When Knight Falls

by Nikki Rose

  The path through the island’s brush was as thick as the jungles of Colombia—and with no worn paths. Anthony and I had to do our best to push through the thick foliage. I had no idea how he knew which way we were going.

  “Couldn’t we have just walked on the sand around the island to make it to the other side?”

  “We could have, but if someone settled on this island, chances are they would have done so away from the shoreline, in case of tropical storms.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “It seems like the foliage is only getting thicker,” Anthony said.

  “Any thicker and it’s just going to be a solid wall of plants.”

  “Hang on. I think I hear something up ahead.” Anthony pushed his way through a large, thick patch of plants and stumbled out onto an open beach. We’d gone straight through the island without the slightest sign of civilization. That side of the beach was rockier. The beauty of the crashing waves on the large rocks would normally have made me pause to take in the sights—but not now. Today, the beauty was shadowed by the overwhelming disappointment that we were truly alone and stranded on this unknown island. Tears stung my eyes but I batted them away as my shoulders dropped.

  “Rach, it’ll be okay. We’ll find a way out of this. I promise.” He wrapped me in his arms and held me tight. I was disappointed, scared and exhausted from the hike, not to mention those awful hormones playing with my emotions.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”

  “Are you okay? Do you need to sit down and rest?”

  “Maybe for just a bit.” We’d been walking all day, only stopping in the thick brush long enough to keep our bodies rested and nourished. My pregnant body couldn’t do as much as it used to.

  “The island was bigger than I thought. There’s no way we’ll make it back before dark, even if we walk on the beach this time. I think it’s best if we sleep here tonight, wake up in the morning and walk back along the shore. We can avoid all this brush and stop by the crash site to get more supplies on our way.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll set up a quick temporary place for tonight. The skies look clear, so I don’t think we’ll have to worry about bad weather. I brought a blanket we could sleep on, if you’re okay sleeping under the stars.”

  “That sounds nice.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his chest.

  “We’ve got a little more daylight. Why don’t you go rest while I find us dinner?”

  “I can help.”

  “I’d rather you rest, but if you really want to help, you can go pick a few of those plantains hanging from the tree over there. They aren’t really ripe, but we can roast them.”

  “Okay.”

  It took about an hour for Anthony to catch enough fish for us to eat with the strange-looking four-pronged spear he’d made by splitting the end of a long stick in half then in half again. The fish were small. We needed plenty of protein after the hike to keep our bodies in good health, so Anthony had worked to catch several.

  We sat in the sand after finishing our food. I laid my head on his shoulder as he played with a stick, placing it in the embers and watching the end catch fire.

  I felt much better after getting some food in my belly, but soon exhaustion set in. I needed to sleep. That side of the island got dark earlier because the trees blocked the view of the sunset. Anthony laid out a blanket in the sand and I settled into the crook of his arm to sleep.

  I’d wondered if I’d be able to rest in the strange circumstances, but it didn’t seem long before I heard, “Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” Anthony was whispering and running his fingers gently through my hair.

  “Good morning.”

  “How’d you sleep?”

  “Like a rock.” I chuckled and kept my head on his chest. “You make a great pillow.”

  “I’d gladly be your pillow forever if it means getting to wake up with you in my arms every morning.”

  “Sounds like a deal.”

  “You ready to get back? I want to get to the wreckage and see if there’s anything I can do with the radio pieces to contact someone.”

  “Yeah, I want to get going as soon as possible. We have to figure something out to get home.”

  We both put on our shoes and packed up our site. Anthony had a thing about leaving things the same or better than when we’d gotten there. He erased every sign of our temporary camp.

  We made our way around the outskirts of the island’s forest until we had to venture in to reach the plane.

  “Wow,” I gasped. The wreckage was incredible. I couldn’t believe either of us had made it out alive. A shiver ran through me as I thought of the life lost in the crash and tears pricked my eyes.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go see what we can find.”

  I paused. “Is the…the pilot—?”

  “He’s not in there anymore. It didn’t feel right just leaving him out here like that.”

  I nodded and held his hand a little tighter.

  “It’ll be okay. Let’s go.” He urged me on toward the plane.

  Once we were near the cockpit, I could see why he hadn’t survived. The whole thing reminded me of a crushed tin can. Anthony squeezed inside while I waited nearby to hold any pieces of the radio he was able to salvage.

  “Any luck?” I called out to him.

  “Not yet. This stuff looks pretty bad.”

  “Well, just keep—”

  “Shh-h. Hang on. I think I hear something,” he whispered.

  I went quiet and immediately heard it too—the crunching of leaves and branches underfoot—several feet, for that matter. Anthony climbed out of the plane and hurried to me with soft steps.

  “Be quiet until we know who it is.” He led me into the brush, where we crouched down and waited as the footsteps grew louder.

  “We saw the smoke and shelter. They’re still alive and around here somewhere. I want them found and I want them eliminated inmediatamente.”

  “Sí, mi líder.” We heard several male voices follow.

  “There are five, maybe six total,” Anthony whispered to me. “That’s too many for me to take on at once with just my hunting knife. Stay quiet.”

