They all nodded.
‘Go,’ said Nate.
Pan crept off to her left with Sanjit and Wei-Lin. They said nothing, concentrating on making no noise. Sanjit stepped on a broken branch and the sharp snap made them freeze. Pan cocked her head and tried to listen above the hammering of her heart. The forest was silent, eerily so. Even the sound of buzzing flies was muted by the trees. It was almost a relief to know that Sanjit was even worse at this kind of thing than she was. She might be a weak link in the water, but he was even weaker on the land. It wasn’t a noble thought and she tried to banish it. Thirty seconds passed and they moved off again. After a couple of minutes, Pan tapped Sanjit on the shoulder. She pointed to the ground and Sanjit nodded that he understood. He got down on hands and knees and then lowered himself to the forest floor. Carefully, he crawled on his belly towards the clearing. Pan and Wei-Lin moved on.
When Pan estimated that she must be close enough to nine o’clock she patted Wei-Lin on the back. Wei-Lin nodded and continued, while Pan followed Sanjit’s example and lowered herself to her belly. She inched towards the clearing, using her elbows to get purchase on the rotten mulch that made up most of the undergrowth. She carefully parted the leaves and looked out at the village. There were five or six buildings made of plastic siding. They looked like the small cabins found on some camping sites. Wooden steps led up to the front doors, which were encased in flyscreen. The building closest to her had its door open, but she couldn’t see anything of the interior, because the angle was wrong. She thought for a moment about moving ten metres to her right to get a better view but decided against it. The interior would almost certainly be in darkness anyway and she didn’t want to risk further movement. Pan scanned the perimeter, but couldn’t see any signs of the others, who must have taken up their positions by now. She returned her gaze to the village. There were seven bodies that she could detect, all covered in flies. They were scattered randomly about the clearing, though one was on the bottom step of one of the buildings, as if the person had been trying to seek sanctuary within or was trying to flee something inside. Pan shuddered.
Almost directly opposite her position she noticed a narrow track leading out of the village and into the forest. A motorbike leaned on its kickstand close to the track. It was a curious and jarring reminder of a normality that the rest of the scene belied. Pan could imagine someone walking out of one of the buildings, sitting astride it and kick-starting it, before riding off. She glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes to go. She tried to let her mind clear, see if there was anything her intuition could tell her about the village, but she drew a blank. She let her eyes rove over the clearing, paying particular attention to her peripheral vision. There was no movement anywhere. Her clothes clung to her skin in an icy embrace and it took an effort of will to stop her teeth chattering. As she watched she tried to understand what this village was for. Apart from the motorbike, there was no machinery that she could see. The buildings indicated this might be a residential facility but it was also clear this wasn’t a tourist destination. No proper roads, for one thing. In which case it might be accommodation for workers. But what kind of workplace would be around here? Logging, perhaps. But the path out seemed very narrow and there was no evidence of logging machinery. Unless there were chainsaws in the huts. They’d get more information when they searched the buildings. Pan rested her head on her arms and tried to ignore the mosquitoes whining around her ears.
Nate entered the clearing after exactly half an hour. He moved slowly, his head scanning every direction. Almost immediately the others appeared at their respective positions around the clearing’s circumference. Pan got to her feet and followed. They converged at the centre, close to the largest building. Pan had to make a small detour to avoid a corpse. As she approached, the cloud of flies lifted and then settled again. She kept her eyes averted.
‘We search each building in turn,’ said Nate. ‘Sam, Karl and Wei-Lin stay outside and keep watch. Yell if you hear or see anything. The rest of us get in and get out as quickly as possible. Any questions?’
There were none. Nate hefted the axe in his hand. Wei-Lin had an arrow nocked, though she kept the bow angled towards the ground. Karl moved behind the building and Sam took up a position to the side. Nate nodded his head towards the steps of the nearest building.
‘I go first. When inside we spread out. No speaking unless you find something of interest. Right, let’s do it.’
