Sam stepped nose to nose with him. "Ah, no you don't. I have it covered. You can help hold him down. Let me see what you have in your trusty toolkit."
She pushed past him and knelt before the box. "Oh look! Lidocaine. Evo, my dear, you are in luck."
Sam laid out a syringe and bottle. She washed her hands in alcohol and dried them with gauze. She opened the sterile pack and perused its contents. Gloves on, she strung catgut through a needle and made a spare. The scalpel lay next to the forceps. Gauze sponges were piled on the end of her
table
. All looked ready, and she pulled on another pair of sterile gloves.
"Okay," she sighed. "I'm set." She picked up the bottle of Lidocaine and pulled the numbing agent into the syringe. Carefully pulling the bandana away from the wound, she inspected the jagged edges. Starting at the top of the wound; she worked her way around the site. Next, she poured green soap on a sponge and swabbed out the wound, using bottled water to irrigate. Fred turned green as the blood oozed forth and quietly turned to throw up among the ferns.
Armand pulled a magnifier from somewhere and held it close to the wound. With the forceps Sam poked around inside and pulled out a couple of wood splinters and a bullet. The blood flowed freely now and Sam cleansed and irrigated the wound one more time. Evo was with us now as Sam worked to sew him up. He watched her intently as she worked and occasionally winced when she hit a tender spot. When she finished, she covered the tidy row of black stitches with gauze and tape. Sam picked up the scalpel and tapped it against her other palm. "Now all I have to do is carve my initials in and I'm done."
"S-s-s-sam," Evo groaned. "Not f-f-f-funny."
"Don't be a baby, I'm kidding," she said, and kissed his forehead. "Lie still and don't open your wound."
She turned to clean up and his eyes followed her movements. Armand distracted him by stuffing a couple of pills in his mouth and gave him a bottle of water to chase them down. He helped Evo to sit and after his head stopped spinning he took the pills. "What were those?"
"Just a couple of 'Oxies'. It'll take away the worst of it for now, but they may knock a rookie like you out for a couple of hours."
Evo gave him a crooked smile. "Then you'd better get me back into the Rover, because I really am a baby with pain drugs."
Sam stepped up, took the water bottle, and shoved it back toward Evo. "Okay, but drink more water before you go bed-ee-bye, big boy. You need to hydrate."
"Yes, ma'am," he said and slowly leaned forward until his head rested against her chest. Her arms automatically circled his good shoulder and stroked the back of his neck.
Evo opened an eye and winked in my direction. I smiled. He waggled his eyebrows and snuggled into Sam. Armand spoiled the moment by banging the table back into place on the back of the Rover. "Okay, boys and girls, let's get a move on before the bad guys find us."
Sam disengaged herself and helped Evo into the Rover. Fred sat on his bad side and Sam on his good. Evo slipped an arm around Sam and pretended to fall asleep. He leaned over her and crammed her arm against him until she had to slip it around him to keep him from smothering her. He fell asleep with a small smile on his lips.
I bumped along the primitive road until the village came into view. Carbon based objects decayed quickly in the rainforest and except for a couple of piles of feathers and hair, there were no signs of dead animals. I drove past the church and further up the mountain. The road narrowed until it disappeared.
I pulled off to the side as far as I dared and looked at Armand. "Don't tell me, we walk from here?"
"Yep."
"What about Evo?" Sam looked concerned. "Do we just leave him here?"
"Yep."
Fred climbed out of the Rover "We can't do that. Shouldn't Sam stay with him?"
"Yep."
"Good," I said. "Fred, you should probably stay too, don't you agree, Armand?"
"Yep." He hefted a backpack out of the Rover and onto his back. He handed me Evo's backpack and turned back to the track leading up the mountain. I guessed I wasn't going to stay at the Rover with Evo and the girls.
Walking at a brisk pace, he disappeared quickly into the undergrowth. We all stared after him. I struggled with the straps to the backpack and told Fred, "If Armand doesn't kill me with the pace, I'll see you when we get back. Call J.J. on Evo's satellite phone and tell him what's going on."
