Still leaning against the tree trunk, she wiped her eyes once more before turning her head towards the direction the huffing sounds came from. With slightly less blurred vision from behind the thick tree trunk she spotted movement in the shrubbery about fifty to a hundred meters behind her.
"Quinn!" She whisper-shouted towards the wreckage just as another chuffing noise came from the bushes behind her.
Alex recognized the sound to be a cat of some sorts; Lions or perhaps Cheetah.
She looked back at the wreckage. Sam was still nowhere in sight. Her mind raced with options. They were in the middle of the African Savannah with just about every wild animal roaming about. Most tourists would pay top dollar to spot any one of the animals, and yet here they were; about to become their dinner!
She had a vague idea of their location being somewhere close to the village that was on the banks of the river. With the sun just about set it meant that they would be on the immediate path to the river and that meant only one thing; they were near a watering hole. Most of the animals would have returned from the river by sunset to find shelter for the night or, in the case of a lion, readying itself for a hunt.
Either way they were in danger. Alex wiped her eyes again hoping to lay eyes on Sam who was still not back. She dared not call out to him again. Whichever cats were hiding in those bushes would be alerted by any loud noise. While her eyes were fixed dead on the spot behind her, another slight movement came at her from the Jeep's direction. It was Sam walking towards her from the wreckage. As he met up with her, Alex noticed Jelani's limp body in his arms and moments later, Sam lay Jelani on the ground next to her. He was oblivious of the fact that they were prime prey to lurking carnivores.
Alex swallowed twice trying to force the hard lump down her throat as her eyes teared up at the sight of Jelani’s limp frame.
"He was pinned under the Jeep, Alex. He's still breathing, but he might very well have internal injuries."
While Alex made every attempt to speak she couldn’t. Her lips were moving, but there was no sound coming from her throat. She tried again but managed to only utter the tiniest of squeaks. She had to somehow stop Sam from talking and warn him about the lions. With a shaking hand she lifted her finger in front of his mouth signaling for him to be quiet, but it was too late. The lions made their presence known with a loud growl.
"WHAT— WAS — THAT?” Sam mouthed as more growls filled the air.
Still unable to get any sound from her voice Alex quietly cleared her throat in the hope that this time she’d be able to speak.
"Lions,” she croaked as she successfully managed a soft, hardly audible whisper.
"Bloody hell! Have some water. I kind of need you to speak right now Alex,” Sam whispered back forcing some water down her throat.
“Tell me I didn’t just hear you say it’s a lion.”
Alex gulped down the water and nodded. ”I’m not sure, but yes, I suspect so. They’re not a threat right now. Just keep your voice down. The wind is in our favor but we can't stay here, Quinn. We're going to have to find shelter and quick."
"What do you mean a LION?" He said with a tiny note of angst in his voice.
"We are in the middle of the African bush, Quinn. Lions and cheetah and all sorts of other wild animals are all around us. But while the wind is still blowing toward us, we're fine. As long as the direction doesn't turn and we don’t make any sudden sounds or movements to threaten them, we’ll be fine.”
"Don't you think we should start running? I mean we have a lion in the bushes!"
“I’d say lionS, actually. As in more than one. Like I said, we’re fine for now. We just need to stay low and move in the opposite direction as them. We need to find shelter and preferably before the sun sets fully. I’m more concerned over Jelani? Is he ok?“ Alex intentionally changed the topic to direct Sam’s attention to more urgent matters at hand.
"I am not sure he's going to make a recovery Alex. Look here,” pointing to his stomach as he lifted up Jelani’s T-shirt.
"He's got internal injuries for sure. Notice this purple bruising and swelling here? His breathing is also very shallow, and he's lost consciousness. I could be wrong but seems to be his spleen or liver most likely.
"How do you know all this Quinn? Aren't you an archaeology student with Professor Keating?”
"Well, yes. Sort of. It’s a long and complicated story. Can you move?" Purposefully regressing off topic.
Annoyed with his blatant disregard, Alex managed to get to her feet, albeit still leaning half against the tree and out of sight from the lions.
