by Tara Ellis
Her face scrunched up as Jess battled with her emotions, her lips parting once and then closing when she couldn’t find her voice. “Okay,” she mouthed silently.
Releasing her, Jason understood that he had to let her go. He recognized a part of himself, and that she’d have to come to terms with her emotions at her own pace or else he risked pushing her away.
The three of them intentionally stayed a fair distance behind Akuba and the elders, as they’d planned. Tan Presi Rutu was the Lokonos home, and they were there to help, not interfere.
Strobing lights announced the other groups presence, and as they emerged through the trees on the seldom-used trail, Jason saw that it was coming from several torches they were using in place of flashlights. Davies was in the lead, flanked by Eddy and the woman he assumed had to be Dr. Madeline Schaefer. Directly behind them were two indigenous men, each holding on to Kavish and practically dragging him. More Cured formed two columns of four to either side of those six, holding torches and looking very…cultish was the word that came to Jason’s mind. While the whole caravan had an ominous feel to it, they didn’t have any visible weapons.
“Not dramatic at all,” Peta whispered.
“Is that the lady you told me about?” Jess whispered back.
Peta looked like she’d spotted a ghost as she nodded. “Yeah. I still don’t understand how…but that’s the woman who got us off Mauritius Island and ultimately led us here.”
They stopped at the open gates, which were made from wooden poles hastily lashed together, as the Lokono continued forward. In addition to the four top elders and Akuba, there were ten other elders and about twenty tribesmen surrounding them, armed with either rifles or bow and arrows. They apparently had some valuable ammunition left, but reserved it for dire emergencies, preferring to use the longer-sustaining bows for hunting.
“Akuba!” Davies called out with an exaggerated enthusiasm.
Jason scowled at the man’s flippancy. He might have been greeting an acquaintance in the grocery store.
He stopped a few feet away from Akuba’s entourage and looked at each of the four elders. “Where is your mother? I was hoping to speak with whoever is in charge.”
“I am the Captain,” Akuba said, her words harsh and clipped. “Say whatever it is you have to say to me, and let’s not play games.”
Jess had explained to Jason how Dr. Davies had practically raised Akuba, hiring her as a nanny and housekeeper when she was only sixteen, after Jess was born. Since then, she’d spent her time split between the village and the preserve, and Davies had even paid for Akuba’s private schooling as part of her compensation. When her own dad died when she was still very young, Davies became the closest thing she’d had to a father growing up.
It made the confrontation he was witnessing that much harder to grasp, and as Jason shifted his attention to Eddy, he felt a growing unease. If the prions could change Davies in such an extreme way, maybe his friend was just as lost to him, and his belief that it was all an act was simply wishful thinking on his part.
“You know I was never one for playing games,” Davies replied with the same flat monotone. “Least of all while in the jungle.” He lifted his arms and spread his hands for emphasis.
“What do you want?” Akuba insisted.
“Well, that’s simple.” Davies took a step forward so that he was within a couple of feet of Akuba, looking down at her. “We all know your proper place is back at your village, where you will be near the resort and can continue to fulfill your destiny of serving the Libi Nati.”
Akuba stared back at him without flinching. “You mean to serve you.”
Davies shrugged. “We are now one and the same.”
“Release my grandson!” Sahil shouted, moving up next to Akuba. “There will be no further discussion until you return him.”
Davies waved over his shoulder without turning around, prompting the two men to drag Kavish forward and drop him at Sahil’s feet. “He proved very helpful in finding you, with some small encouragement.”
Kavish managed to get to his knees amid the gasps and protests from several of the elders at the man’s condition. His face was bruised and bloodied from what Jason figured was several days of beatings. Again, he found himself studying Eddy as it all unfolded, desperately searching for a sign. A signal that he wasn’t really a part of it—anything, but his friend seemed to be intentionally avoiding him.
As Sahil helped Kavish to his feet, Akuba squared her shoulders and raised a finger to point at Davies. “You and all your kind are not welcome here, and we are exactly where we belong. Now leave, Dr. Davies, and don’t come back.”
With a small motion of his hand, Davies brought the eight torch bearers to form a solid line behind him, and at the same time there was motion from within the trees. Moving as one, at least twenty more Cured appeared amongst the foliage of the Amazon, scattered in a semi-circle. Silent and armed with rifles, the message was clear: He wasn’t giving them a choice.
The Lokono reacted by raising their own weapons, and the tension skyrocketed as the two sides faced off.
“Wait!” Jason shouted as he rushed forward to intervene. Training and intuition told him they were only seeing a portion of The Cured’s forces, and although they’d taken their own precautions, it would still be a bloodbath. “There’s another option.”
By the time he reached Akuba, Davies had gotten a good look at him, and as the recognition registered and his eyes opened in what amounted to surprise, Jason felt a certain level of satisfaction.
“Jason Hunter!” Davies spat, taking a step back while obviously trying to piece together how and why the other man was there.
“Yeah,” Jason said, squinting at Eddy in a final attempt to get through to him. When Eddy gave him a nearly imperceptible shift of his head, Jason focused back on Davies with a renewed determination. “You and I need to talk.”
