Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (24 page)

*

It took them half an hour to set up camp. By then, the sky had grown dark. From all around came the calls of nesting animals.

They started by unloading the gear from their hiking packs and sorting through it all. There was much more than Jake had expected. He set up a military-grade all-weather tent. The other three men did the same. Everything was top of the line, the best money could buy. Felix explained they had used the tents in the Delta Force. They were designed to accommodate a single soldier and all of his gear. They set them up close to each other. Safety in numbers, Jake presumed.

Felix and Sam moved with expert precision. They had done this before. Jake remembered their failed mission. He tried to imagine himself as a young soldier in this environment; hot and scared, ambushed by a horde of slayers with no knowledge of what they were. It sent a shudder down his spine.

The temperature fell with the sun until Jake was shivering in the night air. The wind picked up, carrying the cold. He put on a weatherproof jacket from his pack, but as soon as he donned it he found the humidity was still present. The weather was a strange paradox. In no time at all, he was sweating again. Frustrated, he threw the jacket in a heap on the ground.

They built a fire and set up a perimeter of dead undergrowth around the clearing. The mosquitoes began to turn up. Jake slapped insect repellent over his bare arms and tossed it to Felix.

“
Why are we doing this?
”
he asked as Felix hurled another armful of flaky leaves in between a pair of trees at the clearing
’
s edge.

“
It
’
s a defensive measure,
”
Felix said.
“
Because we don
’
t have any traps wide enough to surround a clearing. Anything that walks over this stuff is going to make a hell of a noise. Enough to wake us up, at least. It
’
s a warning system. Slayers aren
’
t the only thing we have to worry about in this rainforest.
”

“
Wonderful.
”

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
Sam said. He came up behind the two of them and slapped Felix on the shoulder.
“
We
’
ve done this before, haven
’
t we, brother?
”

Felix ignored him.
“
Sleep with your machete tonight, Jake. Just in case.
”

“
That
’
s the spirit,
”
Sam said, winked and walked off.

“
How does he keep such a good mood all the time?
”
Jake said.
“
I
’
m having trouble stringing a sentence together.
”

“
He
’
s always been like that,
”
Felix said.
“
It
’
s nice to have some sanity in amongst all this chaos.
”

Jake strode over to his tent and checked the interior. He had thrown his hiking pack inside and now there was just enough space to squeeze in. There was a sleeping bag stretched out inside, but he was still sticky with sweat. He would much prefer to sleep on top of it tonight.

Back in the middle of the clearing, Sam and Felix were sitting on top of an overturned log.

“
What
’
s for dinner?
”
Jake asked.

“
Survival rations,
”
Sam grinned and pointed to a small pile of metal containers next to his bag.
“
Dehydrated meat and rice. We
’
ve brought enough to last us ten days, so we
’
d better be either out of the rainforest or dead by the time we run out.
”

“
What about water?
”

“
We have a few litres left, but there
’
s enough purification tables to last us months, bro.
”

“
That
’
s good.
”

Sam stood up.
“
I
’
m going to go dig a toilet hole.
”

“
Don
’
t venture too far out,
”
Felix said.

“
Yes, Mummy,
”
Sam said in a falsetto tone, and strode off.

Felix and Jake chuckled. When the laughter died off, they found themselves alone, listening to the ubiquitous calls of rainforest animals. Link was sitting solitarily on the other side of the clearing. He was resting against his tent and twirling a machete on his finger. Even from here, Jake could see he was out of it.

“
What
’
s going on with Link lately?
”
he asked quietly.

“
I
’
m not sure,
”
Felix said.
“
He
’
s barely opened his mouth since Wolfe was taken.
”

“
I think he feels guilty. He was lookout. It was his job to cover for us, and he didn
’
t see Archfiend take off with Wolfe. He probably blames himself.
”

“
It
’
s not his fault.
”

“
You want to go tell him that?
”

Felix shook his head.
“
If he feels that way, it
’
s not something that you can just shrug off. Nothing I say is going to change his mind.
”

“
He looks sick, too.
”

“
He
’
s never been into the Amazon before.
”

“
Neither have I.
”

“
You don
’
t look like a supermodel either.
”

Jake sat there, brooding, wanting to say something but not quite sure how to say it. Felix sensed his hesitancy.