"Okay." She hugged me close. "Take care, Buzz. Watch out for those anacondas."
"Thanks, Bitch." We both laughed and I started off after Armand.
The trek through the jungle was slow going and uphill all the way. We followed a trail of sorts, but it must have been an old one because the jungle had taken back most of it. We'd walked about forty minutes when Armand stopped and jumped off trail. I followed and tumbled to my knees, breathing hard. "Did you hear that?"
At first all I heard was the quiet. Then I realized it was the first time since we set out that it really
was
quiet. No rustle, squeak, shriek, or rumble could be heard. I adjusted my focus and heard a low and continuous rumble in the far distance. Not the rumble of an animal, but of a diesel engine. The mosquitoes began a Buzz-fest on the back of my neck, and I scrambled for the spare repellant. Armand started to gag from the fumes and moved back onto the trail.
Fifteen more minutes of walking brought us to a clear-cut area filled with mounds of mud, rock, logs, and other debris. Mud was everywhere. The men working in the yard were covered with it. Off to the left was a holding pond of some sort, and Armand took off in that direction. I stumbled after him and saw a massive pile of rubble ahead. A huge machine stood off to one side and pummeled the pile of rock with jets of water. The water ran off the pile and into a holding pond.
I lifted my camera phone to take pictures and Armand whispered, "We need to get closer. I have to get a sample of that water. The testing equipment is in your backpack." He backed us into the jungle and dropped his pack. He had to take mine off because I couldn't bend that way anymore.
"Stay here. If I'm caught, get back to civilization as fast as you can." He unzipped Evo's backpack and I was happy to find a real digital camera on top. I snatched it up and uncapped it.
Armand slipped into the jungle and as the vegetation closed behind him, I suddenly felt very alone. A shiver ran up my spine, and my throat tightened. I could feel myself hyperventilating. I recognized the beginnings of a panic attack and forced myself to slow my breathing. Thinking of anacondas, I knelt on the damp earth and closed my eyes. Breathe two, three, four, out two, three, four. Breathe, two, three, four, out… Suddenly, at the edge of the jungle a large man carrying a machine gun strolled past less than ten feet in front of me. I watched as he hesitated a few steps beyond my position. I raised my hands, ready to shoot when I realized he'd stopped to light a cigarette. He moved silently away, and I let out the breath I had been holding.
Thinking of how close I came to killing the man made me start hyperventilating again.
Focus, Buzz
. I choked my panic down and took another steadying breath.
Snap out of it, Miller.
I took a swig of water and wished for the whiskey we'd left back at the Rover. Hefting the backpack, I moved in the opposite direction Armand had gone, and eventually came to what I figured must be the front door. I knew a mining operation when I saw one and knew this must be the
Devil's Eye
. I zoomed in on the entrance and snapped picture after picture. I moved as close as I dared to the main road and wondered why the heck I slogged through the jungle when there was the equivalent of a two lane highway leading away from the entrance down this side of the mountain. The camera clicked and clicked as I took pictures of the operation, the road, and the license plates of every vehicle I saw.
Sliding in place behind some earth-moving equipment, I got a better view of the main road. Mammoth tractors piggy-backing multiple trailers chugged down the mountain as empty ones arrived. Men in hard hats came out of an office trailer across the road and I snapped their pictures, too.
Figuring I'd better get back before someone spotted me, I retraced my steps through the jungle and after checking the area for snakes and carnivores, I settled in to wait for Armand. Time passed slowly and I moved a little closer to the cleared area so I could watch the operation.
My knee felt wet and I pawed through the vegetation to see on what I had knelt. A small trickle of water made its way past where I sat. I walked a couple of yards down the mountain and dug to the ground. More water. I contemplated the significance of the trickling when I heard movement to my left. Silently drawing my weapon, I crouched at the ready.
"Buzz."
"Yep. Ready?"
"Let's get out of here."
