by Gale Borger
Between bursts of gunfire, Armand yelled, "Get him out, and get ready to move."
Now, I'm by no means a petite miss, but Evo is a very large man. With bullets spraying over head, and smoke beginning to fill the rooms, my options were becoming more limited by the second. Looking around desperately, I remembered the bathroom. I Lassie-crawled to the door and jumped inside. I ripped the shower curtain from the rod and prayed it would hold. Inching back toward Evo, I saw his eyes, not open, but at least fluttering.
"Hold still, pal." I spread the curtain from his shoulders down to his feet, and rolled him onto his side. He grunted, but didn't move. I stuffed the curtain under his body as far as I could and rolled him back over. It was then I saw the blood seeping from a wound by the AC joint of his left shoulder. Ripping off the bandana I had around my neck, I stuffed it under his T-shirt. I took his right hand and pressed it to the wound. "Hold that." He winced and grunted, but obeyed.
I grabbed the shower curtain and inched backward toward the rear door. Nothing can prepare one for dragging the dead weight of a six-foot-three, solidly muscled man. I might as well have been dragging a Mack Truck. Step, yank, inch. Step, yank. The fire play continued from the other room, and I feared it wouldn't be much longer before they burst through the front, or made their way around to the back.
I was about half-way through the kitchen and puffing like a steam engine when manic footfalls, stumbling, and shouting sounded behind me. In a split second, I recognized Fred's graceful entrance and heard Sam let out a screech. "Evo!"
"Help." I gasped for air and the two of them moved like they were shot out of a cannon. Sam had one side of the curtain and Fred grabbed Evo's good arm. We yanked, and tugged, and finally wrestled him around the corner and out the door.
We got him to the Land Rover and Fred opened the rear door. Standing bent over and sucking in air, I said, "We can't pick him up, so we'll have to get him in the car in increments. Head and shoulders first since they're heaviest."
Running around to the opposite side, Fred got into the SUV. I ran the curtain under Evo's armpits, which made him howl like a wounded bear. Sam and I heaved, lifted, and shoved him through the door. Fred grabbed him by the T-shirt and shower curtain and pulled with all she had. We were still doing the heave-ho thing when Armand burst through the back door.
"What the hell?" He stuffed his weapons in my hand and lifted Evo's butt in the air. It's a good thing Fred had closed the other door or she and Evo would have flown out the other side of the SUV. As it was, Evo's body sprawled across Fred, and Sam kicked his legs off the seat and jumped in beside him.
Armand snatched back the weapons and jumped in the passenger's seat. "You drive," he yelled at me. I slammed the Land Rover in reverse and spun the tires in the dirt. Armand shoved an AK47 in Sam's hands and yelled, "Point and shoot." He grabbed a hand and slammed it on top of the weapon. "Hand stays here–it'll climb up on you. Spray it back and forth if you can!" He looked over at me. "Drive, Drive!"
I slammed the SUV in gear and tromped on the accelerator. The tires sprayed dirt and rocks all over the building, just as some bad guys burst out the back door. Caught momentarily by surprise, they held up a hand to protect their faces from the flying rocks. That's all the opening Armand needed. He let fly with his automatic weapon, which kick started Sam. I looked in the mirror just in time to see her grit her teeth and take a deep breath. She popped up behind the luggage like a pro and let fly a barrage of gunfire over the heads of the hapless bad guys.
"Lower," Armand yelled as he turned forward. In the side view mirror I saw the three men at the door drop, and I saw Sam spin around and bite on a knuckle. Tears spilled over her cheeks as she brushed a lock of hair off Evo's forehead. Fred had her head down and her hand pressed to the bandana.
I peeled around the corner of the building on two tires and the men at the front of the building turned to shoot. Armand picked off three of them like ducks at a shooting gallery, and Sam caught another running from the building. I roared out of parking lot and yelled for everyone to hold on. I had to make one more pass across the entrance to the building, and spun the Land Rover in a donut that would have made my old Evasive Driver Training Sergeant smile. I spun the wheel and the Rover barely fishtailed as it bolted forward. One lone man ran madly from the front door, and there was barely recognition in his eyes before Armand popped him. I veered away from the building and headed toward the front gate. A couple more guys ran from the building and jumped into a Jeep. I tore across the parking lot and sped through the compound.
