Spirals

by Scott Bergin

  "Well, provoking them won't help." He responded.

  "You mean I shouldn't throw these peels into the water?" Alex said.

  "Exactly." Fimyany replied. "The hungry ones might think you are feeding them. When they swim all the way out here and find out that it's just a peel, they might find something else to eat."

  "You mean I'll be more appealing." Alex said.

  "Exactly." Fimyany said, laughing.

  Alex turned to the front of the raft. The crocodiles seemed innocent enough. They just lazily sat on either side of the river. The few swimming around were the only ones within thirty feet. Alex looked downstream. He hoped that he would see a fast moving current, or rapids. He hoped for anything that would allow them to leave these creatures behind. Then Alex thought about the previous night. Perhaps these crocodiles were the reason for having a curfew in the village. Alex looked at the rotting arm attached to his own. He wondered if the animals could smell it. The arm might be putting them in unnecessary danger. Alex wished the village elders had allowed him to remove the arm. He was sure they knew how to remove the handcuffs, or at least chop off the arm. For reasons that seemed strange to him, they all insisted that he keep it attached. Now their decision might be putting his life in jeopardy.

  "Do crocodiles hunt at night?" Alex asked.

  "Yes." Fimyany told him.

  "Is that what your village is so afraid of?" Alex asked.

  "No." Fimyany assured him. "These little animals are harmless."

  Fimyany pulled the stick all the way out of the water. The raft continued to float down the stream without any guidance. Fimyany jabbed the stick at one crocodile. He missed. The next one he hit in the nose. The animal turned toward the shore and swam off rapidly.

  "These crocodiles are tiny." Fimyany said. "Less than two meters. Hardly a match for a village full of men with weapons."

  "Then what were you afraid would come into the village at night?" Alex asked.

  "Never mind that." Fimyany said. "You just keep your mind on these crocodiles. They may be no match for a village full of armed men, but we are not armed. We would be no match for them."

  "What about this?" Alex said, holding up the decaying arm.

  "What about it?" Fimyany asked.

  "Can they smell it?" Alex asked.

  "I don't know." He replied. "Just don't put it in the water. I'm sure that would attract their undivided attention."

  "Well, I wasn't thinking of using it to cure their hunger." Alex stated.

  "That's good." Fimyany said. "The only two creatures I care to feed are you and I."

  Alex started to eat the strange tropical fruit. As he did, he couldn't stop thinking about the village. They were afraid of something much worse than crocodiles. Alex was concerned that Fimyany didn't know if the crocodiles could smell flesh in the open air. He was still worried about the animals attacking the raft, even after Fimyany's demonstration. There were just too many of them to fight off with one stick. Alex began to worry about something else as well. He wondered what could be so much worse than thirty crocodiles. Whatever it was, it did not bother Alex the night before. He doubted that he had just been lucky. The beast that the villagers feared did not roam in the jungle to the east. Alex believed that was the reason he had lived through the night. What they feared must live to the west, and that was the direction they were traveling. Alex hoped that the animal they feared so much would stay on the shore. He hoped that it would not swim out to the raft, or drop down onto them from the dangling branches above. Alex finished his fruit, and wiped his hands.

  "What were you afraid of?" Alex asked.

  "What are you babbling about?" Fimyany asked.

  "I'm serious." Alex insisted. "What was prowling outside the village last night?"

  "You heard them?" Fimyany asked.

  Alex was stunned. Something had been prowling around the village, looking for an unsuspecting victim. The whole time, Alex was sleeping comfortably nearby. That thought scared the hell out of him.

  "What was out there?" Alex asked.

  "You don't want to know." Fimyany assured him.

  "What was out there?" Alex repeated.

  "If we are lucky, you will not need to know." Fimyany said.

  "What does that mean?" Alex asked. "Are they down this river?"

  "They might be." Fimyany admitted.

  "What are they?" Alex asked.

  "You're better off not knowing." Fimyany replied. "You'll only worry yourself for no reason."

  "Damn it, Fimyany!" Alex shouted.

