One final gift from PM2K

[sixgunzloaded]

This is the story that PM2K and I were going to collaborate on, that I spoke of in Dave's post "Godspeed PM2K".
My inclination, at first, was to hold onto this story as a memento of our personal conversations together. But it occurs to me that this would be selfish of me. This - what I'm about 90% certain is his final quicksand story - should be enjoyed by everyone here who knew and loved him as a friend and highly respected member of our community.
He had been working on it over the holidays and he emailed it to me on 1/29/18. I sent him a few sample pictures I'd been working on which he liked and he was looking forward to seeing more. I'll attach a couple of them at the bottom of this post along with the text document that he sent to me. I'll also copy/paste it here for ease of reading.
I hope the site admins/moderators won't mind the pics being in this story section. It just seems appropriate for them to be with the story, I think. If it's a problem guys, please let me know and I'll promptly move them.

We Love You and Miss You PM2K

Here, then is: "Rumble in the Jungle" by PM2K

“It is over here, Mei! Hurry!”
Mei's smile lights up her face. The Beijing University student rushes forward, pushing her way through the thick jungle foliage, her gaze fixed on a swirl of red hair marking the position of her guide.
The jungle queen, or rather, one who claimed to be, had met her at the rendezvous beside the trading post dock. The tall woman holding a spear and wearing a two piece loincloth and top introduced herself as Shayna.
“You seeking the blood lily?” she had asked in a firm if emotionless tone. Mei had nodded enthusiastically. This person certainly looked the part of a jungle protector.
“Come with me, then,” Shayna says. “The journey is long... maybe three days.”
“Great! Let me clear it with the expedition leader...” Mei answers excitedly. Officially, they were seeking a lost kingdom somewhere in the river valley, but all of the relevant information is being kept secret due to rumors of a fortune in gold hidden there.
Those on the expedition could do side trips if they so wished, as long as it served science. Mei's expedition certainly did that.
The time passed, even though scarcely a word passed between the two.
Then, Shayna asks, “Why do you seek the flower? It is pretty, true, but is it really worth this journey?”
“Oh, yes!” Mei said, and launched into an enthusiastic description of her doctorate thesis... apparently, native lore stated the plant could be made into any number of medications beneficial to humanity.
“If I could get a sample of it for myself to study directly, I can prove all that...” she said, not noticing the bored look on her guide's face.
Now, at long last, they were there. Mei can't wait to see it in person... and Shayna is beckoning.
“This is it, Mei... the blood lily.” She points away from her, her right arm angled downwards.
Mei looks, and feels her heart speed up. Just past a thick mass of ferns lies a dark, damp stretch of level ground, rich brown in color. Small tufts of grass and clumps of greenery dot its surface. Nearby, maybe ten feet away, a bright red flower, shaped like a water lily, rests on the surface, surrounded by a cup of thick green leaves.
Mei squats down close to the edge of the space. She can smell the rich wet odor of mud and marshy earth, and takes out her camera. In a moment, she burns off a half dozen shots.
“You're going to need to get closer than that....” Shayna says. “I mean... if you want to pick the flower...”
Mei looks at the muddy surface, and cautiously presses her hand onto it. It seems firm enough... the mud feels warm and greasy under her touch.
“You aren't scared, are you?” Shayna says, smiling. Her mouth is warm, but there is none of that in her eyes. “I think maybe you watch too many jungle movies, hey? Not all mud is a bottomless death trap...”
Mei laughs nervously. “I suppose not...” she says, “but I sure would hate to get bogged down...”
Shayna laughs, then leans over with her spear. She thrusts the butt end of the weapon into the mud, makes a show of pushing it downwards, then pulls it back up to show Mei. The mud smears maybe six inches of the spear shaft.
“See? Nothing to fear...”
Mei feels herself grinning in response, but her first steps are cautious ones. She stares at her feet, noting how the wet ground reacts. So far, it feels firm, her feet only pressing into the mud a little ways, maybe sole deep on her ankle high boots.