He moved confidently up the steps and gripped the door handle, turned it and entered. Pan was on his heels. As soon as he was inside he broke to the left. Pan moved straight ahead. The light inside the building was not good and it took a few moments for Pan’s eyes to adjust. It was an office space. A desk sat in front of a small window, a leather chair in position. There was a filing cabinet to one side and a few leaflets pinned to a corkboard. The leaflets weren’t in English, and Pan didn’t recognise the language. She backed out and found Nate coming from the room to her left. He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head. Nothing. Jen and Sanjit joined them.
‘Nothing,’ said Jen.
‘Okay,’ said Nate. ‘On to the next.’
They found a man in the last building they checked. It had been designed as basic sleeping accommodation. Three beds, little more than cots, had been squeezed into the cramped space. He lay half in and half out of the third. Dark stains, dried blood, spotted the bedding and chequered the plain wooden flooring. At first the man appeared dead, his pallor deathly white, but then he took a shuddering intake of air. It was a dreadful sound, like gravel rattling on metal. Nate and the others instinctively drew away in revulsion. The man’s hand twitched and his eyelids fluttered open. He seemed to be staring straight at Pan, the whites of his eyes, bloodshot, the pupils black pinpricks. Nate knelt by the bed and took his hand, but he gave no reaction other than the tearing rasp of his breathing. Pan closed her eyes and fought a rising sense of panic. This was so familiar. She knew what was about to happen. The man’s body would convulse and his frame would become racked with coughing. It would tear him apart, the pressure of blood building in his lungs too great to withstand. She felt tears well behind her lids. The relief teacher. All her nightmares. All her worst nightmares in the flesh.
The cough, when it came, was more violent than she could have imagined. It doubled the man up. A fountain of blood spewed from his mouth, a thick geyser that soaked Nate’s shirt. Nate dropped the man’s hand and gazed down at the spreading crimson stain on his chest. All of them were frozen by horror. The man slumped again, his hand trailing on the floor, fingers dipped in blood. The silence this time was absolute.
The images snapped into Pan’s mind, caused her head to swivel to the door. Men approaching. Leaves being parted, boots crushing undergrowth, the lazy swing of a weapon, a sash of bullets like strange ceremonial decoration. A cry from outside pierced the quiet and Pan didn’t know which had come first, her premonition or the shout of warning.
‘Company!’ It was Sam’s voice, tinged in urgency.
Nate jumped to his feet and rushed to the door. He left a trail of bloody footprints. Pan shuddered and followed. They burst onto the front steps. After the relative darkness of the cabin, the light was blinding. Sam, Wei-Lin and Karl had formed a small group in front of the steps. Sam held the boning knife loosely in her right hand, Wei-Lin’s bow was half-raised and they stared towards the far end of the clearing. Pan shielded her eyes and followed their line of sight.
A group of men stood just inside the clearing. There were about ten of them and they, too, seemed frozen in the act of movement, as if stunned by the sight of other people. Jen took a step back and spoke quietly, though her gaze did not deviate from the newcomers.
‘What now, Nate?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied.
Pan understood his hesitation. Were these people friendly, survivors of the disease that had killed their friends and family? Or did they present a threat? While they watched, one of the group r
aised his hand in greeting. He shouted something and took a couple of steps forward.
‘Run!’ yelled Pan.
For a moment, no one moved.
‘Why?’ said Karl.
‘Because they mean to kill us all,’ said Pan. ‘Trust me. Run!’
She jumped off the verandah and sprinted for the forest. She was dimly aware of further shouts from the men. Glancing back, she saw the rest of her team hard on her heels. Further back she saw the group of men starting to run themselves. One was raising a gun to his shoulder. She increased her pace. She didn’t hear the bullet. All she was aware of was a rush of wind past her left ear, a violent pressure in the air. Then the dull crack followed immediately. It sounded vaguely absurd, like a child’s toy gun. The second shot gouged a splinter in the tree a metre to her right. But then she was in the forest, crashing through bushes, ignoring the slap of branches against her face. She risked another glance. Nate and the others were right behind her. The forest closed around them.
They were safe. For the time being.
Chapter 20
Nate drew level with her.