  I nodded.

  “Anthony, I recognize the leader’s voice.”

  “Really? Who is it?”

  “Amidio.”

  “Amidio? Are you sure? He’s not usually one to do his own dirty work.”

  “Ian and I had dinner with him and we talked pretty extensively. I’m pretty sure it’s him.”

  “Shit, those guys are probably his highest-trained men. He wouldn’t travel with anything less. Shh-h, listen.”

  “Do you want to explain to me how the plane made it to the island?” Amidio barked.

  “I don’t know. My calculations should have had them crashing into the ocean, but it’s not an exact science,” a clearly American voice answered.

  Anthony peeked out through the leaves for a better look before backing away again. “I know that guy. He works in my division. He must be their inside man.”

  “I do not tolerate anything less than perfection. You are of no more use to me.” The metallic click of a gun being cocked echoed against the trees and I held my breath.

  “No, please. I’m sorry. I—” A loud crack made me jump and I bit my tongue to keep quiet. There was a following thud that let us know that Amidio’s team now had one man less.

  Anthony dragged me deeper into the woods, keeping low to the ground. We walked with light steps and communicated mostly with hand gestures so they wouldn’t hear us. We needed to find out where they were, so we could come up with a plan. I had no idea how Anthony and I would possibly take down five members of the cartel, including its leader, but if we wanted to survive, that was exactly what we had to do.

  Anthony slowed down as we neared the edge of the woods near our campsite. Voices reached us. They were
at our camp. We found shelter behind one of the many large trees and peeked out to see the men ransacking the respite Anthony had made. Luckily, Anthony had been smart. Before we’d left, he’d combined our clothes into one suitcase. He’d used the other one to hold the crucial tools we had and buried our supplies and food in the sand in case of a curious animal coming into our area. These men weren’t exactly animals, although that fact could be argued.

  “What are we going to do? We’re outnumbered. I don’t see how we can take down five men.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we.”

  “Sweetheart, you’re not going to be part of this. I’m not risking anything happening to you again.”

  “Anthony, I’m not going to let you—”

  “Think of that innocent baby you’re carrying.”

  “And if something happens to you? You don’t think the men would find and kill me? We have the best chance if we work together.”

  He let out a sigh and I knew I’d won. “Fine, but you are taking on a very inactive role.”

  “As long as I’m helping… Do you have a plan?”

  “Not fully. We definitely can’t take them on all at once. We’re outnumbered and out-armed. They have guns and knives. I only have one knife, but we have the woods on our side.”

  “So what? We wait for them to separate?”

  “Exactly. These men are looking at us as prey. That will be their fatal mistake. They will slip away—whether it’s to piss, get water or because we lure them away. We’ll take them out one by one until none are left.”

  “So, we just wait?”

  “For now, we wait, and whittle.”

  “Whittle? You mean like wood-carving?”

  “Not so much carvings as spears, arrows, whatever weapons we can make.”

  I wore down rocks into points, careful to be far enough away that the men couldn’t hear me, while Anthony kept an eye on them and sharpened sticks into spears. Just before nightfall, Anthony called me over to him.

  “Pss-st. Rach, look.” He pointed out to the side of the group where I saw one of the men walking toward the brush.

  “This is it.” I squeezed Anthony’s hand and felt my heart pound in my chest.

  “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to sneak over and do this quietly.”

  “Be careful.” I leaned in and kissed him quickly before he rushed off with his knife and spear in hand.

  I crouched in the brush, making sure to stay hidden as the man turned his back to the others in the dim light. The men weren’t paying any attention to him. Amidio rested by the same firepit Anthony and I had cuddled near just two days before. Two of the other guys sat with him, talking and laughing. Where is the fifth man? I looked back to where the man had strayed off and didn’t see anyone. Something wasn’t right. The man was already gone and the fifth man was missing too. What if they find Anthony? My heart threatened to break out of my chest. My head swam and I couldn’t breathe. Please let Anthony be okay. Please let Anthony be okay, I silently chanted.

  A moment later, I heard a rustling closing in. I crouched lower behind the thick brush and hoped I wouldn’t be found. “Rach.” Anthony. I stood back up just as Anthony came back into view, slightly disheveled with a few splatters of blood on his arms, chest and face.

  “Anthony, I thought you were one of them.” I rushed into his arms.

  “A second guy followed the first. I think he was trying to scare him as a joke, but I was able to take them both down quietly. By the time I’d killed the first, the second was too close to get away.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “I cut my arm a little, but I’m fine.”

  “Do you need me to wrap it?”

  “No time for that. Things are going to happen fast now that two of them are missing. The rest are going to know something’s up.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I need you to hide. I can’t risk you.”

  “Anthony, no. You can’t take on all three of them with no help when they are expecting it. They know you wouldn’t risk me. So, do what they don’t expect.”

  “Rachel, I can’t.”