I didn't remember so much equipment being in the way on our way in, and had to weave around the land movers, derricks, piles of sludge pipes, forklifts, and a sundry of other oil drilling stuff which I had no clue of their purpose. The Jeep stayed back, firing half-heartedly at the back of the Rover. Damn, they will probably shoot holes in my underwear. I heard a pop and a hiss. Damn, there goes my spare bug spray. Now if they shoot holes in my underwear, I won't have to worry about the biting mosquitoes, because my underwear will be covered in repellent.
Finally, the gate came into view. I fully expected a full complement of artillery, but unless they had a battalion hiding in the jungle, one lone guy with a big smile on his face was the only person on the gate. Armand hesitated a second, and the man on the gate brought a rocket launcher to his shoulder.
"Oh, shit. The guy took aim on the Rover. I cranked the wheel right and shot down a side road. The rocket launcher went off as we made it to the end of the road, and I cranked the wheel to the left again. We all screamed as I took another right. The Rover went up on two wheels again and banged off a stack of long pipes. The strap snapped and the pipes rolled into the road behind us just as the Jeep following us came around the corner.
Consecutive blasts shook the earth as the Jeep ran into the pile of pipes and the rocket ran into the Jeep. The explosion sent a fireball into the sky and bite sized pieces of metal and men raining down on the compound. I skidded around another corner and once again found myself bearing down on the gateman. He seemed surprised to see us, and reached forward to grab something. I calmly lifted my left hand and fired. I smiled as the bullet went through the top of his skull. You still got it, kid. We tore past his slumped body, through the gate, and up the jungle path.
I glanced sideways at Armand, to see his mouth hanging open as he stared at me. "Wow. That was like the sexiest thing I ever saw. Will you marry me?"
In the aftermath of the near-death adrenalin rush, I found that statement particularly funny, and laughed. Now I don't mean the tee-hee titters. I mean belly-laugh-had-to-stop-the-Land Rover or drive into a palm tree guffaws. Tears ran down my face and I held my side. Fred started laughing and even Sam guffawed. Armand looked at us like we'd come from outer space, and gave it up to have a good chuckle himself.
"Oh, Armand, you are so fickle. You wanted to run off with my sister earlier and now you want to marry me because...why?"
"Man, I haven't seen anyone drive and shoot like that in my life, only in the movies and they weren't women."
I got myself under control and found a place in the shade where we could doctor Evo. I pulled off the path and noticed that Sam had her make-up kit out and rifled through it. Armand jumped out of the rover and brought a first aid kit, the likes I've never seen before. It opened like a tackle box, but also had drawers in the side. He pulled out sterile bundles complete with autoclave tape and set up on a portable stand. We set up a cot and helped Armand move Evo to it. It looked like a mini surgical ward in the middle of the jungle.
In comparison, Sam looked kind of dumb standing by the Land Rover holding her eyebrow tweezers. Briskly, she said, "Uh, I'll take it from here," and shoved the tweezers in her pocket.
Fred careened around the side of the vehicle with a fifth of Jamison's she had stashed for a celebration and a first aid kit we packed before we left the states. If it wasn't so absurd, it would have been funny. We all looked down on Evo's ashen face and each of us wonder
ed if he was going to make it through the next hour.
24
Sam took the Irish whiskey from Fred. Armand split Evo's shirt up the middle. He cut the sleeves and eased the armholes to the side. Sam took a healthy swig of the whiskey. "His breathing is shallow." She felt his pulse. "Heart is strong and steady though." She took another swig and handed the bottle to Fred.
Armand stepped forward. "I can take it from here, ladies."
Sam stepped nose to nose with him. "Ah, no you don't. I have it covered. You can help hold him down. Let me see what you have in your trusty toolkit."
She pushed past him and knelt before the box. "Oh look! Lidocaine. Evo, my dear, you are in luck."
