by Dan Decker
I listened while looking at the black screen. I had recorded the attack on Sandy and even my muttering as I lead away the baby capybara.
I skipped to the end, hoping it had still been running when the others had returned. A small smile crept onto my face when I realized I had a recording of Sharon when she learned of our discovery.
I was elated.
If Sharon did try to steal it, I had concrete proof Sandy and I had been the only people to make the find.
Sharon did not come off well in the recording, it could not have been better unless I had videotaped her expression when we had informed her of our discovery.
The recording ended.
I must have shifted and somehow stopped it.
I had felt doubt start to niggle its way into my mind when Sharon had chastised me for killing the lizard, but having just relived the fight with the small terrorist, I did not regret my decision.
I pulled out a USB drive, connected it to my phone, and backed up the video. Even though I was in high alert, it helped that I still had enough sense to backup evidence of the discovery.
If all my fears were over nothing, I had hard evidence.
I put the USB drive into a waterproof bag, stuffed it into a hard container, and buried it in the bottom of my duffel bag. I toyed with the idea of keeping it in my pack but if something happened while we were out on patrol, I wanted to make sure my backup was in a separate location.
After I pulled the mosquito net over my cot, I found it difficult to sleep. It was not until early morning that I slipped off.
My dreams were filled with zombie capybaras and dinosaurs.
7
The adult capybara tore a chunk from my neck. When I went to cover the wound with my hands, they came back covered in blood. A nearby lizard chittered, I could somehow tell that it laughed at me. I turned to yell at the scornful animal but found Sandy instead.
“You must settle down,” she said. “You are going to wake the others.” When I tried to talk to her, lowering my voice to sound reasonable, she was already gone, a misty fog taking her place.
Panic tore through me like a flood.
I awoke with Sharon yelling outside my tent.
“Get up! Get up! Get up! If you’re not out in ten minutes, I’ll come in and drag you out in whatever you’re wearing!” She moved on and yelled something similar at the next tent.
It took me several moments to orient to reality.
I touched my neck just to make sure there was no wound and was relieved to see my neck was intact. After a sharp intake of breath, I pushed out of the mosquito net and set my feet onto the tent floor only after looking to make sure nothing was there, something I would have done even without the events of the previous day. We had been advised to always check our shoes before putting them on, and more than once, I had dumped out critters.
Sharon’s threat was not an idle one. She had done it before. Luckily, not to me.
I pushed open the mosquito net after another careful glance at the floor. The first week I had crushed a large ugly bug with my bare foot. It had not been poisonous, but I had been vigilant ever since. I hated creepy, crawling things. It was just another reason I counted down the days until I got out of this place.
As I rubbed my eyes I experienced peace.
The fear and doubt of the night before fled when I saw the sun light the top of my tent.
I even chuckled at the thought Sandy might turn into a zombie or that I had encountered zombie capybaras the day before.
Everything was okay.
And quiet.
I stretched, glad for the sleep I had managed to get.
And for the first time since arriving, I was anxious to get outside and see the others. Sandy was always one of the first. She would greet me with a smile and everything would be okay.
I was also going to be more positive about trudging through the jungle all day. Sharon had allotted just the one day for the valley and we were off to climb a mountain, going the exact opposite direction from where we had found the lizard and capybaras.
There was much to be happy about.
The morning air was brisk but I knew that was just because I had become conditioned to the climate. Sweat had already formed on my brow as I made my way to the communal area under the awning, pulling over a folding camp chair as I did.
I was the first out other than Sharon. Not even Bill was up this morning, who was normally an early riser. A wry smile crossed my face when I imagined Sharon pulling him out of bed and into camp. I doubted even she had the gumption to try that.
“Glad to see you beat everybody up,” Sharon said with more than a note of sarcasm as she came out from her tent while wrapping a handkerchief around her neck. I mumbled something that was incoherent, but did not clarify.
Somebody—presumably Sharon—had already put water on to the stove and it was at a rolling boil. I got my bowl, emptied in several packets of instant oatmeal, and ladled in hot water.
While I waited for it to absorb I looked at Sandy’s tent in what I hoped was a casual way. If Sharon caught me staring, she was the type to say her thoughts out loud. In addition to being an annoying person, she also had no filter. She had already implied more than once something was happening between Sandy and myself.
It’s strange Sandy likes to tease me about Sharon and Sharon likes to tease me about Sandy.
I stirred my oatmeal.
“Good news, I don’t think you heard,” Sharon said as she retrieved her own bowl and mixed up a packet. “We voted after you went to bed. We are returning to the valley.”
My head snapped around. I was instantly awake. “What now?”
“Everybody was impressed by”—her lips made a curious shape as she spoke and I had the distinct impression she was posturing to eventually claim credit for the find by carefully wording things now— “the discovery and we want to catch a living specimen.”
