Primal Nature

by Monique Singleton

  There were few people there, most of them old or women and children. The typical refugees the world had become used to in the last decade.

  No one spoke.

  We were taken to a tent in the centre of the small community. There Julio and the men entered the open flap. I waited outside, not eager to venture into the unknown. My senses were doing overtime and I did not know what to make of them. I smelled people, animals and the tangy scent of grease and gunpowder. Mercifully, there were no dogs here, although I did detect the residual scent of one that had been here the day before. I listened as the horses I had identified nickered nervously. It was the blood that I was still covered with. Frankly I stank.

  There was movement from in the tent and a woman of about forty appeared in the passageway.

  She looked me over and said in perfect English. ‘Thank you for bringing Julio here. He vouches for you, and I trust his judgment.’

  ‘Don’t make me regret it’ she added as an afterthought.

  ‘You must be hungry, but first I think a bath.’ She wrinkled her nose at my smell. If I could have without looking stupid, I would have done so myself. ‘The stream is over there’ she gestured. ‘Clothes will be provided, we will burn these.’

  I moved in the direction of her hand and one of the guards followed me. I was used to constant observation, so it didn’t bother me. At the edge of the stream I stripped and entered the icy cold water, not paying attention to the surprised exclamations of the man. I gasped at the cold on my skin, but it felt wonderful. The water came up to my waist, so I sat down and submerged entirely.

  I felt the grime leave my skin.

  If only the water would cleanse the inside as easily.

  After almost ten minutes I left the water and dried myself off with the cloth that had been provided for me. Next to it lay a pile of clothes. Old and patched in places, but clean: trousers, a shirt and some underwear. I discarded the shoes; my feet were tough, and I wanted to keep them that way. I was not staying and new shoes—with the subsequent blisters—would slow me down.

  I was led back to the tent and this time I entered. Up till now I had not said a word.

  ‘Thank you for the clothes.’ I directed my thanks to the woman who was obviously the leader of this rag tag group.

  ‘You’re welcome.’ She smiled.

  Julio was sitting in a folding chair near the table. He looked a bit refreshed himself, although I don’t think he had been in the spring itself. There was food on the table—bread and vegetables. The woman motioned me to sit in the remaining unoccupied chair. When I had done so, she offered me food and water.

  ‘Julio will not elaborate on the circumstances of your escape, or about your name for that matter. I wonder if you would like to enlighten me.’

  ‘Not really.’ I answered. She stared me directly in the eye, probing for information. Then she gave up and with a sigh, started eating herself.

  ’We must call you something. Julio calls you his protector, his Tonal. If you agree we will call you that.’

  I nodded. What’s in a name? It was certainly better than “Subject 336”. Julio smiled. He had been trying to think of a good name for me since we met.

  ‘We are a small group here, mostly women and children.’ The woman continued. ‘The authorities do not know we are here and it is important to keep it that way.’ She spoke to both Julio and me. ‘Therefore, it is not possible for you to stay here for long. We have heard of a commotion in a high-end spa to the north, and I suspect that you were the instigator.’ She looked directly at me for that last comment. ‘The blood you were covered in probably originates from there.’ When I didn’t react, she continued. ‘The Policia and military are out in force. Looking for you two no doubt. I cannot jeopardise the people living here.’ She stated it matter-of-factly.

  Julio immediately answered. ‘We understand completely Mercedes and will not be staying. If possible, we would like to resume our journey when night falls.’

  ‘You are in no state to attempt any journey.’ I directed my comment at Julio. He was extremely gaunt and fragile. His wounds had not healed since we left the Spa. ‘You can’t go anywhere.’ Julio spluttered that he was able to move and that we could not stay here.

  ‘You are both right.’ Mercedes intervened. ‘You do not have to leave immediately but you cannot stay much longer than a day or two. We will attend to your wounds Julio and you will rest. Tomorrow we will decide what to do.’

  She looked at me. ‘Do you have any wounds?’ She asked. A rhetorical question—she had obviously heard the answer from my companion at the spring. There was an accusatory edge to the question. How could I not be wounded, when Julio had obviously been tortured? The distrust was etched on her face.

  ‘Please Mercedes’ Julio whispered. ‘No more questions. She has no wounds that need to be tended to right now.’

  No, I thought, none you could heal. Now that the direct danger was gone, and I was able to relax a bit, the true horror of what I had done was beginning to take over my mind. My appetite deserted me and the surroundings all of a sudden seemed depressing and suffocating. I needed to get out in to the fresh air.

  I stood up, thanked Mercedes for the hospitality and left the tent. Immediately one of the guards, this time a youth of no more than fourteen followed me.

  ‘A tent has been prepared for you’ he offered in heavily accented English. ‘Here to the right.’ I thanked him but indicated that I would like to stay outside. I moved to the shade of a tree and sat down on the hard ground.

  Later on, I moved in to the tent and slept. Thankfully there were no dreams—just blissful darkness.

  When I woke, it was the early morning light. I had slept the whole day and night. I felt better, rested. But still apprehensive and confused.

