel any better about it. It was a useful attribute for sure, but it was also slightly terrifying. If whoever put us in here was able to somehow gift us with the ability to heal faster than our bodies could heal on their own, then what else could they do?

We’d all been taken from different times, and somehow our bodies had been preserved, improved even, while we’d been in their care. These people had managed to create these false environments, too, along with huge, mutated beasts for us to fight. There really wasn’t an end to what could be done in here. I was starting to feel like I was in Saw, but somehow this was worse.

Still, I had the women around me, and I was going to do whatever I could to protect them. They were all that mattered to me in here, and I’d make sure we all got out, even if it was the last thing I did.

As I looked around at each of them, I admired the fact that we’d all made it this far. Sarah, Devonna, and Natasha had been with me since the beginning. I’d met each of them the day I’d woken up in the jungle, and I’d been protecting them ever since.

Sarah was my stubborn, redheaded second-in-command, and while she had strong opinions of her own, she’d come to realize she could rely on me to do what was best for her and the rest of the team.

Now, she worried the inside of her mouth as she stared into the fire with dark brown eyes that gave away nothing of her thoughts. She was the closest to my height, and she was thin and well-toned since she worked as a personal trainer before getting taken like the rest of us.

Devonna was a black-haired Southern spitfire who was never afraid to speak her mind. She was even more stubborn than Sarah was, and twice as loud and obnoxious. Still, she was caring and sweet when she needed to be, and I knew I could count on her to listen and do whatever she could to protect her team.

Natasha was short and petite, with full breasts and hips. She kept her light blonde hair in a very short pixie cut that complemented her incredibly feminine features very well. But as beautiful as she was, she was ten times as intelligent.

The Russian woman was a neuroscientist before she was taken in the late nineties, and it showed. She was constantly analyzing those around her instead of inserting herself into the conversation. But as quiet as she was, she was never afraid to speak up when she had an idea she felt would benefit the group.

She’d also told me to climax inside of her each time we made love, and I wondered if she was possibly pregnant.

Em was even shorter than Natasha, but she was toned as hell from her martial arts training. She’d proven to be the most incredible fighter I’d ever seen, surpassing everyone else in the group when it came to hand-to-hand combat.

I was a hell of a fighter, but even I couldn’t do half the things Em was able to.

And lastly, Shanice sat next to Em and stared into the fire with dark brown eyes full of concern and confidence all at once. The beautiful dark-skinned woman was the most stubborn out of all the group, and she’d been the absolute bitchiest to me when we’d first met. I had to admit, she had good reason for not liking having me around after what happened with the rapist pigs who’d been in the room with her before we arrived. Still, she’d warmed up to me eventually when she realized I didn’t want to do anything but help her and Em get the hell out of here.

Now, she and Sarah were nearly equal as second-in-command. Shanice had great ideas and authority since she was a police officer before getting captured, and I knew I could rely on her to help come up with plans and protect the group.

She and Devonna didn’t exactly get along that well, but she’d still protected her during fights already, and I was grateful to have her around. Having a few other fighters in the group took some of the burden off of me, and with their assistance, I was sure we’d be able to get out of here.

“Um, you guys know how you said we should keep an eye out for things under the water?” Em asked.

“Yeah?” My eyebrows furrowed together as I sat up straight. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I…” Em shook her head and pointed out to the water. “There’s some bubbles over there.”

“Bubbles?” Devonna gasped and spun around to look at the water. “Oh, good lord.”

“They’re pretty small.” Sarah shrugged as more bubbles popped at the surface of the murky water. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Oh, honey.” Devonna pursed her lips and shook her head. “Whatever’s under there ain’t nothin’.”

“Well, what do you think it is?” Sarah asked.

Then more bubbles floated to the surface and popped at an alarming rate. Seeing so many of them made my heart race, and I carefully got to my feet and drew my sword.

“I don’t know,” Devonna said. “But whatever it is, it ain’t good.”