Concentrating, Mei doesn't notice the eager look Shayna is giving her... watching as she slowly approached the blood lily step by step...
The mud makes soft sucking sounds as it clings to the bottom of her boots. Mei doesn't get any sense of impending danger when she feels the ground begin to shift and wobble sluggishly beneath her. After her third step, her boots suddenly break through the rubbery layer on the mud, submerging her ankle deep and stopping her forward progress.
Frowning, she struggles to lift her feet clear of the mud. Her bare legs flex and strain with effort, and slowly, reluctantly, the mud releases her right foot with a wet slurp.
Mei utters a sharp grunt which turns to a startled gasp as her left leg plunges downwards, the hungry mire swallowing her limb past her knee. Trying to maintain her balance, she drops her right leg, which is quickly gulped down. The explorer now finds herself mired thigh deep in the thickly swirling muck.
“Oh, crap...” she says. Mei rolls her hips from side to side in an effort to free her legs, but is unable to move them at all now. The muck holds both in place even as it shakes like jelly around them. She turns to Shayna, who remains on firm ground, and is puzzled by the smug look on her features.
“Uh... Shayna? I'm stuck...” Mei says. The jungle girl's eyes narrow as a smirk slides across her features.
“Yes... it appears you are...” Shayna replies. “Are you sure you can't move? Maybe if you wiggle more... to break loose.”
“Okay...” Mei says, and concentrates on wiggling her pelvis from side to side more vigorously. The mud responds by wobbling and shaking in all directions, but despite her best efforts, her legs remain in place...
...until they slip downwards... driving her crotch deep in the thickening mire. Mei utters a sharp cry as she feels her sensitive nether regions impact with the soft sticky earth. Writhing in reaction, she feels the muck tug hard on her trapped limbs, and cup her round hips.
When the mud begins to rise over them, she realizes she is sinking. Slowly and steadily, Mei is being swallowed up by the mud.
“Oh, God... I'm... I'm sinking!” Mei says, and reaches out with her arms to Shayna. Her hips vanish, the mud oozing over them to surround the bottom of her narrow waist. “Help me, Shayna! Help me!”
Shayna squats down, smiling grimly, the spear resting across her bare thighs. The look of confusion and fear building on Mei's face is priceless to observe, and she is savoring it.
“Well... that's what happens in quicksand...” she says casually. The red head chuckles as Mei's eyes widen with grim understanding.
“Quicksand? You mean... you mean, real quicksand?” Mei asks, not quite believing what she is hearing.
“Well... not technically...” Shayna says in an amused tone. “It's more of a mix of clay and silt and dirt and stuff... It's more like a bog than actual quicksand... but it is just as deadly... maybe more so...”
Mei gasps. “More deadly?” Her expression reflects near panic.
Shayna laughs in response. This Chinese girl is just too precious.
“Oh, yes....” she says, relishing every minute. “In quicksand, at least you can float, or at worst sink chest deep... but this stuff...” Shayna leans over to poke at the muddy ground with her spear for dramatic effect. “This stuff will suck you under in no time... with no way to escape...”
“Oh... no! No!” Mei says, her nerves beginning to break. She feels the mud oozing over her belly and rising to the middle of her torso. Beneath, her feet cannot sense anything solid, just more shifting mud. “For the love of God... help me!”
“What a shame...” Shayna says. “There's no bottom to these jungle bogs.... that's why they call those flowers blood lilies... so many people have died trying to retrieve them... it is the only place they grow....”
“Help me! Help me! Somebody, helllllllllp!” Mei begins to shout as loud as she can. The sucking mire has risen close to her breasts now... whose outline stands out sharply beneath the wet green fabric of her shirt, pulled tight to her by the weight of the mud. She struggles to keep her arms clear of the shifting, bubbling surface.
