by Tara Ellis
Turning to Sahil, Davies pointed toward the front of the cave. “Go join the rest of your people and tell them to stay down there where they belong.”
Sahil blanched, but rose unsteadily to his feet. “The fire…it—”
“It will cleanse the Amazon of the parasites that you’ve become!” Davies bellowed, taking a step toward the elder. “There is no place for you and your kind in the new order of things.”
“Our kind?” Sahil challenged. “Our kind have been the keepers of the Amazon for thousands of years, and there is nothing you can do that will ever change that. You can believe what you like, but eventually the jungle will have the final say.”
Sahil staggered out onto the trail, making eye contact with Akuba as he went past where she and Devon were standing against the rock wall. Though he didn’t say anything further, the older man made a point of standing straight and lifting his chin. He would face the approaching fire together with the other Lokono, without any outward sign of fear or cowering.
Although Peta hadn’t been in the Amazon for long, she’d seen enough not to question the older man’s faith. His resoluteness reminded Peta of her own mother and the connection she had with their farmland, which had been passed down from many generations that dated back to one of the remaining aboriginal tribes in Australia. Memories of her childhood flashed into Peta’s mind and she gasped with a deep-seated understanding that she would never see her mother again. She’d become one with that land, much the same way the Lokono were about to.
Davies waved one of The Cured over to the entrance. “Shoot anyone that attempts to come up that trail.”
Madeline followed the man part of the way, weaving her way in between the hot springs that created a maze through the cave, and stared down over the edge. Frowning, she wrung her hands and looked nervously around the vast chamber. “You’re all that’s left?”
“Yes,” Peta said with satisfaction. Rising to her feet, she ignored Jason’s attempt to stop her as she approached Madeline. “Whatever plan you and Davies think you have, it won’t be enough to stop the other Lokono. You’re too late.”
Turning her head quickly to the right like she’d heard something, Madeline took a step back and studied the darkness behind Davies before answering Peta. “It doesn’t matter,” she whispered, wiping at her mouth. Looking down at the series of steaming pools that filled the Bergi-Olo and eventually formed the Libi Nati, Madeline laughed lightly before staring back at Peta. “No one else matters now. We’ve found it, haven’t we?”
Caught off-guard by the conspiratorial tone, Peta squinted at the other woman. Madeline’s eyes were wide, her curly black hair loose and frayed with strands sticking out in different directions like she’d been through a windstorm. Her cheeks were flushed, and she kept licking at her lips while pulling and rubbing incessantly at her hands and fingers. She moved with jerking motions that reminded Peta of a recovering stroke victim or someone with a form of neurological damage. The woman was going insane.
“Yes,” Peta agreed, doing her best to ignore Davies and the armed men, to concentrate only on Madeline. At one point, she’d been a brilliant scientist. Though she may have lost her way after being lured by money or prestige, she was still ultimately the same person that Henry had bragged about for years. Peta prayed there was a part of that woman left somewhere in her diseased brain that could possibly be reached.
“We’ve found the original Libi Nati, Dr. Schaefer,” Peta confirmed. “I followed the data and information that you provided, and it eventually led us all here. Do you remember why you did that? Because regardless of the cover-up you were involved with at ICONS, I believe you ultimately wanted to figure out how to stop what you helped put into motion. Not advance it.”
Madeline’s cheek twitched as she jerked a hand to her lips and pushed at her mouth, while speaking around her fingers. “You have no idea what I wanted,” she hissed.