Chapter 13
JESS
Tan Presi Rutu
Suriname, South America
The jungle was alive with quivering shadows as the sun dropped down behind the mountain that held the Bergi-Olo caves. It provided a perfect camouflage for the additional men and women moving silently through the dense foliage surrounding the Tan Presi Rutu, and the group at its entrance. They would be approaching from outside the walls of the city as planned, ready for a chance to protect what they had come to see as their home.
The smell of sulfur wasn’t as strong on that end of the village, but according to Viresh it was enough to keep the jaguars away. But Jess’s eyes darted from her father and Jason to the trees behind them, searching for any movement that wasn’t human. She used to feel carefree and safe in the Amazon, but it was like the jungle had turned on her, and she didn’t know if it would ever be the same again.
Jason was stalling, giving the second group of Lokono hunters time to get behind The Cured after they had shown themselves. As Jess strained to see into the gathering darkness, she was afraid it wouldn’t be enough to make a difference.
Her stomach clenched. There had to be more Cured out there. Based on what they went up against the night before, this wasn’t all of them, and it meant they could be headed for a stalemate. It would result in an impossible stand-off without any chance of a good outcome, and Jess had a hard time wrapping her brain around the fact that her father was at the center of it. Even after everything he’d already done, and what she’d been through, Jess still couldn’t accept that her dad was the one doing it. That he didn’t love her anymore, and was capable of…
Jess swallowed once and blinked slowly to clear her vision. The thoughts all flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds as Jason approached her father, but it felt like a lifetime.
“I came here for Jess,” Jason said bluntly with a glance at Akuba. “Let me—”
“How is it you’re still alive?” Her dad interrupted. He stared quizzically at Jason before turning his cold gaze onto Jess.
Jason shrugged. “
I figure it has to be something genetic, same as the tribal people.” He gestured to Peta, doing a good job of looking slightly irritated with her. “That’s what these scientists concluded after dragging us all the way out to this rundown city. We’ll probably never know for sure and honestly, I don’t really care.”
“And yet, here you are,” her dad said quietly. He shifted his stance to include Madeline and Eddy in the conversation. “Here we all are!”
“Dr. Madeline Schaefer,” Peta said with some venom.
The dark-haired woman slowly sauntered closer, and Jess saw immediately that there was something…different about her. It wasn’t just the crazy way her thick curly hair was piled on top of her head, or the attitude portrayed in how she moved. It was the curl in her lip and extra crinkles around her flashing eyes. There was a lot more going on in there than with her dad and the other Cured.
Peta must have seen it too, because she hesitated for a moment before leaning toward the other woman. “I thought you were dead, Madeline. This is the last place I ever expected to see you, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Not after what you left me in your house, all of which I found incredibly useful.”
“I’m sure you did,” Madeline purred with an unmistakable amount of contempt. “It was kind of you to clean up the mess you created there before I… woke up, though I have to say my condition remained rather ghastly. I see my documentation has served you well.”
“Why are you working with him?” Jess interrupted, yelling at her. “You should be helping to save people. What sort of scientist are you?”
A look of confusion distorted Madeline’s face as she turned back to Jess. Her eyes flitted away like she heard something and she took a step back, flustered. Tugging absently at her shirt, she cleared her throat and tried to cover it up by scoffing at Jess. “Well, my dear, who doesn’t like to witness the fulfillment of a good legend?”
“You’re insane,” Peta said, her voice low.
Madeline’s head jerked back the other way. “No, I’m a visionary! Something you and Henry would never understand.”
Peta shook her head. “Henry’s dead! Everyone is dead, because of something you helped cover up. How does that fit into your ‘vision’?”
Madeline opened her arms wide. “I’d say it’s coming together quite nicely.”
Jason adjusted the automatic rifle that hung in front of his chest, and Jess wondered if it was meant as a show of force, even though the weapon didn’t have more than two bullets in it. He scratched at his beard as if he had all the time in world and then gestured at the elders. “Look, I’m only here because Jess insisted on coming with Akuba. I’ll take her back to the preserve and we’ll keep things running there, same as before. I’m sure some of the Lokono wouldn’t mind going, either. Life in the jungle is a little rough.”
Dr. Eric Davies cocked his head to the side as he responded with what might have been a smirk. “You overestimate your reach, Mr. Hunter. But you’ll come to understand in time that you are here to serve the same purpose as all of The Immunes.”
“Our purpose?” Jess repeated. She thought of Tyler and Devon, and tried to control her temper. They had to at least prevent a gunfight so the two could sneak away later with the plants, but they couldn’t just give in and let The Cured into the city for the same reason.
“You mistakenly believe you have a choice,” her dad replied, not bothering to even look at Jess as he continued to stare at Jason and Akuba. “None of us do. Nature has already determined our roles in this new world, and you are in no position to either negotiate or make demands. You will comply…or die.”
Jason pulled the Glock from his waistband and held it at the ready as Akuba raised her arm up high. “That’s where I think you’re wrong,” Jason said evenly.
It was a signal to the rest of the waiting Lokono, and the jungle surrounding them came alive with movement. Jess’s gasp mixed with the startled sounds from the elders as they all realized how many people were involved. Dozens of both Cured and Lokono poised with weapons pointed at each other, and all it would take was one to trigger an all-out fight.
