by Tara Ellis
Leaning back on his heels, he took a moment to steady his voice and wipe the sweat from his forehead before speaking the words out loud. “You got lucky,” he said simply. “You’re going to be fine. The bullet punched right through the muscle.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Tyler groaned with a brave attempt at a grin. “‘Cause we know I have a ton of muscle to spare.”
Jason stood. “I need to go get my med kit and some antibiotics. Your biggest issue over the next couple of days will be infection.”
Several more shots from the north end of the village made them all jump and go silent. Jason hesitated. He had two bullets left in the AR and four in his Glock. At that point, the Lokono were better armed. With a grimace, he moved for the door.
Two more shots in rapid fire and men shouting in the distance caused him to pause at the threshold. Standing with his head cocked, he held his breath and listened. While he couldn’t understand the language being spoken, the tone of the words sounded more like a victory than fear. Turning to look at Akuba, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“I think they got whoever it was,” Akuba whispered.
Stepping outside, Akuba and Peta followed close behind as Slaider came running toward them. “Another one of The Touched!” he shouted. Stopping next to them, he hunched over panting with his hands on his knees. “He was trying to prevent the Lokono from leaving, but he seemed to be the last one.”
“The fire is intentional,” Akuba declared with a vehemence Jason hadn’t heard from her before.
Peta glanced warily at her, and then Slaider. “How big is it?”
He shook his head. “As far as I could see, and spreading fast.”
Jason had heard enough. “I’ll be right back.” Spinning on his heel, he took off at a jog toward the run-down room they’d been brought to the night before. The last of their things were stored there, as well as Eddy and Kavish.
The first thing Jason noticed as he approached the ruins on the outskirts of buildings, was that the guard assigned to watch over the two men was gone. He was likely only trying to keep his own family safe and Jason didn’t blame him for not sticking around.
Inside, he found Eddy sound asleep, and Kavish leaning against one of the crumbled walls looking skittish. “What’s going on?” he asked, trying to see past Jason. “I heard some shots. Is it Dr. Davies? Have they come back? Because I can’t go with him. Not again.”
Jason studied the other man for a moment. He’d never met him before that afternoon, but everything Jess and Akuba had said made him out to be an honorable guy. So long as he wasn’t being influenced by the Kra Puru.
“There’s a fire,” Jason said gruffly, rummaging through the few bags lined up near the door. “And a couple of Cured taking pot shots at anyone trying to leave. It’s under control.”
Kavish scoffed. “Under control? It doesn’t sound like anything is under control.”
Based on his obviously fried nerves, Jason felt relatively certain Kavish was at least in touch with some of his emotions. It was impossible to know if it was because of the tea he drank several hours before, of if he’d never lost them in the first place.
“He’s burning the Tan Presi Rutu?” Eddy said from the darkened interior of the room.
“Unless you believe in massive coincidences,” Jason replied. “Which, at this point, is probably something I won’t even consider as a possibility anymore, going forward.”
“He set the jungle on fire and then stationed his men to keep you inside,” Eddy continued, as if Jason hadn’t spoken.
Snapping on his flashlight, Jason aimed the narrow beam in Eddy’s direction. Flinching, Eddy held a hand up to shield his eyes. He looked annoyed by the action.
“How are you feeling?” It was a loaded question, though Jason doubted whether Eddy knew just how much.
There was a lengthy pause, and as Jason slowly lowered the light, Eddy also moved his hand away from his pale face. His expression was contemplative. Not necessarily emotional, but more than he’d expressed since the last time Jason saw him before he’d locked him out of his office back in the hospital in Harborview. The strength of the memory caught him off guard, and Jason clenched his jaw. He missed his friend, but he couldn’t let that cloud his judgement.
“I—” Eddy’s voice caught and he looked away, thoughtful. He rubbed at the space between his eyes and then pinched it, grimacing. “I’m confused.”
Squatting down, Jason got at eye-level with him. “Tell me.”
