Alex stares at the front gate for a moment. A glowing green light spills out of the sides of his goggles. He must be telepathically navigating the compound’s computers, using his mind to turn off the electric fence.
Sure enough, a few seconds later the fence stops emitting its faint buzzing sound. Alex pushes the front gate open and stands aside so I can squeeze through. Then he shuts the gate, stares at the fence for a few seconds, and the buzzing noise returns.
Alex grabs my hand again and leads me down to the edge of the jungle. Just as we reach the tree line, he turns to me and says, in contrived apprehension, “You ready?”
“I’m starting to have second thoughts,” I say with feigned trembling lips. “I would hate to run into the Boogey Man.”
“Too late,” Alex says, pulling me into the seemingly impenetrable darkness of the Amazon. Or at least, it would appear impenetrable with the naked eye. But the night vision function on our goggles illuminates everything in our paths, albeit with an eerie, greenish hue.
“Activate your bio-signature function so you don’t step on anything you shouldn’t,” Alex says quietly.
I do precisely that and gasp when hundreds upon hundreds of red dots pop up all around me. The jungle is literally alive with all sorts of life forms. There are insects crawling across the jungle floor, snakes slithering into the bushes, birds up on the treetops, and howler monkeys up in their nests. I think I heard the monkeys ‘howling’ when we first arrived (rumor has it their howls can be heard for miles) but they are awfully quiet now. They, like most of the jungle creatures (save for the nocturnal ones), are in a deep slumber.
“This is incredible,” I say, marveling at the over-abundance of life floating all around me.
“I knew you’d appreciate all the diversity,” Alex says, leading me down a well-worn jungle path. “The others, all they care about is going after the natives. They’re just here for the paycheck. They don’t ever stop and take a look at their surroundings like I do. They don’t realize what they’re missing.”
“Lance and Krystal are the same way,” I say, side-stepping a giant spider that just scuttled across my path. “They never stop and smell the roses, to borrow an over-used cliché.”
“I’m glad I finally found someone who appreciates the little stuff,” Alex says with a quick backward glance.
I give Alex’s hand a gentle squeeze. “As am I.”
As we make our way down the meandering path, we come across a few obstacles. The first is a rattlesnake that slithers out in front of us. I yelp and stagger back, just as the snake rears its fearsome head and prepares to strike. Alex quickly fires two blinding lasers from his goggles, incinerating the snake and leaving behind a pile of ashes.
Alex rushes over to me and says, “You okay?”
Struggling to catch my breath, I gasp, “Hell no! I hate snakes! I thought you said it would be safe to enter the jungle at night!”
“It is safe. You didn’t get bit, did you?”
If Alex wasn’t so ridiculously sexy and charming, I would slug him right in his jaw.
The next obstacle we nearly walk into is a massive spider web dangling between two trees. Alex dispatches of the sticky roadblock with a machete he snatches from his utility belt. A huge, freaky looking spider scampers away, obviously perturbed that we destroyed his silky home.
The third and most terrifying obstacle is a ferocious jaguar hiding in the bushes. Thankfully our night-vision goggles alert us to the tenacious creature’s presence before he (or she) has a chance to pounce on us. Alex fires a warning shot over the jaguar’s head, sending the giant kitty scurrying off into the jungle.
“See, we’re perfectly safe,” Alex says.
“You are such a compulsive liar,” I say. But I’m not angry. Alex has proven himself more than capable of protecting me from the dangers of the Amazon. My infatuation with him is only growing.
As we get closer to the river bank, it starts sprinkling. Just enough for water droplets to accumulate on my visor (which I wipe away with my index finger).
“It’s been raining quite a bit in recent weeks,” Alex explains as he helps me step over a fallen log. “Ever since LeBeau sent more weather drones down here. You can hear them flying overhead at all hours of the day and night, releasing raincloud-creating agents into the atmosphere. The jungle was drying out again, so the U.S. started playing ‘God’ to make it rain.”
“Makes you wonder if all this geo-engineering is good for the planet,” I say, clinging to Alex’s left arm as we pass yet another snake slithering along the edge of the trail. “All we’re doing is masking the symptoms of our planet’s ever-growing fever. We certainly haven’t done enough to actually cure the fever.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself, love.”
The way Alex calls me ‘love’ makes me feel all giddy. I seriously need to not drink so much next time. All that alcohol turns me into a love-struck school girl.
About ten minutes later we reach the river bank. It turns out Alex was right about this being an awesome idea. The view is, in a word, mesmerizing.
The water in the Amazon tributary gushes along at a good clip, reflecting the stars and moonlight shining through the gaps in the jungle canopy and the approaching rain clouds. The water looks like it’s filled with thousands of fireflies. And speaking of fireflies, thousands of them pop in and out of existence in the surrounding jungle, like flickering Christmas lights. The rain grows ever heavier, drenching me from head to toe. I’m actually grateful for the rain, as it cools down the sweltering jungle air. A cool, refreshing breeze blows across the river bank, sending exhilarating shivers cascading down my spine. The combination of the invigorating rain, brisk breeze, the sparkling river, and the flickering fireflies places me firmly on Cloud 9. I haven’t felt this alive and at peace in many months.