“I bet lots of people have done that, too... yelling for help which never comes... until the mud fills their mouth and nose... smothering their cries...” Shayna says. “Then they slowly go under... vanishing in an unmarked grave...”
“Please! Somebody! Help me! Help! Oh, God...” Mei feels her breasts press into the mud. The bog tugs relentlessly on her trapped body, drawing her deeper into it with each passing moment. She realizes she doesn't have a lot of time left...
Oh, Jesus.... I'm going to die...
“Aaaaaaaaaaa! HELLLLLLPPPP!” she screams. Mei drops her arms down into the muck to claw at it desperately in an effort to escape. The bog begins to churn violently at her actions, which serve only to drive her deeper.
“Oh, Mei.... show some dignity, will you?” Shayna says. “No one is coming to save you... no one can hear you... I made sure of that when I brought you out here....”
Mei stops thrashing, her breasts now half buried in muddy slime. She looks at Shayna with a hurt expression.
“Why?” she asks quietly, a hint of a whimper making her voice quaver. “Why are you doing this?'
Shayna now grins broadly. It is time to lay out her winning hand.
“You would know where the city is, don't you? The one with the golden treasures?”
Mei's fear-filled expression turns to confusion. “What? Why would you want that? Don't you know? I mean, as the jungle protector, you don't know where the city is?”
Shayna leans close as Mei sinks to her shoulders. She is smiling a shark's smile.
“Who said I was the protector?” she utters, then chuckles.
“You're.... you're not?” Mei asks, utterly taken aback.
“Oh... you are so precious...” Shayna says, laughing. “You actually believed I was the great jungle protector, just because I dressed like this? I knew this would work... just not so well...”
“So... there is no... protector?” Mei feels her hopes fading rapidly.
“I wouldn't say that...” Shayna said. “Let's just say she won't be coming to help you... or anyone else, for that matter...”
She smiles at the memory. It was simple to play damsel in distress to lure Amira out... then to take her out of the picture. It cost her a good spear, but when she saw the true jungle queen topple out of sight over the falls, it was worth it...
“Now...” Shayna says, looking Mei in the eye. “Here's the deal... I went through a lot of trouble to set this up, so I want answers. You tell me where the lost city is, and I fish you out of there.”
Mei's eyes widen with understanding. She had been warned before of unscrupulous characters seeking directions to the city, which is why security had been paramount. But this seemed to be going too far...
“Pretty elaborate...” Mei said. “You're one of those mercenaries, right? I mean... why do this when you could just beat the shit out of me?”
“That would have been Plan B, but yes, I have my reasons,” the red head says. “First, getting rid of the jungle queen was necessary anyway if I and my comrades were going to loot the city unopposed... but after, I thought why not pretend to be her? Great way to overhear things, and lure folks off-track... Next, having you disappear instead of leaving a body would keep the authorities from getting too nosy...”
Mei's shoulders slip under, leaving her neck deep in muck.
“Lastly... I've killed a lot of people in many ways, but I never drowned someone in quicksand before...so I thought why not? Bottomless graves have their uses, too.” Shayna says.
“So... what about me?”Mei says.
“The offer still stands, tell me where the city is, and I get you out of there...” she replies.
“I'd like to help...” Mei says, her chin resting on the surface. “but I don't know where the city is...”
“Come again?” It is now Shayna's turn to be surprised.
“Nobody knows where the city is...” Mei says. “Just the leader... but he gets his instructions from somewhere else leading him to possible sites... all for security...”
“Damn!” Shayna says. She looks over to see Mei smiling at her.
“I guess this did not fit into your plans?”
“Right... I'll find someone else...” Shayna says. “Enjoy your trip to the bottom, while I find a coworker of yours... maybe I'll just use a knife this time...”
“Oh, no.... mmmph!” Mei manages to utter before the thick muck covers her mouth.
Juts then, a spear flies through the air. Mei closes her eyes, convinced she was going to be spared from drowning by dying on the tip of a spear.
