‘What’s going on, chief?’ Sebastian grumbled, flattening his hair and smoothing his crumpled grey suit.
‘Things to do, rise and shine!’
Crawling from his tent, Oli said, ‘Don’t you ever sleep?’
‘Half the survivors are out there in the jungle,’ James reminded them. ‘We don’t know where. Eric, Teri, Sol and Elaine are all missing. We need to find them, and as good a place as any to start is where Anthony last saw Elaine.’
Anthony rubbed the sleep from his eyes. ‘I can take you back there easy enough.’
‘Why now?’ Oli whined.
‘There’s a storm coming in,’ James revealed, hoisting a thumb over his shoulder. ‘When it hits we need to be undercover. The less exposed the better.’
They spent the next few minutes loading their packs with essentials and brushing their teeth, and then took for the trees in a jarred and despondent line, hours of unrest evident within each turgid step.
Once they were clear of the beach, James leading the expedition, Anthony caught up to him. ‘You think you know what you’re doing out here, don’t you?’
‘Not a clue,’ James replied boldly. ‘I just want to get these people home.’
‘There is no getting home,’ said Anthony ominously. ‘We’re all going to die here. I saw the proof for myself.’
James stopped.
‘What about you?’ Anthony went on. ‘Did anybody check your hands for blood?’
James met Anthony’s glare. ‘What are you saying?’
‘Nothing, pretty boy. Not a thing.’
‘You want to see my hands, you smug asshole! Huh? There, have a good look, tell me what you see.’
Holding eye contact resolutely, Anthony muttered, ‘I see guilt.’
‘You see hard work and effort, Anthony, nothing more!’
Catching up, Oli and Sebastian stepped into the stare-down.
‘What is this?’ said Oli gingerly. The kid had vomited twice since leaving the beach.
‘Nothing,’ said Anthony calmly. ‘Nothing at all.’
‘Good, cos’ I don’t like it out here, man!’
Taking the lead, Anthony pressed on without another word, leaving James unnerved. He loitered for a few seconds, tried to process the scarred man’s comments. Had he really become a suspect?
Expecting the trek to take them deeper into the jungle, they were no more than six or seven minutes from the camp when they entered the clearing. The barren area was small, no more than fifty feet around. Trees and boulders guarded the perimeter.
‘You sure this is the place, Anthony?’ James asked. ‘Doesn’t look like anybody’s been here to me.’
‘Agreed,’ said Sebastian. ‘We should probably keep going.’
‘Me and Abbey were behind those rocks. And this…’ he positioned himself on the opposite side of the clearing. ‘…this is where our boy was standing.’
‘And Elaine?’
‘She was here, on her knees. The killer looked right at us and jammed his knife into her throat. She went down heavy.’
‘Aren’t we missing the big picture here, chief? Call me old fashioned but I thought there was usually a body when somebody was murdered.’
‘And blood,’ James agreed.
Fresh from the bushes, Oli wiped his mouth. ‘We should keep moving. There’s nothing here.’
Pressing deeper into the trees, James took the rear. As the trek began turning arduous, his hopes of finding anyone diminished. Reiterating his thoughts, Sebastian said, ‘I don’t think anybody’s out here. They could be anywhere.’
‘We’ll search till we find them.’
‘You’ll search till you find them,’ said Anthony. ‘I’m going back.’
‘I hear that,’ said Sebastian.
‘You want to abandon the search?’ James griped. ‘Go ahead. When either of you goes missing, don’t expect us to look for you.’
Sebastian’s face turned serious. ‘Think about it, chief, Elaine was last seen way back near the beach. We must’ve walked two miles further. You think somebody carried her out here? Pardon my tactlessness, chief, but Elaine was no size eight. I couldn’t have brought her this far and neither could you.’
James nodded. 'You have a better idea?'
‘I say we head back this way.’ Sebastian pointed west. ‘That way we’ll cover one big triangle. When we hit the beach, we ride the coast back to camp.’
‘Fine,’ James conceded. ‘Take the lead and head west. We’re done here.’
‘Hallelujah,’ Oli spat. ‘Get me out of this sweat pit.’
Pushing through some dense bush, the student disappeared. Only his scream returned.
Scrambling in pursuit James dived through the foliage, arms raised prepared for attack. On the floor at his feet he found Oli, unharmed, next to more vomit.
Strung up before them between two trees was Teri, her tattooed chest on display, mauled. Her head hung forwards as if mounted on a broken spring.
Fighting down the bile James turned away, the excited buzz of flies feasting in the rancid heat.
Anthony and Sebastian joined the scene. Neither turned away, their eyes hazy in fascination.
‘Holy shit,’ the South African said at last. ‘Is that Teri?’
‘What’s left of her.’
Sebastian stepped closer. ‘What happened to her?’
As each of them examined Teri’s body more closely, it quickly became obvious what Sebastian was talking about. Right where the girl’s heart should be, there was nothing but a ragged hole, gaping and bloody. Oli retched again.
‘We’re going to need to cut her down.’
The student’s eyes widened. ‘Don’t look at me, man!’
‘We can’t leave her like this! It’s inhumane.’
‘Alright, alright’ Sebastian interrupted. ‘Anthony, you take that side, I’ll take this. Chief, you grab her legs. We passed a ditch back there, we can drop her in and cover her body.’
As they worked, Oli watched from a distance, his lips almost white. Nobody spoke. As they lowered Teri’s mutilated body into the ground with care, they covered her with whatever they could find. Finished, the four men stood gravely around the ditch.
‘Does anybody think we should say a prayer?’ Oli suggested.
Anthony’s head snapped up. ‘What did you say?’
James cringed.
‘Who do you think