“Oh Alex,” I whisper, clinging ever tighter to his slender, muscular body.
Alex wraps his arms around me as I rest my head against his chest.
“I told you you’d enjoy this,” he whispers into my ear.
The cloud cover increases, completely blocking out the moon and stars. The rain starts falling in earnest, to the point that it almost gets hard to breathe due to all the moisture in the air. Alex and I rush under a towering tree, which provides us some shelter from the sudden downpour. I look out over the river, which is inundated with thousands of ripples. I gasp when a monstrous snake head emerges from the water before disappearing again.
“Was that…?”
“An anaconda,” Alex says, taking great delight in my childlike wonder.
“Wow, that thing was freaking huge.”
Alex shrugs. “I’ve seen bigger. That one was probably only 15 feet long.”
“Only? That’s 15 feet too many!”
“You really don’t like snakes, do you?”
“Only the ones you use to unclog toilets.”
Alex wraps his arms back around my waist. “So where were we?”
Allowing myself to submerge entirely into my drunken stupor, I say, “Right about here.”
I press Alex up against the tree and we start passionately making out. Alex slips me the tongue, momentarily taking me by surprise. Not to be outdone, I reciprocate. I feel Alex’s lips curling into a smile as our makeout session grows even more intense.
A couple minutes later we part our lips and come up for air, just as the rain has dissipated back to a tranquil drizzle. I shake my head, spraying water everywhere. Alex shoves his goggles back on top of his head, allowing me unhindered access to his gorgeous emerald eyes.
“You are a fantastic kisser,” Alex says breathlessly.
“You weren’t too bad yourself. To be honest, I’m usually pretty bad at making out. But if you give me enough alcohol, I can kiss with the best of them.”
“Remind me to keep you liquored up then.”
We exchange a few more kisses before embracing each other under the water-logged canopy. Giant drops of water occasi
onally slide off the palm trees hanging over our heads and splatter on our faces.
“This is amazing,” I say quietly, looking out over the bioluminescent water. The river appears to be glowing, with green and electric-blue lights dancing atop the water surface. Standing there on the river bank, wrapped in Alex’s muscular arms, out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, away from the craziness of the world… the craziness of my own life… I suddenly feel an inner peace the likes of which I have not felt in years. Perhaps ever.
Blinking away the tears welling up in my eyes, I say in a trembling voice, “Thank you for sharing this experience with me, Alex. It means more than you could ever know.”
Alex cups his rugged hands under my chin and stares down upon my tear-streaked face. “For someone so beautiful, you harbor so much pain and anger. I can sense it… like a palpable energy exuding from your very pores. I wish there was something I could do to fix that.”
I sniffle and reply, “I just need for this chapter in my life to be over. Once we find Klaxton and bring her to justice, I will finally be at peace.”
Interlocking his fingers with my own, Alex says, “Then that’s what we’re going to do. Come Hell or high water, we will find Klaxton and make her pay for her crimes.”
I cock my head and decide to ask a question that’s been perplexing me from the moment Alex and I first met.
“If you don’t mind me asking… why are you so infatuated with me? I mean, I’m not that great of a person. I’ve done many terrible things. I have more blood on my hands than perhaps anyone my age. I just… I don’t understand why you think I’m so special.”
“Are you kidding me, Boom Boom?” Alex cries. “How can you not see it? You’re like the coolest, bravest, most insanely awesome woman on the planet. You’re an inspiration to everyone who wants to make the world a better place. You’re an inspiration to those of us who are tired of the global depression… tired of all the poverty, all the crime, all the corruption, all the war…. Tired of the threat of global annihilation constantly hanging over our heads, like an ever-present sword of Damocles that could drop and wipe us out at a moment’s notice. This is no way to live. So many of us would have already given up by now. The problems of the world seem so complex… so difficult to solve. But you made us realize one person can make a difference. Even if it’s only a small difference, it’s still a difference nonetheless. And if we all unite… if we all strive to make positive change… especially all of the young people who are outraged at the way our elders have fucked everything up… then maybe we can make things the way they used to be. Back when we had economic prosperity, when we had real freedom, when we had real peace, and most importantly of all, when we had real hope.”
Alex pauses for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts. He then shakes his head and mutters, “Fuck it. I wasn’t going to talk about this… I find it hard, you know? But I feel like I need to share this part of my life with you.”
“Please do,” I say, gazing into his watery green eyes. “I’m listening.”
Alex takes a quivering deep breath before blurting out, “A few months ago I was on the verge of suicide, Boom Boom. I had just lost my girlfriend of five years. She was murdered in the streets because she didn’t give up her purse to some piece of shit thief. We lived in Sanctuary 3, which you undoubtedly know has the highest crime rate of all the sanctuaries. I wasn’t there to protect her. I was at school at the time. I was the one who had to identify her blood-stained body.”
