by Tara Ellis
“Dr. Davies and his followers are no longer a threat,” Akuba answered for her, reaching out to take Slaider by the arm. “Hurry, and bring the rest up to safety.”
Marty barked then, a mournful sound that was different from his typical dog antics. Spinning back to where the others were gathered around Jason, Jess saw Marty sitting dejectedly near his feet, and the last of her composure dissolved.
Tyler was staring at her, his pale face grim, and he tried to stand up unsuccessfully as she staggered in his direction. Her eyes welled with fresh tears, making it hard to see, but Jess reached his side and motioned for him to stay where he was. “I’m okay,” she lied, kneeling down next to him. She suddenly felt exhausted, and it was difficult to make her body move.
Jess was as surprised as she was relieved, to find Jason conscious. He was scowling at Eddy as the other man poured water over his chest, and even managed to push at Peta’s probing hand as she sat crouched beside Eddy, opposite Jess.
“Come on!” Eddy snapped. “You know I have to get a clean look at it.”
“Help the others,” Jason croaked.
“The Lokono are already coming up,” Jess offered. When Jason turned his head to look at her, her breath caught and she had to force the rest of the words out. “There isn’t anyone else that needs help.”
“Jess, I—”
“It’s not your fault,” she interrupted, flinching when Eddy pulled at a loose flap of skin to expose something white beneath it. “It was Madeline.”
Frowning and grimacing in pain at the same time, Jason looked to Peta for confirmation.
“She sacrificed herself to stop him,” Peta said, glancing over her shoulder at the hot spring. “She was still in there, somewhere.” She spoke barely more than a whisper, but Jess understood what she meant.
Jason sought out Jess’s hand, and she ignored the streaks of blood from his fingers as she clasped it in both of hers. Allowing his head to fall back, he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry you lost your dad.”
Squeezing his hand, Jess leaned forward so he’d be sure to hear her. “I didn’t lose them both.”
“I need some rope to tie this guy up,” Devon announced as he ran up. “Eww,” he said, staring down at Jason. “That doesn’t look good, man.”
“It looks worse than it is,” Eddy said, leaning back. “Bullet bounced off a rib and grazed the rest. Might have a couple of cracked ribs, but you’ll survive. You got lucky.”
“I’m not feeling so lucky,” Jason retorted. “But I’ll take it. Wrap it up nice and tight for me?”
“I think you better lie still for a few minutes,” Tyler joked, punching Jason lightly in the arm. “Gotta let it form a clot.”
Marty lay across Jason’s feet with a moan, and Jess shifted so she could put her arms around the dog. He’d been through as much as any of them, and deserved a plush bed with more bones than he could ever eat. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered in his ear, and the most amazing thing was that she meant it. Jess had lost her dad, but she didn’t lose her family. She wasn’t alone, and that was worth more than anything else they still had to overcome.
“I’ll go help Slaider,” Peta said, standing. She looked relieved as she wiped her hands on her jeans, smiling at Jason. “You’re going to need one of those stretchers. Carrying you through this cave system is going to be tons of fun.”
“That isn’t going to be necessary,” Sahil said.
The elder was at the top of the trail with Slaider on one side and Kavish on the other. Confused, Jess rose and made her way over to them with Peta and Akuba. They should have been rushing to evacuate the rest of the tribe up into the cave, but the elder was composed and even had a hint of a sad smile. As Jess reached the opening and stepped outside onto the ledge, she understood why.
It was raining.
“Rain…” Peta breathed, turning around in a circle with her hands held palms-up.
It wasn’t a soft rain, but a solid drenching that only the unique atmosphere of the Amazon could create. And it was getting stronger.
Jess felt renewed as the luke-warm water poured over her, instantly soaking her hair and clothes. It didn’t just wash away the dirt and sweat, but the salty tears that were still drying on her cheeks.
The smoke had taken on a new smell, similar to an extinguished campfire. The flames in the distance were already disappearing, and the sky was glowing more from the sun rising through the clouds, than the destruction of the jungle.
