“That would almost certainly draw unwanted attention,” he said in a hoarse voice and coughed, “but we may have to, regardless of the risks. We could very easily become sick, which would make us easier prey for anything that might see us. I must think it over.”
“Well,” she replied, “that’s a relief, at least. I was half-afraid you might have a Rule Two Hundred and Eighty about ‘no fires, ever’ or whatever.”
It occurred to her that the fact she’d even thought of this meant she had at least begun to consider some of the potential dangers. With no prompting from him, she had taken into account the possibility that a fire would produce light, heat, and smoke, all things that the Zoo’s hungry and hostile denizens might well take notice of.
He paused and seemed to reflect for a second, as though the same thought had occurred to him.
“Perhaps I can add a rule,” he began, “that there is to be no fire unless necessary to avoid hypothermia. Although that is really more like a subsidiary condition of Rule Number Five since hypothermia is only likely here at night and being here at night is to be avoided, anyway.”
“We’ve done an astonishingly good job at failing to avoid some things, I suppose,” she pointed out but tried to make it clear she was only joking. Despite the cold, she was in good spirits since they had, after all, survived. They had escaped the rampaging horde of devilcrows, braved the river, and lived to tell the tail. The biggest failure belonged to the Zoo—it had failed to kill them.
“You speak the truth,” he said and sighed. “We are both exhausted and cold. I am afraid a fire will be necessary but only a small one, and we must extinguish it if I say to do so. Ten raptors will kill us much more efficiently than hypothermia or the common cold will.”
“You also speak the truth, it would seem,” she observed. She had never actually built a fire before but she would have been shocked if he hadn’t. Besides, it couldn’t be that difficult. “How can I help?”
Jan gave curt instructions and the two of them searched for small tinder, broke or cut larger branches, and dug out a shallow pit in which to build the fire itself. The jungle was almost too moist to provide much wood or other plant matter that would burn easily, but he seemed confident they could manage.
As they worked, she felt the chill increase despite the slight elevation in body temperature caused by their manual labor. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long.
Soon, they had a nice bed of reasonably dry leaves and small twigs, with a few larger pieces of wood crossed above it within their little pit. He retrieved a small, waterproof lighter from a pocket in his suit.
“Well, thank goodness you have that. I was afraid we’d have to resort to what they do in the movies when they rub two sharpened sticks together, or whatever the hell it is.”
“So was I,” he muttered as he clicked the lighter open and ignited a small flame.
It took several attempts but finally, the hauptmann managed to set the tinder aflame enough that it continued to burn. Slowly and lazily, the flame spread outward and up to transform the leaves and twigs into a solid bed of smoldering coals, which then allowed the bigger pieces of kindling to burn. She watched with excitement as the warm glow spread and promised comfort and light. Unfortunately, the wood was sufficiently damp or green that it gave off a fair amount of smoke.
“This might have been a bad idea,” Jan said and frowned at the smoke column, “but we can only delay our detection for so long, anyway.” He looked around, walked to a nearby tree, and came back with two large pieces of fruit. “This is edible. As long as we have a fire, we might as well cook something.”
“Roasted fruit? That’s interesting,” she mused.
“It tastes similar to barbecued pork,” he replied, skewered each piece with a long, sharp stick, and handed one to her.
Laura sat without protest and allowed the fire’s heat to warm and dry her while her fruit was gradually flame-broiled. She reflected on the fact that she had never been camping or otherwise had the opportunity to do this kind of thing when she was younger. Her American friends had told her stories about cooking around campfires in the outdoors with their families.
The fire was small enough that it could not provide quite as much heat as she’d like, so she scootched closer to Jan and reclined right next to him. He tensed slightly.
“It’s only for warmth,” she chided. “The fire isn’t that large, is it?”
He made a throaty, grunting sound to acknowledge her legitimate point and sneezed for good measure.
“Aw, I hope you haven’t caught cold already,” she said.
“Thank you for your concern, Doctor,” he replied.
They retracted their impaled fruit-roasts to check them and he recommended cooking them for a while longer. She could not help thinking that this meant he wanted to prolong their rest. Otherwise, she would sure that he’d prefer they simply ate as soon as possible to take in the necessary sustenance before they were interrupted by the next attack.
“So…earlier, you said something interesting,” she began. She kept her tone bright and curious as she suspected that he would shut down if she came across as outright prying.
“Did I?” He once again tried to seem standoffish, but she sensed the underlying warmth and humor that crept through despite his best efforts.
“Yes, when you talked about your parents and their happy marriage and how you seemed to approve of that kind of thing. And then you seemed to imply that you disapproved of my view of romance as inherently nonsensical, even though I’m entirely correct. Anyway, it occurred to me that you don’t seem to be married.”
“I am not,” Jan replied after a moment’s hesitation, “at the moment.”
“Ohhh,” she replied and again, kept her tone as innocent as possible, “so you do have an ex-wife, at least. That’s unfortunate, although I suppose it’s…instructive, anyway.”