Instead, the spear narrowly misses her head and buries itself into a nearby tree trunk. The shaft, still shaking from the impact, hangs just above the sunken girl,
Mei thinks she hears a voice saying “Grab it! Grab on!” before her ears stop up with mud. Reaching up through the thick morass, she manages to grab the horizontal spear with both hands, and slowly wrench her mouth and nose free of the clinging mud. With more effort, Mei hauls herself up to shoulder depth before the strength fades out of her arms.
Looking around, she first sees her would-be murderer Shayna looking around rapidly, her spear in hand. Then, a blur of motion, and the red head goes flying, slamming into another nearby tree.
Standing there is a tall woman with lovely brown skin and long black hair. She wears a two-piece animal skin outfit, and holds a knife in her right hand. The woman casts a quick glance at Mei.
“Don't move... girl not sink...” she says, then flashes a smile and winks. “I'm Amira.... the true jungle protector. Just hang on and relax. I'll get you out of there... as soon as I settle a score with a certain red haired impostor...”
Shayna, sprawled in a heap, slowly rises to her feet. She shakes her head to clear the buzzing inside, then her eyes clear and begin to focus. Locked on Amira. Her eyes widen.
You.... but... but you're dead! I killed you...” she stammers.
“Correction... you tried to kill me...” Amira says, assuming a fighting stance. “You should know a spear to the back and a plummet off a waterfall isn't enough to finish me off... although it did piss me off...”
Mei, still shoulder deep in mire while clinging to her spear anchor, watches fascinated as the two women circle each other like angry panthers. Amira has drawn a long bladed knife from a hilt hanging from her rather skimpy loin cloth and holds it in her fist, while Shayna, still wobbly on her legs from the blow, manages to retrieve her weapon and now holds her spear at the ready.
“Bad enough you try to imitate me.... but to try and kill innocents in the name of greed? I cannot forgive that...” Amira says.
Shayna snorts, her cockiness returning now that she has recovered from the shock of seeing Amira alive. “I can't believe I was once afraid of you... I mean.... you got quite a reputation..,. but someone who is that easy to bushwhack can't be all that special...”
Amira smiles coldly in response. “I admit a certain weakness in trusting people a little too quickly... especially those I think need my help...” she says, in a voice of steel wrapped in softness. “But I can be quite a vengeful bitch when crossed...”
Shayna utters a short bark of laughter, then lunges at Amira... using her spear like a lance. To her surprise the jungle woman dodges the thrust with the ease of a ballet dancer, swatting aside the spear using her right forearm, clad like her left in a metallic bracelet. The strike on the wooden shaft knocks it free of the red head's grasp, who is then knocked back on her ass by Amira's follow up blow with her left, as she straight arms the heel of her hand into Shayna's jaw.
Blinking away stars, she tries to rise once more to her feet but instead finds herself pinned down by Amira, who had sprung upon her like the predator she is... She holds her knife to Shayna's throat. The jungle holds its collective breath.
“Amira.... Help...”
The voice is Mei's. During the battle, her anchor had come loose, as the spear point hadn't penetrated deep enough into the hard wood of the jungle tree. Almost instantly, the young Chinese woman had sank to her neck again, the greedy mud slurping her down. The spear had dropped from her hands, and disappears beneath the churning mire.
“Damn...” Amira mutters, withdrawing the blade. Before Shayna could react, Amira drives the handle of the knife sharply into her forehead, knocking her cold. She rolls off her prone opponent who is splayed akimbo on the grassy ground, and rushes over to the edge of the mire.
“Amira?” Mei says softly, settling to her chin. “I... I can't move... and I'm sinking...”
The jungle queen quickly assesses the situation. The woman has maybe moments left before she is sucked under. There is no way she can get herself out... that die was cast the moment she had sank past her chest.