Nostrils flaring, Eddy released a slow breath and then pursed his lips. “I—feel. I feel something, Jason. I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’ve missed this, because I’m thinking this sucks right now, but…I’ve got a tight ball of anxiety blossoming in my chest which is likely due to the confusion and—fear.” He clenched his hand into a fist and held it in front of his chest to signify the build-up of emotion.
Jason stared at it. He watched Eddy’s hand quiver and wanted nothing more than to believe that one dose of tea a few hours prior could already undo so much damage. If so, it only made their situation that much more tenuous. The Libi Prani was a miracle that couldn’t be destroyed. They couldn’t let it all burn.
“You gave me something,” Eddy whispered.
“What?” Kavish gasped, dropping down to the floor next to Eddy. “You found the cure?”
Jason reeled back and jumped to his feet. He couldn’t risk it. “Later,” he said, trying not to sound too brusque. “Tyler’s been shot and I have to patch him up before we can move him.”
“Move him?” Eddy repeated. “You aren’t going to try and go through the jungle?”
“We don’t have a choice!”
“Jason!” Sahil interrupted.
Jason spun around to find the elder standing just outside the open doorway. He was hunched over, shaking, and using a large walking stick for support. “The villagers who tried to leave…they’ve already returned. The river has been cut off by the fire.”
“That fast?” Jason’s mind churned, trying to work the problem. With the jungle to the north and south burning, that left a steep mountain to their backs, and there was no way all of the tribespeople could make the climb ahead of an advancing fire.
“The caves,” Sahil said quickly, glancing over his shoulder. “We must get to the caves. The system goes all the way through the mountain. It won’t be an easy journey, but it can be done and most of the village has already left. Some are staying behind to help the rest of us, but I fear it won’t be enough.”
“I’ll help.” Jason grabbed his med kit. “I have to take care of Tyler first, but then we’ll get him and Akuba’s mother to the caves with the rest of you.”
“Jason!” Eddy urged, before he could leave.
“Go now, with the Lokono,” Jason replied with a gesture toward the back wall of the city. “Find Slaider and follow the others.”
“No.”
Confused, Jason stopped and looked back at Eddy, who had gotten to his feet. “Okay, then you can stay and help me with the injured.”
“You don’t understand,” Eddy insisted, following Jason outside. “Things aren’t what they seem. Davies wouldn’t uselessly sacrifice any of his followers to the fire, he—”
“He’s anything but noble!” Jason shouted back. “I don’t think that man would hesitate to order anyone to their death, so long as it wasn’t himself.”
Recoiling, Eddy frowned and rubbed at his forehead like he had a headache. “I think you need to listen—”
“He doesn’t trust us,” Kavish said, cutting him off.
Jason hesitated. He wanted to reassure Eddy and help his friend through what would probably be a rough recovery, but it had to wait. He lifted the med kit up for emphasis. “I don’t have time to decipher things right now. We’ll work this out, but it’ll have to be later.”
Later.
Walking away, Jason clung to the belief there would be a later.
Chapter 18
&nbs
p; JESS
Tan Presi Rutu
Amazon Jungle, South America
Jess watched Tyler skeptically as he attempted to remain standing on his own. He was pale and sweaty, and the makeshift sling that held his right arm was stained with way too much blood.
“I told you, I’m fine!” he shouted, pushing at Peta’s hand when she tried to steady him “You guys shouldn’t be wasting your time here with me. Where’s Slaider? Did he get my bags? He has to get out of here!”
Tyler staggered forward a couple of steps into the abandoned courtyard, looking around at the scattered supplies and dying campfires. The smell of smoke was getting stronger and already overpowered the hint of sulfur. “Is everyone else gone?”
