scene before them. She needed all of this on film. This was no time to lag behind. This was when the magic happened.
'I want a panoramic view of this spread from up here, then focus down on the others where they are now. As soon as you have enough footage, haul ass down there and see if we can get a shot of their faces before they begin to explore. And stick with Sam. She's our expert. I want to see everything she sees. And make sure you're close enough to record everything she says. That information is crucial for the voiceover.'
'I'm on it,' he said, and took up post on the highest vantage point.
Meanwhile, she needed to stall the others to buy Jay some time to catch up. This was her moment. She'd followed patiently and stayed out of the way like a good little girl, but this was what they were paying her for. If they wanted this done right, they were going to have to do it her way.
She scrambled down the loose bricks, slipping on the mossy surfaces and catching herself on her abraded palms. The rain made the descent even more challenging, but she'd rather chance a sprained ankle than blow this opportunity.
And why did it have to be raining anyway? Sure, it added a measure of reality and ambiance, but she would have traded both for a clear blue sky.
The others appeared ready to disperse. She had to be quick.
'Wait!' She leaped from the mound and landed in the mud. Her legs buckled and she fell to her knees, tearing her jeans and the skin beneath them. She didn't even feel it. Lunging to her feet, she grabbed Leo by the arm. 'This is why you brought us. If you want this properly documented, then you have to wait for Jay.' She paused to catch her breath. 'We enter as a group, Sam in the lead. Jay will be right at her hip with me behind him. The rest of you stay a couple steps back until I give the word.'
The expression on Leo's face was one of indignation. He was obviously not a man accustomed to being told what to do. He opened his mouth to protest, but Dahlia silenced his objection in a whisper.
'You said you wanted this film to be your son's legacy. That legacy is now in my hands. If you want something half-assed with people tromping all over the ruins, then by all means, go ahead. But if you want this film to be truly special, something that will simultaneously honor your son's memory and make the viewers feel as though they're part of the expedition, then you're going to have to do this the right way. My way.'
After a long pause, he acquiesced with a nod. Dahlia felt a swell of power.
She turned to Sam. 'Are you ready to do this?' The way the anthropologist appeared ready to burst, Dahlia didn't need to wait for an answer. 'Then on my mark, you take the lead. This is the first pass. I want you to point out and describe everything of topical importance. Save the fine details for later when we'll have plenty of time to properly document each. For now, I just want a leisurely stroll through the ruins, a cursory exploration, if you will.'
'Can we do this now, or would you like to touch up my makeup first?'
Dahlia matched Sam's smirk, and with a flourish, gestured for her to lead the way.
'Stay right on top of her,' Dahlia whispered to Jay, who had taken a moment to ready himself, and now advanced on Sam's left. 'And don't you dare miss a thing.'
'Relax, girl. This is what I was born to do.'
Dahlia fell into stride behind him, so close she nearly clipped his heels with each step, and, with her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird's, prepared to make cinematic history.
V
It was all Leo could do to keep from shouting for the others to clear out of his way and running blindly through the wreckage of the village. Somewhere inside these crumbling fortifications were the answers he required to piece together the final days of his son's life. He had to know why Hunter died, and he had to find someone to hold responsible for it. Someone needed to pay.
He followed behind Dahlia as they entered the ruins, staying close enough to Sam that he could hear her every word. His gaze darted over every minute detail. Nothing escaped his attention. He couldn't afford to miss anything.
It was apparent that they weren't entering the village from the main entrance, but rather from what appeared to be the rear. The layout reminded him of the village they had passed through in the valley, had it been struck by a hurricane and allowed to decompose over the span of centuries. Weeds and trees had grown up through the cracked cobblestone walkways, and the monstrous ceiba trees around which the buildings had been constructed had laid claim to their remains. Vines dangled from the branches, connecting the trees as completely as if woven into a web by some massive spider. Epiphytes bloomed from every surface in shades of pink and blue, and mosquitoes swarmed around the stagnant water trapped in the cups formed by the aloe-like leaves of bromeliads. Circular dwellings dominated this region, but their tall, thatch roofs had long since fallen. The rotted and broken beams that had once supported them stood from the huts at odd angles, barely visible beneath the creeping foliage that entwined the wood. Stacked stones had tumbled from the walls and were now heaped under soil and aggressive bushes. He peered through the crumbled sections and saw broken pottery and practical relics of all kinds.
'At a guess,' Sam said, 'I'd wager there are close to twenty of these round dwellings. If this village mirrors the modern one, as I suspect, there should be a matching number on the other side, which should place the population somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred. That's a rough, preliminary estimate, of course.'
Leo scoured the area for any sign of Hunter's passage. There had to be something here.
They wound around tree trunks, ducked under vines and branches, and climbed over termite-infested trunks. Ants so large their pincers appeared capable of stealing chunks of flesh crawled across everything. Flies buzzed from out of sight. After several excruciatingly slow minutes, during which they paused a half-dozen times for Sam to point out interesting architectural nuances, decorative friezes covered in moss, and sculpted faces on the stone half-walls that lined the path, they reached the central courtyard. Here the forest had run rampant, tearing up the paving stones and filling nearly every available inch of growing space. Flowering shrubs had shot up in the gaps between them, leaving only thin passages reminiscent of animal trails.
'We could probably date the approximate time that this fortress was abandoned by the strata in the soil,' Sam said. 'Or if we can find a midden heap, we could use radiocarbon dating on the top layer of refuse.'
Leo recognized a similar pair of round stages to the right, all but buried beneath dirt and vegetation, which covered the gap between them where the stairs would have been. The rectangular structure behind them was masked by a facade of vines and lianas. Trees grew through the roof. Dark holes marred its face where the cubes of stone had tumbled into piles that now sprouted thorny shrubs with brilliant orange and yellow blossoms. Several of the doorways had collapsed, but two still remained open to varying degrees in the center, guarded by screens of vines.
Sam approached the main building, scurried up onto the stage in front of it, and stood before the most accessible doorway with the cameraman leaning over her shoulder. Leo climbed up behind her. He noticed that much of the foliage covering the entrance was recent growth. Thinner sprouts had emerged from bluntly severed vines, their ends coiled with still-furled leaves. Someone had recently hacked their way through. His heart ached with the realization of who must have done it.
'We're going to need light,' Sam said.
Colton held out his penlight, and Leo quickly commandeered it while Jay switched on the camera's spotlight.
Sam parted the curtain of vines, climbed over the rubble, and stepped into the darkness with Jay directly behind her, his light diffusing into a weak glow that swirled with motes of dust. Leo shoved through and found himself in an antechamber that appeared to be anything but structurally sound. The stone pillars that had once supported the ceiling lay in rubble throughout the room; in their place, broad trunks had grown from cracks in the upturned floor and filled the gaps in the stone roof. There were piles of broken rock everywhere, and the back wall, which must have once featured several doorways that led deeper into the building, had partially collapsed under the weight of the buckled ceiling.
