by Tara Ellis
Thick vines and roots threatened to trip her up as the trees became denser and branches clawed at Peta’s face. Batting them away angrily with one hand, she used the other to hold onto Jason as they staggered toward the openness of the river and back into the water. With the moon sheathed in a veil of ash, there was little light for the river to reflect, so the clear expanse wasn’t much of a reprieve from the absolute darkness of the surrounding jungle.
Her breath came in ragged gasps, and Peta fought against the overwhelming exhaustion that threated to drag her down. She couldn’t stop, but with the added weight of Jason leaning on her for support, it was all she could do to keep her legs moving.
He’d improved the first twelve hours or so after drinking the Libi Prani tea, but more than twenty-four hours later, he was rapidly declining again. Jason needed more of the treatment to fight off The Kuru, if he was going to survive, and the only way that was going to happen was if she got him to the ancient site of the Lokono.
Motion from above caused the others in the group to pause, and Peta scowled at Devon’s back as he stood looking up. There was a subtle, insidious snapping of branches as something large slid stealthily through the canopy of the Amazon, stalking them.
Slaider was certain it was more jaguars, and although they hadn’t made themselves visible yet, the shadows were multiplying as they became bolder in their movements. Whether the cats were waiting until they had the numbers to completely surround them, or if they were simply playing with their food, was up for debate.
“Come on!” Peta urged. Pushing at Devon’s arm, she glanced behind them and confirmed the flickering lights were still there. They stood out starkly in the distance, where they’d been fading in and out of view for the past several hours.
The Cured were getting closer, and they were the other reason they’d been forced to press on through the night. Unlike the predatory jaguars, Davies and his followers didn’t seem to be concerned about staying hidden. On the contrary, Peta suspected he wanted them to know he was there. Emotions or not, the man was toying with them. The larger group from the resort had been pursuing them for over a day, and were steadily closing in. As much as Peta would love to face off with him once more, they were in no shape to put up a fight. Their only chance to successfully harvest more of the unique plant, was to reach the village first and alert the Lokono so they could protect themselves as well as the hot spring.
“Don’t get me wrong, Slaider,” Devon whispered as he started moving again, pulling the other man and Akuba along with him. “I trust you and all, but over a half-hour ago you said we were close to where we can cross. My feet are getting pruned and the three of us are either going to take a bath, or become kitten chow if we don’t get outta here soon.”
Devon and Slaider were positioned on either side of Akuba, and had been practically carrying her for the past few miles. While she’d done well on the first day, in spite of her injured leg, their non-stop trek for the second day was too much. The wound on her thigh had re-opened and was already oozing through the bandage Jason had applied.
Jess and Tyler were laden down with the extra packs, and the teens were bringing up the rear with a very edgy Marty. The German Shepherd had been a quivering mess ever since the first sounds of their stalkers started drifting down from the trees. Peta didn’t blame him.
“We’re coming at it from a different direction,” Slaider replied, sounding equally frustrated. Slipping on a rock, he barely regained his footing and then had to stop, shaking his head.
“Maybe the shortcut through that ravine wasn’t such a good idea,” Jason muttered. His speech was getting garbled, and it drew several concerned glances from the group as they huddled on the side of the dark river that slid silently by.
The stillness and unnatural silence were starting to get to Peta. It began earlier that night, when the normal and constant drone of insects, birds, and other unearthly sounding animals dimmed before completely cutting out. She kept expecting another earthquake to strike, and the longer they went without anything happening to fill the expanding void, the more anxiety it caused as the tension became palpable. Jess had been saying all along how the jungle felt and sounded “off”, and Peta suspected whatever was behind the cause had finally reached a tipping point so that now it was obvious to them all.
Marty whined and leaned into Jason’s leg, panting as he stared up at the overhanging limbs of the trees. Peta followed his line-of-sight and saw a set of glowing eyes not more than thirty feet away. It blinked languidly, and then a second cat appeared, moving in a way that made the shadows appear to be shifting around it. They were getting bolder.
“Maybe this isn’t the best time to be stopping,” she whispered. The cool water flowed around her legs, pushing against the backs of her calves, and she tried not to think about what sort of exotic snakes or reptiles might be in it as something bumped against her before scurrying away.
“There!” Slaider was pointing downstream. “See the log on top of the boulder? I’m certain that’s where Kavish and I crossed. It isn’t much further from there to the village.”
“You should run ahead once we’ve made it to the other side,” Akuba suggested to Slaider as they trudged toward the natural bridge. “We have to warn them about Dr. Davies, and you can let the elders know we’re coming. That we…I need their help.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jason slurred. Leaning more heavily on Peta, he readjusted the automatic rifle on his other shoulder as he turned his head closer to hers. “I’m not going to make it.”
Marty whined again, and Peta wondered if it was because he somehow understood what was happening with Jason, or if the jaguars were edging closer. Gritting her teeth, she slid her arm further around his back and pulled a little harder. “Not an option,” she said forcefully, not giving Jason any room for argument. She wasn’t about to leave anyone behind, especially not him.
“Um, is now a good time to maybe shoot at one of those things?” Tyler asked as they neared the log. He had turned around and was walking backward, pointing the groups only other AR up at the trees.