“Okay... stay calm...” Amira says, her sharp eyes scanning the jungle, searching for something to affect a rescue. Then, her eyes widen as she spots it.
“Don't worry.... I'll get you out of there,” she says, then darts into the thick of the jungle's foliage.
Mei watches Amira's motions, and for a moment thinks maybe she was abandoning her when the brown skinned woman dashes suddenly out of sight. Then, she returns, with a bundle of thick vines draped over her shoulder. The mire rolls over her chin to lick at her bottom lip as she watches her rescuer quickly weave the vines into a rope of some kind, then loop it around a nearby tree.
“Please... hurry...” she gasps, feeling the mud once more stop up her ears. She tilts her head upwards to delay the inevitable... Amira tugs on the braid of vines to make sure it is secure, then heads over towards the doomed girl. She tosses the makeshift rope up and over a tree limb sticking out over the bog, noting with satisfaction how the end drapes over to fall upon the muddy surface in several long loops.
Reaching carefully outwards, Amira grabs the vine and hauls its free end over to her. Looping one end of the vine around her right forearm, she then steps carefully into the deadly morass. It feels thick and slimy under her bare feet as they sink past her shins.
“Hang on... I'm coming to you...” Amira says, struggling to wade through the jungle bog. It grips her legs fiercely as she drives them down to the knees, and makes obscene sounds as she fights to extract her limbs to make progress. The jungle queen is mere feet from Mei when the bog melts beneath her, sucking her down to her hips. Only her grip on her vine lifeline keeps her from going down further.
“Oh, God.... I'm going... under... mmmph!!!” Mei's voice becomes a bubbly gurgle as thick mud flows inside her mouth. In a blink, only her forehead, eyes and nose remain on the churning surface, her eyes wide and terrified.
“Dammit... hold on!” Amira says, playing out the vine so she can make her way closer. The mire sucks hard on her body, swirling sluggishly around her hard belly and oozing its way past her loincloth to lick her nether regions and work its way inside. She feels herself blush at the sensation, but ignores it. Just hang on... another... second...
Slowly, Shayna begins to stir. She finds herself struggling to claw her way to the surface from the depths of her unconsciousness. Everything swirls around her...
Mei feels herself being pulled under, and there isn't anything she can do to stop it. The mud flows thickly over her face, plugging her nose, oozing over her forehead. Her breath bubbles on the surface, despite her best efforts to hold it. Her eyes spot the thin ridge of mud hovering over her, then it flattens out, forcing her eyelids to close...
With a desperate lunge, Amira belly flops on the mire's surface and plunges her left arm deep into the quivering swamp slime. Her chin, neck and torso press hard into the soft, rubbery mud, and she begins to feel the small of her back beginning to be covered by semi-solid muck. Thrashing around, she feels with her fingers for any sign of the girl...
Damn... she couldn't have gone that deep, yet... where the hell can she...
Deep under the thickly swirling mud, Amira feels a hand grab hold of her forearm. Twisting around, she manages to get an iron grip on the warm, limb, and the tightening fingers attached to it. Arching her back while holding on grimly to the vine rope, she uses all of her strength to haul Mei towards the surface, an effort which drives her breast deep in the slimy mud.
Gripping the vine with her right, Amira uses her left to lever Mei upwards... the mire begins to bulge, then flow off of the object breaking the surface... The muddy lump begins to cough and sputter, spitting out clots of mud. Mei, unable to see due to the thick mud mask obscuring her features, contents herself with noisily sucking in lungfuls of humid tropical air.
Amira smiles. It had been a close one, but the girl will be fine now. Her attention now turns to hauling both of them out of the deadly bog... So intent on that task, she doesn't notice the movement from the shoreline...
Shayna rolls over onto her side, still numb from Amira's blow. Must have been a damn nerve strike or something... she thinks, vowing to never underestimate the jungle bitch again...
