by RB Schalin
Chapter 22
"I think I have found something," shouts Hogan to Kerry and Julia.
He can hear them pushing through the bushes and small trees coming closer to where he is standing looking at the ground. They sound like two elephants coming at him, and he decides they would never make it as soldiers.
"What is it?" asks Julia when she arrives breathing hard.
Hogan waits a few minutes until Kerry arrives, his arms and face have some scratches from branches and he is sweating so much his shirt is completely soaked. He leans against a tree trunk to catch his breath.
It is already past midday and the jungle is hot and humid, they spent the morning walking their lines, but found nothing. Then they moved along further to the East and began again, and now Hogan has found something.
"Look, see that sticking out of the ground?" he says, pointing at a piece of dark wood.
Julia kneels and touches the wood, it’s hard and black, like if it had been burnt. It’s square and about ten inches in diameter, and it's sticking up about a foot from the ground. The end is smooth, like it had been sawed off.
"What do you think it is?" asks Hogan.
She touches the end and says, "could be a beam from a structure."
Kerry kneels beside her and takes out a knife. He scratches the wood until it becomes light. Standing up, he says, "looks like it was burnt at some point. Maybe there was a fire, and the building it was supporting came crashing down, burying it."
"Just my thought, it’s possible that it happened during the earthquake if there were fires."
They are quiet for a while thinking about what their discovery means.
"OK people, this is the first evidence we have of a construction of some kind. We need to take a sample of it with us for carbon dating," says Kerry.
"I’ll get Laka’s machete, we can use that to hack away a piece, " says Hogan and walks away.
Kerry and Julia sit down on the ground and drink some water. Julia looks at the tree tops, high above her and says, "you know Kerry, you were right. I honestly didn’t believe in the story, but this could be the evidence we need."
"Let’s take it nice and easy, that piece of wood could be anything really, we won’t know until we get it back to the States."
Hogan arrives at the camp site but can’t see Laka anywhere. He calls out his name, but doesn’t get a response. It’s eerily quiet, no insects, no birds, just the heat vibrating in the air. He looks around and finds the machete on the ground on the outskirts of the camp. He makes a last walk around to see if he can figure out what made Laka leave, but finds nothing.
"Our guide is gone, but he was good enough to leave his machete, " he says when he comes back to where Kerry and Julia are waiting.
"What do you mean, gone?" asks Julia.
"As in, he is not there. I called his name, but he didn’t answer and there is no sign of a struggle. Maybe he got bored and went for a walk?"
"Maybe, but we won’t know until he comes back, " says Kerry.
Hogan hefts the machete in his hand and after taking aim chops off a few pieces from the beam. Kerry collects them and puts them in his pocket. Then he bends down and takes hold of it and moves it back and forth. It won’t budge it’s stuck hard in the ground.
"I think it is still attached to the original structure, and that’s why it won’t come out," he says letting go of it.
"Let’s continue looking, we might find something else," says Julia.
They line up again and begin the search moving slowly and keeping their eyes to the ground. The find has boosted their energy and they keep looking until it begins to get dark, but find nothing else.
Back at the camp, they look for any signs of Laka, but find none.
"I think he went back and left us here," says Hogan while taking off his boots.
"Why would he do that?" asks Julia.
"Maybe something spooked him, this is a weird place you know, all silent and I don’t know about you, but I have had a feeling all day that someone or something was watching us."
"Funny you should say that, I had the exact same feeling in the morning. I was walking along and when I stopped to tie my boots I thought I saw something move among the trees," says Kerry, sitting down next to Hogan.
"Did you see what it was?" asks Hogan.
"No, but I don’t think it was an animal.”
"I don’t like it. We should head back to the river now while it’s still light."
"No, it would be too dangerous when it gets dark. We could get lost or fall into a swamp. It’s better to wait until the morning," says Kerry.
"I agree, let’s make a fire and this night we share the same tent, and keep guard. It’s important we stay together," says Hogan.
They look for dry wood and collect as much as they can, and as darkness falls Hogan lights the fire. He heats up a couple of cans and they eat some of the food they brought along. They don’t speak much, each one in their own thoughts.
Just outside the ring of light, eyes are watching them and whispered words are said. A group of five hunters spread out in a ring around the Americans. They crawl forward like snakes on the damp ground edging closer and closer.
"I’m off to bed," says Julia and stretches her lean body.
"OK, I’ll take first watch," says Hogan and adds, "get some rest Kerry, I’ll wake you up around midnight."
Kerry nods and disappears into the tent after Julia. They shuffle around a bit and then they lie down and almost immediately fall asleep.
Outside Hogan throws more branches on the fire which flares up and he moves in closer. Not because it’s cold, but the light makes him feel safer.
One of the hunters is three yards behind Hogan, he watches while the man moves a bit and then settles down. The machete is on his right side close enough to reach quickly. The hunter pulls a tube about two feet long and made of a wood from his side as slowly as possible. It is already loaded with a dart five inches long and thin as a needle. At one end there is a cotton type fiber, which gives it stability. He places the tube in front of his mouth and silently draws in air through his nose. When his lungs are full he takes careful aim and blows.
"Fucking mosquitos, all day and not a single insect, and now I get bitten," says Hogan and rubs the spot on the back of his neck where he just got bit. He looks into the fire, but keeps his hearing on maximum alert. While he looks at the flames they begin to slow down until it’s just a wall of orange and red light. Suddenly he feels drowsy and when he tries to stand up, he looses his balance and falls to the side. His breathing is labored and saliva is dripping from the corner of his mouth. He can’t move his limbs, so when a shadow kneels next to him and a face with a twitching nose appears in front of him, he can only scream inside his head.
One hunter ties the big man while the others circle the tent. One of them opens the flap and takes a quick look inside. He turns to his friends and nods his head, one of them step forward and then both of them lever their blowguns at the two bodies inside. When the darts prick their skin, they don’t even move, they just lay still.
As the three bodies are carried away into the jungle one of the hunters kicks the fire until it’s gone, then he turns around and hurries after the others. He is smiling to himself and wonders what the old man will give him as a reward for bringing not one, but three humans to be sacrificed.
