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Chapter 6: A Wet Day

Hiking through the thick of the jungle was difficult and exhausting, especially after all we had been through. The jungle was hot and wet, as were we, though most of the moisture that soaked our clothing was probably our own sweat.

About an hour after leaving our camp, we heard the firing of the sentry guns.

“Sounds like the Elgen found our camp,” Tessa said.

“Or a monkey,” I said.

“Poor monkeys,” Tessa said.

We walked the rest of the day and continued hiking at night, our trail lit by Tessa’s glow and mine. Jaime knew the jungle well and, with a compass and machete, kept us moving at an exhausting pace. It must have been at least two in the morning when Tessa suddenly stopped walking. “I’ve got to stop. I can’t walk any more.” “Me too,” I said. “I’m exhausted.”

Jaime looked at us. “Okay. We can sleep for a few hours. But not too long.” Tessa shrugged off her pack and dropped it on the ground. “Better than nothing,” she said.

I took off my pack too. My shoulders were chafed from where its straps dug into my skin. “Do we have anything to sleep on?” “The tent and tarp are in her pack,” Jaime said. “It is big enough for two.” He took off his own pack, checked for insects, then sat down on the ground against a tree.

“What about you?” I said to him.

“I must stand guard,” he said. “We cannot take chances.” I felt bad for him. I knew he was exhausted too. “Thank you,” I said.

“It is my job,” he replied.

Tessa opened her pack and brought out a small vinyl tent and a rolled-up tarp. There were no blankets, which, considering how warm the jungle was at night, weren’t necessary.

With Jaime’s help, we set up the tent, then Tessa and I climbed inside. I took off my shirt, then Tessa and I spread out the tarp and lay down. The ground was warm and spongy.

“I can’t believe how loud the jungle is at night,” I said.

“That’s when most things hunt,” Tessa said. “Or flee.” “Including us,” I said. I breathed out heavily. “It’s hard to believe it’s just been one day. We’ve escaped the Peruvian army in an Amazonian tribe’s canoe, hiked through the jungle, been captured by the Elgen, destroyed our camp, and fled into the jungle. That’s like a thousand times more than what had happened to me my entire middle school years in Meridian, Idaho.” “I could use a little more dull,” Tessa said. She looked at me. “Do you think we’ll ever have normal lives?” “If Hatch has his way, normal won’t be what we think it is.” “What do you mean?”

“He wants to change the world.”

“One person can’t change the world,” Tessa said.

“Of course they can,” I said. “Every idea starts with just one person.” “You’re right.” She was quiet for a moment, then she said, “How do you think the Elgen found us?” “Probably el-readers,” I said.

“I forgot they had those,” she said. “The guards once used them to find Torstyn when he was out hunting.” She frowned. “That means they could still track us.” “That’s probably why Jaime is pushing us so hard.” I looked at her. “Don’t worry about it. They got lucky last time. This is a big jungle, and they don’t have helicopters anymore. We’re just a needle in a very big green haystack.” “I hope you’re right,” she said. She closed her eyes. “Good night, Michael.” “Night, Tessa,” I said.

“Thank you for saving my life today.” * * *

It was still dark when Jaime woke me.

“We must go,” he said.

It took me a moment to remember where I was. The jungle was still impossibly noisy with the sounds of insects and wildlife. I sat up and yawned. “Did you sleep?” I asked.

“No. I will sleep tonight.”

I gently shook Tessa, who fought opening her eyes. “What?” she said angrily.

“Vámonos!” Jaime said.

“What?”

“It’s time to go,” I said.

She opened her eyes. “We just went to sleep like two minutes ago.” “It has been three hours,” Jaime said. “I am sorry, but we must keep going. We must stay ahead of the Elgen.” “Even Elgen sleep,” she said, rolling back over. “Wake me when there’s a sun.” Jaime looked at me helplessly.

I put my hand on her back and shook her. “C’mon, Tessa. We better do what he says.” Still nothing.

Frustrated, Jaime said, “You can sleep after you are dead.” I turned and looked at him.

“Is this not an American thing to say?” Jaime said.

“Not really.” I shook her again. “C’mon, Tessa.” After a moment she breathed out heavily. “All right already.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then looked around. “It’s still night.” “No, it is very early morning,” Jaime said.

