"Now, pull!" Nnenna shouted.
All three of them pulled, muscles straining, feet digging into the forest floor. The quicksand gurgled angrily, refusing to let go.
Then pop!
Karen's shoulder broke free. They kept pulling.
Another heave, and finally, with one last desperate tug, Karen slid out of the muck and collapsed on solid ground, coughing and gasping for air.
"You saved us again," John said, his voice rough from exhaustion.
They all stood there, panting, coated in sweat and mud. Even Nnenna could barely speak. Her knees trembled beneath her, but not from fatigue, from what almost happened.
She had nearly lost all of them.
After everything they had endured for almost a month in the Black Forest, after countless trials, it would have ended here? So close to the edge?
She clenched her fists. She wouldn't let that happen.
Once she caught her breath, she turned to Abuchi, who was still staring at the place Karen had almost sunk.
"We need to move," she said quietly.
