“Maybe it’s mating season,” Derek suggested. “Like some big spider orgy.”
“Where’d the others go?”
“No idea. Look, the tent is over there.”
Jack could see the spider that had been wrapped up in it was now gone. The tent itself was in tatters, ripped open by fangs and spear-like legs.
“There’s my camera. Shit I need it.” Derek grimaced.
Jack had the same thought. Their story relied heavily on proof at this point, but was it worth it to get themselves killed for it? I guess it depends on how much you want early retirement, he thought.
Derek inched forward, toward the outside. The trees out there were shaking with unseen spiders, most likely jumping and climbing through the limbs.
He caught up with Derek and grabbed the back of his shirt. “The camera. We need to get it.”
“Don’t I know it. But forget it. It’s too dangerous. I can see the trees moving, man. They’re ready to ambush us. Look, what we have to do is come back when they’re not here and get the photos. Right now I think it’s best if we just get the hell off this mountain.”
“We need it now.”
“Jack, seriously.”
“You realize that’s our ticket to real money, right? You realize you’ll put your kids through college with those photos.”
Jack inched further into the open. “Maybe I can get it.”
Derek shook his head. “No way. Let it go.”
“My mind can’t let it go, not this story.”
“Not any of them, it seems.”
“I can get it. Maybe.”
“You’ll die, Jack.”
“Maybe not.”
“Maybe so. Look, man, I’ve got your vibe now, and I want this story like I want porn star pussy, but I can’t put kids through college if I’m dead. I’m a dad first here, photojournalist second. I told you I know your type of writer and I’ve found it best to avoid guys like you. You think investigative reporting means infiltrating the Russian mafia for a two page spread in the lifestyle section. Then you spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder in exchange for two thousand words and a byline. I like you, but I’m not gonna let you kill me. And I’m not gonna let you kill yourself. You take one more step and I’m hauling your ass back in here.”
“You’re a bit controlling, friend. I can’t imagine why you’re divorced.”
Past the tent, a shadow leapt through the trees. Jack slinked back into the cave. “Okay, this is not a safe place to be so let’s get the fuck outta Dodge.”
Derek sighed, relieved.
Outside, another massive spider scuttled out from the bushes and darted out of sight. The vibration of its running sent chills up Jack’s spine. Derek uttered a curse, followed by, “Take photos of mushrooms in the DRC. Ha! Stupid magazine. Okay, let’s jet, but I’m not going down this cave.”
“Why not. It’s safer in here.”
“No it’s not.” Derek lifted his arm and brushed off wispy white hairs that clung to shirt. “Got this from the underside of that cliff edge when I caught you, dude. It’s webbing. These things are in here as well. And if I remember anything about the shit I’ve seen on the Discovery Channel, spiders like dark, tight spaces so they can hide.”
With a shudder, Jack looked down at his own clothing, saw the silken strands of web attached to them. “Ah, shit.” He walked back toward the drop, looked down at the shoe, looked up at the walls and saw the webbing collected on it all. “I think you’re right. But how long before the ones outside come in here?”
“And how long before the ones in here come looking for a way out. Right now they’re occupied with spider love.”
“Not all of them.”
“Let me finish before I lose any nerve I have left. I think we can skirt around the tip of this mountain and high tail it down through the trees. We’ll be above them so I’m hoping it’ll be harder for them to see us.”
“They have eyes on the tops of their heads, Derek.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“Devil’s advocate, is all. Go on.”
“When we hit the river below we find a path, or whatever passes for a path, or we make a path, I don’t care, and keep running until we’re somewhere near civilization.”
“The river? Have you forgotten about the hippos. Those things are near the river. Trees at the edges, high grass beyond. Perfect hiding spots.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re everywhere. But I can see better outside, and I can move a hell of a lot better out there than in here. Once we’re around the tip of the mountain we’ll have a fighting chance. In here, we’re fucked.”
The man has some good points, Jack thought. I sure wouldn’t want to be trapped in this place with those things. Better to at least have the option of running without falling into a dark pit or getting trapped in some dead end tunnel than stay here and fight through darkness and hard rock. “Shit, we need weapons.”
“The gun is lost. We can grab some branches on the way down. Use them as staffs or spears.”
“What am I, Tarzan?”
“You got a better idea, Mr. I-had-to-come-up-here-for-a-story?”
Jack shook his head. “No. Okay, let’s get the hell outta here.”
They moved silently out of the cave, sticking to the mossy rock walls, slid out into the morning sunlight and kept their backs against the mountain. Not far away, the six spiders engaged in their mating dance continued to flick their legs in their strange ritual. Scanning the surrounding trees revealed no visible spiders, but Jack could sense they were out there. Just keep moving, he thought, and don’t make a sound.
In front of him, Derek slinked around the mountain’s cone, stepped away from the rock and edged toward where the mountain sloped downward through a sea of trees and bushes. Jack moved up next to him and looked out over the decline. The flora was so thick he couldn’t see the jungle floor, let alone see what sort of dangers were hiding out there.
Below him he could hear the falls from the mountain spilling into the river below. “You sure this is a better plan?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Works for me.” Jack took his first step down the mountain, grabbed the trees for support, began to slide but caught himself.