“Only the chosen will endure,” Akuba said, staring out at the land that had supported her people for countless generations. “We are all the chosen,” she added, looking at Sahil. “Every person that walks the Earth. And we must help them.”
Shuffling over to where Madeline had emptied the bags of Libi Prani, Sahil bent over with a grunt to retrieve a handful of leaves. “Nature is not so easily defeated,” he said, wiping the rain from his face before waving his hand out at the smoldering Amazon. “She will always find a balance.”
Jess smiled as he approached them, remembering all of the ceremonies she’d taken part in growing up, and the stories shared by the elders. The belief in the delicate balance of nature was interwoven through most of the cultures in the Amazon, and it was a truth Jess believed in. Sahil was right; the Earth would eventually heal itself from the destruction still playing out, but it was up to them how to heal themselves.
Leaning on his cane, Sahil took Peta’s hand and placed the Libi Prani in it. “Help her find that balance. Take whatever you need to make it happen, and the Lokono will do their part. We will harvest it for you while protecting the Libi Nati, the way we always have…and will until the end of time.”
Chapter 24
TYLER
Libi Nati Preserve
Suriname, South America
-Three weeks later
Tyler squinted up at the weak sunlight, thankful for a break in the clouds. The rain that night at the caves had been the start of a new weather pattern, and some unseasonably cooler weather. He was glad it was in the eighties instead of the nineties, but the incessant rain made his agonizingly long recovery even more boring than it would have been. After being ordered to bedrest for a week while his blood levels built back up, he’d then slowly worked his way to short walks before graduating to light duty on the preserve. However, with the rain, a lot of the outdoor stuff was limited.
“Here,” Jess said, handing him a rake. “You insisted you’re well enough to help me with these weeds, so have at it.”
Smiling, Tyler took the rake with his left hand, and tried not to let his surprise show over how much it weighed. Jess’s chuckle confirmed he hadn’t done a very good job of it, but he ignored her and did his best to turn over the dirt in the section of garden they were standing in.
“We have plenty of people working out here now,” Jess said, watching him closely. When he didn’t say anything, she huffed and started grabbing at the unwanted plants he’d managed to dig up, tossing them into a bag secured around her neck and shoulders. “Fine, be stubborn, but if you get hurt or something, I’m telling Jason it’s your own fault.”
Tyler scoffed. “Yeah, like he’s one to talk. He’s good at ordering other people around about what they shouldn’t do, but how many times has Akuba had to re-do the Steri-Strips on his chest?”
“Four,” Jess answered right away. “I had to help her. He said it’s normal for that area of the body to be hard to keep closed.”
Tyler snorted even louder. “Sure. Whatever, we’ll see if he gets away with that after Peta and Eddy come back here today. I’ve heard him giving his updates to Peta on the radio and he usually leaves out those small details.”
Tyler grinned in spite of the unusual effort lifting the rake demanded. Giving Jason a hard time was a way of dealing with the totally sucky experience they’d both endured, and the good-natured banter was a sort of comradery they’d formed.
“I heard Slaider found another jaguar carcass last night,” he said
, leaning on the rake.
Jess’s brow drew together as she mulled over the information, nodding. “Near town. When Eddy gets here, he can do an autopsy--”
“Necropsy,” Tyler interrupted, amused by her reaction. “That’s what an animal autopsy is called.”
“Whatever,” Jess said with some flippancy, waving a hand dismissively at him. “But Slaider said it looked like the others, so Eddy is probably right that most of them are going to die from the advancing brain damage.”
“By shutting down their ability to breathe,” Tyler finished for her. While he was relieved that they didn’t have to worry about being attacked all the time, it was a horrible way to go. Kavish and Slaider were adding the Libi Prani to the known watering holes the animals used nearby, but it wasn’t enough to make a real difference. Peta assured them it was something on the backburner in the states, and eventually they’d come up with a better way to treat the animals, too.