  "Shhh." Fimyany whispered, pointing to the crocodiles on shore.

  "What is out there?" Alex persisted. "What is waiting for us?"

  "Cannibals." Fimyany replied.

  Alex didn't say another word. He sat looking down the stream with that one thought occupying his mind. They were heading into cannibal territory, and they didn't have any weapons.

  Chapter 29

  April 15

  11:22 a.m.

  The Congo

  The previous day, Thomas had accomplished everything as he had planned it. After turning his path toward the southeast, he walked until nightfall. Once the sun went down, the city lights showed the way. Thomas reached the city of Owando shortly after midnight. Within an hour of his arrival, he found the car that he had stashed just outside the city. Thomas spent the night in the car. He was able to sleep well, knowing that everything was coming together as planned. His worries, about someone discovering the car, turned out to be nothing more than paranoid anxieties. The car was exactly as he had left it, concealed and prepared.

  Early the next morning, Thomas awoke. He climbed out of the car, and pulled the bushes off the top. The thick brush had kept the car hidden for more than a week. Now, it was no longer necessary. After uncovering the car, Thomas got back in. Moments later, he was on his way. Thomas made a quick stop at a local market. He had not planned on it. He was hoping to leave town without being seen by anyone. His hunger got the best of his. The monkeys that he had been eating for the last two days were not very satisfying. Thomas was desperate for something to kill the taste of the monkey meat. On his way into the store, Thomas threw a small bag of garbage into a dumpster beside the building. The bag contained the clothes that he had been wearing while he walked through the jungle. It also contained all of his hair. Thomas had left a change of clothes in the car for when he returned. He also left an electric razor for himself. Thomas knew that a scruffy looking man, covered in dirt, would look like he had spent several days in the jungle. A clean shaven man, however, would look like an average tourist. The incident with Gabrielle and Alex, back in Cameroon, made him feel like a fugitive. So, he decided to act like one. Instead of just shaving his face, Thomas shaved his whole head. It conveniently covered up the fact that he hadn't been able to shower in days. With the change into clean white clothes, and a pair of sunglasses, he looked like a completely different man. Satisfied that he was unrecognizable, Thomas entered the store. He immediately saw what he was really after. Thomas carried the stack of Butterfinger bars to the counter. The man behind the counter looked frightened by Thomas' presence. Thomas wondered what was making the man so nervous. He watched the man's frail little body quiver with fear. Thomas realized that the man was not looking up at his face, but down at his waist. The man was eyeing the large knife dangling from Thomas' left hip.

  "Don't worry. I'm not dangerous." Thomas told the man, as he paid for his candy.

  "Well, don't eat too much." The man replied. "It can't be good for you."

  Thomas got back into the car, and set the candy on the seat beside him. He thought back to having found that first candy bar while looking through his jacket for something else. Thomas remembered what he had been searching for, the page. He felt his pocket to make sure it was still there. It wasn't. Thomas couldn't remember if he had taken it out of his pocket before throwing the bag of clothes into the dumpster. He couldn't risk going any further without the page. Thomas got out of
the car and walked over to the dumpster. He noticed a pungent odor, and wondered why he hadn't smelled it when he threw the bag in. The dumpster was less than half full. If he tried to reach in for the bag, he would dirty his clean white shirt. Thomas realized that spoiling his pristine image was a risk he was going to have to take. Thomas leaned his head over the side of the dumpster to spot the bag. It was at the far end, and it was well out of his reach. Thomas knew that he would have to climb into the dumpster to retrieve it. He placed his hands on the edge of the dumpster, and prepared himself for the stench.

  "What are you doing?" Came a voice from behind him.

  Thomas turned around and saw the man who had been running the counter. He was standing less than ten feet away, and he was carrying a bag of garbage in one hand.

  "I'm just trying to retrieve something that accidentally ended up in your dumpster." Thomas replied.

  "Well, it looks to me like you're just trying to find a place to dump your trash for free." The man said.

  "No." Thomas insisted. "I'm not trying to put anything in. I'm trying to get it out."

  "What kind of tourist goes around picking garbage?" The man asked.