"I'm right behind you, Armand."
We slipped and slid down the mountain toward the Rover. Twice we stopped because we heard noises, but Armand let it pass and we continued downhill. No wonder I'd thought death inevitable on the way up. That was a steep hike.
Nearing the spot where the Land Rover should have been, I thought I heard music.
What the hell was Fred up to now?
Armand signaled me to stop. We listened to Queen singing "Fat Bottom Girls" and Armand gestured that we circle the site going in opposite directions.
I drew my weapon and moved off to my left. I looked behind me, but Armand had already disappeared into the foliage. I couldn't stop myself from moving closer to the Land Rover, and I had gone about fifty feet when I reached a break in the vegetation.
What I saw turned my blood to ice. Evo sat slumped, half out of the Land Rover. A man dressed in fatigues and carrying a machine gun sat on the hood of the vehicle, smoking a cigarette and watching the path Armand and I took up the mountain. A clone of the man on the hood had Sam backed against the passenger side door. He held a long pointed knife at her throat, speaking softly. Queen blared from a portable boom box in the vehicle and Fred danced with a third man on the same side of the Rover. I thought that odd until I saw that he held a revolver pointed at her middle. A fourth guy sat in the driver's seat smoking a cigarette.
I didn't breathe. I had a death grip on my gun. Sweat poured off me as I crouched, ready to spring the second the guerilla turned his back to me. I was so intent on the scene before me Armand walked right up and slid a hand over my mouth. Good thing he did, because I have to admit, he scared the crap out of me. I squeaked and jumped as Armand pulled me to the ground.
"Don't lose it now, kid," he whispered in my ear.
"My sister."
Armand pulled me back into the jungle and we settled down about twenty feet in. "Look," he began. "Fred can hold her own–believe me, I was caught under her spell when you first arrived, remember? Thank God she's on our side or the U.S. would be in trouble. Old boy won't stand a chance unless they run out of music."
I took in a long, slow breath. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
"That's my girl."
"Don't be patronizing, pal."
"Sorry. First we see if we can sit them out. Sooner or later someone is going to pee or look through our luggage or something. As soon as they split, we take them out. If I can lure one into the jungle, I can get him with no gunfire. If we have to shoot, we'll draw attention from those guys up the mountain. I'll get Evo, which means you'll have to drive like hell down this mountain. Can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's split up."
I nodded. "I want to move toward the passenger's side so I can squeeze off a good shot on Fred Astaire over there."
"Good. Walk no further than the front of the Rover. We don't want to create crossfire. I'll go no further than this side of the back. Wait for the scuffle; that will be my signal."
I nodded and we separated. And I waited…and waited. The guy with the knife continued to tease Sam. Fred was getting tired, Evo looked dead, and the guy on the hood kept dozing off.
Enough of this bullshit
.
Where the hell did Armand go, anyway?
I sat there as my butt grew numb thinking that even if something happened, I'd be too crippled up to do anything. I was about to shift my position when I spotted a tarantula the size of Cincinnati crawling across my boot.
Anaconda.
Worse than anaconda, fucking Godzilla the spider! Shoo spider, go home now
. He didn't move, but I saw his eight little eyeballs staring malevolently at me. I began to hyperventilate. I waved my gun over its head trying to scare it back to Spider hell. Apparently, Mr. Tarantula hadn't seen that movie because the gun didn't faze him a bit. I flapped my hands at it. I blew in its direction. I wiggled my foot, but it only made him climb toward my leg.
Oh No!
Here he comes! Woman Eaten By Giant Tarantula. Details at Ten.
I shook all over, I felt sweat run like water down my back, and reached blindly for a stick to poke him. I must have been noisier than I thought because a booted foot stepped on my groping hand. I heard a click and felt the cold steel of a gun barrel as it rested gently against my temple.
"Oops."
"Oops is correct
senorita
, now move slowly to the car."
"Er, sir, if could you please get King Kong the tarantula off my leg, I would walk on my hands to the car."