by Andy Lucas
There wasn’t much time so he quickly placed a firm hand over Ruby’s mouth and shook her awake. She obviously wasn’t a heavy sleeper because her eyes flew open instantly and her quick intellect perceived the situation just as rapidly. Her mouth hardly began to form a scream before her lips closed wetly against his cupped palm.
Pace raised a vertical forefinger to his lips and jerked his head over in the direction on the entrance. She understood, nodding, so he removed his hand.
‘One person, armed, coming this way.’ He whispered low enough to be barely audible. In return, she knelt up, face imploring him for their next move as she wiped a mixture of sweat and sleep from her eyes. To her credit, he saw no trace of fear on her face, just a determined look. Sleep had stiffened her resolve.
Fortunately, the events of the next minute moved at such startling speed that any plan he might have come up with would have been rendered futile anyway.
He eased the barrel of the Sten towards the opening and chanced another look, only to be greeted by the sight of the figure now standing barely three feet from the shelter. The object in its hand was clearly a large automatic rifle and it was being brought to bear on the entrance as he watched. The figure had crossed the road in a silent flash and a vivid realisation of the carnage that modern ammunition would wreak at short range stung him into action.
The barrel of the stranger’s weapon settled upon the entrance just as his own finger twitched hard against the Sten’s trigger. It should have been a short, clinical burst but what it actually ended up being was an emptying of the entire thirty-two bullet clip, hurriedly aimed.
The first few rounds slammed into the stranger’s chest. Despite the venting built into the gun, he wasn’t used to it yet and the old weapon bucked upwards to spew the remainder of its bullets skywards.
Those first few shots did the trick, thankfully. The stranger flew up into the air and went sprawling backwards onto the road a few feet away, then lay still. Neatly side-stepping its fallen companion, a second figure appeared from where it had been concealed, standing directly behind the first. The benefit of surprise was gone and, sickeningly, a second weapon now pointed at them.
Launching himself with a fury driven of despair and an empty gun, Pace dived headlong through the entrance at the figure, yelling like a lunatic as he went. The spare clip popped out and the entrance lips snapped shut on his hips, catching him hard. Instead of the human bullet he needed to be, he ended up laid out at full stretch, face down, on the wet mud.
His reaching hands were suddenly filled with an assassin’s military boots, which was hardly the idea. Still yelling, more from frustration at a bungled leap than anything else, he gripped as hard as he could and pulled. He scraped skin from his elbows with the sheer venom of the tug, at the same time tensing his back muscles against the heavy impact of the bullets he knew were coming.
The muddy sole of one boot caught him under the chin and nearly kicked in his throat but he hung on like a limpet. Twisting with all his strength, choking and gagging as he did, he was conscious of the figure overbalancing. There was still time for a professional to pull the trigger and he would have died if Ruby hadn’t chosen to join battle.
Although Pace couldn’t see it, she leaped straight for the gun. He blacked out for a moment but when air managed to force its way back down his bruised windpipe, he came around, still gripping the filthy boots. They were not writhing as he expected them to; they were completely still.
‘Are you okay?’ a concerned female voice asked.
He couldn’t see anything from his position; face down on the ground, and he had to roll over to sit up. He kept his hands stubbornly locked onto the boots as he moved. Once sat up it dawned on him that he didn’t need to hold on any longer. Instead of grappling with the assassin, she’d been lucky and managed to dislodge the gun as the figure overbalanced. She now stood, panting with reaction, a stubby automatic rifle trained on the downed figure.
Pace pulled himself up and noticed the assassin had a stocky, muscular build of a male, was apparently uninjured and now stared motionlessly up into the barrel of what had shortly before been his own gun. A look of anger, tempered with begrudging acceptance, formed his lips into a tight, icy smile. Given that his position was hardly humorous, it struck Pace that here was an extremely dangerous man. If there was a chance of escape; of getting free and killing them both, this man would not hesitate to grab it.