“Be careful,” Derek whispered.
The warning was too little too late. Jack slipped and went down on his back, rolled through waves of low fronds and saw nothing but green and brown as he tumbled down the slope.
He would have kept rolling had not two brown arms grabbed his leg and stopped him short of slamming into a tree.
“Who the hell?” He pushed away the leaves covering his face, expecting to find Derek looking down at him. But instead he found—
“Banga?”
“Yes, sir. My apologies for leaving my post, but there are devils in the jungle. I was forced to hide.” The guide’s eyes swiveled back and forth at the trees, searching for danger.
“Lemme guess, they spin webs and are bad luck if you step on—”
Banga slammed his hand over Jack’s mouth, put a finger to his own. Jack shut up immediately, then nearly shit himself as a very large yellow and brown spider leapt as fast as a private jet from the top of a nearby tree high above them, passed over them without incident, and landed somewhere in the jungle Jack couldn’t see.
God, he wished he had a video camera. What a damn story this was going to make if he could survive it.
The bushes to his side started to shake. Banga backed up and raised his machete, nostrils flared and ready for battle. He muttered some kid of prayer. Sweat beaded on his brow.
If it’s a spider, Jack thought, I hope Banga can move as fast as lightning. Otherwise we’re toast.
Instead of a spider, Derek stepped out from the foliage. “You could have waited for me, Jack. Those things saw me moving. Oh…Banga. Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead. Your rifle is still up there with those things. I thought—”
Derek’s
words were cut short as a massive ball of legs and wiry hair exploded from the bushes, wrapped him up, and passed into the foliage beyond. The photographer’s cries were so shrill they stood Jack’s hairs on end.
“Derek! Jack yelled, scanning the ground for a weapon.
Banga blew past him, machete raised, and leapt into the bushes, swinging his blade in wide arcs. A severed spider leg catapulted into the air and flipped out of sight. A stream of yellow goo doused Jack, running into his eyes and mouth. The bushes shook violently as Banga swung and chopped at the beast, Derek yelling beneath it.
Wounded, the spider backed out of the bushes, two legs missing and gushing yellow gore. Banga stabbed the machete into the spider’s eyes, splitting them open. Black fluid streamed down the monster’s face. Beneath its remaining six legs, Derek managed to free his arms and haul himself a few inches away from the furry underbelly.
The closest thing to Jack’s feet was a rock the size of a coffee mug. He grabbed it and hurled it at the spider’s face, saw it smash hard into its mouth. The spider dropped Derek and fired a strand of web from its abdomen, either attempting to snare Banga or simply get away, Jack couldn’t tell which. Rearing up violently, it ran at Banga, the machete still in its eyes, and beat its legs at the man. Banga ducked and rolled, got himself behind a tree as the spider rammed the tree trunk, knocking branches to the ground.
Jack just had time to see Derek rolling away into a bush before the spider turned and vaulted up into the treetops, and then charged through the boughs like a cannonball, disappearing into the jungle.
All three men watched the trees, waiting for it to come back, but it was gone in defeat for now.
“Derek! Derek, you okay? Talk to me, man.”
The photographer came out of the bushes, shaking and rubbing his arms. He looked a second away from shock.
Jack and Banga both ran to him and Jack grabbed his head, stared into his eyes. “You hurt? You okay? What? Tell me something.”
“Yeah. I’m okay. It didn’t eat me. Holy shit, that was scary. I think I’m officially done with Africa. Can we go now?”
The look in Derek’s eyes was bordering on hysteria, and Jack understood why, having been in the clutches of one of the spiders just moments earlier. “First I want to find the leg.”
“What? Why!”
“We can use it for proof. We lost the camera and the backpack with the web, so we need something. It’s right around here. Hurry! Help me look!” Jack scanned the foliage for the severed appendage. So much green, he thought, it’s almost impossible to see anything. But it has to be here somewhere. I saw it flying this way.
“Sirs?” Banga was wiping yellow spider blood off his arms.
“Hang on. Help me find the leg.”
“Sirs?”
“Jack, let’s get the fuck outta here. I can barely stand. My legs are still shaking.”
“Sirs?”
“The leg went over here. Help me find it.”
“Sirs!”
Jack finally turned toward Banga, who was looking back up the hill toward the cave mouth. “What?”
“They are coming. We made too much noise and they are coming.”
At the top of the slope, Jack could see at least a dozen black, hairy legs hanging over the edge, twitching.
Derek stepped in front of Jack and spoke as calmly as his shaking body could muster. “I think they’re done with the orgy. It’s time to fucking go.”
***
“I can hear water gushing.” Janet eased by a low overhang and crawled into a sunlit area inside the cave. A second, tighter tunnel met theirs and continued on toward a blazing opening of blue light that was so intense it forced her to turn away for a second.
Gellis emerged behind her, pushed past and held his backpack above his head to keep it dry from the running water around their hands and knees. “It’s the mountain’s inner river. Look, that is the falls.”
