The Devil's Syndicate

by Chris Draper

  “He can't make me suffer anymore than he already has.” Dottie said. “I've been through hell and back already.”

  “I know you have.” Hawk said patting her back. “We need to keep moving though. Your scream probably gave our location away to the entire jungle.”

  “I'm sorry...”

  “Don't be sorry. There's no time for that.” Hawk said looking up in the distance. “I think we should follow the river. There's still a bit of light left out there yet and pretty soon it'll be too dark in here to see anything even with a flashlight.”

  She nodded firmly and they started making their way towards the sound of the river up ahead.

  ≈

  Byron had heard the tree fall that sounded like a locomotive had plowed through the forest. He'd also heard Dottie shriek, and for a brief moment had thought perhaps that mother nature had done his job for him. But then he'd moved to the treeline, parted the trees and had seen Hawk's flashlight beam crisscrossing through the darkness and knew they must still be alive. The crash had been closeby – maybe only 50 feet directly ahead, across the river, which meant they were close. Visibility was decreasing but he figured there was still enough light left before the forest would be blanketed in darkness. Then he'd have them.

  There was a steep ridge up ahead on that side of the river, which meant that they'd have no choice but to cross over to his side unless they decided to move deeper into the forest which would be crazy. Not even himself would want to be stuck that deep in there with all of the creatures taking refuge from the storm. Eventually they would find their way over to where he was on this side of the river and he'd be waiting.

  He'd left them a breadcrumb too – a small trace of himself they'd spot on this side of the river to tell them he was here. He'd been careful not to leave any footprints in the thick mud up to this point, and had been moving on wet grass only most of the time, but just once he'd intentionally left a large footprint near a fallen tree that connected to the other side of the river. When they eventually crossed over to this side they'd have to see it and then they would know he was here.

  He looked over again in his rifle scope and could see them moving again, towards a ridge that would cut them off. He slithered slowly along the ground like a snake, found a spot to watch behind the cover of some bush, then waited. The game would be over soon.

  ≈

  The storm was whooping overhead and hard pellets of icy rain flicked against their faces like cold daggers. They were more exposed now, following the river and moving from the cover of tree to tree, two silhouettes rushing through the darkening forest. Hawk had his flashlight in hand, scanning the forest on either side of the river for Byron. He heard a sharp crack on his right and whipped the flashlight in that direction. A small animal ducked back into the undergrowth that looked like a squirrel. Get it together Hawk, it’s only a squirrel.

  He was starting to get paranoid out here, thought he saw Byron everywhere. Like his face was in every tree watching them, or every shadow behind a rock might be him taking aim with his rifle. Many times he thought he heard the trudging of someone walking behind them only to turn around and see no one there. There was even a point when he thought he could smell Byron closeby, an aroma of sweat lingering in the air, only to realize it was the sweat of his own body. His mind was playing tricks on him and the entire forest was starting to look the same.

  Up ahead they reached a steep hill that fell to a sharp angle downwards. Hawk looked down and realized it would be impossible to try and go any further this way. Trying to walk down such a steep hill in this weather would be a deathtrap with all of the water running down the hillside.

  “Now what?” Dottie asked looking down at the drop below.

  “Well, we sure as hell can't go that way anymore.” Hawk shone his flashlight back into the forest then craned his head down river and noticed that the compound had disappeared from view. “And I don't think we should get too much further from the compound or we run the risk of getting lost out here overnight. Byron's crazy, but I don't think he'd be crazy enough to try and go this way. I say we should find a way to get across the river, then we can work our way backwards towards the compound that way.”

  “But how do you know he isn't on this side of the river?”

  “Because we would have found him already.” Hawk said. “Unless he drowned in the rapids. Either way, if we don't find him over there we'll go back to the compound and try to get help tomorrow if the storm has calmed down a little.”

  Dottie walked over to the edge of the river, cautiously peered over the edge into the waters below. The rapids were moving at a murderous speed, and even more so as they fell down to follow the sharp drop in the land ahead of them. “How do you plan on getting across this?” She asked.

  Hawk looked back in the direction they'd just come from, pointed at a large tree that had fallen over into the river. “I think we should be able to cross over that log there. Looks like the end just reaches far enough to allow us to get to the other side.”

  They moved in that direction, reaching the fallen tree a few minutes later, and Hawk placed one foot on the end of the tree to test its stability. “Seems solid enough.” He said looking across to the other side. “If Byron's over there, we'll find him. He's running out of places to hide.”

  “Maybe he wants us to find him.”

  “Maybe.” Hawk said putting his full body weight on the log. “I'll go first. Remember: Walk slowly, and keep your arms out to help with balance. Those waters down there look pretty unforgiving and I don't want us to fall in. Wait until I get about halfway, then start behind me. I don't want to put too much weight on the log at one time in case it breaks.”

  She nodded and Hawk stepped on the log slowly, stepping forward an inch at time, pin wheeling for balance like he was walking over an ice rink. He looked down once to make sure the log was holding his weight and could see the water splashing his boots, could picture himself falling into the rapids and never being seen again. After a few harrowing minutes he reached the centre of the log, looked back and nodded that it was okay for Dottie to follow. Nervously she put a foot on the log, took a deep breath, and started walking along, putting one foot in front of the other at a time. She'd done ballet as a child and found it was easier than she thought keeping her balance as she moved towards Hawk. After only a minute she was a few steps behind him.