Ruby took a few steps back so she was out of his reach as Pace scooped up his empty Sten, before collecting the fallen automatic rifle from the corpse.
Pace strode over to her and they both stood in silence, watching. There was a moment, looking down into those hooded eyes, that he should have said something but the moment passed in silence. Ruby shuffled uneasily on her feet. In the end, it was the stranger who broke the moment.
‘Mr Pace, I suppose?’
‘Will you return the compliment?’ Pace asked, his voice hard and cold. Colder eyes flashed mockingly up at him and the smile grew thinner on the killer’s lips.
‘One killer to another?’ he spat.
‘I like to know the names of men sent to murder me.’
‘So melodramatic,’ he snarled. ‘It’s pathetic. That must come from being the excess baggage, eh? Still, you’ll be dead soon so you can call me Wolf.’
‘Very poetic,’ Pace wanted to laugh, despite himself.
‘You asked.’
For a second, as he trained the recovered rifle on Wolf, Pace was tempted to squeeze.
‘You have a big mouth for someone in your position.’
‘Not really,’ Wolf crooned. ‘You are no more a killer than I am a scientist.’ He moved to sit up but stopped when he saw the warning look in Pace’s eyes. He glanced over dispassionately at his fallen associate. ‘You shot him because you had to. He would have certainly killed you.’
‘Your point?’
‘To kill when you don’t need to is something quite different. It takes a certain kind of man. You don’t have the courage to shoot unless I make you.’ Wolf judged his intended victim smugly and spoke with absolute confidence.
‘I’ll be honest with you, Wolf.’ Pace fingered his trigger lightly. ‘I don’t know if you’re right or wrong. I do know that testing your theory could end up getting you killed.’
‘Okay then. I will just lie here in the mud until you decide what kind of man you are. Will you be long making up your mind, do you think?’
Ruby cut into their exchange as her wits recovered. ‘Are you alone?’
The thought struck like an executioner’s axe and Pace nearly spun around to look for other lurking assassins; catching himself just in time. The man at their feet noted the move and sniggered coldly.
‘Scary thought isn’t it? How many guns are trained on you right now? Death in the blink of an eye,’ Wolf hissed.
‘If there was somebody else out there, we’d be dead by now,’ Pace retorted. ‘There could be more of you somewhere along the road though,’ he conceded, wondering if there were. ‘They could be waiting for your signal,’ he added, half to himself.
‘Oh, couldn’t they just,’ came the dark reply.
His mind raced as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled rigid. He wouldn’t kill in cold blood, not yet, the man had guessed right about that. He couldn’t just let him go either. Even if he shot to wound, further gunshots might bring goodness knows what kind of response from anyone lurking nearby. They would expect to hear one burst of automatic gunfire, maybe two, but more after time had passed would raise suspicion.
Besides, it was notoriously difficult to shoot someone in a way that wouldn’t seriously injure them, that was just in the movies.
‘What would you do in my position?’
‘If I were you, I would kill me.’
‘Really?’
‘Break my neck, or slit my throat. As long as it’s quiet. Then I’d dump my body in the jungle and let the animals tear my carcass apart.’
&nb
sp; ‘Or, he could just tie you up and dump you in the jungle alive,’ said Ruby lightly. ‘If you have friends around then you shouldn’t have long to wait for help. If not, the animals can make a snack of you in their own time.’
‘What about shooting you in the neck with a poisoned dart?’ Pace suddenly though of Attia. ‘Was it you who killed the doctor or one of your cronies?’
Wolf looked genuinely blank. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Don’t play innocent with me,’ Pace snapped. ‘Strange how Prassal was murdered and killers are now hunting us down in the dark. Did you use the dart for authenticity or just to shift the blame to some poor bloody native tribe?’
‘If Attia is dead,’ Wolf said slowly, reality suddenly dawning on him, ‘then you have more enemies that even I know of. I expected all five of you to be here. In fact, I was banking on killing you all, literally. The money offered for you is exceptionally good, with a fat bonus for the others.’