While Jess, Akuba and the others worked to rebuild the local farms, Peta and Eddy had made the trip back to the CDC. Tyler was devastated when he couldn’t go, but although most of the journey would have been spent on a boat, the rest was in a small vehicle travelling over hundreds of miles. After their trek back through the jungle to reach the preserve, Tyler didn’t bother trying to argue about it anymore. It was obvious he and Jason both needed to stay immobile for a while in order to heal, and there wasn’t anything at the CDC that could help them enough to take the risk of getting there.
For the two weeks that Peta and Eddy were at the lab, they’d worked closely with Garrett and the other surviving scientists to isolate the amino acid chain in the Libi Prani, how to create a concentrated powder from it, and the proper dosage that was needed to treat the various types of conditions. The whole dosage thing was going to take a lot of trial and error to nail down, but they were already starting to see patterns. It depended on how long the person had been sick, or how long they’d been a Cured.
It turned out that for his own father, it required drinking the concoction twice a day for over a week, before his recovery plateaued. He’d continued to have the tea once a day since then, but there was a very real chance that he would never heal completely, which meant he had permanent brain damage. Even though he never fell into a coma or became one of The Cured, he had worsening paralysis the whole time Garrett had kept him alive.
“Are you nervous?” Jess asked.
Tyler realized he’d stopped raking and was staring blankly at the dirt. Blinking, he began to shake his head no, but then stopped. His shoulders sagged, eliciting a dull ache in the wound that was still healing. “I guess maybe I am,” he admitted. The helicopter was supposed to get there that afternoon. Peta and Eddy were bringing his father home.
Home.
Funny, how Tyler had already started thinking of the preserve that way. Turning to look out across the gardens and fields that ended in the distance at the edge of the Amazon, he estimated there were at least a dozen people engaged in various tasks. While about a third of the Lokono volunteered to go back to the Tan Presi Rutu, the rest had returned to their village in Bottopassi. Some spent their time fishing, while the others worked at the farms in exchange for food.
They were creating a network of shared supplies, which resulted in a strong sense of community. Tyler had never been a part of anything even remotely like it, and it was probably the first time he’d felt like he truly belonged somewhere.
“I talked to him on the radio a few times, but that isn’t the same,” Tyler said, kicking at a clump of dirt. Of all the people he knew, Jess was the one person he could be totally honest with about how he felt. She was easy to talk to, and he didn’t have to pretend to be strong around her. “Peta said that he…that he’s still learning how to walk again, and he might always have some weakness on one side of his body. You know, like someone recovering from a stroke.”
“I know,” Jess said, nodding. “In a way, it’s pretty much the same thing.” She pulled at a braid and scrunched up her nose at him, a clear indication she was thinking about something. “I’ve read that stroke victims can continue to show improvement for years afterwards.”
Tyler smiled. “That’s what Eddy said.”
“Well, he is a neurologist. I’d listen to him.” Jess took the rake back and then slid the bag from around her neck. Holding it out to him, she returned the smile. “We’re switching. I changed my mind. I don’t want to have to explain to Jason how you hurt your shoulder, and you’re going to need it later to hug your dad.”
Jess had an irritating habit of presenting an argument so that there wasn’t any way to get out of it without looking stupid. But it was also one of the reasons Tyler was so thankful to have her as a friend. Reaching resolutely for the bag, he didn’t have a chance to take it before the distant thump of a helicopter echoed through the sky.
Wide-eyed, Jess let both the rake and bag fall to the ground. “They’re here!”
Moving as fast as he could, Tyler followed Jess from the gardens. Skirting around the chicken coop, they cut through the goat pen, a small fruit orchard, and toward the largest of the preserve’s cleared fields at the back of the property. A helicopter had landed there once already, the week before. It took that long for what was left of the military to work out a way to get it to them with a bunch of needed supplies.
Kavish and Devon were already running into the open area, having been designated as the ones to make sure the field was safe for the landing. The two guys had become really good friends over the past few weeks, and were even sharing the little house at the back of the preserve.