“But I do. I read it,” Peta persisted, taking a step closer. “I saw your emails, your notes…your journal. Do you remember what you wrote? While you were lying there in your own filth without any way to escape what your corporation had unleashed on the world? Do you remember what you were thinking those final minutes before succumbing to The Kuru as it wormed its way through your brain? It was that you were complicit, Madeline. That was the word you used. That you—”
“Shut up!” Madeline shrieked, throwing her hands over her ears to block out the accusation. “I brought you here to serve a purpose,” she growled, her face contorted in either pain or grim remorse. Slowly lowering her hands, her nostrils flared as she visibly fought to regain control. “You saw it! Henry’s thermophile. It was beautiful and perfect and the first link in a long chain that we are meant to carry! You can’t deny it’s perfection, Dr. Kelly. That was why I chose you. For your ability to see beyond the obvious and into the realm of what’s possible when you peel away the layers that are blocking the view. Now…tell me what you’ve found here.”
She knew.
Peta tried not to react, but her lips set into a firm line and her hands clenched involuntarily into fists. Was that why Davies had come through the caves? To make sure they didn’t leave, and that any potential treatment or cure burned with them? “You already know the answer to that,” Peta said, trying her best to sound convincing as she slipped the backpack from her shoulders and dropped it at her feet. “It’s in the Lokonos DNA. All of my research and samples are in here. I need to take it back to the states where it can be properly studied.”
Madeline scowled at the bag. “You’re lying.”
“Enough,” Davies intervened, sounding rather bored. “Come. All of you.” He drew his own gun and gestured with it to the far wall that housed the torch. The smooth rock was covered in paintings and some sort of ancient text that Peta imagined was the legend Jess had told them about. She found the irony in their standing together under it to be rather disturbing.
How much of their destiny really was inevitable? If Dr. Davies hadn’t fallen into the role of cult leader, would another Cured have simply taken his place and fulfilled the repeating prophecy? As Jason took hold of Peta’s forearm and pulled her closer to him, she decided that her future would be exactly what she wanted it to be. Legend or not, it was all going to end there with them, to never be repeated again.
“Let us help you,” Devon said. The Cured moved closer, ushering them all toward the wall in a tightening circle while Davies stayed back at the main pool, watching stoically. “You all have a choice,” Devon continued, pleading with the man nearest to him. “It doesn’t have to be this way just because Davies says it does. You still have free will.”
“Oh, but you’re wrong,” Davies chastised. “This is exactly how it has to be.”
Madeline was distracted again, her eyes darting around the cave as she rubbed at her face hard enough to leave red marks. But when her gaze fell upon Jess, she froze. “Lizzy…” she whispered.
“I’m Jess.” Jess looked nervously at Jason and then her father, who was approaching the area where they’d left all of their bags.
Madeline shook her head and rubbed at her eyes. “I know who you are,” she muttered while following Davies. Moving in frantic motions, she pushed aside the backpacks and concentrated on the pile of duffle bags.
Peta flinched as the woman unzipped the first one, groaning inwardly as Madeline lifted it and dumped out the contents. Scoffing at the leaves, she tossed the empty bag aside and opened another. Then a third. She didn’t need to look inside the rest.
Turning around slowly, Madeline squinted at Peta before a disturbing, triumphant smile spread across her face. “Amino acids. Of course. Is it really something so simple?”
“The plants?” Davies asked, kicking at the leaves. Squatting down, he looked from the bags to the waters edge and back again. “It’s growing in the Libi Nati.” Nodding as if it all made some sort of profound sense; he rose quickly to his feet. “I believe this might be the same plant that grew nea
r the resort. They use it for a retched-tasting tea.”
Peta took a step back reflexively as Davies turned to The Cured. They were lined up opposite them, guns at the ready.
Throwing down a handful of leaves, the man who had once been a father to Jess and activist for the Lokono, didn’t hesitate to order their deaths.
“Shoot them.”
Chapter 21
JASON
Bergi-Olo Caves
Amazon Jungle, South America
“Wait!” Madeline shouted. With her hands up, she rushed past Davies to stop in front of Peta. Pivoting to look from Davies to The Cured, dancing light from the torches strobed over her face, making her crazed eyes glimmer in the shadows as she jammed her hands into the air for emphasis. “Just listen to me for a minute.”
Jason stared intensely at Davies, his hand clenching spasmodically on the Glock he held near his side. He was hoping Dr. Schaefer might prove to be the distraction he needed.
