Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (30 page)

*

Sometime within the next hour, Sam came to Jake with a ration pack. The food tasted just as bad as the first time, but it settled his growling stomach.

“
We need to take shifts,
”
Sam said.

“
Shifts?
”
Jake was still confused, a symptom of exhaustion.

“
Keeping watch, bro. Imagine Quentin and his buddy come back and untie the seven dudes downstairs. We
’
ll be in a world of trouble.
”

Felix checked his watch.
“
I can probably go till two. Not likely I
’
ll get much sleep out here anyway. Sam, I
’
ll wake you then. You take it to six.
”

Sam nodded.

“
What about me?
”
Jake said.

“
You need rest. You
’
ve never had to keep watch before, and we didn
’
t train you for anything like this. It
’
s not easy. You have to sit still for three or four hours, in the dark, while everyone else is sleeping
–
and on top of all that you need to be constantly alert. It takes some practice, but it was pretty much routine in the Delta Force. We
’
ve got it.
”

Normally, Jake would argue. He wanted to take some responsibility, was reluctant to be seen as the baby of the group, but he was half-asleep and agreed with everything Felix was saying. In his current state it was unlikely he would keep awake for more than ten minutes.

“
Okay,
”
he mumbled, and fell back to the pillow.

*

Wolfe came to from a groggy stupor. His wrists ached and his joints were stiff. He was weak.

Archfiend had been feeding him half-heartedly, barely paying him any attention, knowing that he only had to remain alive until the rest of his team showed. It was just enough nutrition to keep him conscious: a raw fish here and there, the scraps of a cooked animal.

Archfiend strode in from the trees.

“
You
’
re awake,
”
he stated.

“
My team isn
’
t coming,
”
Wolfe said.
“
You
’
re wasting your time.
”

“
I
’
m afraid they are. In fact, they
’
ve had a run-in with Koji.
”

“
Koji?
”

“
One of my
…
larger creatures. I don
’
t fancy their chances of survival.
”

Why are they coming for me?
Wolfe thought.
It
’
s a death trap.

“
How do you know where they are?
”
he said.

Archfiend smiled.
“
I just know.
”

Jake rose before sunrise. It took him a few moments to shake off the fingers of sleep, trying in vain to drag him back down into slumber.

“
Did I miss anything?
”
he asked as he stirred.

Sam looked up from the floor, taking a second to register the change in an atmosphere that had been the same for hours. He shook his head after a beat.
“
Nothing, brother. Uneventful night.
”

Jake looked across, where Felix lay motionless, his huge chest rising and falling.
“
Any movement from the guys downstairs?
”

“
Not a peep,
”
Sam said quietly.
“
When Felix was on watch they were struggling against the bonds. Didn
’
t work, though. They
’
ve been quiet all night. Sleep probably caught up to them.
”

“
So, no Link?
”

“
No Link,
”
Sam said, even quieter. He was tapping his leg against the floor and staring vacantly past Jake, somewhere far off in his mind. Imagining Link
’
s peril, probably.

“
He
’
ll come back,
”
Jake said.
“
Come on, Sam, you know he
’
s stronger than that. He wouldn
’
t die out here.
”

Sam refused to make eye contact.
“
He was my friend.
”

Silence.

“
And now,
”
Sam said, misty-eyed,
“
he
’
s probably out there in the rainforest alone, surrounded by predators, sleeping on the open ground; no food, or water, or shelter.
”

Jake shuddered. He forced the image from his mind, and told himself that Link was okay.

The morning
’
s preparations were undertaken in solemn silence. Sam and Felix barely uttered a word. Jake watched them move with lethargy, faces creased in anguish. At one point, Sam lashed out furiously, denting the wall with a single punch. They had been holding on to hope that was slowly diminishing, slipping away with each passing second.

Jake
’
s arm felt much better. It was still throbbing, but there was clearly no break.

“
You
’
ve just jarred it,
”
Felix told him.
“
Don
’
t make any sudden movement and you
’
ll be alright.
”

Jake felt like complaining more, but said nothing further. There were bigger issues than a sprained shoulder.

Sam moved methodically from table to table, destroying every last piece of equipment until Koji
’
s genetic makeup was nothing more than history. Felix crossed the room so that he stood over the seven mercenaries. He kept his Snowdog clenched tight between his palms. Slowly, he severed their bindings.

“
Get out of here,
”
Felix snarled, jabbing them each in turn with his Snowdog.
“
I
’
m letting you go because I
’
m the better man. But you don
’
t get food, or water, or weapons. And don
’
t even think about trying anything. I could pull this trigger for half a second and you would still all be dead.
”

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
Mabaya said as he stood up, dusting his wrists off.
“
This is forgotten now. No grudges. Quentin
’
s gone. Our loyalty ends when the money dries up.
”

Felix hesitated, then tossed Mabaya a small canister full of water purification tablets.
“
One soldier to another. Now go before I change my mind.
”

The men skulked out the door, wallowing in their defeat. They cradled their injuries as they left. At the doorway, Mabaya turned and gave Felix a quick nod. Whether it was out of gratitude or simply a meaningless gesture was hard to tell. He was gone before Jake could figure it out. He watched the empty doorway with apprehension.