"Perfect. Do you think you can walk?"
"Yes, I think so, but perhaps we should consider rather climbing this tree, Quinn. I'm just not sure how to help Jelani up there."
"Come on then. We'll take shelter underneath the car wreck for the night and figure something out in the morning. Your head is bleeding again."
Fresh blood drenched Sam’s improvised bandage around Alex’s head.
”If that is, in fact, lions in the bushes as you suspect, they would beyond a shadow of a doubt smell your blood. I don't think I have to tell you what that means. It is just a matter of time before we are all minced meat."
"Shh, we have to keep quiet," Alex whispered as they watchfully started toward the wreckage.
The upside down four-wheeler lay perpendicular to the ground creating a perfect little cave within the confines of the bull bar and sidebars. With a tiny bit of tweaking, the shelter should do just fine.
"I'll make some fire. The place is abundant with enough dry twigs around to make a big enough fire to keep the lions at bay for the night. I seriously doubt we will be able to sleep much, if any,” Alex volunteered while Sam lifted Jelani into the wrecked vehicle.
Alex kept her eyes on the lions. From that angle, she could see two, maybe three female lions and a male lion lying in a circle between the shrubs. They were far enough but still too close for comfort. The sun was almost all the way set which illuminated their golden eyes in the new moonlight. If Alex and Sam wanted to survive the night they’d have to get the fire and shelter going as quickly as they could.
"They seem relaxed for now. I'm not sure if the lions have spotted us yet. Perhaps, if we're lucky, they would have had a full hunt last night,” she pacified Sam who was too busy to even think of being prey to a group of lions.
He heard her but didn't react. He had pulled the wreck's doors off and positioned them inside the bars. The back seat cushion was flat on the ground, and Jelani lay safely on top. Alex watched as Sam examined Jelani's body with precision. He had one hand flat on Jelani’s abdomen and tapped it with his other hand. Clenched between his teeth was a small flashlight. He checked Jelani’s heart rate on the side of his neck and then took the torch and shone back and forth into Jelani’s eyes.
"Who are you? Where I come from archaeologists don’t carry out medical checkups on the mummies."
Sam ignored her. She cracked another thick branch over her knee and threw the larger one in the fire. She decided to leave him be for now; for Jelani’s sake.
The flames burned high and should do the trick but Alex found herself stealing glances at Sam often. With his one sleeve off and his messy hair, he was quite a looker. Tall, dark and handsome. She couldn’t remember the last time she noticed a man this way.
Without warning Sam looked up and caught her staring at him with a dreamy look in her eyes. Unprepared and hopelessly embarrassed, Alex gushed under his warm eyes and quickly busied herself with adding another couple of logs to the fire. She cursed herself for acting like a stupid schoolgirl.
"Is he ok?" Alex asked hoping it would divert his attention from her pathetic behavior.
”Afraid not, Alex. He urgently needs a hospital. I suspect he had a serious knock on his head too. If the internal bleeding doesn't stop on its own, he might not make the night. I'm sorry."
"All this is my fault." Alex slumped down against the car.
"Don't
be ridiculous. None of this is your fault. I shouted at Jelani to stop the car. But if I am totally honest, the man was driving like a lunatic and was out of control. It was an accident waiting to happen."
But Sam’s words did little to shift her guilt and Alex silently cursed her stupid disease. Her head hurt and she had now lost her pills to boot. Her thoughts attacked her mind in a vicious battle over which she had little control.
“Why can’t I just pull myself together? My father has gone missing. Jelani is dying, and now I'm stuck in the middle of Africa!”
Sam’s hand was suddenly firm on her shoulder; his other hand under her chin tilting her head back. Something in his eyes gave her instant strength.
"We need to clean up your wound, Alex." He pulled out a bottle of sterilizing liquid and a cotton swab from his backpack. The blood dried up causing the sleeve to stick to the wound and Alex pinched her eyes in pain as he pulled the sleeve off the open wound.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry. The alcohol might sting a bit, but you need stitches." He dabbed the liquid on the open wound that started bleeding again.