  I went looking for Julio and found him in the tent with Mercedes again. Four angry men had now joined them. Mercedes motioned me to a chair at the back of the tent. I sat down and waited. I didn’t understand the heated discussion, but the sentiment was clear. They were very angry at our presence here. We were obviously endangering them and their families. One of the men gestured with his arms counting out loud and then pointing directly at me. Julio tried to intervene. They were respectful of him, but unfriendly towards me. I stayed where I was. Not moving or reacting to the commotion around me. Mercedes finally stood up and silenced the gathering. The men complied and with short goodbyes to Julio, and vicious stares directed at me, they left the tent.

  ‘As we expected, the authorities are looking for you.’ She directed her words more to me than to Julio. ‘It is worse than we expected. The military have joined the hunt in large numbers. They are scouring the dessert for clues. My men managed to wipe out many of your tracks, but they are still coming in this general direction.’ Turning to Julio she added ‘I am sorry Patron, but you cannot stay any longer.’ Julio nodded his compliance.

  ‘We do not have any vehicles.’ She continued ‘but we do have a few ponies. You can ride Julio. One of the men will escort you out of the valley and stay with you until you are well away. Then he will take the pony and return here. I am sorry that we cannot give you the animal as a gift, but we need it too much ourselves. If the authorities find us, we will have to move the people in a hurry.’

  ‘Please, do not concern yourself with our well-being.’ Julio answered ‘We will be all right. I thank you for the loan of the pony. I do not think I would be able to get too far yet.’ He turned to me. ‘And even you cannot carry me forever.’

  That was settled, and we started making the preparations for our departure. Mercedes gave us some provisions. Most important were the water bags filled with fresh water from the spring. We both received large brimmed hats that would shade us from the midday sun and cover our features.

  The young boy who had guarded me the day before was assigned as our guide. He helped Julio mount the scrawny pony. It was agitated and skittish. I guessed it was my scent and kept behind the rest. Finally, the pony cal
med down—or just resigned itself to the situation—and we said our goodbyes to Mercedes.

  ‘Be well Julio’ she embraced the old man and turned to me ‘Take care of him, he is important to us.’ It was not a request, but an order. I nodded, and we left the clearing.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  We followed the stream for the better part of an hour. Then turned into a rift that stood at right angles to the valley we had come from. The scenery became dryer and more barren.

  We journeyed all night. Only stopping to relieve ourselves or to check the general direction we were moving in. The boy seemed to know the area very well and we made good progress. By early morning we reached another mountain range and sheltered from the sun under an outcrop of rock. Julio and the boy slept soundly, the pony grazed on the little shrubbery it could find—still wary of me. I napped but stayed more or less awake to the surroundings.

  It was just as well. I was almost nodding off when I heard the soft footfall behind me. I waited to see if I had imagined it, but no there was a second step, and then the stupid fool pulled back the safety on his gun. The sound was so loud it almost hurt my ears. Turning instantly, I grabbed the soldier, pushing his gun up so the barrel was pointed at the sky and couldn’t harm any of us. The struggle was brief, but the soldier was big and managed to fight back long enough to fire his gun. The sound woke my companions. They jumped up just in time to see me snap the luckless soldier’s neck.

  He would not be alone, there were bound to be more soldiers in the vicinity and the sound of the shot would no doubt alert them to our whereabouts. The boy caught the skittish pony and I manhandled Julio on to its back. I ordered them to go and turned to stop any other soldiers from following them. No more than three minutes after they left the scene, two more soldiers came crashing through the underbrush to the outcrop. Both saw their fallen comrade and me. The shock of their dead friend was enough to give me the upper hand. With my speed and strength, they didn’t have a chance. One was dead before he could move, his throat ripped out. The other whimpered and turned to flee. I was on him in a second, grabbed his head and wrenched to the left. The crack was sickening.

  Catching my breath, not so much from exertion as from the nauseous revelation that I had killed again with so much ease, I stood and waited to see if anymore were coming. Thirty seconds and no sounds later, I decided that this was it. I turned, pulled the bodies under the outcrop, and then left the place to catch up with Julio and the boy.

  It was still bright daylight and we needed a place to hide. The sun was scalding, and the military was still using the occasional helicopter to scan the mountains. Keeping as much as possible to the side of the mountain and under the sparse shrubbery we travelled for another hour until we found a small cave. We coaxed the pony into the cave where we all settled down to wait for the sun to set and to rest. When it finally dropped over the horizon, we set out again.

  We travelled in this manner for two more days. Julio and the boy exchanged stories and observations on the way. The further we got from the valley the more relaxed the journey became. We were rudely brought back to the extent of the search when we barely managed to escape detection on the third day after nearly stumbling on a sleeping soldier as we turned a corner in yet another rift. The unfortunate man died before he woke up. Listening for any other soldiers we took the man’s gun and a few more items that would be handy for the trip.

  We were more careful after that.

  The extent of the manhunt surprised us. We had only expected the soldiers to be in the vicinity of the lab, but the further we travelled we still encountered them.

  At one point, while we were resting and waiting for the dark, I left Julio to hunt for small animals to eat. The pickings were sparse. Most of the animals would be in the security of shade until the killing sun had set. Hunting would be better at night. I found water though and filled my flask.