By now the tears are spilling from Alex’s eyes like raindrops. In between sniffles he says, “I had lost my parents several years earlier. They were murdered, too. A carjacking. So many people I knew were killed, over stupid crap. Money, cars, clothes, shoes… you have no idea how prevalent crime is in Sanctuary 3. It’s like a contagious disease that infects everyone behind the sanctuary walls. Speaking of disease, I lost my brothers and sisters to that horrible bird flu outbreak from a few years back. We were the last sanctuary to get vaccinated. They say close to a quarter of the sanctuary population perished. Judging by the type of people who survived, it seems the flu killed all the good ones.”
Alex continues, doing his best to keep his voice steady. “I lost everyone I knew and loved. I had nothing to live for. Like, what was even the point? No friends, no family, no lovers… everyone who remained was pure evil. I was on the verge of ending it all. I couldn’t tell you how many nights I pointed a revolver at my forehead, too chicken-shit to pull the trigger. But I was getting awfully close. I’d even apply a little pressure to the trigger. Just another centimeter or so, and BLAM! It would have all been over.”
“Oh Alex,” I whisper.
Alex takes another shuddering breath and says, “So yeah, I was literally at the end of my rope. And then…”
Alex flashes a teary-eyed smile.
“…and then you happened.”
It takes a few seconds for me to comprehend what he’s saying
“What do you mean I happened?” I finally ask.
“I saw you on TV, after the incident in Alaska. I mean, I’ve known about you for years. You and your friends have been household names for a while now. But after the news broke that you guys stopped Klaxton from starting a new world war, your popularity exploded overnight. You guys might not have noticed, but the average person on the street… they fell in love with you guys. You guys are living legends. You’re heroes who dared stand up to the corrupt establishment and proclaim to the high heavens, “No more. We have had enough.” You have no idea how inspirational that comes across to the hopeless and the downtrodden. It’s like, if these 18-year old kids can take on the most powerful woman in the world and bring her crashing back down to Earth, then are my problems really that difficult to overcome? Is my cause really that hopeless? People were actually saying stuff like this on the street corners. I had never heard that kind of optimism before. Never in all my life.”
I stand there in awe of Alex’s effusive praise. I’ve heard people give us kudos before, but we’ve been so busy these past few months that we’ve just kind of brushed it off. We’ve been so focused on exacting vengeance against Klaxton that we haven’t stopped and listened to what people are saying. To hear that we truly have made a difference… that the oppressed and poverty-stricken citizens of these once great United States believe in our cause… that is the most mind-blowing and humbling thing I have ever heard. It’s enough to make me burst into tears. But I do my best to keep the dam behind my eyeballs from being breached. I don’t need, nor do I want, to make this about me. This is about Alex releasing all the pent-up frustration and sadness and hopelessness that has plagued his short life. This is about him revealing to a trusted soul… someone he just met, but someone he trusts nonetheless (and trust me, I plan on doing nothing to compromise that trust)… what makes him tick, what makes him quit, and what makes him persevere over even the most overwhelming and devastating of odds.
Cradling my face in his hands, Alex continues. “Do you see, Boom Boom? You showed me that all was not lost. It was like an epiphany from the Great Beyond. I realized I didn’t have to give up. No, that would have been the easy way out. The cowardly way out. I didn’t have to end it all. I could still make a difference… there are still things worth fighting for… and yes, even worth living for. So I volunteered for the military. I knew that my country, for all its flaws, could still become the great nation it once was. And at this desperate moment in her history, she desperately needs me. For the first time in my life I felt a sense of patriotism. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It gave me a sense of belonging… of being wanted… of being needed.
“The first few weeks of boot camp were pretty tough. But because of all the shit I’ve been through, it was a welcome respite to be able to throw myself into such a grueling, mind-numbing endeavor. While other recruits dropped from exhaustion during our marathon hikes and nerve-wracking war games, I not only survived, but I thrived! I impressed my commanders so much,
in fact, that they put me on the fast-track to America’s special forces division. Usually it takes years to get promoted to that level, but a bunch of our special forces have been killed in covert skirmishes with the Chinese in recent months. They were in desperate need of fresh bodies, so to speak.”
I gasp. “Wait, so we’re already fighting the Chinese? I mean, I know we’ve had some skirmishes at sea, but…”
Alex nods. “Yeah, it hasn’t been announced to the American People because LeBeau doesn’t want to start a panic, but we’ve done some black-ops missions against Chinese outposts in the deserts of Africa and the Middle East. To say they haven’t gone well would be an understatement of grandiose proportions. We are vastly outmanned, outgunned, out-everything. If the American People were made aware of that, our crumbling empire would implode overnight. We have to at least pretend we’re capable of going toe-to-toe with the Chinese, even if the reality is nowhere close to the fantasy.
World War Forever (Highway To Armageddon Book 2) Page 24
