by Nick Thacker
The water was warm, but Julie shuddered. She could feel the underwater currents and chop left by those swimming in front of her, and every tiny motion the river made gave her the feeling she was about to be attacked by some horrible, deadly monster.
But the attack never came. They swam in silence for fifteen minutes, even stopping to rest halfway through. They stayed together as a group, Reggie doing a great job keeping the pace slow enough for the others. When he stopped for the second time, Julie swam closer to the group, forming a tight circle of people in the water.
“There’s a path between the trees right over there,” Reggie said, pointing to the blackness of the forest. Julie had no idea what the man had seen, but she trusted his authority. “Let’s get to the path, but keep moving once you’re on land. We don’t want to be in the way of a jaguar coming down for a late-night sip of water.”
Why does he have to keep bringing up new creatures that want to kill us? The thought of a jaguar didn’t scare Julie nearly as much, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was even more of a threat to them than some of the other animals that had been mentioned.
Nods all around, Reggie continued toward the bank. He lifted himself off the ground and out of the water, and allowed himself to drip off at the edge of the forest for a few seconds. He stomped forward into the jungle as the others followed closely behind, then turned to wait for them. Julie felt the soft riverbed beneath the water rising to meet her feet, so she rushed forward, all too excited to get out of the water. She struggled against an underwater branch that seemed intent on tripping her, then felt her other foot squish beneath the surface into a mud-filled hole.
Disgusting.
She had never considered the idea that she might one day be traveling on the Amazon River, so she especially hadn’t considered how difficult it might be to actually walk in it. The mud, sticks, and debris that floated and settled below the waterline was like an invisible army, working hard to prevent her forward motion.
Holding me here, trying to trap me.
The thoughts rushed into her brain, causing her anxiety of being attacked by some unknown and unseen predator to only grow with every passing second. She looked up, trying to find someone to help her.
Where is Ben?
She realized how dark it was. The night had descended on the forest and seemed to grow thicker down here, closer to the water and surrounded by the thick, unforgiving jungle. She tried to control her breathing — she hadn’t hyperventilated since she’d had asthma as a kid, but she thought she could feel the surge of constricting pressure beginning to seize her lungs.
Ben!
She wasn’t sure if she yelled it or just thought it, but Ben was at her side, somehow arriving silently and suddenly.
“Jules, you okay?” he asked.
She nodded, looking up him. The moonlight found a perch between two branches far above them, graciously casting a deep, whitish glow over everything, providing their party with much-needed light. Ben grabbed her elbow and allowed her to lean on it as she freed her feet from the stick and mud hole.
As she stood up and lifted her torso out of the water, she watched Captain Garcia trudging forward through the water, about fifteen feet in front of her. He and Carlo had reached the tiny beach at about the same time, but Carlo was already joining Reggie on shore, their captain hanging back to help the others out of the water.
Captain Garcia turned now and helped Archie out of the river, then Amanda.
“Come on,” Ben said, whispering. “We’re almost at the edge. Let’s get out and —“
Julie was focusing on the shoreline, staring straight ahead, so she missed the attack that happened just out of her peripheral vision.
It wasn’t much of an attack, however. She heard a small splash, like the sound of a rock being dropped into a pond, then a larger thud, then Reggie yelling something incoherent. Her eyes involuntarily darted to the left, attracted by the noise. The moonlight made the scene difficult to interpret, so she simply stared for a moment.
Where Captain Garcia had been only moments before, a twisting, tumbling shadow danced halfway out of the water. She forced her eyes to focus, blinking twice. The shadow became two shadows, a man — Captain Garcia — and a…
A monster.
She saw the flicking of a massive tail, clawed feet scrambling for purchase on the man it was attacking, and an elongated, bumpy snout. The creature had wrestled Garcia to the water and was now rolling over and over again, slowly and methodically making its way back to deeper water.
“Ben! The packs!” she heard Reggie shout. “Grab my pistol!”
Ben was already behind her, grabbing the two backpacks floating behind him. He ripped open the top of the first pack and began rummaging through it.
Julie’s voice returned, and she screamed. It wasn’t any louder than Garcia’s, but hers wasn’t punctuated by alternating seconds of being underwater and above water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reggie launch himself forward and into the water, but she had no idea what the man was planning to do.
Ben was at her side again, but he didn’t stop moving. He ran forward, making slow progress in the water, and tossed the gun toward Reggie.
Ben, unbelievably, was still moving toward Reggie and the wrestling match taking place mere feet in front of her. What is he planning to do? Julie wondered.
She watched Reggie working with the pistol, but was shocked when she saw what else Ben had retrieved from the pack.
He lifted the machete over his head and waited for a moment to strike downward.
“Ben — don’t!” Julie yelled. It was too late.
The water was unnervingly silent. Tiny ripples left on the surface were the only telltale signs of the onslaught, and the caiman didn’t resurface.
Neither did the captain.
The group watched, no one daring to move, for almost an entire minute. Julie began sobbing, both from the adrenaline high as well as the emotional impact of what she had just seen, but she didn’t care what anyone thought. Ben was next to her again, his arm around her, and he was gently pulling her along the rest of the distance to the shoreline, where the others now stood, waiting.