“Most people, from what I hear,” he said, “marry for reasons other than to be instructed.”
“Of course, of course.” She made quotation-mark gestures with her two forefingers. “‘Love,’ yes. Was it at first sight in your case, as it was with your parents?”
“No,” he answered. “My parents were unusual and very lucky. Love is something that people build together over time. It is a commitment.”
“Well, that does make slightly more sense than treating it as a magical force that simply arises out of nowhere,” she acknowledged. “Although it still seems to me that what you describe is more like a cross between a good friendship and a business partnership combined with sexual attraction.”
“It does not matter if that is what it is at the foundation,” he explained. “In each case, I meant it. I was committed.”
“Each case? How many ‘commitments’ have you been through, then?”
He frowned. “Three,” he said after another pause.
“Well, that’s quite a few and you’re not even very old. I’m sorry to hear they didn’t work out, though. And I do mean that. I’m not being sarcastic.” Over the years, she had found that it was sometimes best to be clear with people on this particular matter.
Jan said nothing at first and seemed to have drifted off into a thought that had slightly depressed him. He pulled his fruit from the fire, examined it, and nodded. “They should be ready to eat. Give it a moment to cool.”
Laura followed his example and rested her fruit-spear over her knees for now, famished though she was.
Unexpectedly, he began to talk again. “I was serious about my commitment to my wives, but I was also serious about my work and my duty as a soldier,” he blurted. “They knew this beforehand and I tried to make time for them when I had it and to keep the romance alive to the best of my ability. But they all seem to…change their minds.”
She decided to wait a while to see what else he might say after this and merely sniffed her fruit. It actually did smell like barbecued pork.
“Rule Number Three. Never abandon your team,” he went on.
“I would never have even thought of abandoning a woman I had married. If there were some…difficulty, I would have tried to make it better. The women I married were not serious. They did not even seem to realize or care that they had betrayed me by seeking to end the marriage. In fact, they did not realize that they had lied in their vows. How can a person lie to someone like that?”
He suddenly took a large, almost ferocious bite of his fruit and a trickle of the juice ran down his chin as he chewed.
Laura was about to follow suit when it occurred to her that she was one of the women who hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with him when she failed to tell him sooner about the reason she why she was there. She was glad it was dark as the truth made her blush, and for a moment, she wished she wasn’t seated beside him. The awkwardness was thick enough, anyway, like an electric current in the air, that they both would probably have felt it even seated six meters apart.
To give herself a moment to think before she spoke again, she bit into her own fruit. It was surprisingly good with a slight, strange under-taste—almost like an underripe mango—but otherwise, the flavor was excellent. She demolished half in the space of only a minute or two.
“That was good. At least you can cook,” she commented.
“Why, thank you.”
“Anyway…” she continued after a deep breath, “I suppose I owe you an apology for my…well, not telling you about my hacking. I should not have done that, and not only because it landed me in trouble. It wasn’t…fair, to you or anyone else. I did have my reasons, though.”
Jan nodded. “I know. I can only imagine how it would feel to have your sister lost forever somewhere in the Zoo. Roden mentioned you also had difficulties with your career.”
“Yes, that’s a mild way to put it,” she conceded. “I have a way to land myself in trouble even when I try to do good.”
He had turned to look at her and even leaned closer.
“Well, it seems you understand, then,” she said softly and looked into his dark eyes.
At the suddenly eye-contact, he tensed and stood. “We…ah, should rest before we turn back. And…ah, mein gott, your breath. Roden did not give you the opportunity to brush your teeth after he had you detained.”
“What?” Laura retorted. “Well, it’s not as if your breath is the most pleasant at this point, either. We’re in the bloody jungle here.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “and I am sorry. But I will lie down for a short while. I awaken very easily if there are any suspicious sounds, so do not worry about that.”
“Fine.” She sighed and rolled her eyes—and made sure to be obvious about it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Now is the time to head back to base,” Jan said firmly. “They will have fixed the power outage by now—unless something very unusual has happened—and lockdown will be over. And it is now morning.”
“I wish we could stay a little longer.”
“I’m sorry. I know you wish to test your theories in the Zoo, but I must put my foot down. It’s too dangerous on our own.”
He was afraid she might protest and ask for another chance to search the jungle but instead, she climbed first to her knees, then to her feet without complaint. “Yes, I think you’re right,” she agreed.
She rubbed her eyes, shook her head, and ran her fingers through her hair. “I would have much preferred to keep trying on my own, but I think we’ve spent enough time in this place by now. I can’t exactly help humanity if I’m dead, can I? So it’s back to my semi-comfortable, makeshift prison cell, I suppose.”
He grimaced and felt morose at that but did not say anything. He hoped, with time, that the director might come to realize she wasn’t a threat and allow her complete freedom around the base. Although after this episode, that might be wishful thinking.
While he couldn’t do much about that he could, however, see to it that at least she arrived alive.