“Wait,” Jason ordered. “We have to make it count.”
Between the other gunfights and animal attacks, they’d already used up most of their ammunition. What they had left in the clips was it. It was the same situation for the couple of bolt-action rifles and handguns they carried. It wouldn’t be enough. If they had any chance of holding off the Cured once they reached the Lokono, they needed to conserve the bullets.
As they gathered at the end of the fallen log, Jess stood back-to-back with Tyler, pointing her rifle at various hidden targets. Her eyes were wide, and as she brushed one of her red braids away from her face, Peta thought how in that moment, Jess looked younger than her fourteen-years.
“Hurry!” Jess hissed. “The Cured are getting closer.”
“Maybe the cats will stay over here and slow ‘em down,” Tyler whispered.
“We can hope,” Peta agreed. “Come on.” Tugging at Jess’s arm, she guided the teen toward the bridge. “I’ll go last. You two help Jason.”
Pulling the Glock from her chest holster, Peta was feeling vulnerable as she watched the others scramble onto the massive log. It was wide enough that there wasn’t much balancing required, and Akuba followed haltingly behind Slaider and Devon while Tyler was able to walk alongside Jason to make sure he didn’t slip off. The river itself was no more than forty feet across at that point, and if it weren’t for needing the natural bridge as a landmark, they could have attempted a crossing at several other spots.
Glancing down at the muddy tracks left on the bank and the water all over the log, Peta grimaced. There wasn’t any chance Davies would miss their trail, but she couldn’t do anything about that.
The chilling sound of long, lethal nails scraping on wood broke through the silence.
Peta’s head snapped up and she strained to see what she already knew was there; only feet away now. Reaching behind her, she felt bl
indly for the log and then slowly climbed up onto it, never taking her eyes off the jungle. She was tempted to go for a flashlight, but they’d turned them off shortly after nightfall. They worked well for illuminating what fell within its thin beam, but left you blind to everything else.
Peta needed her peripheral vision. The cats liked to attack from the side, and there was a good chance snapping the light on might prompt them to pounce.
Slowly, cautiously, she inched her way backwards on the log. There were loud splashes as the others jumped into the river’s edge on the other end. The sound was encouraging.
Swallowing, Peta’s eyes flitted first to the lights working their way steadily down the river toward them, and then to the wall of foliage.
Movement.
She was half-way across the log bridge. Peta pulled the slide back on the Glock.
The first jaguar leapt gracefully onto the end of the log, landing with such stealth that Peta hardly felt the impact reverberate through the water-logged wood. It blinked once…twice, and then licked its lips before moving forward. Another one dropped down behind the first, and then a third.
They were crossing the river.
The hairs on the back of Peta’s neck rose as she locked eyes with the massive, feline predator and she knew in that moment that they would never stop.
Chapter 3
JASON
Suriname, South America
Deep in the Amazon
Jason reached out and grabbed at Peta, pulling her backwards off the log. He’d been acting on instinct, and it wasn’t until he tried to catch her and stop her momentum with his weakened right arm that he realized it had been a mistake.
Cursing under his breath, Jason grunted as she landed on top of him, and then scrambled to get back to his knees as she rolled away. Thankfully, Peta was strong enough to take care of herself and was already turning to brace against the tree and face the approaching predators.
Throwing himself next to her, his chest slammed into a root as Jason strained to lift the automatic rifle into position. Looking down the sights at the cats slinking along the log, he couldn’t hold the weapon steady. Gritting his teeth, Jason pulled his head away and unslung it from his neck.
“Here,” he said, his voice hoarse. Pushing the rifle toward Peta, he then held out his left hand for her Glock. “That, I can shoot accurately one-handed.”
Peta silently exchanged the weapons without ever taking her eyes from the jaguars. “How long should I wait?”
Jason lined up his shot and didn’t hesitate to take it.
Snap!
The retort was loud, especially as it echoed throughout the vast jungle that was otherwise silent. “Now,” he said with a smirk, watching the lead cat fall.
Peta raised the AR without comment, but the second cat had reacted by jumping sideways and falling into the river, while the rest had frozen. “There’s at least six more of them,” Peta gasped, pressing her face close to the scope. “Why aren’t the others running?”
“It’s just like at the preserve,” Jess whispered from behind them. “They aren’t scared of us. Or our guns.”
Jason glanced to where she and Tyler were huddled, the excess bags sitting at their feet. Akuba was leaning against a nearby tree, while Devon and Slaider were approaching with their rifles, ready to get into the fight.
“You need to go.” He forced the words from his lips, which felt thick and heavy. His speech was slurred, but he thought they could still understand him. “We’ll hold them.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Tyler immediately offered, moving forward with the other AR.
“No!” Peta snapped, waving a hand for everyone else to back off. “You have to go with them and make sure they get there,” she added more gently.
Akuba slid down to the ground. “I should stay—”
“No!” Peta shouted again, looking sideways at the other woman. “You’re the Captain, Akuba. The leader of the Lokono, now that your mother is sick. They’ll listen to you. You have to make them listen. Do you understand?”