She felt a moment of relief as her feet fell on the soft, damp mud closest to the river, and she allowed Ben to lift her completely out of the water and onto dry land.
Her relief was only short-lived, however, as she realized that they would spend the remainder of their journey traveling through the forest on foot.
36
VALÈRE REACHED INTO HIS POCKET and grabbed the cellphone. He hadn’t even made it across the parking lot to his car before the phone began to vibrate. His appointment had gone well — nothing had changed, but nothing had grown worse, either. His doctor prescribed the same pills as always, and told him to rest and relax as often as possible.
The thought of taking time to rest or relax seemed like a joke to Valère.
He had a job to do, one that no one else in the world was fit to do. He had the skills, the contacts, and the resources needed to pull off the greatest feat of engineering anyone had ever heard of, and the Company was very close to achieving their goal, thanks to him.
Even if it kills me, it will all be worth it.
He held the cellphone up to his ear and accepted the call. ”Yes?”
There was a two-second delay before the voice on the other end, crackling through a miserable connection and hard to understand, responded. “Valère. — Have been — so far. No update on — but will keep — posted.”
Valère waited until the connection improved.
“— behind the girl and her group, moving forward as planned.”
This is good news.
“Mission parameters remain unchanged, though the — has proven to be more resilient than initially assumed. — additional support?”
Valère frowned. “I was under the impression that you would require only a few men to accomplish this task. We have doubled your supp
ort already.”
“Understood, except — faster with additional —“
Valère nearly cursed out loud at the horrible connection. “Negative, our resources are currently wearing thin for this project.” It was a lie, but it was much quicker than explaining the truth. His ‘resources’ were more than enough to provide some additional support, but there would be no way to get the men in position this late in the game. Even if it was possible, Valère was already working on the next phase of this project.
The final phase of this project.
Valère could almost taste success. His plans in Antarctica had been going well, both the parts that the Company knew about and the parts that were known only to him. This small hiccup in Brazil was just that — a minor setback that, with or without Dr. Meron’s research, would not interfere with his ultimate plan.
His phone crackled, and the connection died. He wasn’t sure if his contact in Brazil had said anything else, but it sounded to him like their conversation had ended before it had even begun. No, there were no additional men he could send to Brazil, and no, there were no additional resources he would appropriate to their cause.
He replaced the phone to his pocket, and grabbed the bottle of pills out of his other pocket. Reading the label, he twisted off the cap. Do not exceed one pill per every six hours. He had just taken one before leaving the office, and he placed another one on his tongue now and swallowed.
Even if it kills me, it will all be worth it.
37
THE PATH THAT LED OUT of the water and into the jungle was only a few strides long, a natural opening between two large bushes, likely made more prominent by the animals that used it as an access point to the river.
Ben tried to slow his breath down, hoping his heart rate would follow. It wouldn’t be helpful to Julie — or anyone else — if he was still on edge and ready to snap. The caiman, a large adolescent, had come out of nowhere and taken Captain Garcia, kicking and screaming, to his watery grave. It was unreal, unnatural, and insanely terrifying to Ben, but he said nothing.
No one spoke, actually, until they’d been walking for five minutes into the densest forest Ben had ever seen. No pictures, movies, or books could do it justice. He was completely out of his element, surrounded by an alien world that hid both danger and beauty together behind every rock and tree.
“Okay, let’s pause here,” Reggie said. He turned around and addressed the group. “We have to keep moving, at least for now, but I wanted to take a quick breather. We’ll take some time a little later to catch up on sleep, but we need to get away from the river as much as possible.” Reggie fumbled around with one of the packs and pulled out a compass. He opened the clasp on the device and held it up, waiting for it to balance. He took a few seconds to check their direction and match it in his head with the destination they had decided upon. Satisfied he was leading them in the right direction, he closed the device again and put it back into the pack.
No one spoke. Ben looked around at the rest of the group. Archie and Paulinho wore blank expressions, while Amanda looked upset, even angry. Julie looked as terrified as Ben felt, and Carlo seemed disinterested in the whole ordeal.
“Anyone want to say anything?” Reggie asked.
“What are we supposed to say?” Amanda shot back.
Reggie shrugged. “He was a good man, great things, stuff like that?”
“Are you kidding?” Julie was almost yelling. “He died, right in front of our eyes. You don’t even care?”
Reggie paused, looked at the ground — a carpet of bright green mosses — then back up at Julie. He stepped closer to her and lowered his voice.
“Of course I care,” he said. “He was one of us, just by virtue of being here with us. Now he’s not here. I didn’t know him, and neither did you. Doesn’t mean we can’t make something up, or ask Carlo.”
This was an idea Ben hadn’t considered, and Paulinho was already hobbling over to Carlo and whispering. Carlo nodded, slowly, then looked up at everyone.
“Good captain,” he said in English. He said more in Portuguese, Paulinho translating aloud. “Good father, good husband, loved job.”
It seemed like Carlo was finished, but Reggie waited another few seconds to be sure. “Well, I guess that does it. Anything else before we go?”