"I'm going to need you to hold very still Alex. I'm not going to lie. It'll hurt, but I promise to work as quickly as possible."
"No bloody way!" Pushing his hand away. "I am not having you stitch me up. With what, I might ask? Your shoelaces? You’re not a doctor last time I checked. We'll be at the hospital in the morning, and I'll ask a proper medical professional to care for me."
"The hospital might not be within our reach by tomorrow, Alex. Look around you. We're in the middle of nowhere with no idea where we are. Your wound is deep, and you can lose a lot of blood by then. Not to mention the fact that, with all this dust floating about, you can easily contract an infection. And no, I have a genuine suture kit. My shoelaces are too dirty,” adding a taunting giggle.
The blood trickled down her nose and over her eyes again. She spotted the mischievous twinkle in his eye. He was right, and she knew it. It wasn’t as if she had much choice in the matter. Her head wound did seem to be bleeding a lot again and with the lions on the prowl, it might not be safe to leave her injury until tomorrow. They didn’t have any idea of where they were. At least not until the sun came up and even then there were no guarantees they’d find their way back.
Sam didn’t wait for her to argue again. He held his flashlight between his teeth and tilted her head back; still dabbing at her open wound.
"Okay, fine then. Do what you need to do,” she conceded stubbornly.
To her relief, Sam didn't react. Instead, he picked up a stick and placed it sideways in her mouth. Within minutes he had her wound stitched up and dressed with a proper medical bandage from his backpack.
Chapter Five
The night was a long and a bitterly cold one. The lions continued to prowl around the camp several times during the night but kept their distance as long as the fires were burning high, which was most likely the biggest reason why Alex and Sam didn’t sleep much.
“Who knew wood burnt out so fast?” Sam managed to cut the dense atmosphere with one of his let's-lighten-the-mood stints. "I guess we can thank our lucky stars we are in the middle of the bush, can't we?"
His sense of humor in the midst of the direst of circumstances was quite possibly the very reason Alex found herself warm up to her unwanted chaperone. Somehow he always managed to lift her spirits.
At one stage he spread the bonfires into three or four different piles of wood around their camp. It looked as if he ALMOST had fun doing it too.
"Are you a boy scout at heart Sam Quinn?"
"I wish. But I can't lie. I think I might be a pro at this now. Maybe I have a bit of scout in me after all."
Through the night Jelani's breathing became very rapid, and in the early morning hours, he developed a high fever. With the limited water and medical supplies Sam had in his backpack, there was nothing they could do for him out here. Alex stayed by his side throughout the night until she fell asleep somewhere in the early hours of the morning. When she woke she looked across to where he was still lying unconscious. The swelling in his abdomen had doubled in size with bright purple bruising all around it. Sam was already up and checking on him and had done so throughout the night.
"Hey there sleepyhead. How are you feeling?" Sam asked.
"Morning,” flashing a slight smile as she sat up. Sudden dizziness threw her off balance, and a sharp, intense pain hit her between her eyes.
"My head hurts, but I'm okay. How's Jelani?"
"Not good I'm afraid Alex. We're going to have to get him to a hospital somehow, urgently. It doesn't look like the bleeding has stopped, and his fever is spiking. Perhaps you want to take a look around now that we have daylight. I don’t have any idea where we are."
Alex looked through the opening between the bull bar and the door.
"I can't see the lions."
“Yup. It's been rather quiet for the last hour or so. Let's hope the lions gave up and left for greener pastures.”
Sam pushed the rickety door aside for them to get out of their vehicle shelter.
It was daybreak and the sun was just about peeking out behind the now bright orange horizon. Alex looked around across the vast African bush. It was breathtaking. But there was nothing but trees and shrubs for kilometers in any direction. She wasn’t sure how they could have strayed from the road this far into the backcountry. It looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t be sure. Bush was bush, and trees were trees no matter where you were in the Savannah. There was no way of telling at all. Everything looked the same. She pulled out her map from her backpack in a desperate effort to see if she could make any sense of their location.
