“Gio told us about the bodies and the trucks,” he continued before she could reply. “Did they see you?”
“Adi!”
Recognizing Nayara’s panicked voice, she turned and saw her calling from the shelter.
“The blood,” Nayara said as soon as they ran up. “It won’t stop.”
She looked at Rodrigo on the table as Pablo pressed against the wound, the rag so soaked it was beginning to drip on the floor. The paleness of his face reminded her of the bodies and her mind flashed back to the village, a tingling sensation running over her as she felt the clammy skin of the old woman once more.
“Adi!” Valentina shouted and she jumped, breaking from her daze. “Do something!”
Expectant faces around her waited and she forced herself to focus on the problem in front of her. Walking up to the table, she took the rag away from Pablo and looked at the wound. It was the largest bullet hole she had ever seen, the ammo tearing straight through his side and out the other end with little resistance. Knowing that neither red sap nor thread would close the gaping hole, she could only think of one other solution. “Bring him to the fire.”
They obeyed without hesitation, carrying Rodrigo out of the shelter to the middle of the camp. As they laid him gently on the ground, Adi held the knife in the flames until it burned hot, the handle becoming almost too warm for her to grasp.
“Hold him down,” she said as they crouched beside him, each person hovering over a corner of his body.
“Have you done this before?”
Nayara’s question made her hesitate and she tried to remember the one time she had seen it done. While it was risky, as she watched more blood stain the dirt around him, she stopped delaying and pressed the red-hot blade forcefully against the wound.
Rodrigo’s body jerked as the smell of searing flesh filled the air. Though he was weak, he still had enough strength to fight back and Adi had to lean all her weight against his leg, forcing him to keep still. Again and again, she placed the metal against the wound, burning the ripped skin until it eventually closed, an angry red blotch staring back at her. By the time she finished, Rodrigo had passed out cold and they placed him back underneath the shelter.
“Now what?” Nayara asked.
•
A light rain fell and everyone hid in the huts, the trickling moisture too gentle to break the unrelenting humidity. Adi sat in the chair, staring at Rodrigo on the table, his body covered in blankets. They had sealed the wound, but she wasn’t sure he’d make it. If he was still bleeding on the inside, he would eventually fill up with blood and die.
She sighed and sat slumped in the chair, unwilling to think about that possibility. She told herself she was concerned because Benito was close to him, but that wasn’t exactly true. Since her return to the jungle, she and Rodrigo had been almost inseparable. It was like she had never left. He meant something to her, something more than she expected, almost as if he was...
Family. The thought entered her head at the same time Valentina walked in, the surprise from her realization fading as she watched her from against the wall. The look on Valentina’s face perplexed her, but as she observed her gently caress Rodrigo’s head, she realized it shouldn’t have. It made sense now, all the times Valentina stayed close and helped him. It wasn’t because she liked him—she loved him.
She watched them for a moment before she suddenly felt tired, her eyelids drooping, and she pulled her blanket close. But just as quickly as sleep came, so did the nightmares, and she was back in that place, surrounded by broken, decomposing bodies, their cold and clammy skin grabbing and pulling her down. She struggled to get free, flailing with all her might as they held her firmly, and just when a hand gripped her ankle, she kicked as hard as she could.
The force of the jolt jerked her awake and she sprang up, searching the shelter for danger. The only thing that was there was Giovana, curled up in a tight ball in a chair beside her, fast asleep.
She sat back down, listening to the rain fall as her mind returned to the village, the bodies etched in her memory. She thought about the dead, going over it again and again, but she couldn’t figure it out. Why did it happen?
The sound of someone gasping interrupted her, and she watched Rodrigo slowly wake up on the table. She could tell that he was struggling to remember where he was, but when his eyes finally found hers, it clicked.
“What’d you do to me?” he groaned as he pulled off the blankets, looking down at his side.
“I...” Adi began, standing beside him, but then she stopped. “How do you feel?”
He exhaled loudly. “I feel like I’ve been lying on a table.”
He moved to sit up but her hand stopped him.
“Don’t,” she said. “Stay. We don’t know yet.”
“Don’t know what?”
She didn’t reply as she felt along his side, pressing down every inch or so, feeling for any liquid underneath. The closer she got to the wound, the more she felt Rodrigo tense, but he said nothing as he waited for her to finish.
“That bad, huh?” he asked when she was done.
She wanted to say something that would reassure him, but she came up short. “I don’t know.”
Rodrigo said nothing else.
Unsure of what to do, she said, “I’ll get you some water.”
The news that he was awake spread quickly. Over the next couple of days, the shelter was crowded with kids wanting to see him. While Adi checked his wound daily, she wasn’t sure if it was getting better or worse. It just stayed the same.
Several nights later she went down to the river, wanting nothing more than to cool off. After dunking her head in the water, she pulled herself into a tree, climbing a few branches up before sitting down on one that gave her an unobstructed view of the river. She rolled her neck around, trying to get the tension to leave, but it stayed tight, unwilling to relax. She sat there enjoying the silence, when all of a sudden, a faint sound split the early morning air.