“You’re a glass half full kind of guy, aren’t you?” Tessa said.

Jaime just looked at her. “What?”

“It could be worse,” I said. “Jaime hasn’t slept at all.” She frowned. “Sorry. I’m just grouchy when I don’t get enough sleep.” We folded our tarp and tent, returned them to Tessa’s pack, then started off again.

The route we cut ran parallel with the river. It would have been much easier and faster to walk along the bank, but we kept our distance from the water. It wasn’t long before I discovered why. Shortly before the sun came up we stopped to rest on the crest of a hill. Jaime left us for a few minutes, then returned.

“Be very quiet,” he said. He led me to where the hill started to slope toward the river. Peering out between the trees, I could make out about a quarter mile south of our vantage point, the Río de Madre de Dios below us, its pale brown water shimmering beneath the moon’s glow. Jaime touched his ear, and then I heard it. Somewhere in the distance was the whine of an outboard motor. A moment later he pointed and whispered, “Look.” A motorboat filled with Elgen guards sped by. They held spotlights and guns, both of which they panned against the banks.

“They are patrolling the river,” Jaime said. “It is the second Elgen boat I have seen.” “As long as they stay on the river, we’re okay, right?” He turned and looked at me. “We still must cross the river to get to the highway.” I looked back down at the wide river. “We have to swim across that?” He nodded. “Sí.”

“Aren’t there, like, alligators and piranhas in there?” “And snakes,” Jaime said.

“At least we’ve got that to look forward to,” I said.

When we got back to our camp, Tessa was sitting on a log eating some jerky.

“Vámonos!” I said.

“Oh please, not you too,” she said. “It’s bad enough hearing it from him.” She shrugged on her pack, then stood. “Where’d you go?” “Jaime wanted to show me the river. The Elgen are patrolling it.” “For a moment I thought maybe you guys had left me.” “Thought or hoped?” I asked.

“Why would I hope you would leave me?” “So you could sleep.”

“I’ll sleep after I’m dead,” she said.

We hiked all day, taking only a few short breaks to eat and drink. Jaime said little and even though he hadn’t slept, kept us going at a brisk pace. Tessa was stronger than she looked, and, in spite of our difficulty getting her up, once she was walking she just kept on. By twilight I could see that Jaime was finally starting to lose it. As the sun set I grabbed his arm.

“You need to sleep,” I said.

He looked almost confused with weariness. “We must keep on.” “We’ll be okay,” I said. “You can’t keep walking like this forever.” He looked around a moment, then said, “Okay, Mr. Michael. We will camp here. I will take the first watch.” “No. You need to sleep. We all do.”

He looked at me anxiously.

“Look, no one is going to find us. I couldn’t find me here.” Finally he took a deep breath and said, “Okay. Okay.” We found a dark thicket of trees where we set up our tent and covered it with leaves and vines. By the time we were done you could have walked over it and not seen it. Then Jaime gathered dead leaves and threw them in a circle around the camp.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“If someone comes near, it will wake us.” “As tired as I am,” I said, “ I don’t think dynamite would wake me.” “There’s no way dynamite would wake me,” Tessa said.

All three of us climbed into the tent, and Jaime pulled a cover of leaves down over the tent flap, sealing us in. It was a two-man tent (Tessa joked, “It’s okay; there are only two men, right?”), and it was cramped with three, but it was also cozy and dry. Not surprisingly Jaime was asleep within minutes of lying down, which was unfortunate since he snored loudly. After one especially loud snort, Tessa laughed. “So much for the camouflage.” Even with Jaime’s snoring, Tessa also fell asleep quickly. Her face was next to mine, and for a moment I just looked at her. It was strange how little I really knew about her yet how close I felt to her. Hard times will do that. As I looked into her beautiful face, I wondered about Taylor. I wondered if the soldiers were hurting her. The thought of it made me twitch. I pushed it out of my mind. There was nothing I could do about it now, and there would be plenty of time to worry about that later. And now, in our nylon cave, for the first time in a long while, I felt safe. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The sun was already up when I woke. From the look of it, it had been up for quite a while. I felt more rested than I had in days. Tessa was already awake and looking at me.

“Hey, handsome,” she said. “You gonna sleep all day?” “If I can,” I said, rolling over.

