by Rick Poldark
“Okay, so he’s still out there,” said Nielsen. “What do we do about it? We can’t stay here.”
“We can take the river back to base camp,” offered Collins.
Peter shook his head. “The current is flowing in the opposite direction. Besides, I almost got eaten by a Spinosaurus earlier.”
“There was a Spinosaurus in the river?” Tracey sounded more excited than horrified.
“We have the light-bending camo,” said Collins.
When Peter looked perplexed, Tracey said, “It’s really cool. It’s a fabric that bends light. Makes you almost invisible.”
“Yeah, but what about its other senses, like smell?” asked Peter.
“There’s not much we can do about that,” said Nielsen, casually sniffing his armpit. His shirt was drenched with sweat. “How do we get back to base? The other T. rexes are back there, feasting on our weapons team.”
“We could cross the river,” said Collins, looking out the windows facing the river. “It looks deep. The T. rexes are all on this side.”
“It is deep,” said Peter. “The Spinosaurus swam in it, and they’re quite large.”
“Everyone here know how to swim?” asked Nielsen. Each person nodded. “Good. Then we have a plan. We cross the river and return to base camp on the other side.”
“What about the other men?” asked the driver, who until now had been listening quietly.
“There’s nothing to be done for them,” said Nielsen, his tone grave and only slightly dismissive.
“Maybe he can do something,” said the driver, pointing to Peter. “He said he can heal people.”
Peter shook his head. “Only if they’re bodily intact. If they’re mutilated or eaten, there’s nothing I can do for them.”
“We can check for any survivors on our way back,” said Collins. “Are we ready to do this? I feel if we wait too long, something else might come along, like a Spinosaurus or a giant freaking snake.”
“He’s right,” said Nielsen. “We need to return to base camp and regroup.”
“We need to get off this island,” said Tracey.
“Not without the others, we don’t,” said Nielsen. “We haven’t even established contact with the others.”
“I told you,” said Peter. “They’ll have evacuated the village. There’s no telling where they are.”
Tracey squeezed his arm. “You can use the orb, can’t you, Peter? To find them. You said you can sense everything on the island.”
Peter raised both eyebrows. “That option hadn’t occurred to me.”
“Well, can you do it?” pressed Nielsen.
“I-I think so,” said Peter. “I suppose I could locate them that way.”
Nielsen nodded his approval. “Good. We don’t leave until we have everyone.”
“When we exit the truck,” said Collins, “we have to all leave together and make a break for the river. If our friend is still out there, he’s going to come right at us, fast and hard.”
Nielsen looked around the back of the truck. “What about all the equipment?”
Collins shook his head. “We’ll be lucky if we get out of this with our lives.”
Nielsen swallowed hard and nodded. “Right. Are we all ready?”
Everyone nodded.
Collins turned to the driver up front. “Are you ready, Castillo?”
“Yup.”
Collins hefted his assault rifle. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Part II
Never Split the Party
Chapter 6
“We have to go,” demanded Susan, watching her friends be taken prisoner by lizard men down below. “There’s nothing we can do for them.”
Hiu’s body went rigid, his chin held high. It was the posture he took when he dug his heels in. “Help friends.”
Susan, too, knew how to be obstinate. In fact, one might have said it was her defining characteristic. “They wouldn’t want us to help them. We need to get what’s left of the tribe to safety.”
“Hunter Jason and Mary need we.”
Susan let out an exasperated growl. “How do we help them? Too many lizard men. More than us. They have all of our warriors.”
Hiu stamped his foot on the ground and puffed his chest out. “Not all. I warrior.”
Susan gesticulated wildly. “You’re the leader, and your tribe needs you to lead.”
Hiu looked at what remained of his tribe, and all eyes were on him. Some understood the exchange, and although they viewed Susan as a friend, they grimaced and pulled faces when she challenged their chieftain.
“What us do?” Hiu asked the group of thirty tribespeople, mostly women and children, some farmers.
They clearly looked stunned that their chief asked for their opinion, as it was not usual Umazoa custom. Susan was no stranger to office politics, and she realized she was putting Hiu on the spot in front of his people.
To help him save face, she bowed to him, something she’d never done to anyone in this dimension or her own. It pained her to do it, but she knew that she needed to repair whatever damage her arguments may have caused. If the tribe fell into chaos, they’d be finished for sure. “Okay, okay. We help the others. But how?”
Hiu smiled at Susan’s deference. He gathered his people together. There were still a couple of warriors amongst them. He issued instructions, just like he did before a big hunt. What Susan understood was, after the lizard men below left, they were going to trek to the bottom of the cliff where the others were ambushed, checking for tracks. They would then follow the tracks and mount a rescue attempt.
Hiu turned to Susan, handing her a spear.
Susan put her hands up. “Oh no, I’m not a fighter.” At least she wasn’t in the physical sense. She preferred her sparring to be verbal.
Hiu insisted, shoving it into her hands.
Susan wrapped her hands around the long, wooden shaft. She had never had to engage in combat before. There were always others who did the fighting—warriors, Jason, Mary. She abhorred violence, but she was in a primitive land where violence was a part of existence. It was how the strong fed off the slow and the weak. Susan realized she didn’t want to be the injured animal away from the pack, first to be picked off by astute predators.