“
What is it?
”
Felix said.

“
I don
’
t know what to think,
”
Jake said.
“
Maybe we should have killed them.
”

“
Those days are over for us,
”
Felix said.
“
It sounds good in theory, but I
’
d like to see you try and live with yourself after murdering seven helpless men. It just doesn
’
t feel right. Seventeen years ago we would have done it without batting an eyelid.
”

“
Well, we
’
re not exactly helping them by sending them out there with some tablets.
”

“
At least now I don
’
t feel responsible for their fate.
”

*

They set off at six a.m., leaving the makeshift laboratory in a pile of mangled rubble. Sam had made light work of the delicate gear. Nothing would be recovered.

They hiked up out of the valley amidst the warbles and cries of waking birds and set off north. The heat was near unbearable, a hell of a lot higher than the past two days. It was no less humid. Within five minutes, Jake was sweating.

The bugs seemed to come with the heat. They swarmed in clouds. The insect repellent did its job for the most part, but he still ended up with dozens of mosquito bites dotting his forearms. He was grateful for the malaria shots Felix had given him back at the house. The pain had been worth it. It was impossible to tell which of the thousands of insects flittering around was carrying a lethal disease.

After a few hours of travel, the trees began to grow further apart.

“
Napo River
’
s coming up,
”
Thorn explained.

Sure enough, three or four kilometres later, they happened upon a wide dirt track. The trail was naturally formed. It led them along the top of a steep slope running down towards the bank of the Napo. Jake could see it from the track. A twisting, snaking body of murky water wide enough to fit twenty boats side-by-side, the Napo was a welcome sight. At least it was something different, not just another never-ending row of trees. The trail gave them much-needed room to breathe.

He began to get a sense of just how big the Amazon was. The distance they had covered so far had shown them nothing more than a grain of sand on the beach that was the rainforest. The whole thing spanned entire countries. It was a daunting concept.

“
Are you two afraid of death?
”
Jake asked as they trudged along the trail.

Sam and Felix looked up, momentarily perplexed. They had been travelling in muted silence for the better part of the morning.

“
What?
”
Felix said.

“
Are you scared to die?
”
Jake repeated.
“
I am. I can
’
t really handle it sometimes.
”

“
Everyone
’
s scared of death, brother,
”
Sam said.
“
I remember when I joined the Delta Force. It was terrifying. I was always thinking: what if a stray bullet hits me? Will my brain be able to comprehend what
’
s happening, or will it just be like that,
”
–
he clicked his fingers
–
“
and over.
”

“
It makes me want to throw up,
”
Jake said.
“
When I woke up and saw the slayer standing outside my tent. When I was running from Koji. Sometimes I just want to curl up into a ball and give up. Sometimes that seems easier.
”

“
It gets easier to control,
”
Felix said.
“
We
’
re almost numb to that feeling now. Sure, we still get that shiver down our spine, but it
’
s just about priorities. Being scared gets you nowhere in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
”

“
I guess that
’
s our mindset,
”
Sam said.
“
You
’
ve got the whole rest of your life to be scared. Sometimes you just have to do what you don
’
t want to do.
”

“
I can
’
t just shut it out.
”

“
Of course you can
’
t. But look at it this way. You or I could die anytime. In the next few seconds, even. One wrong footfall and you can slip off the edge of this slope and break your neck. Eventually, everyone dies. Doesn
’
t matter when, in the grand scheme of things. You
’
re dead a lot longer than you
’
re alive, brother.
”

The conversation ended there. Jake admired the philosophy behind Sam
’
s reasoning, but he couldn
’
t bring himself to just feel that way. No words would prevent that feeling from returning. And he hated it.

Once again, they lapsed into silence. He listened to the rustling of leaves on his left, and to the steady flowing of the Napo on his right. A glance over the edge of the slope proved Sam right. A fall would produce so much momentum it would be practically impossible to stop.

He thought of Zoe. It twisted his stomach to not know where she was. Was she safe? He hadn
’
t even known her a full day, and yet he felt
…
something. If she was dead, he would break down.

Jake had promised he would come back for her. He pondered over whether it was possible, and if he would ever see her again. Even if they got Wolfe back, it would be an arduous journey out of the Amazon. Zoe was low on the list of the group
’
s priorities. But right now he could think of nothing else. He needed to see her again.

The peace and quiet was interrupted by a low growl to their left. Felix, who was leading the trio, froze in his tracks. Jake and Sam stopped too.

“
Jaguar,
”
Felix whispered.
“
Stay quiet.
”

Jake
’
s pulse quickened. He was suddenly far away, running through the jungle, and there it was in front of him. But it hadn
’
t been a jaguar; it had been Koji. Nothing more than a manifestation.

This one was real.

As Sam came to an abrupt stop, the sole of his hiking boot skidded across a fallen branch. Jake looked down. The entire branch slid off the edge of the slope and began to cartwheel, end over end, down the hill. He swore under his breath. The branch made it less than halfway down before it collided with a short tree, growing out of the dirt at almost a right angle. The impact broke the silence.