“I gave your bags to Slaider,” Jess answered, hefting her own bags that were hanging awkwardly from her shoulders. “He was going to find someone to take them and come back for a couple more. He’ll get it to the boat,” she insisted when Tyler frowned. Jess got why it was so important to him, but she hoped Slaider was able to take at least one of hers. Between her backpack and the extra loads, she would have a hard time climbing up the steep waterfall trail to the caves unassisted. Otherwise, she’d probably have to make a couple of trips. “Not everyone is gone,” she added with a grimace as Sahil slowly made his way toward them.
It’d been an hour since Jason had rushed back with his medical supplies. While he’d cursed over the gushing wound on Tyler’s shoulder, struggling to stop the bleeding, most of the Lokono made a hasty retreat into the mountain. Peta and Devon helped as much as they could, but there were still several elders who were too frail to make it on their own, as well as a few other injured and sick tribe members.
“Sahil!” Peta called out as she jogged over to him. Offering him an arm, Sahil accepted it gratefully with a sigh.
“Most of the village is evacuated,” he announced. “The strongest of the Lokono have already gone to help the young and frail make their way through the cave system, though a few have remained to help carry our injured and those unable to walk. They’re on their way now to the falls. We hope that if we can get far enough into the mountain in time, it will protect us from the fire.” He looked up at the sky that had taken on an orange glow, as fine bits of ash floated down and stuck to his hair. “We have to go. There is no more time. The weather hasn’t been the same since the first eruption and we haven’t had rain in over two weeks. This fire is spreading faster than any other I’ve seen during my eighty years in the jungle.”
Peta left Sahil to grab at the stack of assorted duffle bags near the fire they’d been eating around only hours earlier. There were four of them left, and Jess didn’t know how Peta was going to manage carrying them the whole way. She already had a heavy backpack which included all the samples, as well as Jason’s AR that hung from her chest.
Jason ducked through the opening of the hut, cradling Akuba’s mother in his arms. She was still unconscious, so it was the only way to get her through the hot springs. The Lokono had a couple of working carts, but it would have been impossible to pull them across the swampy and rooted ground between there and the caves.
Jason nodded at Sahil before scowling at Tyler. “You aren’t fine!” He barked, apparently having heard his complaints. “You’ve lost a lot of blood and shouldn’t even be on your feet. Now isn’t the time for heroics.”
Jess flinched, feeling bad for anyone on the receiving end of Jason’s scrutiny. He definitely wasn’t someone you wanted to tick off. “I’ll help him,” she offered, and Tyler didn’t resist when she dropped one of the bags into her hand to free up a shoulder for him to lean on.
Devon and Akuba were the last to emerge from the hut with Marty, who barked insistently as he ran from one person to the next. Jess had suspected Akuba’s leg was worse than she’d been admitting, and the way Devon was having to help her walk confirmed it.
A growing sense of panic threatened to overwhelm Jess as she studied their beaten-down group, while realizing how bright the courtyard was for the middle of the night. The jungle was glowing, and the light from the fire was reflected by the hazy atmosphere so that the whole sky was ablaze with it. They still had to get through the maze of hot springs before climbing the waterfall, and for the first time since it had all begun, Jess wasn’t confident they were going to beat the odds. It felt like no matter what they did, or how hard they fought, it would never be over.
“Lobiwan,” Akuba whispered.
Startled by the soft word of endearment uttered close to her ear, Jess saw that everyone else was already moving and Akuba was alongside her. Looking into the dark, intelligent eyes of the woman who’d raised her, Jess was reminded of the quiet strength she’d always taken for granted. It wasn’t just her father that had made her feel safe all of those years… it was Akuba, the love of the Lokono, and the timelessness of the Amazon.
“We are together,” Akuba said with a purposeful nod of her head. “All of this has happened before, and now it is time for us to make sure it cannot happen again.”
The gentle reminder that their current situation was about a lot more than themselves, triggered something in Jess. The tightness in her chest turned to a flame of determination and an overwhelming sense of being a part of something greater than herself.