  As I returned to my small party of companions I heard Julio cry out. Once again, we had been too complacent. There was a soldier in the small clearing pointing his gun at Julio who lay on the ground. The soldier had just kicked him for no apparent reason. I think he’d surprised Julio and woken him. They boy was nowhere to be seen. The pony pulled at its tether.

  Just as I was about to storm into the clearing, the boy beat me to it. He had been concealed in a shrub waiting for the non-suspecting soldier to move close to him. The soldier was concentrating solely on Julio, kicking him all the time. The boy rose from his hiding place, grabbed the soldier from behind and drove his knife deep into the man’s side, up into the heart. He was dead before he fell.

  As glad as I was that the situation was resolved, it was heart-breaking to see the ease with which such a young boy killed his enemies. This had not been the first time, and it probably would not be the last. The finality of the revolution hit me there—there was no turning back for these people.

  After making sure that Julio’s wounds had not reopened with the battery he had endured, I once again hid the body and we left the area in daytime. Julio was hunched over the horse’s saddle, but he managed. His new injuries were thankfully more superficial than I had thought.

  On the evening of the fourth day, the boy declared that we were far enough from the village and that he would leave us now. He gave us the majority of the supplies that were left, said goodbye and mounted the pony.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  We continued south.

  Julio was the navigator. I was the packhorse. He had recovered enough to be able to walk part of the way. However, we didn’t make the progress of the previous days—the pony was dearly missed.

  At the end of the night, in the early light of dawn, we found a deserted shack and decided to stay there for the day. We would continue to travel at night. It was deemed safer.

  Unpacking the few provisions we had left, we sat down on the packed earth. After a small meal of stale bread and some kind of Jerky, I set about searching the shack for anything usable. We were obviously not the first to try—there was nothing. A long piece of rope was the only thing of value that I found. But maybe it would be handy. I’d carried Julio on my back for most of the night. My arms were tired from supporting him. If I could make some sort of support with the rope it would leave my arms free. I set about weaving and knotting a kind of seat that I could sling over my shoulders and tie around my waist. Julio understood what I was doing and helped.

  We remained silent for a long time.

  ‘Tonal.’ Julio had put down his work. ‘It is maybe time to talk about what happened’ he stated matter of fact, as if the subject was something as trivial as the weather. I’d been dreading this moment. There was no one around, so that could not stop me. But I was reluctant to speak about the massacre, as I had come to view it. Every night, when we travelled, it was foremost in my mind. In the daytime I dreamt about it. Reliving it again and again.

  ‘It is eating you up inside.’ Julio continued. ‘You must talk.’ After another silence he added ‘It will not go away.’

  I stopped knotting the rope and looked at him. ‘What is there to talk about?’ I tried. ‘It happened.’

  ‘What happened?’ Julio was not about to let me off that easily.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I finally gave in. ‘I’ve been trying to make sense of it since we left the lab, but I can’t.’ Julio listened intently. ‘I have relived it time and time again—what I know about it—and still it’s so alien. What happened to me there Julio?’ I turned the question around.

  ‘You were pushed beyond your limits. I have heard of people who become abnormally strong and fierce when provoked as they had you, but never have I heard of an actual change into another being.’

  ‘What did you see… feel… hear?’ I wanted to know, all blockades had dissolved.

  Julio sat back against the wall of the shack.

  ‘The butcher cut me in the scalp. I remember it hurting and I screamed. Then I heard a strange noise from your table and looked that way. There was blood i
n my eyes, so I thought I was not seeing things clearly.’ He paused. To gain his composure? Or maybe because he was having nightmares about it too. Perhaps it was as difficult for him to speak about as for me.

  ‘You looked strange—warped. Your face was contorting. Your nose and mouth extending, all I could focus on were the teeth. They grew and grew. Your body was lightly covered in what looked like yellow-brown fur. Your whole stance changed. You fell to all fours once you had freed your arms and legs. Everything blurred and all of a sudden you stopped. It was quiet. Nobody moved. I couldn’t even breathe. Then the General shouted for the men to do something. I don’t know exactly what he said. I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t take my eyes off what you had become.’ He shifted his body as though to move farther away from me, then realised what he was doing and made a conscious effort to move back to where he was before.

  He saw that I’d noticed, and it obviously pained him.

  ‘I am sorry, Tonal. A reflex. It will not happen again’ he apologised. When I remained silent, he continued his story.

  ‘There was the smell, the wild smell that I noticed from you before. Only now it was much stronger. It fuelled the terror as well. As if the sight of you was not enough. You know Tonal, that I come from the jungle. I was born in a time that the mighty Jaguar was still the lord of the jungle. I have seen him. But what I saw in that room was beyond anything I have seen before. The size of the cat—you—was immense. You were almost as big as a horse.’ He paused, in awe.

  ‘You roared. It was bone chilling. Paralysing. That was the moment that you attacked the General, you ripped out his throat and then turned on the soldiers and white coats. You were everywhere. I had never seen such claws.’ He stopped talking. Obviously recanting the tale was taking its toll on him. After a few minutes he continued.