To Jason’s right, wisps of steam from the pools crept across the floor to curl around Tyler as he fought to stay on his knees. Losing the battle, he collapsed with a moan and Jess did her best to hold him up. Taking a sideways step, Jason effectively put himself in between the teens and the armed men toward the back of the cave.
The Cured had remained eerily quiet throughout the whole exchange, and seemed ready to do their leader’s bidding without question as they took aim at Jason and looked expectantly at Davies for confirmation. It was a good thirty-foot span in poor lighting, which would hopefully give him some room to react before they got off an accurate shot.
“How?” Madeline spat, shoving her face close to Peta’s.
The two women were to Jason’s left and positioned so that he didn’t have a clear line-of-sight to one of The Cured. Devon should have from where he and Akuba stood beyond them, against the wall. Aside from Jason and Peta, he was carrying the only other gun with a bullet in it. He would have to count on Devon to act when the time came.
When Peta didn’t answer right away, Madeline shoved her toward the hot spring where the Libi Prani was growing the most profusely. “Tell me!” she screamed, bending to pull up a handful of the plant. “Tell me how, and I might be able to have your lives spared.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Davies said evenly. His eyes narrowing, he shifted his attention from Jason and onto Madeline and Peta. Clearly, he didn’t appreciate Dr. Schaefer’s offer.
Perfect.
“Are you daft?” Madeline shouted at Davies. Spinning away from Peta, the wet leaves dropped from her hand with a splatter. “Understanding how this plant works will enable us to have complete control over—”
“He’s right! It’s the tea,” Peta interrupted, surprising Madeline, who whipped back around to face her. “That’s all,” she insisted. “It really is that simple, and it doesn’t just prevent it. It can also heal someone who’s been infected, as well as The Cured.”
Peta bent over and picked the scattered Libi Prani up off of the ground, tipping her head at the other woman as she held it out. “Work with me. It’s what you’ve wanted all along, isn’t it? I’ve still got all of Henry’s data. Together, we can unlock everything, just the way you planned. Think of the implications and what we could do with the knowledge. Of what an incredible difference it could make to the people who are still left alive or sick out there. And for you. Because it can also heal you.”
Madeline scoffed. “What makes you think I want to be healed?”
“Because Henry loved you!” Peta grabbed at Madeline’s arm when she tried to back away, forcing her to stay and look at her. “Because he must have seen something good in you that goes deeper than where the prions can reach. And because you’re different than Dr. Davies. I can see that! It isn’t too late, Dr. Schaefer. We can make it all stop. Don’t you want all of this to stop?”
Madeline reeled away from her and looked fleetingly at Davies with an expression full of fear and confusion, before pointing a shaking finger at Peta. “That’s where you’re wrong! It was too late for me a long time ago.”
“Coward!” Peta batted the other woman’s hand out of the air and went to take another step toward her, but one of The Cured standing nearby intervened. Grabbing for her wrists, he surprised Peta with the attack and she didn’t react fast enough. Yanking her backwards, he quickly wrapped her up with one arm while holding a gun to her chest with the other.
The commotion was enough so Jason had an opportunity to act first, and he raised his Glock at Davies, who mirrored the action. He did it slowly, counting on Jason’s restraint to not fire immediately. If it had been anyone other than Jess’s father, he would have already been dead, and Jason refused to buckle under the weight of an impossible decision. The two men stood less than ten feet apart, and there was no doubt that either of them would miss.
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” Jason said with unwavering calm, leaving no question as to whether he’d pull the trigger. His only outward sign of stress were the beads of sweat gathering at his brow, as he controlled his breathing to slow his heartrate and keep his arm steady. Though aware of Jess and Tyler at his feet, and Peta straining against the man who held her, Jason’s vision was narrowed to include only the primary threat that stood in front of him.