She met Hiu’s eyes and nodded.
Hiu huffed, but it was admiration rather than derision. It was what the Umazoa did when they were impressed.
Susan followed Hiu as he led the remnants of his tribe down the narrow path and through the jungle. Careful to avoid areas known to them to be prime spots for the larger predators, they tread through difficult terrain, as the road less travelled was indeed the safer one.
At last, they reached the bottom of the cliff where Jason, Mary, and the others had been ambushed. The place was empty. Everyone, human and reptile alike, had moved on. Hiu and the few hunters in the group immediately scoured the ground, squatting on their haunches from time to time, probing the dirt with their fingers.
Susan attempted to look for traps, seeing many sets of footprints leading in different directions. It all appeared a disorganized mess to her, and she struggled to make sense of it. The only detail she discerned was the human vs. lizard men tracks. The lizard men’s tracks were larger and three-pronged for their three-clawed feet.
Hiu and the other hunters engaged in a lively conversation about their findings. They spoke so fast and with such emotion that Susan found it difficult to follow. They seemed to be in disagreement about something. The only meaning she gleaned from familiar Umazoan fragments of speech was they were discussing Jason and Mary as separate from the others.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She agreed to follow Hiu, but she hadn’t agreed to be kept in the dark. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Hiu turned to Susan, gesturing with his hands, moving them in divergent directions.
Susan shook her head. “I don’t understand.” She repeated the sentiment in Umazoan, as it was a familiar phrase of tremendous u
tility to her.
Hiu looked up, gathering his thoughts. “Jason…Mary…” He gestured south. “Us tribe…” He gestured north.
“Oh,” said Susan, finally comprehending. “They split up.” She moved her hands in divergent directions.
Hiu nodded. “Yes. Yes.”
Susan realized what they were debating—who to rescue. Hiu went on to pantomime walking with his fingers, and he indicated there were many more tracks going south than north. Then, he indicated through pantomime that the tracks going south belonged mostly to lizard men, while most of the tracks going north belonged to Umazoa.
She cleared her throat. “Tribe…they go to temple…not many lizard men?”
Hiu nodded.
This meant that a small detail of lizard men brought the tribe back to the temple, whereas a larger detail took Jason and Mary south.
Susan didn’t believe what she was about to offer, but she couldn’t ask Hiu to abandon his tribe to save Jason and Mary. It just wasn’t right. “I will go and find Jason and Mary.”
Hiu paused and exchanged looks with the other warriors. Susan was uncertain if he understood what she was trying to convey.
The chieftain stepped forward, arched his back, puffing his chest out, and emitted an emphatic huff. The other hunters followed suit. He understood, and he was conveying his admiration.
Susan figured it was the only way. He had to see to his tribe, and she had to see to hers. Hiu squatted and spat on his right index and middle finger. He squatted, dipped them into the dirt, stood, and approached Susan.
Susan blanched, taking a few steps back. “Oh, gross…no…what are you doing?”
Hiu stamped his foot and held his chin high.
“Okay…” was all Susan could manage as the diminutive chief advanced. He smeared the dirt moistened with his saliva under each of her eyes. He was telling her she was now a hunter. He told her in Umazoan to follow the river, gesturing with his hand, and she would find her friends.
He placed both of his hands on her shoulders, bowed forward, and touched foreheads with her. It was something she’d seen him do to others before he left for a hunt. Then, he and the rest of the tribe went north to the temple.
Susan stood there, alone, with dirt and spit smeared under her eyes, wondering how she was going to find her friends. What’s more, she wondered what she was going to do when she found them.
* * *
Mary held onto Jason, as their captors led them on foot deeper south into the jungle, following the river. He muttered something incomprehensible every so often, swatting at what she thought was flies, only he appeared to be reacting to hallucinations. As they walked with spears to their backs amongst twenty or so lizard men, Mary slipped a hand under Jason’s shirt, a move he would’ve normally relished but now was oblivious to. His wound felt hot. She slipped her hand back out and placed it on his forehead. “My God, you’re burning up.”
She received a shove from the butt of a spear, causing her to stumble. This placed her off balance, and she was unable to steady Jason. He tumbled to the dirt.
Mary turned on her captors. “He’s sick! Don’t you understand?”
The lizard men looked at each other. One who appeared to be the leader stepped in front of her and hissed, flailing his dewlap under his chin.
Another stepped forward, clad in a blue tunic, holding a small orb. He made strange sounds at the leader, and there was a brief exchange before he approached Mary with the orb. He held out the orb.
Mary had heard Peter’s stories about the lizard men’s orbs and how they used them to store memories. She wondered why he extended one to her now. He waved it at her, inviting her to touch it.
Unsure of what to do but wary of jabbing spears, she reached out and palmed the sphere with both hands. She was surprised when the nicely dressed lizard man slid his three-clawed hands underneath the orb but didn’t let go. She was even more surprised when a wordless voice entered her mind.
‘What is wrong?’
