“What about that little river over there?” Tyler called back, after jumping down to the ground. “Can we put Hernandez in the water to try and cool him down?”
Peta quickly clambered out of the helicopter, eager to get her feet on firm ground again. Marty took off after Tyler, who was already jogging toward the water located about a hundred feet away. The clearing was covered in a thick grass, and surrounded by a type of jungle that reminded her of Mauritius Island.
“That’s actually an excellent idea,” Eddy said.
Peta looked back to see Jason and Eddy already in the grass behind her. Devon sat in the open door with his legs hanging out, looking pensive. The rotor had stopped moving, and a rather heavy silence replaced the noise. Devon kept glancing up at the sky and then at the trees. “So, uh…anyone remember what kind of predators they’ve got around here? Like, Mauritius Island kind of animals, or Apocalypto, I’m-gonna-stalk-you kind?”
Jason shook his head at him. “I thought you said you’d been here before?”
“South America,” Devon said slowly, dragging out the words. “It’s a very large continent, and I was holed up in a really nice camp in the middle of Argentina, some five years ago. The scariest thing I saw was my bunkmate’s socks after two weeks of jungle rot.”
“We’ll be in a vehicle for most of the trip,” Eddy answered. “And, we’re armed. Be aware of your surroundings, and you should do fine.”
Devon actually looked relieved, and Peta realized then that there were benefits to knowing when someone was always being honest with you. “Come on,” she said, shaking her head at him. “Let’s get Hernandez down to the water and try to figure out where we are.”
The sun was still high over their heads as the four of them carried the semi-conscious man to the stream, with Tyler leading the way to a spot he’d scouted out. “It’s pretty shallow here,” he was saying, pulling away fern fronds as they moved along the mucky edge. “And there’s a rock he can lean back against.”
Peta studied the sky as the men worked to get Hernandez out of his clothes. The haze was unmistakably thicker that far south, and the sun had taken on more of an unusually bright orange hue, same as when there was smoke from a forest fire. She didn’t know how much worse it would get, though based on what she’d read of the eruptions they knew about, they were headed into a volcanic winter. It was impossible to know what that would actually entail, since one hadn’t occurred in recorded history. But if enough of them managed to survive the prion disease, it was highly probable they would still eventually die off from starvation, when the food chain was disrupted by the climate change.
“Way to be optimistic,” Peta muttered, kicking at a rock. They could always head further south if they needed to, but hopefully it would never come to that. Staring at the idle helicopter for a moment, she then shifted to look at where the guys were lowering Hernandez into the water. She was getting edgy. They needed to keep moving, and they had a limited amount of daylight left.
Jason looked up then and saw her watching, and must have correctly interpreted her stance and look of impatience. Splashing out of the water, he loped over to where she stood and took her by the arm. “Let’s go get the maps and start sorting out our supplies,” he suggested as he led her back through the clearing.
“What about Hernandez?” she asked, already feeling guilty.
Jason shrugged. “We’ll take a few minutes to cool him off. Not much more we can do besides that, and it won’t change the outcome.”
Peta tensed, and his grip tightened in response. Stopping, she yanked her arm away. “I know!” she said, trying and failing miserably to keep the emotion from her voice. “We’ve lost him, just like we did both of Tyler’s parents and Hernandez’s partner. I—” she looked away then, unable to continue under the weight of his intense green eyes. His knowing eyes.
Refusing to accept defeat, Peta’s nostrils flared as she allowed the anger at the unfairness of it all to strengthen her resolve. Forcing herself to meet Jason’s gaze again, she made a vow that she had every intention of taking to her grave. “I won’t lose anyone else.”
Chapter 8
JESS
Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname
Northeast interior of South America
Jess sipped slowly at the lemonade, savoring the sweetness. Though it was lacking ice, it was still a treat they might not have again…ever.
Looking up at the incredible display of colors streaking across the sky as the sun dipped down below the trees, Jess welcomed the cooler air chasing the heat away. It was one of her favorite times of the day, and it was becoming a sort of ritual for Akuba to join her on the patio after dinner. They would sit there and silently let the colors wash over them. Then, as twilight fell, they’d begin talking about the day.
They’d stopped having their conversations under the stars. The world was a different place that didn’t allow for such things anymore. What used to simply be a dark yard was suddenly a vast space potentially occupied by predatorial animals, or worse.
Jess jerked at the sound of the screen door being pulled open behind her, and then laughed at herself when she saw Kavish. He was yawning, and had a cup of something steaming in one hand and a rifle in the other. The generator was humming from around the side of the house. It would accommodate their final tasks of the day before leaving everything for the night to devour.
“Did you manage to sleep the whole afternoon?” Akuba asked, as he stepped out onto the patio.
“Mostly. About five