‘Calm your breathing, Pan,’ he said. ‘Focus on each breath. Anxiety and panic will build up acid in your muscles. Stay loose.’
Pan felt a flash of annoyance. Did nothing disturb his equanimity? Not even running for his life, with armed men hard on his heels? How could he stay so goddamn . . . composed? But she knew his advice was sound. The panic and adrenaline had made her breath ragged and already there was a serious stitch in her side. After a minute, the stitch subsided and her breathing became easier. Nate moved effortlessly past her. He turned his head and spoke to the rest of the team.
‘Follow me. Wei-Lin, stay at the back of the group. Watch for pursuit. If you see anyone, kill them. Understood?’ He didn’t wait for a reply, but crashed off through the forest to his left. Pan didn’t understand the reason for the change of direction. The forest was uniformly dense and one direction seemed as good as any other. But she followed.
The next time they stopped, Jen turned to Nate. When she spoke it was without any evidence of breathlessness.
‘You have a plan, boss?’ she said.
Nate smiled.
‘Nothing so grand, I’m afraid, Jen. Just trying to keep us alive.’
‘So why this direction?’
‘If I’ve got my bearings right, then we should stumble across that path – the one out of the village – fairly soon.’
‘And?’
‘We follow it. Crashing through the forest, we might as well put up neon signs. Broken branches, slashed leaves, all the evidence of flight. Any idiot could track us. We might be able to outrun them for a while, but eventually they’ll catch us. If we can get on the path, we should leave far fewer signs. We run along it for a while, then take off into the forest again. If nothing else, it will slow them down.’
‘The gift of leadership, huh?’
‘Scarcely. We are still in deep shit. Look, enough talking. Jen, keep an eye on the others, particularly Sanjit. Okay?’
Jen nodded and dropped back. Pan lowered her head and kept her gaze on the back of Nate’s boots as he took off again. She tried to empty her mind and allow her body to follow the rhythm of his feet as they rose and fell. The initial rush of panic had subsided, to be replaced by a strong sense of deja vu. Running, pursuit. Trying to get away from someone or something that meant her harm. Suddenly the recurrent dream she had been experiencing back at The School sprang to mind. And something else. Something that Cara had written in her journal. The dreams that don’t make sense. Pan couldn’t shake the feeling that she was on the verge of a discovery, an enlightenment. But there was no time to pay it any attention.
A shout behind them caused Nate to stop. He barely paused before retracing his steps. Pan skidded to a halt and then doubled back too. There were no signs of the others and for a moment she was surprised; then again, the forest was so thick that even a gap of a few metres was sufficient to provide cover. She stepped up her pace.
It was Sanjit. He had stumbled. He lay in a crumpled heap, clutching his right ankle. Karl helped him to his feet, an arm around his chest. Jen and Sam stood a few metres away, frozen in indecision. Pan ran past Wei-Lin, who was staring over Karl’s head and into the forest. The sound of pursuit was loud, the crash of bodies forcing themselves through foliage, guttural sounds of men issuing orders. Pan felt the tingle of imminent disaster. Time slowed.
When the man burst through the foliage he was only five metres from Sanjit and Karl. He stopped. For a bizarre moment, they all watched each other. The man was sweating. His face glistened and drops of sweat had formed on the end of his beard. He was wearing army fatigues, though they were stained and torn. Then the man reached over his right shoulder and pulled out a machete. Its blade was spotted with rust, but it looked deadly. He balanced himself on the balls of his feet and glanced around the group. Then he grinned and took a step forward.
The arrow took him in the neck. Its shaft penetrated halfway through before jamming. The arrowhead glistened red on one side of his neck and the fletchings on the other side shivered for a moment before stilling. The man stiffened as if surprised. An expression of astonishment passed over his face and he reached a hand tentatively towards his head. His mouth opened. No sound came out, but a thin stream of blood trickled from his lips. The machete slipped from his fingers and then his legs crumpled.
Nate sprinted forward and lifted Sanjit in one easy movement. He threw him over his left shoulder.
‘Move, people,’ he yelled. ‘Now.’