“Yeah,” Paulinho said. “Where are we going?”
“The field hospital isn’t more than a few miles away, I think,” he answered. “Like I said before, it’s off the river a bit, but considering we’re no longer traveling by way of river, I’d say it just became a worthy destination for this next leg.”
Ben nodded. “They’ll have supplies there?”
“Not really, aside from a few tools to fix him up.” Reggie motioned at Paulinho. “But it’ll be a good enough place to rest, assuming they’ve got the space.”
He turned around and began marching through the jungle, using the machete Ben had grabbed to hack his way through the denser vegetation. “Come on, let’s see if we can get inland, farther away from the river. We don’t want to be around here come breakfast time. We’ll hike for a bit, then catch some shuteye for a couple hours. I’d like to get to the hospital and research station before daybreak.”
Ben couldn’t believe how detached the man seemed, especially at a time like this, but he was glad Reggie had the gall to step forward and admit it, all while keeping them focused on the next goal. Ben himself had been trying to figure out what their plan should be, but knew Reggie was right to choose the hospital as their next destination. They would need time to regroup, to plan out the next leg of their journey, and there was no sense focusing on any of that if they didn’t have a safe place to do it.
He allowed Julie to walk in front of him, taking up the rear position as they followed Reggie’s cutout path through the trees and brush.
I just hope it’s a safe place, he thought.
38
JULIE WAS AMAZED BY THE level of humidity and heat that still plagued the jungle, even in the dead of night. Every large leaf she passed seemed to be a soaking wet towel, warmed by the day’s sunlight and now releasing every drop of wetness it had collected back into the air. The humidity was trapped by the canopy far above their heads, the heavier air settling back down closer to earth and causing an effect not unlike that of a steam room.
They had been walking for two hours, drawn forward by the relentless forward progress of Reggie. He seemed to never tire, constantly hacking away at the thick strands of vines and brush that obstructed his target path. She wasn’t sure how he knew where he was going, navigating only with a tiny compass he had attached to his pants. She hoped it wasn’t an act of bravado and that he wasn’t, in fact, just leading them farther from the river, their only hope of being rescued.
She picked up her pace and tried to walk alongside Reggie. It was difficult, as most of the time the path he was cutting was only wide enough for one person, that there were stretches of land between outcrops of trees that allowed them to walk side-by-side.
“So, what’s your deal?” She hadn’t meant the words to sound so harsh, but she knew there was nothing she could do to retract them now. She winced, waiting for Reggie’s response.
Reggie simply smiled and looked at her. “I take it you’re still pissed at me?” he asked.
“Why would I be pissed?”
“Your tone, for one,” he answered, still grinning. “But you didn’t seem to be too excited about our decision earlier, about not going to the hospital for Paulinho.”
“It doesn’t really matter anymore, I guess,” she said. “That’s where we’re headed now, right?”
“It is, and it shouldn’t be much longer.”
Julie nodded, even though she knew Reggie couldn’t see it. “Sorry — that’s not what I meant though.” She paused, trying to articulate her words. “I mean, you… what’s your story?”
Reggie audibly laughed, scoffing as he chopped another section of thick vines away. “My story? Really?”
“Well, yeah. You’re ex-Army, right?”
“Sniper, yeah. Did my time, but it seems like you never really leave it.”
“You make it sound like a prison sentence.”
“I didn’t mind being deployed,” he said. “Loved it most of the time, actually. I guess you could say it was the ‘office politics’ that finally changed my mind.”
Reggie started struggling with a section of weeds and branches, and Ben suddenly appeared on his other side and grabbed the machete from his hands.
“Take a break,” Ben said. “I’ll take it for an hour or so.”
Reggie didn’t argue, falling back behind Ben next to Julie.
“Didn’t really get along with people you worked with?” She asked.
“People I worked for, mostly.”
Julie knew he was being purposefully vague, which only made her want more information. She had always been stubborn, but she wasn’t gossipy. She was interested in the man’s past, but she didn’t feel an overwhelming need to pry, so she let it be. Reggie seemed like a man of few words, except when he was making a wisecrack. His silence about his past did not concern Julie; so far Reggie was trustworthy enough, and he seemed to be the kind of man who wasn’t interested in sharing his own background with strangers.
Reggie didn’t wait for her to ask another question. He walked up to Ben and waited at his side as he finished the machete work. Ben hacked away another handful of branches, revealing a small opening between the trees. Reggie held out his arm, stopping Ben before he could continue onward. Both men turned around and looked at the group behind them.
“Let’s stop here for a few hours and try to get some sleep,” Reggie said. “I’ll check that we’re still heading in the right direction, but either way I think we are far enough from the river now. Ben, want to help me with those packs?”
Ben swung the pack he was carrying over his shoulder and onto the ground. Reggie opened up his own pack and retrieved two large, zippered green bags. He unzipped one and dumped out the contents inside. He turned the large roll of nylon over in his hands a few times, looking for a corner. Satisfied, he grabbed a corner of the material in his fist and tossed the bundle outward in front of him.