  "Look, will you help me get my garbage back out or not?" Thomas asked, quickly getting fed up with the man.

  "Then you admit that it is your garbage." The man replied. "I will have to report this you know."

  Thomas quickly scanned the streets. They were empty. He took a couple of cautious steps toward the man. Thomas took his right hand and slowly scratched his chest. As he did, the man watched his hand closely. The man didn't like the way Thomas approached him, but he didn't try to get away either. Thomas moved his right hand across his body in an instant. He grabbed his knife. Before the man could react, Thomas swung the blade in front of the man. At first, the man thought that Thomas had missed him. When he looked down, he saw the blood running over his hand. Thomas had slashed the back of the man's wrist open. The wound was only three inches long, but it was deep. The man didn't even realize that he had dropped the bag of garbage, until it spilled onto his feet.

  "Report that too." Thomas said, waving the knife at the man's face.

  "What do you want from me?" The man asked. His voice was noticeably higher pitched, now that it was filled with fear.

  "Get into the dumpster, and get my bag." Thomas replied.

  The man said nothing. He walked over to the dumpster. Using his good arm, he managed to crawl into the dumpster. Even though it was half full, the landing was not soft. The man landed on a broken bottle, and glass stuck into his shoulder.

  "Which one is yours?" The man asked, grimacing in pain.

  "Against the far wall." Thomas told him. "And try not to get any blood on it."

  The man crawled across the trash. He picked up the bag with his good arm, trying to keep the sliced one as far from it as possible. The man stood up, and tossed the bag to Thomas. Then, he made his way back across the garbage. Thomas checked the bag to see if it was bloody. It wasn't. The man stood up at the near side of the dumpster.

  "That's it. You can come out now." Thomas told him.

  The man Flopped onto the side of the dumpster. The loss of blood was starting to get the best of him. He rested his chin, and his good arm, on the side for only a second. A second was all Thomas needed. As the man stared at the ground, the tip of the knife struck him at the base of the skull. His arms and legs flailed as Thomas drove the blade deeper. Thomas turned the blade inside the man's skull. As the base of his brain turned to mush, the man stopped twitching. Thomas grabbed the man by the front of his hair, then Thomas removed the blade. He used his grip on the man's hair to roll him onto his back. The man's head hung out of the dumpster. Blood, and small pieces of brain tissue, flowed freely out the hole in the back of the man's head. Thomas opened the man's mouth. He inserted the knife into the man's mouth, then closed his mouth on the blade. Thomas held the man's lips to the metal, as he slowly slid it back out. The blade came out with very little blood on it, only saliva. The man's mouth fell open, and Thomas could easily see the blood and brain tissue the knife left behind.

  "Don't eat too much." Thomas mocked. "It can't be good for you."

  Thomas let go of the man's head, but he didn't fall into the dumpster. He just hung over the edge. Thomas took one step back, then kicked the man in the head. His head flopped forward, and his body slid down the inside of the dumpster.

  "Report that too." Thomas said, getting into his car.

  He threw the knife between the seats, and opened up the bag. Thomas quickly riffled through the bag's contents. The page was not in there. For a moment, Thomas became extremely worried. Then he began to laugh. Thomas opened up the glove compartment, and removed the page. He now recalled placing it there before going to sleep the night before. He chuckled as he thought about how the man had died over a worthless bag of garbage. Thomas checked his clothing to make sure there were no stains from the incident. There were none. Thomas started the car, put it in gear, and drove off.

  After driving for several miles, Thomas spotted another dumpster beside a building. He pulled up next to it, and tossed the bag in. He was not worried about anyone connecting him with the crime. The only evidence he had left behind was the money in the register with his finger prints on it. All it proved was that he had been in the store, but not necessarily on the same day. Without any motive, or witnesses, he was as free as a bird. As Thomas drove south out of the city, that was exactly how he felt.

  Chapter 30

  April 15

  3:40 p.m.

  Gabon

  The raft slowed quickly. Alex looked back at Fimyany. He was leaning back onto the stick. The end in the water dragged along the bottom of the river, and cause the raft to slow. Moments later, the raft stopped.