  “Anthony—”

  “Shh-h. Look.” He pointed at Amidio and the two at the fire. We listened quietly. Amidio pointed toward where the two men had disappeared. One of the men picked up a gun and took off in that direction while the largest man stood guard with Amidio. “I need to go back. I left the men just inside the woods with a trail to lead him in. Once he goes into the woods to find the bodies, I can sneak up behind him and kill him before he even sees it coming.”

  “Anthony, he has a gun—and he expects it this time.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Anthony disappeared into the now-dark woods. I watched nervously as Amidio’s man neared the edge of the growth, knowing he would soon see the breadcrumbs Anthony had left for him.

  If he turned back and got help, Anthony could be in trouble. I had to be ready to warn him or do something if that were to happen. I gripped one of the large spears and stood frozen. I couldn’t even blink as I watched the dark shadows consume him. I listened for any sign of Anthony returning but was only met with silence. It was taking too long.

  Anthony, where are you?

  I grabbed one of the thin rocks I’d carved into a point, and kept the long wooden spear. Quietly, I worked my way through the dark toward where Anthony had gone.

  Before I could even start to scream, there was a hand over my mouth and a strong arm gripped my waist.

  “Rach, it’s me.” Anthony whispered in my ear and he slowly uncovered my mouth. “What the hell are you doing here? I could have killed you!”

  “You were taking too long. I got worried.”

  “I was moving the bodies.”

  “Did you get the third guy?”

  “Yeah. And I got his gun too.” He waved it proudly like it was a prize. “Plus, the other two guys had one gun and two knives between them. The idiots didn’t even have them drawn.”

  “So, there are only two left now?”

  “Yeah, but don’t get too comfortable yet. Those two will be the hardest to kill. Amidio hasn’t lived as long as he has as the leader by being weak or stupid, and they will both be on high alert with three of their men missing.”

  “Maybe we should use their high alert against them?”

  Anthony raised his eyebrow and studied me carefully. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, they’ll be on edge, as you said, since three of their men are missing. We hide nearby and throw something in the direction we want to draw their attention to. Then we can sneak up behind them before they see us. Since they don’t know their men are dead, they may hesitate to shoot without seeing who it is.”

  “You are learning.” Anthony sounded so proud, and he kissed my forehead. “But, there’s no ‘we’ in this. You aren’t getting that close.”

  “Anthony, please. Let me help.”

  “No. You stay away and hidden while I take them down.”

  “Anthony—”

  “You’re not winning this argument, Rach.”

  I sighed and conceded. There was no way of changing his mind. We watched as Amidio and his henchman paced the shore, looking off in the direction where the other three men had disappeared. I could guess what they were thinking. They wanted to find their men. They were tempted to follow the same path they’d taken but were hesitant because they feared the reason behind their comrades’ delay. I couldn’t blame them for that. I’d probably feel the same.

  Anthony disappeared again. The sound of a confrontation near where the men had originally disappeared caught my attention. Maybe one of them wasn’t dead and attacked Anthony. I knew Anthony would be more careful than that, though.

  When Amidio and his man ran toward the sound, I realized what Anthony was doing. He was making it sound like a fight to draw them in. I needed to be closer. Anthony was outnumbered. If he needed my help, I’d be too far away to do anything. I wa
s quiet as I moved in. I stayed hidden and didn’t push my luck.

  As soon as the men neared the edge of the woods, all the noise stopped. They looked around, probably trying to determine which way the supposed fight had come from.

  A flash in the dark caught my eye as a loud shot rang out. Amidio’s man went down but he managed to escape into the woods as another round rang out. Anthony ran across a clearing, chasing after Amidio. The way the paths twisted around, there was a good chance Anthony was chasing Amidio straight toward me.

  I had to think fast. If they came this way, I had to slow Amidio down so Anthony could catch him. I looked about but there was nothing to block his path. I thought about tying a vine to a tree and trying to trip him, but that seemed too theatrical to actually work. I didn’t have time to think. I grabbed stones the size of baseballs and waited as footsteps closed in.

  I crouched low behind the brush. There wasn’t much light, but I could hear the panting I knew wasn’t Anthony. His fitness level was high. As the sounds grew closer, I threw one rock then the other at the panting sound. The first made a rustling noise as it landed off in some brush, but the second made a soft thunk, followed by a loud grunt and mumbling in Spanish. I hit him.

  “¡Mierda! ¿Qué diablos?”

  I heard footsteps quickly closing in on Amidio. Anthony should get to him before long. I held my breath and waited. A strong grip tightened around my arm and pulled me hard, so that I stumbled into the clearing.

  “Got you.” The sound of Amidio’s voice sickened me. He held me firmly, the barrel of his gun pressed hard against my temple. Anthony closed in until I could finally see his shadow in the dark.

  “Rachel,” he called out, frozen in place.

  “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help,” I cried out to him as tears welled in my eyes.

  “It’s okay, Rach. I know. Amidio, stop hiding behind a girl and let’s settle this man to man.”

  “Oh no, no, no. This is more between Raquel and me than you. You see, you may have killed more of my men, but she killed Ian. You killed Ian.” He almost spat at me and pressed the gun more painfully against my temple.

  “Why are you doing all this?” I cried.