Devon had opted out of going back to the CDC, and offered to stay behind to help Jess and Akuba with the preserve, and to continue studying the plants. After figuring out the best way to harvest the leaves without killing the Libi Prani, he’d set up a work area in the barn to process it in preparation to send it back to the states.
With Kavish acting as a liaison between Akuba, the Lokono, and the rest of the people living in the area, he’d also become a pivotal member of their “team”. Since he’d already been managing the farm portion of the preserve for years, before the Kra Puru hit, and it was only natural for him to take that over, which Akuba was more than happy to have him do. She spent half her time at the village in Bottopassi with her mom anyway, helping to govern the Lokono.
As they reached a partially standing section of old, wooden fencing, Jason approached them from the other direction. Holding a hand against his chest, he leaned against the weathered boards and let out a breath, grimacing. “I’ll never take fully-intact ribs for granted again.”
“Too bad there isn’t a tea for that,” Tyler jested, wiggling his eyebrows at him.
“How much food do you think they managed to bring with them?” Jess asked, all joking aside. “Akuba told me this morning that Viresh is already reporting a shortage at Tan Presi Rutu.”
Jason lifted a hand to his forehead to block out the veiled sun, and watched as the helicopter made its approach. “We’ll make it work!” he yelled, as the roar of the engine and rotors rose to a deafening crescendo.
Tyler ducked and shielded his face behind the fence board as dirt and debris was violently kicked up by the downwash. His old friend nausea was suddenly back, right on cue. He accepted the fact that he had a nervous stomach, but it didn’t make dealing with it any easier. Too bad there wasn’t a tea for that.
Tyler laughed lightly at his own joke, and found his stomach cramps backing off. As the rotors slowed, he lifted his head with some relief.
His dad was home.
He’d told himself he wasn’t going to get emotional. That he’d calmly approach his father and welcome him in a resort-tour-giver sort of way. Tyler didn’t want to overwhelm him, and Eddy had stressed several times how it would be easy for that to happen. That they’d have to take things slow.
But as the engine cut out, and the side door on the helicopter opened, nothing else mattered, or existed, or even felt
real. All Tyler could think about was that his dad was home. He was alive.
And then, he saw him. Bill Edmonds might have been a good twenty pounds lighter, pale, and slightly hunched over, but his dad was home.
“Dad!” Tyler cried. He didn’t simply call out, or shout…he screamed for his father the way he had as a small boy when he got lost at the fair for over an hour and saw his dad again for the first time. Because that was how it felt: he was found.
Ignoring the jarring motion in his shoulder, Tyler ran to his dad. He ran as fast as he could and he didn’t care about taking it easy, or looking stupid, or immature. He wrapped him up in the biggest hug he could manage while tears streamed down his face, and he openly celebrated the fact that his dad was alive.
He was alive.
And they were both home.
Chapter 25
PETA
Libi Nati Hot Springs
Suriname, South America
Wiping the damp hair out of her eyes, Peta leaned back on her haunches and stared down at the bubbling water, lost in thought. Just three days earlier she’d been stuck far underground, working in a state-of-the-art lab that had doubled as a tomb for several weeks. The lockdown wasn’t lifted until after she’d sent enough of the plant down for Garrett to treat everyone left alive. After that, the real work began. They started by burying the dozens of bodies that had piled up in cold storage in spite of the grueling efforts of all of the doctors to save everyone. She hadn’t known how hard the ground in the desert could be.
“Is it weird being here at the resort again?” Devon asked, bending to pick up one of the containers near her feet.
Shaking her head to clear it of the haunting memories, she thought instead of Devon’s question. It was a loaded one, without an easy answer. “I don’t think weird is the right word,” she said honestly. Devon had been Peta’s friend for close to a year and he’d seen her during some of her finest and worst moments, academic and personal. Batting an insect away from her face, she squinted up at him. “It’s more like a relief, if you can believe that. As messed up as everything was that happened here, it still…has a pull, you know? And after spending a couple of weeks stateside, I can tell you it’s a hell of a lot better than most other places. I get the feeling you’re definitely enjoying your time here in the Amazon,” she added with a suggestive grin.