  The other side of the river was only 5 feet ahead of them, but the final stretch wasn't going to be easy: The log narrowed to a width of about a foot, and they both slowed their pace, holding their collective breath as they walked the final portion. Four feet more. Three. The log started to crack a little under their weight and they quickened their pace. Two. The other side was right there. One. They could feel the log start to crumble under their weight, Hawk grabbed Dottie's hand and they both made one final leap over to the other side of the river.

  When they were back on solid ground Hawk threw a glance over his shoulder as the entire log fell down and crashed into the rapids then got whipped against the rocks with such ferocity that Dottie cringed at the sight of it. That could have been us, she thought.

  “Whatever my father is paying you.” She said out of breath. “It isn't enough.”

  “You can say that again.” Hawk said smiling. “I'm going to hit up your old man for a pretty big bonus once this is over with.”

  “I'll be your witness if you need it.” She said laughing. “If we get out of this alive that is.”

  “We'll get out alive.” Hawk said and looked over at the forest ahead of them. There was a small opening in the trees that led into a dark patch of forest. Hawk nodded towards the opening and glanced at Dottie, “Shall we?”

  “Well we can't stay out here much longer or we'll both drown in this rain.”

  They moved forward towards the clearing and Hawk switched on his flashlight again. They were about 5 feet from entering the forest when he stopped them both suddenly, something on the ground having caught hi
s attention.

  “Hold on a second.” He said crouching down on one knee to look at something in the mud. He shone his flashlight over a large boot print and looked up at Dottie. “Does this look familiar to you?”

  Dottie came closer, kneeling down beside Hawk. “I can't tell, it could be Byron's but all of their boots kind of look the same. Do you think it's fresh?”

  “I'd say so.” Hawk said. “If it wasn't the water and wind would have washed it away out in the open like this. Makes me think that he left it here on purpose, like he wants us to find him.”

  “You think so?”

  “We haven't seen any footprints yet, seems a bit careless for him to leave one now don't you think?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Hawk stood up, looking around him. Did Byron want to be found? If he did he wasn't making it very difficult. Maybe he was even watching them right now, smiling as he saw them find the print that would eventually lead them to where he was. Hawk was certain they were being played somehow, that Byron had missed that rifle shot on purpose and that he'd been waiting for them this entire time.

  They moved through the dark opening, Hawk shining the light in the darkness for anything out of place. This side of the river was thicker with vegetation and he had to swat some bushes out of the way to continue, eventually finding a small path that seemed to lead in the direction they were heading. They walked that way for a few minutes until a rustling sound to the right somewhere caught their attention and Hawk shone the flashlight's beam towards the sound. Just over a few feet, next to a large tree they saw some crocodiles, three of them, that appeared to be sleeping. Dottie brought a hand to her mouth and gasped.

  “Take it easy.” Hawk said touching her arm. “They're just in here to find some cover, same as us. I'm surprised we didn't run into them already. We'll give them a wide berth and they shouldn't even know we're here.”

  They edged slowly past the tree, Hawk keeping the beam on the crocodiles until he thought they were at a safe distance, then they continued forward. What little daylight left was eaten up by the storm and even from here they could hear the sounds of the river back outside. After walking for another minute they came into a small clearing and Hawk shone the light on the ground again, searching for any other traces of Byron.

  “If he's been this way, he's doing a good job of covering his tracks.” He said looking back at some of their own prints encased in the muck. “Unless he went a different way he must be sticking to higher ground where the grass is heavier, that would cover his footprints a lot easier. I think that we should...”

  Before Hawk could finish his sentence a flash somewhere in the darkness caught his eye, not a lightning flash but more concentrated, like a tiny sphere of brightness, and before his body could react he felt a pain rip through his right shoulder like he'd been torn open by a torpedo. He yelled out in agony, dropping his flashlight and rifle on the ground, and fell backwards clutching his shoulder.

  “I've been shot!” He yelled through clenched teeth. “Get down!”

  Dottie froze for a second, her mind unable to comprehend what had just occurred, then she ran to Hawk and bent over him. “Simon! You have to get up!” She yelled, trying to help him to his feet. She managed to grab his left arm and pulled him up. “We have to keep moving!”

  Hawk let out a groan, the pain in his shoulder working its way throughout his entire body. The flashlight had gone out and it was as if the entire world had disappeared, replaced by a giant black shroud that covered everything in nothingness.

  “My gun.” Hawk breathed out. “I need to get my gun.”

  And at that exact moment another flash lit up the darkness, this one larger, emanating from the storm outside that lit up the black world around them for just a second. And in that brief second of light they saw something ahead that made Hawk's skin crawl and Dottie shriek in horror.