I hesitated, but only for a moment. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. That thing was fast. If we get into the middle of a group of them and it is not going to be comfortable for anybody.”
Sharon laughed. “Sandy is fine and this time you can stay with me and Bill if you like, so if you are attacked, you’ll have help.” A grin crossed her face, reminding me of a large child mocking a smaller one. “The lizard was the size of a large rat, surely, you’re not afraid of such a small thing, are you?”
I took a bite of oatmeal in a bid for time, realizing afterward that it was still too hot as it scalded my tongue. I did my best to keep my discomfort from showing.
Sandy had not mentioned anything about capybaras and I did not want to seem paranoid so I kept my mouth shut.
I doubted anything I could say would make Sharon change her mind, the others would go along with whatever she wanted. As she continued to smile, the mocking became even more apparent as I took another bite, this time after blowing to cool it down.
There had been no point in sharing the observation before and I had nothing to gain by saying anything now. If anything, it would only make them more curious to return.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “It seemed to have a thing for Sandy, anyway. Never touched me.” I glanced at Sandy’s tent, hoping she would come out soon.
I would feel a whole lot better when she did.
8
Breakfast came and went. All the others awoke but Sandy still had not stirred. Once breakfast was cleaned up I called to Sandy from outside her tent but received no response.
“We leave in ten,” Sharon yelled from the middle of camp.
I approached the frustrating woman. “Has anybody checked on Sandy?”
Her eyes glittered with amusement. “She’s fine. I poked my head in this morning. She’s feeling a little under the weather and won’t join us today.”
Sharon paused as if waiting for something. I got the feeling she hoped I would ask for permission to stay but I was not going to do that. I knew exactly how it would go, what she would say, and that
I would be hiking into the jungle anyway.
“That’s probably a good idea.” I left without waiting for a response, feeling Sharon’s eyes bore into my back with every step.
I went to my tent and zipped it shut.
The calmness I had felt upon waking was evaporating. We were going back to zombie valley and Sandy had not stirred in close to twelve hours. I was unable to shake the feeling that bad things were going to happen today.
Had I really laughed off the zombie capybaras?
“Three minutes people, we leave in three minutes.” Sharon’s voice made me cringe. How I hated that woman.
I looked around the tent, wishing I had something better than my machete. I usually kept it in my pack most of the day because of rain, but this time I strapped it to my side.
It was better than nothing. A gun would have been better, a shotgun ideal.
What was I going to do if I ran into another zombie capybara? Was I going to hack it do death? Would that be wise? What if I got blood on me?
That was probably how the disease spread, though I had seen no sign of infection on the lizard.
Unfortunately, I only had the machete and my pocket knife. We had been instructed to not bring firearms. I now regretted not sneaking one through.
As I pulled my pack over to the entrance and stepped out of the tent, I tried to convince myself that two blades would be enough but my internal speech felt false and patronizing.
The group was soon ready.
I was last to leave, taking a final look at Sandy’s tent before following the others. Why could I not shake the feeling that when we returned, Sandy and Eric would have overrun the camp, turning Mike and Jill into zombies too?
9
By the time we descended into the valley I was covered in sweat but for the first time since coming here I barely thought about it. As we had drawn close I had been on constant alert, looking every which way for trouble. The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that Erik been attacked by the same type of lizard as Sandy.
I did not like to think about where this could lead. I had sworn yesterday never to return, but here I was. The wind disturbed some leaves and I nearly jumped out of my boots; I was in the rear again so nobody else had seen.
There was a break in the undergrowth and even though it was a bright day with a clear sky—from that particular vantage point right before the descent into the valley I could see for miles—my insides were made of ice. The day before I had enjoyed the view, but that was not the case this morning.
It’s because I woke up in a world where there are dinosaurs who can turn capybaras into zombies that obey orders.
When I thought of the laughing dinosaur from my dream, I shivered and involuntarily looked around, reaching for the handle of my machete, just to reassure myself it was there.
While my thoughts were dark, they were as close as I could come to dealing with the truth. As I plunged down the trail after all the others I tried to set aside my fear, hoping to maintain a rational state of mind.
I remembered tricks people used in times of great stress or fear and tried them but none seemed to work. The terror and panic kept returning, it felt like a primordial ooze crawling up the back of my spine and into my brain.
The dead anteater was gone.
I stopped to examine the surrounding area but found no sign of the carcass. This was not really surprising, considering all the animals in the jungle, yet I could not help wondering where it had gone.
It seemed like it was only a few short minutes later before we stopped in the clearing where Sandy had been attacked.
“Let’s keep it close for the next hour,” Sharon said, putting down her bag and pointing at the large tree I had used for a landmark the day before. “Spread out and see what you find.” She looked at me with a sardonic smile. “If you need to pick a partner, feel free.”