She sat up straight, closing her eyes as she listened. About a minute later, she heard it again. Gunshots.
She scrambled out of the tree, barely landing on the ground before she sprinted up the path and into the camp. Grabbing the gun and knives from her bag, she ran into the main shelter.
“Where’s Salvador?” she asked as she entered, seeing Valentina and Marcelo sitting with Rodrigo.
Marcelo glared at her. “He’s sleeping.”
“Wake him up,” she replied, tucking the gun into her pants.
“Why?”
Knowing that telling Marcelo off would get her nowhere, Adi fought back the frustration. “It’s important.”
Marcelo didn’t move and had just opened his mouth when Rodrigo cut in.
“Marcelo,” he said, adjusting uncomfortably in his chair. “Just do it.”
By the time he returned with Salvador, she already regretted her choice. She had wasted too much time. She should have just gone by herself.
“What is it?” Salvador asked as he smoothed down his ruffled hair.
“Gunshots,” she replied. “South of the river. Near the Morro Rio village.”
“You’re sure?” Salvador asked, frowning.
She nodded.
“It’s probably a hunter,” Marcelo said, his arms folded across his chest. “With bad aim.”
Although she knew she couldn’t, she wanted nothing more than to beat the living crap out of him. He irritated her like no one else. “It’s not a hunter,” she said, forcing herself to sound calm. “It’s something bad. Trust me.”
Salvador paused. “Alright. So, what would you like me to do?”
It was not the response she expected.
“If it’s anything like what you and Rodrigo encountered,” he continued, “we should stay away.”
“And what about the people there?” she asked. “You’re just gonna leave them?”
“We’re not responsible for them. We’re responsible for those who live here.”
>
Adi shook her head. This wasn’t right. “I’m not just gonna let them die like the others.”
Salvador studied her for a moment. “That’s your choice, but unless you can promise me that whatever’s out there won’t follow you here, you can’t come back.”
It was as if the shelter suddenly shrunk, the air feeling thick and heavy.
“You got lucky last time,” he continued. “And the time before that a group of gangsters almost destroyed the camp. I’m sorry, but I will not risk our safety again.”
Adi looked at him, trying to understand his decision, but she couldn’t. Before she even walked out of the shelter, she already knew what she was going to do.
Running down to the river, she searched for the boat, but didn’t know where it was hidden.
“Going somewhere?” a voice asked, startling her.
“I would be if I could find the stupid boat.”
Catalina smiled and walked over to a pile of shrubs, pulling the boat out from under cover. “Where we going?”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Adi said as she dragged it to the water. Climbing in, she sat down and pushed off with the paddle but stopped as soon as she felt Catalina jump in behind her. “Get out,” she said. “You can’t come.”
Catalina didn’t reply. She sat down and picked up the other paddle.
“Catalina.”
“I’m not leaving, so just accept it. Where you go, I go. That’s how this works.”
While she wanted nothing more than for her to come, she knew she couldn’t ask her to, not with the potential consequences.
“So,” Catalina said, interrupting her thoughts, “where we going?”
She was about to protest again when a voice answered behind her.
“The Morro Rio village,” Rodrigo said. He threw his guns into the boat and pushed off, sending them downriver and on their way.
Chapter Eleven
Unlike the section of river north of Salvador’s camp, the area to the south was much wider, the boat gliding easily across the water in the lightening sky. Docking the boat on the other side, they ran towards the village, hoping they weren’t too late. His injury slowing him down, Rodrigo motioned for Adi and Catalina to go on without him and they sprinted through the trees, trying to get there as fast as they could. But when Adi looked up and saw a light trace of smoke creeping through the sky, she knew they were too late.
The heat of the fire radiated out as they ran into the village, not stopping to check for danger. Sprinting for the closest house, Adi pulled out her gun and kicked in the door.
“Anyone here?” she yelled. Flames and dead bodies answered her.
They searched house after house, but as they neared the last few, they couldn’t even get close, the fire completely engulfing them. Defeated, Adi sank to her knees and watched the houses burn, the air filling with ash and the smell of burning flesh. She didn’t know how long she sat there, but when she felt Catalina touch her head, she sighed and got back onto her feet.
There was nothing to say as they walked back to the river, finding their boat and paddling across. Giovana and Renan were waiting for them, but when they landed, Adi watched their hopeful looks fade. It wasn’t until they reached the campfire in the middle of the clearing that someone spoke, Rodrigo voicing what they were all thinking. “What the fuck is happening?”
She wished she had an answer, but as she watched Salvador come out of the shelter and motion to them, she sighed. The pain wasn’t over yet.
Adi sat beside Giovana and Catalina as they waited. She didn’t feel like being there and she could tell the others didn’t either. They had just watched an entire village burn and no one was in the mood to talk.
“You should’ve told me you were going,” Valentina said, her voice rising as she spoke to Rodrigo at the side of the shelter.
“Why?” he asked. “So you could talk me out of it?”
Adi couldn’t help but look and she watched as an unimpressed expression covered Valentina’s face.