"I think we left the road here and possibly veered off over there. We need to head west. If I have my bearings right, we should only be about a kilometer or two out from the river. If we keep west, with any luck, we should hit the road we were on. If not, we might then at some stage find the river and we can follow it north."
"Right then. We'll have to get a move on quickly before the sun comes up fully. I would hazard a guess that it gets sweltering out here during the day. Fancy a cup of coffee before we leave?"
"Ha-ha, hilarious Mr. Quinn."
She liked a man with a sense of humor. His cunning ability to de-stress the situation was without fail what she needed in that moment.
"Okay, I might have a plan." Sam perked up. "I saw Bear Grylls do this on one of his television episodes once. We need to make a stretcher for Jelani. Let's see if we can find two long branches and something to tie down the car bonnet with on top."
"Bear Grylls? Are you serious?” Her giggle didn't throw him.
"What? So I'm a fan; a big one if I may say so. Never miss an episode. Grylls did it and it looked fairly easy. So unless you have a better idea,” he remarked with his hands on his hips.
"Oh, I'm not laughing at the idea. Rather just how this adventure has already changed you. I'm just surprised that's all. With your crisp white shirt and shiny shoes, I just didn't peg you for an adventurer at all. And what's with all the medical stuff anyway? How is it that you know more about playing doctor than chasing relics?"
"I read a lot that's all,” bending quickly to pick up a nearby branch.
"Nope, I don't believe you Sam Quinn. Reading is one thing, but carrying a full medical kit into the bush and stitching up head wounds is an entirely different thing altogether. I watched you examine Jelani and it seems to me there's an awful lot of medical training there. Call me naive, but somehow I don't suspect it being from watching Bear Grylls episodes."
"It's a long story. Come, the sun is getting higher. We're running out of time."
"Look around Quinn! I've got nothing but time. We are stuck in the African bush with prowling lions, the militia, and who knows what else after us. Spit it out. My life might be at stake, and I deserve to know what I am getting myself into here. Heck, I might not even live until tomorrow."
Sam looked slightly uncomfo
rtable as he tied up the cords from his backpack around his clever piece of engineering. Alex was determined to know the truth. She needed to know who Professor Keating saddled her with; especially if her life depended on it. Keating said he was his top student, but its evident Sam Quinn has never been on an actual expedition before.
"I'm waiting Mr. Quinn. What's your story?"
"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. Damn, you're a pushy one, aren't you? Just don't judge me okay? It's a long and detailed story but in the event of us perhaps not seeing another day, I'll spill the beans.”
He took a deep breath and continued.
“I’m not exactly an archaeologist. I am in actual fact a qualified trauma surgeon. Happy?"
"A Doctor? What do you mean you're a Doctor? Professor Keating is head of Archaeology and you’re supposed to be one of his students so what you’re saying now doesn't make sense."
"Hold the knot down there please."
"Quinn! Stop trying to derail the conversation with this stupid stretcher-ma-jig. Will you tell me the truth, please? Who are you? I deserve to know; if anything, at the very least, what I have gotten myself into with you. I mean, do you have any experience with archaeological expeditions or not?“
"Not exactly, this exploration is my first if you must know,” sounding sarcastic and annoyed.
Alex swore under her breath.
"These antics are so typical of Professor Keating. I thought you were his 'best student ever.' Of course not. I should have known the moment you sat on that plane with your white-as-snow-shirt and shiny shoes. You are just a pawn in an elaborate plan to get me to go chase after an ancient city that I'm not even sure exists. Not to mention the mysterious key everyone thinks is real. It's a bloody joke. So you're nothing but a babysitter to keep my stupid agoraphobia at bay. You're probably going to get us both killed at some stage too. No wonder Keating insisted I come. It wasn't just a case of finding my father, but finding Rhapta. Sneaky bastard. How could I be so stupid? I'm not some puppet the faculty can use as they see fit. They outright conned me!"
The Alex Hunt Series Page 5