Janet turned back and realized he was right. But how could that be? They’d traveled so far down they should be near the jungle floor. Had they not descended as far as they’d thought? It didn’t matter; the sight of sunlight made her want to cry. She moved like a crawling baby toward the opening, the water rushing up to her elbows. It was cold and fresh and she now realized how thirsty she was but she was too preoccupied with getting to the opening to think about gulping it down. She grabbed onto the jagged walls as she went to keep the water from sweeping her away and pitching her over the falls.
“Antoine! Look! I see treetops.”
Gellis was beside her now, backpack held aloft with one hand as he gazed out over the falls as well. Below them flowed a river of brown mud, and beyond it the mighty jungle of the Congo. The mist from the crashing water rose up into tiny spectrums of light before his eyes.
Janet grabbed his shoulder. Another time he would have noted this sudden tendency to touch him, but he wasn’t sure if she was just excited to see the outdoors or not. “Look, we’re not at the top of the falls,” she said. “I’m so confused.”
They were perhaps three stories high above the river, not the staggering height of the water that ran from the top of this mountain. It was a secondary set of falls, he realized, just to the side of the larger one. It must get masked from down below by all the mist and spray coming from above, he thought. “I think it is still too high to jump,” he said. “I do not know how deep the water is below but if we jump and it is shallow it will break our bones.”
“We need rope. There’s none left in the bag?”
“Only sticks of dynamite. Nothing else.”
“Lot of good that does us. Why are you bothering to keep it dry then?”
“There is no use ruining it. It is expensive, yes?”
“Hardly. My father’s company makes it. I can get it by the truck load if I need it. Besides…” She grabbed the bag and dug around inside, brought out two sticks of dynamite labeled Beaudette Mining on the side. “There are no blasting caps in the bag so these are worthless.”
Gellis took something from the back pocket of his pants. When Janet saw what they were her eyes nearly jumped out of her head.
Caps.
“Where did you get those!”
“At the camp. Two of the men had stolen them from the crates when your gunmen were not looking. I took them back.”
“What! They stole them? What the fuck! This is exactly the kind of shit my father talks about. Why the hell are people stealing this shit from me? Those fucking morons could have blown up the whole camp!”
“They steal them to sell them in the villages and to the militias. Any weapon is worth money here in Africa. Sometimes having something to offer will save your life.”
She was beside herself with anger and wanted to scream at Gellis. This was why she hated working with the local tribes. They stole and they lied and they would cut your head off if you weren’t looking. Low life pieces of scum they were.
No, just stop. She cut the rest of her thoughts off, seeing that look of disappointment in Gellis’ eyes. It’s not all of them, she realized, just a couple idiots who tried to make an extra buck. Would she or any of the others have ever noticed that the caps were even gone? Probably not.
Sometimes having something to offer will save your life.
“Why did you take them back?” She asked.
“Because they would eventually cause someone harm. Someone would die from these.”
“Did you plan to give them back to me? Did you care they belonged to my father’s company?”
“Honestly…no. I was going to slip them back when I had a chance to do so unseen. That is all. But then we blew the mountain and the spiders came.”
It’s a world I don’t understand, she realized. These people are left to fend for their lives and their families against unyielding civil war and to do so they must steal and lie to…to what? She saw the truth in Gellis’ eyes, the history of his own life in these shantytowns. She saw the history of his family and what he was doing now to
try and put food on the table for his wife. And yes, then it fell into place, that last thought.
To keep their loved ones from getting raped and maimed and kidnapped and murdered.
The water flowed under her, ran out of the small opening, diving down to freedom. She wanted nothing more to do right now than follow it, not argue about company theft. “You do realize how dangerous it is to keep caps on you when you’re carrying dynamite.”
“I am not a demolition expert, but I understand their danger.”
“You’re lucky those are fuse caps. We have electric caps too. In fact, these fuses here are backups just in case something goes wrong with the electric ones. If those idiots had stolen the electric ones, and they were in your pocket, we’d be pasted all over the insides of this God forsaken mountain.”
“I am sorry.”
“Hey, don’t be sorry. Be thankful. We’ve got dry dynamite and fuses. If we have to blow our way out of the mountain, at least now we’ve got the means.”
“Let us pray it does not come to that.”
The interior of the cave was damp, the water cold, and Janet was starting to shiver now. “Well, how else do we get down? I want out of this place now. I really don’t see any other way out but to jump.”
“We can try to climb down the outside.”
“Ever try to climb on wet rock? It doesn’t work. It’s like trying to grip oil. Slippery as all bloody hell. If we don’t jump we’ll have to find another way down through these caves.”
“But if we jump and the water is shallow…If we hurt ourselves we won’t be able to run. Those spiders are still out there.”
“They’re in here too. Remember?”
Gellis nodded. “It is hard to forget. I am thinking you are right, jumping is worth the risk. Perhaps I will go first. If I am injured, you will be aware of the danger.”
“Not on your life. If you’re injured I can’t carry you. If I’m injured, well, you can give me a piggyback or something. I’m much lighter than you are.”
“Are you sure?”
“Antoine, I’m still your boss and I’m not asking you. I’m jumping first. Just make sure that if I do get hurt you fish my body out of the water at some point.”
Salticidae Page 15