As she sits up, her eyes struggle to focus. She spots Amira wading in deep mud for some reason... then she sees Mei's face... the Chinese girl is slathered with mud, and has been using her free hand to rub off the gritty-feeling bog slime. Amira's left arm is clamped securely under Mei's upper torso, bringing her up to shoulder depth again. The action has driven the jungle woman to the same depth.
As she watches, Amira hauls on the vine and begins to drag both her and Mei slowly upwards, quite the feat considering she is only using her right arm to do so. Shayna rises slowly into a crouch position, then spots her spear still lying in the grass. She makes her way over to it as quietly as she can, and by the time her hands wrap around its hard wooden shaft, she feels her strength returning... fuel by burning anger.
That bitch! How dare she slap her around like some raw recruit? Shayna sees red as she slowly but steadily makes her way over towards Amira and Mei, now suspended over the bog...
Mei has no strength at all in her, and hangs limp in Amira's arm. She can feel them both rising, as sheets of clinging mud fall off their persons... their breasts emerge, clothing plastered tight against them... then their midsections... The mud is so thick, she cannot move the parts of her still dipping in them. Mei remains silent, lacking the breath to say anything. Instead, she uses her free left hand to keep wiping mud off of her face...
In her rage, it never occurs to Shayna to simply cut the vine and watch the two women sink to their deaths. No... she wants blood. She wants to stick Amira... stick her in the belly... twist the spear's shaft and rip her open and see her innards spill out... hear her scream in agony... make her suffer...
Hanging from the vine, the mud-covered women look like ripe pinatas... and Shayna feels her mouth twist into a savage grin. Amira has twisted with the vine, and has her back to her... it will only take a half dozen steps before her target's belly swings back into view, something even she couldn't miss...
“Almost there...” Amira says to Mei, then smiles again. She knows she will be exhausted and sore from this effort... but she puts that out of her mind. Then it occurs to her she doesn't know who she risked her life to rescue...
“So... what's your name?” she asks. Mei wipes the rest of the muck off of her eyes...and as she is about to tell her, her eyes snap open... to see Shayna charging at them, spear thrust forward...
“Amira!” Mei manages to shout...
Things happened fast after that. Seeing her opponent running at her, Amira sizes up the situation in a heartbeat... and makes the hard choice. She let's go of Mei, sending her plunging back into the mire, and, swinging on the vine, manages to move just enough to evade the spear thrust, which skims past her left side.
Shayna snarls in frustration as Amira brings down her left arm to slap the spear's shaft hard, driving it downwards. The red head's momentum moves her forward, forcing the spear to glide effortlessly into the bog. Out of reflex, she tries to stop herself, but is running too fast, and instead stumbles, doing a back flip into the center of the mud. Her impact generates a bow wave of thick mire in all directions...
Amira sees Shayna is bogged down, lying on her back in the bog, so she looks around for Mei... finding her once again shoulder deep in the dark wet earth. Amira lowers herself down the vine, letting the mire envelope her to her chest, where she dips her left arm into the thick slurry to get a grip on Mei. She offers her a weak smile.
“My name is Mei...” she says. “Can we get out and stay out of this mud bath now?'
Amira finds herself grinning broadly as she hauls the pair of them out of the sucking death trap. The second time getting out isn't quite as hard to do, as their earlier struggles had loosened the brown and green morass so its grip wasn't quite as thick on their persons.
Still, it does take Amira time to work up the vine to be clear of the muck, her precious cargo clinging to her tightly. Somehow, she manages to swing them clear before her own strength gives out, where upon impact they collapse belly down on solid ground, both too spent to move.
A strangled cry gets Amira's attention. Mei, mercifully, remains still and face down. She seems to have fainted from her ordeal, her breathing slow and steady as she sleeps soundly in the soft, clean grass.
Just as well.... Amira thinks grimly. After what she had been through, the young lady doesn't need to remember this sight on top of that...