“Call your people off!” Jason demanded, raising the gun a few inches higher in Davies direction.
“It doesn’t work that way,” her dad said stoically, ignoring the weapon. “There are hundreds…thousands, ready to step into my position. You are mistaken to think I believe my life is worth more than another.”
A howler monkey screamed from nearby, causing chills to run down Jess’s arms and mix in with the knot already solid in her gut. The cry was answered by another, and soon several more haunting calls joined in from all around them, echoing through the jungle that was otherwise too quiet.
Her father raised an eyebrow and squinted at Jason. “See? Even the animals understand what you cannot.”
Sahil moved closer to Akuba and rested a hand on her arm. The motion was small, but impactful. Akuba blinked rapidly and then stared hard at the older man before shifting her gaze to the other elders.
Jess could feel their fear. They all believed in the legends and prophecies. To have everything coming together right in front of them would only solidify those beliefs. They would be convinced that those touched by the Kra Puru would never stop in their quest to destroy them.
“This is the big plan?” Madeline suddenly shouted. Pivoting so she could see some of the clusters of both Cured and Lokono aiming weapons at each other, she then pointed at the city inside the walls. “We’ll all just make demands and then shoot each other?” Pulling the headband from her hair, Madeline shook out the massive curls and sighed, like an enormous weight had been lifted. “I didn’t get dragged all the way out here to eat a bullet, so I think Mr. Hunter here might have been onto something, though with some modifications. It’d be best if anyone too old, sick, or young to serve a purpose stay here, while the others go back and make themselves useful.” Hands on her generous hips, she squinted at Dr. Davies. “The best of both worlds, I’d think.”
Akuba slowly reached out and pushed down on Jason’s arm so that he lowered the Glock. “That can be arranged,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “But we’ll need time to prepare.”
“You have a day.” Dr. Davies continued to ignore Jess and looked pointedly at Peta. “You aren’t welcome back at the preserve. You and anyone that came with you won’t get another chance to leave.”
Peta glared at him. “We won’t need another chance. There’s nothing else here for me.”
“You know these people, don’t you?” Madeline said, turning to Eddy. When he nodded silently in confirmation, she waved him forward. “Help them figure out what they’re doing and make sure we don’t have any—misunderstandings.”
Jess was certain her dad would disagree, and when he stood by without a word as Eddy joined them, the knot in her stomach grew so that she winced in pain as it spasmed. While she didn’t think her father could possibly know about the Libi Prani being a cure, it all felt like he was giving in too easily. While the lack of intimidation he felt by their show of power was real, Jess didn’t think that would be enough to make him change his mind, even though it made sense.
Up until that point, the one thing her father wasn’t doing was making sense.
Raising a hand, Dr. Davies then turned around to face the jungle. “We’re done here!” he shouted and then waved his arm over his head. Moving as one, The Cured blended back into the Amazon and faded silently away, leaving the Lokono looking triumphantly at the elders. Only, Jess didn’t feel like they’d won anything other than a short amount of time. She hoped it would be enough.
The man who used to be her father walked back to his torch-bearers, where they were again forming two lines to light his way. The shadows were lengthening and it resulted in a growing band of flickering light from the fires. It cast his eyes into dark pools and highlighted his other features so that Davies looked almost demonic as he stared back at them, waiting for Madeline to join him.
&nbs
p; But Dr. Schaefer wasn’t quite done yet. Looking smugly at the elders and Akuba, she then leaned in close to Peta. Her mouth parted slightly with a mad sort of smile as she whispered. “Check mate.”
Chapter 14
MADELINE
Near the Tan Presi Rutu
Amazon Jungle, Suriname
Madeline batted impatiently at a cluster of insects buzzing around her head. While most of the animals appeared to have gone into hiding, or were at least silent, the most annoying pests remained to torment and test her patience.
Because Madeline was losing her patience. With the jungle, the Cured, and with the whole damn situation. Davies blind quest for dominance was preventing him from seeing the bigger picture and she was already getting tired of having to be his eyes.
“Leave us!” he barked to the “torch bearers”, as Madeline had come to think of them.
There was becoming a more clearly defined order among The Cured, and she suspected it had to do with the level and severity of their infection. Madeline hadn’t been there amongst them long enough to be certain, but it stood to reason that those who had been exposed initially along with Davies were higher-functioning, and tasked with the more complex responsibilities. The blank stares of the torch-men and women who fell over themselves to do his bidding were likely the result of further brain damage, resulting from subsequent and additional exposure.
The night before, during the fight, several of The Cured turned on each other in a blind fury and had to be restrained. The three random shots as dawn approached announced the first of what would likely be many “mercy” killings, for those who’d deteriorated into a wild madness.
Madeline studied Davies as he watched The Cured retreat and then slowly shifted to face her from the other side of the campfire. He was originally a very intelligent man, especially for someone who never truly pursued his talents. However, the same obsession that held him captive in the Amazon for over twenty years still had a hold on him in spite of the changes he’d undergone, and would ultimately be his undoing.
