Amazon Burning (A James Acton Thriller, #10) (36 page)

They’re
so pale!

They all
looked quite ill to her, but they were friendly though their smiles sometimes
turned challenging, though when they did, they never seemed angry. She wondered
if perhaps they just smiled differently than her people.

And they
weren’t all pale. One was as dark as the ground she stood on, another with
strange eyes had the same color skin as her almost. It was all very confusing.

Everyone
was gone except her people. Their small group of about twenty had been isolated
from the beginning. No one spoke their language and the new jailors couldn’t
seem to communicate with them either. They had been too terrified to leave
without permission, and after a quick discussion no one really knew what to do,
so the decision had been made to stay and placate their new captors until it
was clear what was going on.

One
thing that was good about their new captors was none appeared intoxicated. In
the short time she had been here she had seen some of the men enter the cage
and take women away, raping them all night, returning them broken in body and
spirit, only to force them to work in the stone pit the next morning.

She had
always kept her face hidden, for she knew she was pretty and didn’t want to
attract any attention.

But now
for some reason she felt safe. She knew their old captors were evil and these
new ones had killed most of them, those that remained now in another spider web
prison nearby, quiet, sullen, defeated.

With
their prisons closed, men with the strange spears guarding them.

She gave
Mother her last spoonful then quickly finished her own meal, not sure when they
would eat again. Curling up on her bed beside Mother, she closed her eyes, her
thoughts turning to Tuk, wondering if he were still alive somewhere, thinking
of her.

“So what do you think?”

Dawson
surveyed the natives just settling down for the night, Leather at his side.
“I’m not sure. We can’t waste time in the morning trying to convince them to
go. We need to evac ASAP before more hostiles arrive. Something tells me the
Chinese know they’ve lost their mine.”

“What
makes you say that?”

“The
civilians were mentioning the leader seemed to be a guy called Dr. Chen. We
haven’t found him or his body. Nor have we found the torturer, Ling. I’m
guessing some sort of escape tunnel.”

Leather’s
eyebrows climbed slightly. “Interesting. We should find that. Might prove
handy.”

“Might
also be a weakness if new arrivals know about it. I’m thinking we blow it in
the morning. I’ve got some men looking for it now.”

“You’re
probably right. I sent one of my men with a vehicle to the river to supplement our
lookout. They should be able to provide us with some warning should anyone
attempt to land.”

“Good
thinking.” Dawson turned back to the two dozen natives. “What are we going to
do with you?”

TikTik’s Village, Northern Amazon, Venezuela

“Tuk! Thank the Mother you are alive!”

TikTik’s
mother rushed toward him as he entered the village with Kinti and some of the
warriors. He hugged her tight, the familiar sight of the woman who would keep
him and TikTik apart still welcome. “The village was attacked by the Panther
People,” he explained.

“Some of
our men went to the village yesterday and found it empty.”

“No
bodies?”

“No.”

“Not
even Bruk’s?”

Her eyes
narrowed. “Why? What do you know? What happened?”

“I saw
them drag Bruk’s body into the village, and—” His voice cracked, tears filling
his eyes and she knew without him saying what had happened.

“TikTik?”
she whispered, her hand over her mouth.

He
nodded, his head dropping to his chest. “I saw them kill her too.”

TikTik’s
father arrived just as the words were uttered and the proud warrior’s shoulders
slumped as all life seemed to drain from his face. He said nothing as he held
his sobbing wife and led her away. The villagers gathered to hear the story
repeated, then some began to get nervous as more and more warriors began to
ring the village.

“Who are
all these people?” asked one of the elders.

“They
are warriors from many tribes who are following me into battle. We are going to
fight the Panther People, and take our people back!” announced Tuk with pride,
his chest swelling as jaws dropped in shock.

“They’re
following
you
?
You
who can barely hold a spear?”

Tuk was
suddenly thankful only Kinti was able to speak his language, and she stepped
forward and gave a speech almost as rousing as Skip had earlier, the warriors
surrounding the village thick now, and when she was done, she turned to the
gathered crowd, and in the language of her village, shouted, “And we follow Tuk
into battle!”

“Tuk!
Tuk! Tuk!” erupted as a thousand voices chanted his name from every direction.
His arms sprouted goose bumps as pride with a hint of embarrassment surged
through his being, and as TikTik’s villagers looked on in awe, some still
getting Kinti’s story translated as not all spoke Tuk’s language, some of them
couldn’t help but be overwhelmed, joining in the chanting, some rushing to
their lodges to get their weapons.

Tuk held
up his hands, quieting the crowd, smiling. He turned to the elder. “Honored
Elder, we ask nothing of you except permission to rest in the forest for the
night. At dawn we will go to my village then track the Panther People to their
lair, where we will crush them and free our people.”