While Amira was busy rescuing Mei, Shayna was trying to rescue herself. Lying on her back in the mire, she finds it like being trapped atop a gelatin mold, all wobbly, with nothing to push against. With a curse, she uses her physique to roll onto her side with a sudden motion, while kicking out her feet... an action which allows her to sit upright... at the expense of thrusting both legs past the crotch in the bog,
“Crap!” she exclaimed, and bends forward in an effort to try and crawl her way out. But her legs, feet deep under the mud and pointed toes downwards, glide down like arrows, and to her dismay she finds herself being quickly consumed by the soft jungle slime.
Her pelvis and ass are sucked under in moments.... then her waist is surrounded... then her belly slips under the churning mud.... By the time Amira and Mei make it to safety, her breasts are slapping on the surface of the bog. Desperate, she starts clawing at the soft mud, leaving behind shallow trenches in the mire.
“Amira! Amira! Help me!” she shouts, noticing the jungle woman rolling onto her back and sitting up to stare at her. The wet sloppy muck swiftly devours her breasts, and slops against her collarbone. Shayna reaches out with her right hand towards Amira, while her left struggles to find any sort of purchase in the quaking mass.
Amira sighs to herself, and keeps staring. Even if she wants to save her... she knows that would likely result in both of them going under together... not a fate she is eager to share. She simply had no reserves of strength left to move, much less haul someone else out.
Shayna can't believe it. Amira wasn't moving. Instead, she keeps looking at her with a rather sad, resigned expression on her face.
“You... you aren't just going to sit there and watch me die, are you?” she says. The mire is flowing over her shoulders now, surrounding the base of her neck. “What the hell kind of hero are you?”
Amira sighs again. “Who says I'm a hero?” she says wearily. “I protect the jungle... and I make hard choices every day... but that isn't heroism... it's survival...”
Shayna finds it harder to breathe with the mire pressing against her. She is chin deep now, and continues to struggle. Her hands keep clawing at the muck...
Amira moves her head sideways to indicate Mei, still unconscious beside her. “Mei, here.... she's more of a hero than I am... enters the jungle in blind faith on the hope of discovering something... not really knowing what she is in for... that's pretty gutsy.... naive, but gutsy.”
“But the city... what about the city?” Shayna says. “How do you know her and her expedition aren't there to loot the place like I was?”
“Because there is nothing to loot...” Amira says. “They kept its location secret from everyone to discourage people from coming out here unprepared for this dangerous place... but there never was a treasure...”
Shayna's expression is crestfallen. Then the panic returns... as the muck slaps against her lower lip.
“For God's sake,” Shayna says, spitting out mouthfuls of liquid mud slopping inside. “Help me! Don't let me die this... mmmggh....”
Her final cries are choked off by the mud filling her mouth and pouring down her throat, sealing off her nose... marked by thick gurgling sounds. Shayna's eyes bulge as her final breath boils on the thick sucking surface... her red hair swirls atop the shuddering mire, forming a halo around her rapidly shrinking face... her hands continue to claw at the mud and damp jungle air, grasping for something to save her... a something that just wasn't there.... not close enough to do any good.
Amira watches quietly as the rest of Shayna disappears beneath the churning mud... her hands slide under, clawing and twitching and wiggling... her hair vanishes in a swirl of sloppy earth... a final burst of bubbles, and she is gone....
Amira continues to watch until the mire's surface stills, then looks over to Mei, who is still sleeping quietly. The shade from the trees overhead is soothing, and Amira decides to let her sleep for a while more, while she stands guard over her, alone with her thoughts.

[DJlurker]

It’s a nice story... thanks for sharing.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thank you! It was nice to have one last trip together.

[water_bug_62208]

Nicely written story and nice pictures. Looks like it was a fun and enjoyable collaboration.

Thanks for sharing!

[Solrex]

I really enjoyed this story and want more... I mean, the fact that there was multiple sinks just let me enjoy the story for so much longer. 99/10, hope you can derive what you got out of this to write more...