The growl became a roar.

Jake squeezed his eyes shut, wincing at Sam
’
s ineptitude. When he opened them, there was a blur of movement from within the rainforest. Then something burst out into the open and landed nimbly between Felix and Jake.

It was a jaguar, that much was for sure, but it was like no jaguar Jake had ever heard of, and certainly not what his imagination had conjured up yesterday. Its muscles were oversized, freakishly unnatural. It was also completely hairless. And white. Pale white.

“
It
’
s been bitten,
”
Felix said, his mouth dropping open.
“
Archfiend
…”

He was right. Jake noticed the skin around the jaguar
’
s mouth had curled back inside. Its canines had sprouted through the flesh. Its eyes were bulging, bloodshot and red. An enormous purple bruise was blotched over one half of its face. He couldn
’
t believe what he was seeing. He didn
’
t know the slayer virus could affect animals.

None of them had time to unhook their Snowdogs, too distracted by the fearsome sight in front of them. Their machetes weren
’
t easily accessible, having been stowed away in their packs after they had happened upon the dirt trail.

They were unarmed.

The jaguar fixed its gaze on Jake, its nearest target. Unblinking eyes sized him up. Assessed him as prey. He gulped back fear.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
he thought. He couldn
’
t outrun it if it decided to attack. He couldn
’
t fight it. He couldn
’
t distract it.

It pounced. Not in the way that slayers pounce, but in the way that jaguars pounce. Different to how the manifestation had pounced. Front paws outstretched, rear paws used to propel itself off the ground.

Jake leapt sideways at the exact same time as the jaguar lunged forward. His timing couldn
’
t have been any more perfect. He hadn
’
t been trained to fight jaguars, but through relentless practice his reflexes had been sharpened to almost superhuman standards. He tumble-rolled out of the way. One of the jaguar
’
s paws snagged on his hiking pack. Moving with the ferocity of someone facing imminent death, he reached up and unclipped the chest strap holding the pack to his body. Instantly, he realised his mistake.

Without realising, his evasive roll had taken him to the very precipice of the dirt track, only half a step from the slope. The jaguar had caught his pack, unintentionally halting his fall. His stomach lurched as he slipped out of the straps and skidded off the edge.

There was no way to halt the descent. He landed feet-first on the dirt, but the momentum of his fall carried him head over heels. So began a cartwheeling, uncontrollable tumble down the slope. He tried scrabbling for a purchase, trying to grab hold of something, anything, but there was no use. A blur of browns and greens was all he could see. It was a rotating kaleidoscope of chaos.

His world suddenly stopped turning, in a blast of pain. A tree trunk slammed into the small of his back and he bounced off it and grimaced as his spine crunched. But the impact had slowed him enough to shoot out a hand and latch onto the bark. He jerked to a halt.

His legs were almost suspended in thin air. They were scrabbling against the dirt. He found no purchase. The pain in his arm reached an agonising level. His entire bodyweight was resting on his jarred shoulder, which was now screaming for relief. He couldn
’
t hold on much longer.

He glanced down and saw that he had fallen down most of the hill already. The slope didn
’
t go on much further before ending in a row of fearsome-looking thorn bushes, forming a barrier between the hill and the river bank. Even from here he could see the huge brambles, glinting in the midday sun. If he hadn
’
t halted his fall, he would now be punctured from head to toe.

Letting go was unavoidable. There was no other option. His arm couldn
’
t take much more. The fingers he had hooked into a crevice of the tree trunk were straining to keep hold, and trying to switch arms would send him tumbling head over heels. He listened to his pain tolerance. It gave him maybe three seconds to do something before he let go of the tree involuntarily.

No.
Earlier than that. His fingers slipped and he dropped away from the tree.

Just as his stomach fell, a man came skidding through the dirt above. It was Sam. He jammed his feet into the earth, slowing himself down, and reached out with both arms in two separate directions. One latched onto the same handhold that Jake had used. The other wrapped tight around Jake
’
s forearm.

“
You okay?
”
Sam gasped. The acrobatic move had placed him in an uncomfortable position. His upper body was straining from the exertion, stretched out in a T-shape between Jake and the tree. They both hung there, grimacing from different pains.

“
Yeah,
”
Jake said.
“
Where
’
s the jaguar?
”

“
Felix is keeping it preoccupied.
”

“
If it doesn
’
t kill him first.
”

There was a shout from above. It was distant, but sounded something like
“
look out!
”
Sam craned his neck and peered up the slope.

“
You
’
re gonna have to jump,
”
he said.

“
What?
”

Jake tilted his head so that he could see past the tree trunk. The jaguar was bounding down the slope towards them at breathtaking speed. It was keeping its balance with ease, heading for them in big, bounding strides.

“
Get a running start, brother,
”
Sam said.
“
If you clear those bushes, you can get across to the other side of the river.
”

“
They can swim too,
”
Jake said, panicking.

“
They can run faster.
”

Jake shook his head in disbelief. The jaguar would be on them in seconds. He didn
’
t have a choice.