“
What
’
s up?
”

“
It
’
s Wolfe,
”
Jake said.
“
Why is he alive? This all seems surreal. Why hasn
’
t Archfiend killed him yet? Archfiend is a savage monster, for Christ
’
s sakes. You told me he would stop at nothing to snap each and every one of us in half. And now he
’
s toying with us.
”

“
That
’
s exactly why I was unwilling to come,
”
Felix said.
“
I don
’
t like this one bit. But as long as that tracking dot keeps flashing, it means Wolfe still has a pulse. And that means we have a chance of saving him.
”

“
Do you really think we can do this?
”

Felix looked at him.
“
I don
’
t know. But I
’
ve been trying to kill Archfiend for seventeen years. He
’
s an elusive little snake and I
’
m going to find him and put a bullet through his skull. Then it
’
s done. All this slayer hunting business
–
it
’
s all over after we clean up the stragglers.
”

“
I hope so. But what happens to me, after that? I
’
m going to be a wanted man all my life, Felix.
”

“
New identities aren
’
t all that difficult,
”
Felix said.
“
Don
’
t worry, kid. We
’
re all ex-military. We have connections. We
’
ll take care of you.
”

Jake silently reflected. Nothing was ever going to be the same. He had changed. His life had changed. If he made it out of the rainforest alive, there would be a thousand new opportunities available. Opportunities he would have never even considered before. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn
’
t decide. All he knew was that there was no going back.

With that, the conversation ended. Felix began to scrape the bark off the log with his machete. He was lost in thought. Jake took that as a cue to leave. He met Sam in the middle of the clearing, who dropped a shovel at his feet.

“
That
’
s much better.
”

Jake smiled. He motioned to the survival rations.
“
Mind if I have one?
”

“
All yours, man.
”

He grabbed one and huddled down by the fire that Link had constructed from the branches they had hacked off the trees. It was still blazing strong. The food tasted like cardboard, but Jake was famished. He wolfed it down like it was his last meal. Sam and Felix ate with him. Later, Link joined them.

“
How you feeling?
”
Sam asked him.

“
Okay,
”
Link said.
“
Just tired. I need a good night
’
s sleep.
”

“
Well, you
’
ll get sleep,
”
Felix said.
“
Not sure if it will be a good night
’
s worth, though.
”

They ate the rest of their measly dinners in silence. Jake checked the time after they finished. It was just after eight, but he could barely keep his eyes open, whether it be from the fatigue or the warmth of the fire.

“
Get as much sleep as you can, kid,
”
Felix said.
“
We have an early start tomorrow.
”

“
Sunrise?
”

Felix nodded.
“
We
’
re hoping to cover more distance than we made today. At that rate we
’
ll reach Wolfe in a couple of days.
”

Jake went over to his tent. It was pitch black inside. He groped around in the dark until he found the right end of his sleeping bag, and collapsed into a pile on top. It was surprisingly comfortable if he ignored the cramped confines, the humidity, the sweat, the way his skin clung to the sleeping bag material, the shrieking of animals and the rocks pressing into his back.

He wished he was anywhere else. He wished Zoe was next to him. He longed for her. She had been a breath of fresh air, a normal teenage girl. As soon as she had been whisked out of his life, the madness had resumed.

He hoped she was safe.

Jake drifted into an undisturbed sleep, thinking of her touch.

*

Ten kilometres to the west, Crank and Thorn sat with their backs pressed up against a sheer cliff-face. They watched the moon rise above them. Crank was disassembling his Snowdog, checking it was still in order. Thorn twirled his machete mindlessly between his huge fingers. They hadn
’
t made a fire. They were too tired. The past seven hours had been hell, no matter how fit they were. They had kept a jogging pace through the rainforest for the better part of the day. It had pushed them past their limits. But every step they took got them closer to Wolfe.

As they rested, they talked.

“
What are we going to do if Wolfe doesn
’
t make it?
”
Crank said.

Thorn turned.
“
In regards to what?
”

“
You know what. Jake.
”

“
I suppose we
’
ll have to tell him.
”

“
He won
’
t believe us.
”

“
No, he won
’
t. And when he realises we
’
re telling the truth, he
’
ll know we
’
ve been deceiving him the entire time. He
’
ll never be the same kid again.
”

“
Were we even supposed to keep it a secret this long?
”

“
I don
’
t know, Crank. I don
’
t know. Wolfe was going to tell him, after the warehouse operation. Then he was gone. So until we get him back, we don
’
t say a word. The other three know that too. They wouldn
’
t tell him. Yet.
”

Crank nodded in satisfaction and the two grew quiet again.