Jason watched the exchange while keeping an eye on the new lead-cat, who was sniffing at the one lying motionless on the log. He didn’t think it would be long before they advanced on them again. They were actually in a fairly good vantage point, with the jaguars essentially funneled without anywhere else to go. He estimated they had a decent chance of taking them all out, but only if they were patient and allowed the animals to come to them.
Akuba struggled back to her feet and set her shoulders, reminding Jason of the amazing strength and will the indigenous woman had already shown. With a slight nod of her head, she reached toward Slaider. “I’ll need your help.”
Jess hesitated, her eyes darting between Jason and Akuba. She knelt down to console Marty, whose whine was turning into a whimper. “Shhh,” she cooed. “It’s going to be okay, boy.”
Except that was a lie. Jason was sick, and once they walked away, there was a good chance he’d never see his furry friend again. Or the daughter he thought he’d never meet. “I need you to take care of him for me,” he whispered, trusting Jess would understand what he meant.
Flinching like he’d tried to strike her, Jess stood abruptly and tugged at Marty’s collar. She looked again at Akuba, and then tried her best to smile at him. “I will.”
“Uh-oh,” Peta muttered, interrupting any other attempts at a goodbye. “This just got a little more interesting.”
“Define interesting,” Devon groaned, taking a knee on the other side of Jason. He whistled low under his breath before Peta had a chance to respond. “You have got to be freaking kidding me.”
Jason saw them at the same time; emerging from the jungle behind the cats. First one flickering lantern and then another cast circles of waving light across the mud to reflect off the water. The Cured had arrived, and there were more than they’d thought. At lot more.
“I don’t understand,” Jess said, sounding frantic. “Where did they all come from?”
“Davies has been recruiting them throughout Suriname,” Slaider said from where he stood supporting Akuba. “I heard that from more than one person when I went through town on my way back to the preserve.”
“Setting up a network,” Jason murmured, thinking out loud. More than a dozen of the silent, watching “followers” gathered behind the jaguars to stare across the water, and there were at least double that many more still approaching. He didn’t see Davies or Eddy among them, but had no doubt they were close.
The light also revealed the true number of cats pursuing them, and it was shocking to see how many were slinking around on the other shore, waiting impatiently to jostle for a space onto the log. It was a bottleneck of death.
“Why aren’t they attacking The Cured?” Tyler asked as he hefted one of the extra packs onto his back. He handed the other one to Jess as Akuba and Slaider waited impatiently for them. “They’re right there—easy targets. Why are they still trying to get over to us?”
“I don’t know,” Peta answered, with her face still pressed to her weapon. “Some sort of instinct? Maybe a scent.”
“Fear,” Jason said without any doubt that he was right.
Peta shifted slightly to stare at him. “Like, they’re smelling our fear?”
Jason adjusted the Glock, lining up with the front cat again. “Yeah, the old adage about predators being able to smell your fear is true. There’s a pheromone that’s released.”
Peta grimaced and gripped the AR more tightly. “And without the ability to feel fear anymore, The Cured aren’t perceived as prey.”
“The apex pred…predator,” Jason confirmed. He had a hard time getting the last word out, and he was beginning to shake. The fever was getting worse.
“This is all super fascinating to the scientist in me,” Devon quipped as he motioned for Jess and Tyler to get moving. “But does it matter at this point? I think I’d rather focus on preventing us from being torn apart. Or even better, not end up in one of those
terrycloth shirts those folks over there are sporting because I’m telling you right now that white is not my color.”
Peta shoved away from the log suddenly, and turned to wrap Devon up in an unexpected hug. “Take care of them,” she said gruffly before pushing away again.
Devon gave a mock salute and then jogged over to Slaider and Akuba, who were already staggering away. “Watch our backs,” he directed to Tyler.
Marty whimpered at Jason, and it was all he could do not to call the dog to him. But he couldn’t. If he did, it would be impossible for Jason to let him go again, and the dog wouldn’t stand a chance against the jaguars.
Jess gave Marty a final tug as she looked pleadingly at Jason and Peta. The teen was smart enough to understand why they had to split up, but that didn’t mean she was okay with it. There was a part of Jason that couldn’t help but feel he’d made things worse by finding her. That in spite of everything, he was abandoning her again, and she would have been better off not even knowing about him.
Crack!
The shot from the AR made Jason jump, and that was when he knew he was in trouble. He registered the fact that Peta had shot the new lead cat, and he could see its body falling sideways into the river, but it was as if he was viewing it on the other side of a movie screen.
“They’re getting bolder,” Peta whispered, when the other jaguars started moving again before the report of the rifle had even faded.
When Jason didn’t answer, she leaned back and shifted to get a better view of him. The flash of recognition on her face said it all. Reaching out, she touched his cheek. “You’re burning up.”
He nodded while struggling to keep the Glock level. It felt like it weighed at least twenty pounds. Staring at the gun, Jason blinked slowly and swallowed. His throat was raw, and the lymph nodes in his neck were swollen, making any movement of his head painful. The headache had grown beyond the reach of any medication they had, and was blossoming with a new vengeance behind his left eye.