“You’re injured,” she replied. “You shouldn’t have gone.”
“You’re right,” he said. “But someone had to. Maybe if we hadn’t wasted so much time talking, they wouldn’t all be dead.”
“You didn’t know...” Valentina started.
“I knew,” he said, cutting her off. “And so did you. Adi was the only one willing to do something about it.”
At the mention of her name, she looked away, but found herself meeting Marcelo’s gaze. He stared back at her for a few seconds before he turned away.
“Alright,” Salvador said as he entered the room. “I want to discuss what’s happening at the villages. It’s been made very clear that not everyone agrees on how to approach this, so we need to make a decision.”
“They have to be related...” Pablo started, but Marcelo cut him off.
“We don’t know that,” he insisted. “It could be nothing.”
“They murdered everyone in those villages and then burned them,” Rodrigo replied, his tone low and firm. “That’s not nothing.”
The room was quiet, as if his word was final, and when no one else spoke, Salvador began again. “So, what do we do?”
People started talking all at once and Adi listened as ideas were tossed around. Some wanted to leave while others didn’t and there were a couple who still didn’t understand why they had to choose.
“We should help them.” The voice was small, but it was strong enough to cut through the noise.
Adi turned towards Giovana, unsurprised by her suggestion. She suffered the same nightmares Adi did, and there were many nights when Adi found her curled up beside her, hand clutched tightly onto her arm.
“How?” Marcelo asked. “We can’t bring them here. We don’t have the room or the food.”
“That’s not what she’s saying,” Catalina said. “We just need to go there, make sure they’re okay.”
Marcelo sighed. “What’s the point?”
“To warn them,” Nayara said. “Give them a chance to leave.”
This time he huffed in annoyance, but he didn’t get to reply.
“How many villages?” Salvador asked, clasping his hands behind his back.
“Four,” Rodrigo said.
“Four,” Salvador repeated, thinking it over.
“It’ll only take eight of us to do it,” Rodrigo continued. “Nothing more.”
Salvador stayed quiet for a while before he looked over at Marcelo.
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Marcelo replied. “There are too many risks. We have no idea what we’re walking into. Everyone we send out there could die.”
Adi didn’t realize that she had huffed out loud until she looked up and saw everyone staring at her.
“Would you like to say something?” Marcelo asked irritated.
She hesitated for a moment. “If this is happening at the other villages, losing eight people will be the least of our problems.” She paused. “You think that people don’t know where we are? You’re wrong. No one’s safe. Not out there and not in here.”
Ten minutes later, everyone left the shelter, their plan in place. As Adi lay down that night, she hoped it wasn’t what she thought it was. She hoped she was wrong.
•
She woke up just before daylight to meet Marcelo at the centre of camp. When they were deciding on who would go to which village, she was just as surprised as everyone else when Marcelo volunteered to go with her.
“I’ve got something for you,” he said as he walked up.
Adi followed him across the camp and into the supply shed. He began rummaging through a wooden box.
“Here,” he said as he stood back up.
She was quiet as she examined the oddly shaped knife. It was long and curved, but the inside edge had jagged teeth along the ridge. While it was big, it was lighter than a machete and had a comfortable grip.
“We found it a couple years ago,” Marcelo explained as she turned it
over in her hands. “It came with this.”
She looked up and saw the knife case in his hands. “What’s the strap for?” she asked.
“It goes over your shoulder,” he replied. “Here, I’ll show you.” Marcelo placed it over her head and underneath her left arm. “Give me the knife.” Sliding it into the pouch, he said, “Reach back.”
As soon as Adi put her hand behind her head, she felt the handle of the knife slip easily into her grasp. She pulled it straight up and out in one fluid motion, slicing the air in front of her. She smiled.
“Come on,” he said as he walked out of the shed. “Let’s try not to die today.”
They made their way north, travelling to the second farthest village. Marcelo knew the terrain well, leading them strategically across rivers and around hills. They had been running almost all morning when he stopped at the base of a steep slope.
“It’s just up this hill,” he said as he sat down.
Adi drank some water, the noonday sun beating down on them through the trees.
“The village sits against the mountain. It won’t take us long.”
Climbing the hill, they were forced to circle around the edge of the field in order to stay hidden, the trees becoming sparser the closer they got. Adi spotted the village as they neared and seeing people walking around, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Leaving the trees, they approached the village, Marcelo tucking his gun under his shirt and Adi adjusting her pack so it covered most of her knife. As they entered, she noticed that there were only young children and elderly people there, just like all the others.
“Can I help you?” an older woman asked as she walked out of her house, a wary look on her face.
“We’re from a nearby village,” Marcelo began but then stopped, unsure of how to say it.
“We’re here to warn you,” Adi finished for him, blunt and to the point.
The woman was quiet for a moment, her brow deepening. “About what?”
She opened her mouth to answer when she heard a faint sound. She hesitated, unsure if she was actually hearing it, but needing to be sure, she sprinted towards the road and scaled a tree, looking out into the jungle.
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