  "Why have we stopped?" Alex asked.

  "There." Fimyany replied.

  Alex looked at the area Fimyany pointed to. At first, he saw nothing. Then, amid the tree tops, Alex saw a small plume of smoke. The small burst of smoke was off to the right, and a quarter mile downstream. The sight was obscured by tall grass, and a bend in the river. If Fimyany had not pointed it out, Alex never would have noticed it. The smoke obviously meant that there were other people nearby.

  "Cannibals?" Alex asked.

  "You can bet on it." Fimyany replied.

  "How do you know?" Alex asked.

  "I don't." Fimyany admitted. "Though, I would prefer not to find out."

  "Well, I have to find out." Alex replied.

  "Are you crazy?" Fimyany asked. "We're not going near there. Not if I can help it."

  "I'm not about to walk right up to them." Alex explained.

  "You're going to sneak up there?" He asked.

  "Yes." Alex said confidently.

  "And you sneak so well." Fimyany replied sarcastically.

  Alex knew that he would not be able to sneak up close enough to see them. Fimyany was right about that. He also knew that Fimyany was not about to sneak up there either. That left Alex wondering what to do next. If the people were not cannibals, he would be out of the jungle in no time. However, if they turned out to be cannibals, he might never get out.

  "What do we do?" Alex asked.

  "We try to sneak past." Fimyany replied.

  "On land?" Alex asked.

  "No. They would spot our tracks." He explained. "We must stick to the river."

  "Won't their village be at the water's edge?" Alex asked.

  "I doubt it." Fimyany said. "They usually like to stay hidden."

  "Do you really think we have a chance of getting by?" Alex asked.

  "There is always a chance." Fimyany assured him.

  "A good chance?" He asked.

  "Well, they always attack our village at night." Fimyany explained. "If they are nocturnal, we stand a pretty good chance."

  "If not?" Alex asked.

  "Then we pray they cannot swim." He replied.

  Fimyany removed the stick from the floor of the river.
The raft started to move again. Alex watched the small puffs of smoke rising above the tree tops. He hoped the smoke was due to the cannibals having neglected their fire while they slept. Though, he wondered if it was caused by the starting of a fire. Alex wanted to ask Fimyany, but decided against it. It was essential to remain as quiet as possible. Alex didn't want to do anything to alert the cannibals of his presence. Although, he was still not convinced that they were cannibals. The raft started to round the corner, toward the smoke. Alex hoped to see a small settlement of people, so long as they were not cannibals. Ultimately, Fimyany would have to be the one to decide if they were dangerous or not. Alex didn't know if Fimyany's tribe had been cannibals at first. The thought had crossed his mind.

  The raft rounded the corner. There was no village. There was nothing other than tall grass. The raft headed straight for the smoke, which was several hundred yards offshore. Suddenly, the tall grass started to move. Alex expected to see a crocodile emerge. A small blond haired girl in a white dress, with little red flowers, stepped out. She stood on the river's edge and made the doll she was holding dance on the water's surface.

  "Do you see that?" Alex asked.

  "Yes." Fimyany whispered. "But I don't believe it."

  "Mirages are for deserts." Alex whispered. "Take us over there."

  "O.K." Fimyany said. "Just stay quiet. We don't want to scare her."

  Fimyany steered the boat toward shore. The raft hit the shore twenty feet behind the girl. When it landed the girl spun around, but said nothing. She stared at them with awe. They stared back, but still no one spoke. The girl looked about eight years old. Her pale white skin was streaked with dirt. The dress had not been washed recently either. She looked as if she had been lost in the jungle for weeks. Alex wondered if that was possible. Then he remembered the fire, and realized that she could not be alone. There was obviously a group of people as lost as her. If there were cannibals nearby, she was also in danger. Alex waved his arm, signaling the girl to come to him. She didn't move. He signaled with both arms. The girls bright green eyes widened, and she smiled with delight. She slowly danced over to the edge of the raft, leaving her doll on the shore.