Sam laid out a syringe and bottle. She washed her hands in alcohol and dried them with gauze. She opened the sterile pack and perused its contents. Gloves on, she strung catgut through a needle and made a spare. The scalpel lay next to the forceps. Gauze sponges were piled on the end of her table. All looked ready, and she pulled on another pair of sterile gloves.
"Okay," she sighed. "I'm set." She picked up the bottle of Lidocaine and pulled the numbing agent into the syringe. Carefully pulling the bandana away from the wound, she inspected the jagged edges. Starting at the top of the wound; she worked her way around the site. Next, she poured green soap on a sponge and swabbed out the wound, using bottled water to irrigate. Fred turned green as the blood oozed forth and quietly turned to throw up among the ferns.
Armand pulled a magnifier from somewhere and held it close to the wound. With the forceps Sam poked around inside and pulled out a couple of wood splinters and a bullet. The blood flowed freely now and Sam cleansed and irrigated the wound one more time. Evo was with us now as Sam worked to sew him up. He watched her intently as she worked and occasionally winced when she hit a tender spot. When she finished, she covered the tidy row of black stitches with gauze and tape. Sam picked up the scalpel and tapped it against her other palm. "Now all I have to do is carve my initials in and I'm done."
"S-s-s-sam," Evo groaned. "Not f-f-f-funny."
"Don't be a baby, I'm kidding," she said, and kissed his forehead. "Lie still and don't open your wound."
She turned to clean up and his eyes followed her movements. Armand distracted him by stuffing a couple of pills in his mouth and gave him a bottle of water to chase them down. He helped Evo to sit and after his head stopped spinning he took the pills. "What were those?"
"Just a couple of 'Oxies'. It'll take away the worst of it for now, but they may knock a rookie like you out for a couple of hours."
Evo gave him a crooked smile. "Then you'd better get me back into the Rover, because I really am a baby with pain drugs."
Sam stepped up, took the water bottle, and shoved it back toward Evo. "Okay, but drink more water before you go bed-ee-bye, big boy. You need to hydrate."
"Yes, ma'am," he said and slowly leaned forward until his head rested against her chest. Her arms automatically circled his good shoulder and stroked the back of his neck.
Evo opened an eye and winked in my direction. I smiled. He waggled his eyebrows and snuggled into Sam. Armand spoiled the moment by banging the table back into place on the back of the Rover. "Okay, boys and girls, let's get a move on before the bad guys find us."
Sam disengaged herself and helped Evo into the Rover. Fred sat on his bad side and Sam on his good. Evo slipped an arm around Sam and pretended to fall asleep. He leaned over her and crammed her arm against him until she had to slip it around him to keep him from smothering her. He fell asleep with a small smile on his lips.
I bumped along the primitive road until the village came into view. Carbon based objects decayed quickly in the rainforest and except for a couple of piles of feathers and hair, there were no signs of dead animals. I drove past the church and further up the mountain. The road narrowed until it disappeared.
I pulled off to the side as far as I dared and looked at Armand. "Don't tell me, we walk from here?"
"Yep."
"What about Evo?" Sam looked concerned. "Do we just leave him here?"
"Yep."
Fred climbed out of the Rover "We can't do that. Shouldn't Sam stay with him?"
"Yep."
"Good," I said. "Fred, you should probably stay too, don't you agree, Armand?"
"Yep." He hefted a backpack out of the Rover and onto his back. He handed me Evo's backpack and turned back to the track leading up the mountain. I guessed I wasn't going to stay at the Rover with Evo and the girls.
Walking at a brisk pace, he disappeared quickly into the undergrowth. We all stared after him. I struggled with the straps to the backpack and told Fred, "If Armand doesn't kill me with the pace, I'll see you when we get back. Call J.J. on Evo's satellite phone and tell him what's going on."
"Okay." She hugged me close. "Take care, Buzz. Watch out for those anacondas."
"Thanks, Bitch." We both laughed and I started off after Armand.
The trek through the jungle was slow going and uphill all the way. We followed a trail of sorts, but it must have been an old one because the jungle had taken back most of it. We'd walked about forty minutes when Armand stopped and jumped off trail. I followed and tumbled to my knees, breathing hard. "Did you hear that?"