Though Davies lacked emotions, he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t realize he was up against a much more lethal opponent than himself. So, Jason’s only chance was that the other man might have enough sense of self-preservation left that he wouldn’t automatically pull the trigger, allowing Jason an opening to talk him down.
“There is no other way for it to end,” Davies said, unblinking. “You can go ahead and kill me, but it won’t change anything.”
“If that’s true, then allowing us to live shouldn’t matter to you, either!” Jason challenged. “Or is this about something other than preventing a cure?”
“What does he mean?” Madeline demanded, her eyes darting between them, and then over to the wall covered in pictographs and ancient script.
“It’s the same as with any genocide that threatens an uprising,” Peta yelled, grunting when she was rewarded with a hard jab from the gun to her ribs. Ignoring the man who had her restrained, she looked desperately at Madeline. “Keeping the truth silenced is more important than the cure, that’s why he doesn’t care about the Libi Prani. He never did. Davies figured out early on that filling the emotional void created by this disease with a sense of belonging and privilege was the best way to control the survivors. The more extensive infection he’s been pushing is another means to prevent anyone from questioning his prophecies and leadership.”
“At all costs,” Jason added, squinting at the small upturn to Davies lips. “Except before all of this, you were a highly respected scientist. You’ve spent your whole adult life seeking truths and choosing to follow what you believed were righteous paths. There has to be a part of you left that recognizes what you’re doing is wrong. That the claim of being transformed into some superior race falls far outside any realm of rationality, or morality.”
The man with his face pressed close to Peta’s head released his hold enough so that he could turn to exchange a look with one of the other Cured. It was the first indication of free thought Jason had seen, and he quickly continued before Davies could respond. “If you truly believe in this legend, that you’re fulfilling some sort of divine destiny by leading a new race of superhumans, then giving your followers a choice shouldn’t be seen as a threat. This desperate attempt to silence us and prevent this cure from getting out isn’t done out of strength, but out of weakness and a flawed belief.”
“Interesting that you should mention the legend,” Davies said. Gesturing to the wall with his free hand, he appeared unfazed by Jason’s accusations. “‘…And a plague shall be set free upon the earth’, I believe it says. Then something to the effect that only the chosen will endure. The Lokono have long believed themselves to be those select individuals, since that is what the be
dtime stories passed on for generations have come to imply. However, I have a different interpretation, Dr. Hunter. What you think my intentions are, in fact has nothing to do with what has brought us to this point. The only reality that matters at this moment is that you will never leave this cave, the cure and the Lokono will disappear with you, and the chosen will rise to fulfill their roles in mankind’s advancement.”
He'd gone completely mad. Jason’s finger twitched as he estimated how many of the four remaining shots in the Glock he could get off before being taken down himself. Enough for Davies, and probably one or two of The Cured. Not great odds.
“You’re willing to execute your own daughter?” Jason said, shifting his weight to allow for a better shooting stance.
“She’s not my—”
“Yes, she is!” Jason bellowed. “You raised her. And you were right to insist on that. I’ve been around Jess long enough to see what an amazing job you did, Eric. I couldn’t have given her that, and I can’t believe that after all of the love and affection you offered Jess, that you could turn away from her so easily. How can something that causes that be a good thing? Yeah, we humans are messy with our emotions, and it’s caused a lot of heartache, death, and suffering throughout our history, but it’s also what’s separated us from the animals. It’s ultimately what makes life worth living. If you take that away, it won’t be long before there isn’t anything left. You and your followers will end up killing each other off as you continue to go insane.”
“Listen to him!” Eddy shouted from the back of the cave.
The unexpected arrival gave everyone pause. Jason’s eyes flitted toward his friend’s voice, his gut clenching with the hope that he was truly on their side.
The look on Davies face was gratifying as Eddy and Kavish eased cautiously up behind The Cured. The rifles they were holding helped to even the odds, though no one automatically backed down. Devon took the opportunity to draw his own weapon, and as he added it to the mix the tension intensified.