The elder,
overwhelmed, nodded. “You are our honored guests.” Kinti translated and a cheer
rang out from the weary warriors who had been running all day. “We cannot
provide for so many, but the Mother can, and they are welcome to partake of Her
bounty.”

Tuk
grasped the man’s wrists. “Thank you, Elder.”

He let
go and turned to the mass. “We will rest here tonight. Eat and drink whatever the
Mother provides, and get your rest. For tomorrow, we fight!”

Rio Negro Landing, Northern Amazon, Venezuela

Potts woke to find Donny, his relief, shaking him by the shoulder.
“Wake up, mate, we’ve got company!” A shot of adrenaline surged through his
system making him immediately alert as he quickly checked himself, readying his
weapon as he looked in the direction Donny was pointing.

“Bloody
hell!” he exclaimed as he spotted several large transport boats coming their
way, another coming around the bend. “These guys are serious. What’s the
count?”

“Looks
like about a platoon on each and there’s three, four—no, make that five of
them. Each with a transport vehicle.”

“Christ,
radio it in, I’ll get the vehicle started.”

“Charlie
One, Charlie Lookout, come in, over.”

Potts
scrambled up the embankment toward the road, jumping into the old Toyota truck
and turning the key that had been left in the ignition. The engine roared to
life as Donny jumped in the passenger side.

“I can’t
reach base! Nothing but static!”

“They
must be jamming us!” Potts put the vehicle in gear, pulling away as quietly as
he could, slowly building speed so their engine wouldn’t be heard and dust
wouldn’t be kicked up that might be spotted from the river. A gentle rain
overnight was helping as the ground was still damp, and soon he was able to hit
about 30 mph before it became too rough to go any faster. He tried his comm and
found it too was jammed. “We’ll just have to deliver the message personally.”

Two men
stepped out of the trees, handguns raised, opening fire. Potts swerved toward
them rather than away, causing them both to dive to the ground. As Potts gunned
it, the gunfire continued and Donny cried out, grabbing his shoulder as the
distance between the shooters increased. Soon out of range, Potts sat back up,
slowing down to smooth out the ride. He looked at Donny. “Are you okay?”

Donny
held his shoulder, looking at it, and nodded. “Lucky ricochet, I think. Just a
deep scratch.”

“Do you
need me to stop and patch you up or are you going to survive until we reach the
mine?”

“Just
fowkin’ drive! If we stop I’m dead anyway!”

Potts
nodded, continuing forward, the rearview mirror showing their attackers as mere
specs now. Suddenly a light came on in the dash and he cursed, the fuel light
on. He looked at the gauge and the needle was quickly bottoming out.

“They
must have hit the fuel tank. We’re about to run out!”

Donny
grimaced. “Well, this is just turning out to be a bloody wonderful day!”

Tuk’s Village, Northern Amazon, Venezuela

Kinti held Tuk’s hand, trying to comfort the poor man as he surveyed
the sight in front of them. His village had been levelled, every building,
every structure, destroyed, shredded by some type of beast, the logs barely
recognizable. Tracks of the beast that Tuk had described were everywhere,
strange, not spaced out paw marks like most animals, but continuous lines,
almost like a slithering snake.

It was
pure evil, whatever it was.

And the elder
was right. There were no bodies to be seen. It was as if someone had wanted to
wipe the village from existence. Not finding Bruk’s or TikTik’s bodies was
concerning though. It meant that the others might be dead too, the bodies
simply vanished by some magic possessed by the Panther People, or perhaps
simply taken with them as food for their beast.

“Be
strong,” she said as she noticed his eyes fill with tears. “The others are
scared with what they see. You must be strong for them.”

Tuk
nodded, quickly blinking back the tears.

“Let it
turn to anger. Look what they did to the Mother’s people, to Her precious
bounty. Let it turn to anger and share that anger with the warriors.”

She felt
Tuk’s grip on her hand tighten, then his head shot backward and a roar erupted
from him the likes of which she never would have believed him possible. It sent
shivers down her spine as he let go of her hand, his becoming fists as he
dropped his head back down, glaring at the sights around him.

“Look
what these evil beasts have done to my home!” he shouted, Kinti quickly
translating to the gathered throng. “Look what they have done to the Mother’s
people! Look what they have done to the Mother’s bounty!” Tuk slowly turned,
his arms outstretched as he spoke. “
This
is the destructive power we are
facing. A power unlike anything we have ever seen, but I know they can be
killed. I have seen it with my own eyes, as have the Barasana people. We saw
them killed by the Spirit People with their strange weapons, but
we
,
people like you and I, killed them as well. With nothing more than this!” He
shoved his spear high into the air as the warriors roared, their bravado
returning. “Today we will find these Panther People and destroy them once and
for all, so they can no longer harm the bounty of the great Mother, and they no
longer haunt the dreams of our children!”