At first all I heard was the quiet. Then I realized it was the first time since we set out that it really was quiet. No rustle, squeak, shriek, or rumble could be heard. I adjusted my focus and heard a low and continuous rumble in the far distance. Not the rumble of an animal, but of a diesel engine. The mosquitoes began a Buzz-fest on the back of my neck, and I scrambled for the spare repellant. Armand started to gag from the fumes and moved back onto the trail.
Fifteen more minutes of walking brought us to a clear-cut area filled with mounds of mud, rock, logs, and other debris. Mud was everywhere. The men working in the yard were covered with it. Off to the left was a holding pond of some sort, and Armand took off in that direction. I stumbled after him and saw a massive pile of rubble ahead. A huge machine stood off to one side and pummeled the pile of rock with jets of water. The water ran off the pile and into a holding pond.
I lifted my camera phone to take pictures and Armand whispered, "We need to get closer. I have to get a sample of that water. The testing equipment is in your backpack." He backed us into the jungle and dropped his pack. He had to take mine off because I couldn't bend that way anymore.
"Stay here. If I'm caught, get back to civilization as fast as you can." He unzipped Evo's backpack and I was happy to find a real digital camera on top. I snatched it up and uncapped it.
Armand slipped into the jungle and as the vegetation closed behind him, I suddenly felt very alone. A shiver ran up my spine, and my throat tightened. I could feel myself hyperventilating. I recognized the beginnings of a panic attack and forced myself to slow my breathing. Thinking of anacondas, I knelt on the damp earth and closed my eyes. Breathe two, three, four, out two, three, four. Breathe, two, three, four, out… Suddenly, at the edge of the jungle a large man carrying a machine gun strolled past less than ten feet in front of me. I watched as he hesitated a few steps beyond my position. I raised my hands, ready to shoot when I realized he'd stopped to light a cigarette. He moved silently away, and I let out the breath I had been holding.
Thinking of how close I came to killing the man made me start hyperventilating again. Focus, Buzz. I choked my panic down and took another steadying breath. Snap out of it, Miller. I took a swig of water and wished for the whiskey we'd left back at the Rover. Hefting the backpack, I moved in the opposite direction Armand had gone, and eventually came to what I figured must be the front door. I knew a mining operation when I saw one and knew this must be the Devil's Eye. I zoomed in on the entrance and snapped picture after picture. I moved as close as I dared to the main road and wondered why the heck I slogged through the jungle when there was the equivalent of a two lane highway leading away from the entrance down this side of the mountain. The camera clicked and clicked as I took pictures o
f the operation, the road, and the license plates of every vehicle I saw.
Sliding in place behind some earth-moving equipment, I got a better view of the main road. Mammoth tractors piggy-backing multiple trailers chugged down the mountain as empty ones arrived. Men in hard hats came out of an office trailer across the road and I snapped their pictures, too.
Figuring I'd better get back before someone spotted me, I retraced my steps through the jungle and after checking the area for snakes and carnivores, I settled in to wait for Armand. Time passed slowly and I moved a little closer to the cleared area so I could watch the operation.
My knee felt wet and I pawed through the vegetation to see on what I had knelt. A small trickle of water made its way past where I sat. I walked a couple of yards down the mountain and dug to the ground. More water. I contemplated the significance of the trickling when I heard movement to my left. Silently drawing my weapon, I crouched at the ready.
"Buzz."
"Yep. Ready?"
"Let's get out of here."
"I'm right behind you, Armand."
We slipped and slid down the mountain toward the Rover. Twice we stopped because we heard noises, but Armand let it pass and we continued downhill. No wonder I'd thought death inevitable on the way up. That was a steep hike.
Nearing the spot where the Land Rover should have been, I thought I heard music. What the hell was Fred up to now? Armand signaled me to stop. We listened to Queen singing "Fat Bottom Girls" and Armand gestured that we circle the site going in opposite directions.
I drew my weapon and moved off to my left. I looked behind me, but Armand had already disappeared into the foliage. I couldn't stop myself from moving closer to the Land Rover, and I had gone about fifty feet when I reached a break in the vegetation.