Pink and gold sunlight began to filter through the trees through the gaps in the otherwise dense canopy of the jungle. They had lain down near dawn and probably only slept about four hours, but four were better than zero. Nothing seemed to have bothered them overnight, although as they started in the general direction of Fort Archway, he noticed a few disturbing tracks in the mud. At least a few creatures had passed close to them.
For perhaps half an hour, they hiked without incident. Much of their course was uphill, either very gradually so or in short, sudden inclines followed by relatively flat spaces of land. He did not recognize the specifics of the scenery but something about this area felt familiar.
“Wait—stop.” Laura gasped suddenly.
Jan tensed and pivoted in the direction she was now looking, already prepared to fire if needed, but she seemed excited rather than scared. He did not notice any sign of Zoo creatures preparing to attack. So far, anyway.
“Look there,” she said. “It’s another of those X markings in that tree. In fact, I think we might be close to the place where we were all attacked yesterday.”
Jan narrowed his eyes and squinted into the foliage. His eyesight was still fairly good, but it had degraded a tad in the last few years. He could indeed make out, but barely, the X pattern she had indicated.
“Yes, I see it,” he said. “And I believe you are right. We are near that location.”
“Right. I found two more of these markings on trees deeper into the jungle from that massive tree where Klaus’s men were trapped,” she went on. “This must be one of those two or another beyond them, at least, since I can’t quite recall exactly what they looked like. Let’s have a closer look.”
She began to drift toward the marked tree and his jaw muscles tightened.
“Stop!” he snapped.
Laura did stop, seemingly surprised at the shift in his tone of voice.
“Rule Number Fifteen. Stay on mission,” he said. “Right now, our mission is to return to the wall without losing our lives.”
When she turned and looked at him, her face had hardened. “Now wait a moment here,” she began.
Jan groaned inwardly. Even the looming threat of violent death did not seem to deter her from trying to start arguments with him over his rules.
“Going by some arbitrary list of ironclad rules is not the only way to deal with a place like this, you know,” she said. Before he could interrupt, she rushed on to add, “And yes, I know you’re a trained soldier with experience and that is undoubtedly helpful. But there have been other people who’ve been in and out of the Zoo who were quite successful, even while taking a different approach. I’ve read all about them, in fact.”
“What?” he asked, annoyed. “Very likely they used rules similar to my own, even if it was not obvious. To survive in a place that tries to descend into chaos, one must have a way to maintain order.”
“Not necessarily. For such an intelligent man, that’s really a very simplistic philosophy. In fact, I think you’re approaching this whole business all wrong.”
As she spoke, she backed up or edged sideways, away from him and closer to the marked tree. He thought about pouncing to grab her when he recalled how she’d sidestepped into the awful vine trap but decided against it. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the ground near her feet as she pretended to avoid him during her spiel.
“For example, I can see the wisdom of coming into the Zoo in force with large numbers of people who all have guns so you can fight off attacks and so forth. But that also means you’re easier to see and make more noise. I read about several instances where very small groups—or even single individuals—were able to quietly slip through the jungle alone without coming to harm. That American, Wallace, seems to have done it several times.”
“Yes,” Jan replied, moved toward her, and looked around, “but what does that have to do with—”
“Now, now, I’m coming to that,” she answered. “You can’t treat the Zoo as if it were a monster. It’s not like a wild beast. It’s like a woman. And if you think of it that way, then rea
lly, you’re making the same kinds of mistakes with it that you made with your ex-wives.”
He groaned and momentarily raised his eyes to roll them heavenward. “I should have known better than to actually talk about my love life. Of course it would be used against me.”
“I’m not using it against you. I’m using it as an example to try to help you,” she insisted. “You cannot control a woman with a rigid set of rules, and you can’t control the Zoo that way, either. You seem to think that if you can simply box something in, you’ll be able to predict and prescribe all its actions and it will never surprise you or catch you off-guard.”
Jan did not reply. What she’d said was true yet strangely, she seemed to think this was somehow a bad thing.
“But the Zoo will always be full of new surprises. That is its essential nature,” Laura continued. “It was designed to be that way by whoever created the goop, to begin with. They wanted it to be able to adapt and re-adapt as quickly as possible to keep us off-balance and will always try something new if the last thing didn’t work. You can’t box it in. If you want to be able to deal with it and fight it effectively, you will have to be willing to move outside your box.”
His sigh was indisputably one of long-suffering. “I will give you five minutes to look at this tree marking, then,” he said. They had almost reached it now, anyway. “But only five. Then, we move out.”
Laura put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Well, that’s a start, at least.” With that, she turned and took a couple more steps toward the tree and leaned closer to study the two diagonal slashes.
As she examined the mark, seemingly deep in contemplation, he thought about what she’d said. She was no survival expert, but she did have a point. The chaos of the Zoo was really an order unto itself. And the only way to stay ahead of it was to accept its ever-changing nature.
The simple fact was that his list of rules existed precisely because of how well they had served him, of course. But perhaps it would be beneficial to become more flexible. To adapt, he told himself, as the Zoo adapted.
Galaxia Page 110