Her words guaranteed I went alone. Sandy was who I usually partnered with anyway. As the others set down their gear I hesitated, expecting the zombie capybaras to come out of the grass at any moment.
After several deep breaths, during which I ignored a disdainful look from Sharon, I took off my bag and set it beside the others. The rest were already wandering off.
“Get going,” Sharon said to me, pointing in a direction. “Nobody went that way.”
“Are you staying with our stuff?” I asked.
“Got a problem with that?”
I shook my head and was doubly glad I’d left the backup of the video in my tent. I had thought of volunteering to stay, but if she wanted to do it herself, I would not convince her otherwise, at least not without a lot of effort.
Grudgingly, I pulled out my machete and trudged off in the direction she had indicated. I did not like leaving behind my pack but it would only get in the way as I tackled the undergrowth. Even if Sharon went through it there was nothing of value.
I was a little surprised nobody had asked if we had a video. If Sandy had been feeling better she might have mentioned it. It would be my secret for a little while longer.
Despite my misgivings about leaving my pack, I also wanted my sodden back to dry as best it could in this humidity.
Several steps later the clearing did not exist. It felt like I was alone, even though there were at least ten others in close proximity. When I tried to push through the leaves, I had to use my machete to hack through.
My sides heaved by the time I was on the other side, but I was glad for the distraction and less afraid. I had bested that tiny dinosaur yesterday.
I am a mighty hero, that thing never stood a chance. I chuckled quietly.
A breeze blew against my wet shirt and it felt good against the hot humidity. When I came to a fallen tree I was tempted to wait for the end of the hour but something drove me on.
We were dealing with a new form of life and even though there was the terror of the unknown there was also a feeling of exhilaration.
Sandy and I—assuming she did not turn into a zombie —would bask in the glory of discovering a new animal. And if the way the others talked was any indication, it was possible we had found the closest living relative to the dinosaurs. It was one thing to think it myself, it was another to know the others did too.
It would have been exciting if I would not have been so worried about what we would return to at the end of the day.
When I came to more undergrowth that I could easily have gone around, I brought up my machete and hacked my way through. The exertion gave my body something to do while distracting my mind and would help wind down the clock.
I grabbed the branch of a tree with one hand, chopped it off, and tossed it to the side. Perhaps it was only primal instinct but there was something good about doing that.
A tune came to mind and I started to whistle.
If Sharon had been nearby she would have chastised me for the noise, but the hacking was already plenty loud, what was a little more?
And who cared what Sharon thought?
I had bits of green and slivers of wood all over me by the time I had cut my way through. I took a step forward and my foot slipped. I would have fallen if I had not swung my machete into a tree trunk.
Once I was on stable footing I looked at what had almost caused me to fall.
It was slick, like glass, and looked like the windshield of a car.
It was solid black and half buried in the ground.
10
I cleaned off the object as quick as possible, glad to have something to distract me from the Sandy and Erik situation as my curiosity came up with all sorts of possibilities to explain what I had found.
The more of the object I uncovered, the more I was reminded of a sloped, yet opaque, car windshield. I tapped it with my fingernail, expecting to hear a hollow sound, but instead there was a dull click.
It was solid, whatever it was.
Curious, I tried the blade of the machete against it, thinking I could easily scratch it or break off a peace, but it resisted
harm, even when I brought up my oversize knife and swung it down in the way somebody would use a hammer.
It only jarred my arm.
The noise reverberated through the jungle so I did not try again.
I continued to clear back the ground, exposing more of the object. It was not long before I discovered it was far bigger than a windshield. The time passed like a racing cheetah while I worked to excavate. Despite my initial observation, I had been open to the possibility it was naturally occurring obsidian or something similar, but the more I uncovered, the less that was likely.
While it was curved, it was also so smooth it was almost soft and had exact dimensions as if it were man-made.
I dug like a man possessed. When I checked my watch and saw I had ten minutes before I was supposed to return, I sped up, trying frantically to uncover the secret.
Just when I uncovered what looked like an edge, a whistle rang out and I was faced with giving up or having them come look for me.
I decided to go back because I did not want to share this find just yet, if at all. I had a vague notion about covering it up and returning later, but I knew that meant I would have to come on a separate expedition and I had no intention of returning to this jungle.
I was the last to show up. Sharon pointed at me first.
“What did you find?” Her eyes narrowed as if she expected me to withhold something. I looked around the group and for some reason I could not explain, told a lie, even though I was afraid my deception would be obvious.
“Nothing. I found nothing.”
My falsehood went over without any red flags. Sharon did not frown or otherwise indicate she might suspect me before asking Carmen to report what she had found.
Not even a follow-up question, I did better than I thought.
Carmen’s words might have hit my ears but they never made it to my brain.
My mind was back in the cluster of trees.
What was that thing? How did it get here?