Mary gasped and almost released the orb, but she held on, intuiting that releasing it would break the connection. ‘Let us go. Please.’
The lizard man made small motions with his mouth, his retracted dewlap bobbing as it swallowed. ‘I cannot do that. What is wrong?’
‘My friend is sick. He can’t walk in this condition.’
The lizard man paused. ‘He requires medicine?’
‘Yes. He has an infection from velociraptor wounds. What do you want with us?’ She privately wondered why they hadn’t killed her or Jason.
‘If you cooperate, you will not be harmed…’
Mary’s skin went cold. She hadn’t meant to transmit that thought. She also didn’t like the way it trailed off, thought unfinished, as if there was a ‘but’ to follow.
Jason grabbed her ankle on the ground and looked up at her. “Help me, Mary. Please.”
Mary gazed into the cold, dead eyes of the lizard man holding the orb. ‘You need us alive. He will die and cannot go any further in this condition.’
The lizard looked down at Jason, its dewlap extending a bit. It made several swallowing motions, as if something was caught in its throat. ‘There’s nothing to be done for him. We must leave him behind.’
Mary wondered if the strange body language was a display of emotion. Reading her thought, the lizard man flinched.
Mary cocked her head sideways, chuckling softly. ‘My goodness. It is an emotional reaction. This upsets you.’
The lizard man flared his dewlap. ‘We don’t need him. We need you.’
‘Why would you need me?’ Mary’s eyes lit up. ‘It’s Peter, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve all spread out, combing the jungle. You’re looking for Peter.’
The lizard man made strange vocalizations, and one of the others stepped toward her, jabbing its spear at her but falling just short of actually piercing her side.
Mary retained her grasp on the orb. ‘I’m your insurance policy for when you find him, aren’t I?’
The lizard man pulled the orb away from her, thus severing the connection. The others corralled Mary away from Jason.
“We just can’t leave him here,” she shouted at them. “He’ll die.”
Jason reached up for her as she was shoved away from him. “Mary…wait…where are you going? Mary…”
*
Jason watched as Mary was led away. His muscles ached, and his body felt as if it was on fire. The whole thing seemed like a fever dream to him. As he lay back, his mind swimming, waiting to die, something approached him.
In his current delirium, he no longer cared if he lived or died. It loomed over him, looking down at him, but Jason’s vision was so blurred and his mind so incapable of processing what he saw, it might as well have been a hallucination.
The wraith lowered itself to his level in a single, deft, fluid motion, as if it were made of smoke. ‘Jason, the great hunter.’ The voice was like fog in his mind, empty, reedy, and haunting all at once.
“Wh-what? Who…?”
‘I am here to help you, Jason.” It said his name in an odd kind of hiss, like air escaping. “Your friend has left you.’
“Mary…Mary, come back. Please…come back.”
‘She has abandoned you for the one named Peter.’
“No…she wouldn’t…Peter is my friend.”
‘Would a friend leave you alone to fend for yourself? Would a friend, who has the power to heal you, leave you here to rot on the jungle floor?’
Jason started laughing and singing to himself. The infection had taken hold and was affecting his cognition. His blood was poisoned, and now he was dying.
‘I would never leave you in such a state,’ hissed the voice. ‘I can help you, right here, right now.’
“Pl-please…please.” Jason hummed musically to himself, choking on his own laughter as if he was drowning in it.
The wraith wrapped itself around him and infused itself in him, entering his eyes, ears, nose and mouth simultaneously. He
felt it coursing through him, and as it moved throughout his body, he felt the infection yield to it. However, he wasn’t quite being healed. Rather, this entity had placed the infection on pause. Within minutes his mind and body cleared. As he felt his body recover, the entity left him, swirling and reforming outside his body until it stood over him once more.
Jason lay on his back, his clothing drenched in his own sweat. He sat up and looked around. His mind and vision were clear. Yet, when he saw the wraith standing next to him, it remained shrouded in smoke and fog.
‘Peter is not the only one with power. I have spared your life, and I seek only one thing in return. Peter must go to the Temple of the Simian King.’ The idea swirled around like vapor in his mind, and the apparition dissipated in the sunlight, carried away on the island breeze.
“The Temple of the Simian King,” repeated Jason to himself. He had no idea what that even meant, but he knew it was imperative he make it happen.
Jason heard a whisper. ‘I will always be with you,’ but he swore it was the island breeze playing tricks on his mind. It was only the breeze.
* * *
Susan slipped into the river, letting the current take her south. The lizard men who took Mary and Jason had a lead on her, and the only way she could make up the distance was to let the river take her. She would move swiftly while conserving energy—energy she’d need to mount a rescue.
* * *
Tracey pulled the handle and slowly opened the back door to the armored truck, bracing it with her other hand grabbing the edge. It creaked, regardless, but her efforts mitigated the noise. The ambient noise of the river hopefully drowned out the sound.
She slipped out, Peter and Marcy right behind her, followed by Nielsen and Collins, all wearing backpacks. The driver’s side door, facing the jungle, creaked as Castillo stepped outside. The others froze, ears pricked for any sound and eyes on the jungle to their right.