Pan turned to follow him. She saw Wei-Lin standing stock still. Paralysed. Her bow was dangling from her left hand and her gaze was fixed on the body. The man’s hands still twitched and one foot scrambled ineffectually at the ground. Pan grabbed Wei-Lin by the wrist and dragged her along. For a couple of moments it seemed as if she was still frozen, but then she shuddered and started running. Pan risked a glance at her face, which was twisted, eyes wide and brimming with panic. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
‘Breathe, Wei-Lin,’ she said. ‘Stay loose.’
Pan dropped back a couple of steps so she couldn’t tell if her words had had any effect. She worried that Wei-Lin would simply stop again, fixed by the enormity of her actions, and Pan knew she must look out for her. This put Pan last in the group and she felt her back as a broad target. A bullet would bring her down before she knew what was happening and her shoulder blades itched in anticipation.
They burst onto the path. The leaves suddenly disappeared and a beaten track, only a metre wide, lay before them. Nate stopped and glanced in both directions. Even with Sanjit’s body over his shoulder he hadn’t tired.
‘This way,’ he said and took off to his left. The others followed. Pan considered his choice of direction. The path to their right had a bend only twenty or so metres away, whereas the way he had chosen left them vulnerable for at least one hundred and fifty. It wasn’t logical. Pan prayed the men had stopped to help their fallen comrade. Seconds might prove vital if they weren’t to be spotted before they rounded the bend. The rest of the team will be thinking the same, she thought, yet they obeyed without question. He is a leader. She might have smiled at the thought but the sense that a bullet could, at any moment, punch the life out of her choked the impulse before it could quicken.
It felt like the longest one hundred and fifty metres of her life, but they made it. As Pan turned the bend she realised she had been holding her breath and she forced her lungs to empty. Wei-Lin was staggering slightly, weaving across the track, and Pan knew she would not be able to keep running much longer. Whatever plan Nate had, if any, she hoped they would be able to stop soon before their bodies shut down. She wasn’t altogether sure their minds hadn’t done so already.
The group rounded another slight bend in the path and Pan saw the clearing of the village only twenty or thirty metres ahead. Nate stopped ten metres short and pushed his way into the forest on his right, Je
n, Karl and Sam following. Wei-Lin stumbled and almost fell. Pan caught her by the arm, led her after the others. They brushed aside broad fern leaves, ignoring branches that snagged on their clothing. Wei-Lin’s breath rasped. It was the sound of panic, close to hyperventilation.
They came to a small area of undergrowth dotted with saplings and small ferns, clear enough to allow the group to sit. Nate eased Sanjit off his shoulder and rested him gently on the ground, his back against a tree. Then he sat and covered his face with his hands. Wei-Lin dropped to the gound and did the same. The others sat cross-legged. No one said anything.
Two minutes passed and then Nate shuddered and lifted his face. When he spoke his voice was barely a whisper and the group had to edge forward to hear him.
‘This is as good a place as any,’ he said. ‘We’ll make this our base until we’re sure we’ve lost them.’
‘The village is so close,’ said Jen. ‘Is this wise?’
‘I figured they wouldn’t count on us returning here,’ Nate replied. ‘Especially since it was counter-intuitive to turn left.’ That’s why he exposed us for longer than necessary, thought Pan.
‘A gamble,’ said Karl.
‘Anywhere’s a gamble,’ Nate said. ‘I think the odds are slightly better here.’
‘So what now?’ asked Sam. ‘We sit here and hope they don’t find us?’
‘No,’ said Nate. ‘Two of us will leave in about half an hour, assuming we remain undiscovered. The way I see it, we are in need of water and food. It’s possible to do without the latter, but we must all be dehydrated. A water supply is essential. Another reason why I brought us back here. The village must be close to water. It wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t.’ He scratched at his face. ‘Also, bodies. Disease. Not great for uncontaminated water. I’m hoping for a stream. Running water is our only chance. Even then, we’ll have to make sure there are no bodies upstream to pollute the supply.’
Pandora Jones: Admission Page 20