  It was Byron. Standing a few feet ahead of them, a rifle in his hand and a devilish grin on his face. He'd found them and now would deliver the final crushing move of the game. He took a step toward them and Dottie screamed, recoiled backwards, and then he brought up the butt end of the rifle against her skull and she fell down to the ground out cold. Another streak of lightning cut across the forest and Hawk saw Byron staggering towards him and he went to grab the ankle knife from its holster. Byron was quicker though and caught his arm, twisting it until Hawk dropped the knife, then picked it up in his own hand, and disappeared back into the darkness.

  Hawk heard him laughing in the dark, somewhere in front of him, and he felt a fist hit him hard in the face and he fell onto the muddy earth. He landed on his right arm where he'd been hit by the bullet and immediately let out a cry as the impact sent spirals of pain flooding through his shoulder again. Byron was still laughing, now somewhere on his right side, and Hawk pushed himself backwards towards where he thought he had dropped his rifle, felt around behind his head with his right hand. He thought he felt something hard back there, grabbed hold of whatever it was, and discovered it was only a rock. Hawk could hear Byron treading around him in the the forest and whenever he thought he knew where he was, another lightning flash would light up his surroundings and he'd be in a completely different spot than he'd been before. In desperation Hawk kept trying to push himself back, looking for the rifle, but every time he tried he came up empty.

  Eventually the air round him went still and he didn't hear Byron anymore. Even the storm seemed to quiet down a little and the only sound he heard was the pit patter of the rain falling against the treetops and his own heavy breathing.

  “Byron?” He yelled out clutching his arm. “Where are you?”

  Silence.

  “I know you're out there Byron, let's get this over with already! The game is over!”

  Nothing but the sound of the rain and a few rumbles of thunder answered his call. What was he doing? Had he suddenly decided to let them go? Hawk tried pushing himself up with his left arm, his face contorted with strain, and he sat there for a second trying to look into the forest. There was something solid near his right ankle and he felt it with his foot. The flashlight. With his left hand he reached over, picked it up and tried the knob. The light flickered weakly, then went out again. He unscrewed the end, made sure the batteries were in tightly, then screwed it back on and tried again. The light came on this time and he was able to see the area around him. He shone the light around the forest, its beam cutting a hole through the darkness and illuminating the area like a bright star. He saw Dottie a few feet away, laying on the ground unconscious, but Byron was nowhere to be seen.

  He tried getting up but then heard something off to his right in the forest. Quickly he shone the light in that direction; then a moment later he heard another sound a little to his left and brought the light over there. Nothing.

  Just when he thought he was starting to lose his marbles he heard Byron's laughter cut through the silence, a shrill growl that to seemed to fill the entire Everglades with its undulations. Then it grew louder, until it seemed like it was part of the Everglades itself, like it had been born by the storm and that Byron himself had been born from the storm and everything that was evil had been waiting in that forest for an eternity to unleash its wrath upon those who dare enter it. But then as soon as the laughter had started it ceased, and the boom of Byron's voice shrank back into the silence and then Hawk was alone again, wondering if he'd even heard the laugh in the first place.

  He was breathing hard now, and the pain in his shoulder was greater than it had been before, he shone the light on himself and saw dark red blood running down his jacket onto the ground. In all of the events of the past few minutes he realized he'd completely forgot about his gun, and shone the light behind him into the forest. He spotted the dark brown handle of his rifle underneath some grass, then started crawling towards it. He got about halfway when suddenly he stopped moving, his left foot caught on something behind him. He tried kicking whatever it was away but the hold was firm and h
e shone the light back to see what it was. He saw the dirty fingers first, gripped around his calf like a claw, and then he followed the arm up and saw the face next.

  It was Byron's face and it was completely covered with mud, the whites of his eyes and teeth showing through the muck. He still had that wicked grin on his face and Hawk saw those eyes, the ones with nothing but empty space in them; blank, cold, hollow eyes that pierced through him even now.

  “Glad we could meet again Hawk.” He said menacingly, then yanked him down towards him. Hawk tried grabbing hold of Byron’s head but he pushed away his hands, then sat astride him and Hawk could see he had the hunting knife in one hand. Hawk reached for it and tried getting it away from his grip but it was no use. Most of his strength had been depleted now and Byron easily maintained his hold. Byron started bringing the knife slowly down into Hawk's chest, both hands on the handle, and Hawk felt the cold tip of the knife's serrated edge start to tear into his skin. He cried out in agony as the first sharp bites of pain began and grabbed hold of Byron's arms, but again Byron's grip on the knife was too strong and he continued lowering the knife slowly into Hawk.

  The flashlight had been knocked away and was beside them now, casting enough light on them both so that Hawk could see the horror of it all, could see his life being taken from him and being powerless to do anything about it. Byron was staring down at him, and he began speaking, his voice steady and firm, completely oblivious to Hawk's cries of pain: “Don't try to fight it Hawk, when death takes hold the effects will be swift and absolute. You may even feel it now, flowing through your body like the blood in your veins. Make it easy on yourself Hawk, everyone is born to die and you are no different. Surrender yourself to it; surrender yourself to the nothingness.”

  Slowly, Byron continued to plunge the blade further. “Such a shame Hawk. You had so much potential but you polluted yourself with the world, with all of those false promises and ideals, and now you'll die never really knowing what you could have been.”