Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XXI

We find a place to land by a random river, and take a seat next to the water. "What could possibly be left to try..." Elle mutters, kicking her feet in the water.

Mia's eyes then lock onto something in the trees. At first, I can't tell what has her focused so intensely.

Then I see the glow. It's a small, faint, orange glow peeking through the trees.

"I don't know what that glow is, but I want to find out," Mia says, standing up.

Shanna stands up and grabs Mia by the shoulder. "Um, I don't know if you know this, but we haven't exactly had the best luck with forests, Mia," she tells her.

Mia tenses for a moment, then takes a deep breath to cool herself off and calmly removes Shanna's head from her shoulder. "Well, you know my love for forests. Besides, I'm armed. I can take whatever comes at me."

Mia then charges into the forest, and Sean and I follow. Before Shanna catches up to us, I hear her whisper to the rest of the team, "You guys stay here. I doubt this is anything special."

The fact that it's just a glow makes me believe she's probably right.

SHANNA

Music: Big Core from Gradius V

By the time I've finally managed to catch up with Mia, Mackenzie, and Sean, we've already caught up with the faint orange glow... which then disappears.

"Hold it, what?" Mia asks, wandering around in the damp opening. Mackenzie does the same. I make eye contact with Sean and nod with my head, telling him to come over to me. He obeys without question.

"Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?" he asks me.

I nod, not wanting to take my eyes off of Mia and Mackenzie. Something seems a bit odd about the way they've been moving around. I notice them starting to struggle to get around, and it seems almost as if they're...

Sinking.

I then look down at the ground they're walking in, and my eyes open wide in fear. I nudge Sean and get him to look down with me, and he reacts the same way. The ground is super wet and marshy, and given the conditions, this can only mean one thing.

Mia and Mackenzie have ventured into a swamp.

"GUYS, GET OUT OF THERE!" I yell, getting the attention of the two sisters. They both take one look at the water that's now up to their knees and start charging forward. They don't get very far before they both fall on their faces. Further attempts at getting up and moving forward also end in failure.

"Oh man, what do we do..." Sean mutters, starting to panic. I slap him to stop him, and grasp him firmly by the shoulders.

"Think for a second, you moron! We need to help them!" I hiss, scanning the area for anything we can use. A few sticks are lying on the ground. Perfect. I grab the longest one I can find and make room for Sean to grab it as well, then move to the side closest to Mia and Mackenzie and hold it out to them.

"Grab on!" I yell. Mia and Mackenzie fight against the tough swamp to reach for the stick, and both miss it a couple times before managing to grab on. Sean and I start pulling backward, but the weight of both of them combined is too much for us to handle.

"Too... heavy..." Sean groans, starting to lose his grip.

"Keep going! You're almost there!" Mackenzie yells.

Then I hear a rumbling. I take a quick look over Mia's shoulder and spot a round dome-like figure lurking in the water, moving closer and closer to Mia and Mackenzie.