‘You want me to believe you didn’t kill him?’
‘I don’t care what you believe,’ he sneered. ‘Consider this a temporary reprieve.’
‘Much as I’m beginning to like the idea of you just shooting this scumbag, how about tying him up?’
‘That’s probably the best idea,’ Pace agreed reluctantly. ‘Please roll over, arms behind your back.’
The killer smiled again, goading for a reaction and remaining infuriatingly calm. ‘And if I don’t? Are you going to shoot me, Mr Pace?’
‘If you don’t, he’ll have no other choice.’ Ruby answered the question for him.
‘I’m not stupid enough to underestimate you,’ Pace growled, anger building in him again. ‘Tangling physically with a man like you might be a risk, so you either do as you’re told or I will shoot you. I can’t think of another way and you’re really beginning to get on my nerves.’
Wolf regarded the Englishman thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. ‘Perhaps you would after all.’
‘Believe me, if you haven’t already experienced it, being shot is something I couldn’t recommend. It does wonders for clearing the mind but is good for little else.’
‘If the shooter does his job properly, there shouldn’t be any feeling.’ Wolf’s words were chilling. This was a man who would do his job to perfection, allowing no room for error. The attitude was clinical and if his wasn’t the profession it was, Pace might even have admired his dedication.
Despite his nonchalance, Wolf was not happy at the turn of events. He had not wanted to take control of a small army in the first place but he’d at least been pleased to grab the chance of killing James Pace himself, after leading part of his new command into the jungle in a helicopter insertion. Finding them so soon was not planned.
He had left the main force a few miles down the road, deciding to stretch his legs and scout ahead with one of the more experienced mercenaries. When he had spotted the little shelter in the middle of the highway, he had sent his companion ahead to check it out. He had not expected any resistance, especially armed.
Very slowly, Wolf rolled over as he’d been asked. Ruby darted into the shelter, hunting for something to bind Wolf’s wrists with. That had never been Pace’s intention but he was glad she was out of the way as he stepped in quickly to bring the butt of the automatic rifle down smartly on the base of Wolf’s exposed neck. There was still a risk that the blow would kill instead of incapacitate, but he struck him with venom regardless.
When Ruby reappeared, moments later, he had already checked the now unconscious form and satisfied himself the breathing was rhythmic and steady. If she was shocked at the sight, she didn’t show it. Instead, she just handed over the only suitable binding she could find; a spare bra.
Ignoring the original purpose of the garment, he secured Wolf’s limp hands behind his back, managing to wrap the wrists several times and secure it using its own hooks and eyes. It was so tight he considered reducing it by one entire wrap but dismissed the idea as charity they could ill afford. If it cut off some of Wolf’s circulation, too bad. After all, his plan had been to cut theirs off permanently.
While he swept the road, up and down, with the Sten, Ruby deflated and packed away their shelter. Once done, he manhandled Wolf across the muddy road; half carrying and half dragging him, before lifting him onto his shoulder for a final slog about five feet into the dense undergrowth.
Even penetrating only that far, without the benefit of a trail as a guide, changed his perspective entirely. It was all too easy to understand how people got lost and wandered around and around for days, looking for a way out before dying, sometimes within metres of a path or the forest edge. Once within the thick foliage, his view was obscured by massive tree trunks and shorter ground foliage that grew in patches where sunlight spilled down from above. Lianas were slung everywhere like giant cobwebs.
Nearly pitch black, he used his night visor to weave his way through and around obstacles, finally dumping the inert body down on heavily leaf-littered earth. He tucked Wolf in between two huge roots of a gigantic tree, propping him upright with his head resting on his chest. Wolf’s breathing remained steady, so his conscience was clear. Wolf was very lucky that Pace had no concept that he was the man responsible for murdering his sister, or his life would definitely have ceased right there.