In spite of not being a hundred percent while carrying the greatest burden, Jason set a fast pace with Marty leading the way, his nose to the ground. Glowing embers began raining down around them as the small group fled through the south gate and into the complex web of trails, marshes, and hot springs that filled the space between them and the caves.
Ten minutes later, they were already spread out and Jess was slowing down as Tyler had to lean on her more. Sahil was somewhere behind them, but Jess had lost sight of him. Her eyes watered as the smoke thickened, making it more difficult to see. Blinking rapidly, she focused on Devon’s back up ahead, while doing her best to ignore the movement in the trees around them. She told herself it was nothing more than the fire pushing the animals ahead of it, and not something more sinister.
“This trail seems a lot longer than I remember,” Tyler muttered. “Were we really just here yesterday?” Shifting his weight, he tried to take a step on his own and almost fell.
Gasping, Jess lunged for him and got a handful of his shirt, barely stopping him from toppling into a steaming pool of muddy water. Dropping the bag of leaves, she used both hands to pull Tyler fully upright and then squatted down to drape his arm all the way around her neck. “Come on,” she ordered, hauling him back up the best she could while reaching for the bag. “I’ve got you.”
“You’re stronger than you look,” Tyler joked, using humor to mask his embarrassment. After going through another hundred feet of twisted roots and rocks, his grip tightened around her shoulders. “Thank you.”
Jess’s lungs were burning from the effort to keep moving, but she sucked in a mixture of steam and smoke and then coughed before answering him. “It’s not like I had a choice. Marty would have never forgiven me if I left you behind.”
“Nice,” Tyler groaned. “Blame it on the dog.”
“You guys need some help?” Slaider called out. His form solidified as he moved past Devon and Akuba on the trail, closing the distance between them.
Relieved, Jess held the bag out in her left hand, hardly able to lift her arm. “Can you take this?” she asked hopefully.
“Give them both to me,” Slaider directed, pulling the second duffle from her shoulder. He already had one slung across his back, and Jess assumed he’d taken it from Peta. “I’ve got to get Sahil,” he explained while jutting his chin in the elder’s direction. “He’s falling too far behind.”
“Where’s the rest of the Libi Prani?” Tyler asked, sounding weak. “It has to get to the—”
“We’ll get it there,” Slaider said, cutting him off. “The scouts are already long gone with the other four bags. I told them where to take it in case we don’t make it back.”
Jess felt T
yler tense up, and so she used her newly freed arm to pull at him. “We need to keep moving,” she urged. “Remember that the Lokono have lived here all their lives. They’ll know better than us how to get to that boat launch. They have just as much or more to lose than anyone else if they don’t.”
Tyler relaxed and began walking haltingly again as they heard Slaider call out to Sahil. “I keep forgetting that we’re the strangers here,” Tyler admitted. “We’re going to need the Lokono. A lot more than they need us.”
Nodding, Jess fought to control the emotions welling up. “We’ll need each other.”
The last part of the trail was less difficult as they moved out of the hot springs and followed the stream, before eventually breaking out into a clearing next to the pool at the base of the waterfall. Jason had already set Akuba’s mom down in the grass and was talking with the other people that had gathered there ahead of them.
“You okay?” Peta asked as she approached, studying Tyler’s ashen face with a look of concern.
Jess released his good arm and helped Tyler to the ground. He sat down hard with a moan and then gave Peta a thumbs up. “I’ll live. I think.”
Jess had to grab at Marty and hold him back as he tried to climb into Tyler’s lap. Wiggling with anxious energy, the dog settled for an ear scratch while he leaned forward and licked at the teen’s face.
“Break’s over!” Jason shouted as he ran up.
It was darker there, so Jess relied on the flashlight Jason was carrying to show what was happening around the clearing as he pointed it while talking.
“One of the elders fell trying to get up to the top,” he explained, shining the light up the side of the steep trail cut into the rocky cliff. “They’re talking about staying at the base of the falls, and hoping it’s enough to protect them from the fire.”