But Pace remained in blissful ignorance of that fact as he headed back to Ruby, where he reloaded the Sten with a fresh clip. They couldn’t cart two automatic rifles with them and the modern bullets didn’t fit the Sten, so Pace took a few steps back into the jungle and dumped them. Together they rolled the dead man over to the nearside edge of the road and threw some hastily broken leaves and creepers over him. They both wiped fresh blood from their hands with handfuls of leaves, then agreed to get moving.
Back at the edge of the road, he put away his visor as dawn truly arrived. The slash of branch-latticed sky was a watery blue and clear, so the heat would rise quickly. Ruby looked around but saw nothing except an empty road. Donning their backpacks they climbed aboard the tandem bike. The Sten hung snugly in front of Pace’s stomach as they began pedalling away up the road. It was comforting and he had no plans to dump it, though he made sure the safety catch was on. They would probably have need of it again.
Thirty minutes later, the ambush site and its terrors were far behind them. Although the road was still in a terrible state of repair, they pushed the bike, and themselves, to the limit. Bumping and crashing, with the suspensions working overtime to try and keep the machine moving, they put mile after mile of distance between any pursuers and themselves.
They pushed on into the morning, which then matured into a steaming, fly-infested day. The sky grew more vibrant in colour and the sun trimmed the tree tops with a rich magnolia. As it rose higher, rays of pure sunshine scorched the muddy road and patches of it started to dry out and quickly harden.
Ruby sat in the rear seat so he couldn’t see if she noticed the same beauty but he sensed she probably did. That was the thing about riding; the legs pumped and the eyes watched instinctively for danger but monotony was unavoidable after the initial hour. Despite their dire situation, he handled everything as if he were out on a military exercise. His chest was very tender and he knew it was their Achilles heel. He would keep a close eye on it and take regular antibiotic pills.
Ruby asked him to pull to a stop after another hour so she could get out the map magnifier and check their position. Obligingly he applied the brakes and they eased to a halt, still beneath a gorgeous sky totally devoid of cloud. While he climbed down and stood, covering the road with the gun, she leaned into her backpack and produced the gadget.
The road behind them ran fairly straight; that was the way the highway had been built. There was no nice, easy way to cut through impenetrable rainforest, so as direct a route as possible had been bulldozed. Of course, the road bent and curved at times but this particular section ran back for almost two miles before veering slightly west and being lost behind the edg
e of the forest.
Slightly higher, the road surface was dramatically improved and the blazing sunshine helped. There were some small cracks and surface holes but, in the main, the deep orange dirt surface was smooth and compact. This meant they could get up some speed if they had to and the two mile warning behind would give them plenty of time to get away if any pursuers hove into view.
Regarding the road behind them coolly, Pace fingered the weapon and allowed his mind to soak in every detail. His ears strained to pick out individual calls in the constant, background racket of animal sounds. Some he recognised as obviously birdsong or monkey chatter but other growls and chirps, cackles and howls gave him little clue. Ruby soon had the gadget set up.
‘Well?’ he asked, half turning towards her but still keeping one eye firmly fixed on the road. ‘What’s the verdict?’
‘If you mean how far before we reach the river, I’d say not far at all.’ Their voices were still being pumped through the internal intercom, so her words rang clear and crisp through his headset. ‘We must be nearly on top of it.’
‘How far exactly?’
‘I don’t know. Twenty miles? No more than twenty five.’
‘We can do that easily. Come on, let’s go.’
They climbed back onto the bike and headed off again. Ruby, for one, was glad to be away. Being stuck, immobile, was an uncomfortable situation despite the peaceful, near paradisiacal beauty of the Amazon on this rare, clear day. She didn’t have the benefit of carrying a gun, not that she’d know what to do with one if she did, and she felt increasingly vulnerable.
Pace saw the cloud, hanging motionless above the road, about ten minutes later. He mentioned it to Ruby, who was pleased because it meant they would soon be drenched with rain again. She had been bitten mercilessly all morning on her eyelids and lips, which itched like mad. The cloud looked a little odd though, and seemed to hang all on its own about a mile or so further on but neither had any idea it could be anything other than a mass of condensing water vapour.