“Sorry, not an option. You can sleep after you’re dead.” I grinned as I sat up. “Where’s Jaime?” “He went to find water. He said to give this to you for breakfast if you ever woke.” She handed me a box with a sweet roll and dried bananas and papaya. “You’re gonna love that sweet roll. Jaime called it castana bread. I was tempted to eat yours and tell you that we were eating monkey brains for breakfast.” I raked my hair back from my face. “Yeah? What stopped you?” “No idea,” she said.

We folded up the tarp and had begun taking down the tent when Jaime returned.

“Buen día, hermanos,” Jaime said. “I found water.” He handed me a wet, cold canteen. I passed it on to Tessa, who drank thirstily.

“Oh, it’s cold,” she said.

“Sí. I found a spring.”

She handed the canteen back to me. The water was not only cold, it was sweet and delicious. “Good water,” I said.

“Good water in the Amazon if you can find it,” Jaime said.

I screwed the lid back on the canteen. “What’s on the schedule today?” “We are close to a mountain,” Jaime said. “This afternoon we will set up the radio.” The thought of this encouraged me. “And talk to the voice?” “That is my hope,” Jaime said.

“Then let’s get going,” I said. “Vámonos!” “Vámonos!” Jaime repeated.

“I still hate that word,” Tessa said.

We finished breaking down the tent, repacked our gear, then set off again. Even though the hike was mostly uphill, we all felt so much better having slept that it seemed easy. We reached the mountain’s peak around three in the afternoon. From our new vantage point we could see above the forest canopy.

“This is the place we will set up our camp,” Jaime said.

Tessa and I put up the tent while Jaime worked on reassembling the radio. When we had finished, Tessa went inside to rest and I went to see if Jaime needed any help. He looked up at me as I approached.

“Anything I can do?” I asked.

“Sí. I need you to climb a tree as high as you can with this,” he said, holding out a coil of wire.

I took the wire. “What is it for?”

“It is the antenna for our radio. I would do it myself, but I weigh too much to reach the treetop.” “No problem,” I said. I surveyed the trees around us until I decided on the one that looked most scalable, then I tied the end of the wire around a belt loop of my pants. “Wish me luck.” “Be careful,” Jaime said. “The branches may be wet. Do not fall.” “Not planning on it,” I said.

The tree’s trunk was about four feet wide, and its bark was smooth and gray. I climbed up about fifty feet before the branches were too thin to support me.

“How’s this?” I shouted down to Jaime, who was now standing with Tessa at the base of the tree looking up.

He put his finger over his lips, then gave me a thumbs-up. I tied the wire as high above me as I could, then I climbed back down the tree. It was much darker below as the sun was beginning to set.

“You’re practically a monkey,” Tessa said. “I’m impressed.” “I was always climbing the trees around my apartment,” I said. I turned to Jaime. “Sorry I shouted. I just forgot.” “We must be careful,” he said. “The Elgen are hunting. I do not think they are close, but I have been wrong before.” “Can we call the voice now?”

He glanced down at his wristwatch. “In a little while,” he said. “Now we should eat.” We walked back to the tent. “What’s for dinner?” I asked.

“Sandwiches,” Tessa said.

“Again?” I said. “No pizza?”

She smiled as she handed out the sandwiches. “I almost forgot that pizza existed. How would that be right now—a thick, hot, cheesy slice of pizza?” “Heavenly,” I said. “With a chocolate shake.” “Now you’re just torturing me,” she said.

We ate for a moment in silence.

Then Jaime said, “We have pizza in Peru.” “Is it any good?” Tessa asked.

“I think so. But not so good as American pizza.” Just talking about it made my mouth water. I didn’t think we could be farther from a real pizza. Suddenly my sandwich didn’t taste as good.

“What do you like on your pizza?” I asked Jaime.

“Sausage and olives,” he said.

“And you?” I asked Tessa.

“Veggies. I used to be a vegetarian,” she said. “But that was before the jungle. What about you?” “Pepperoni,” I said.

“Did you know that in Italy, pepperoni is not what you think it is?” Tessa said. “It means ‘little peppers.’ ” “Like hot peppers?” Jaime asked.

She nodded. “Green peppers.”

“Then what’s pepperoni?” I asked.

“Salame,” she said. “Americans in Italy always get that wrong.” “You’ve been to Italy?” I asked.

“Of course. I used to be part of Hatch’s family,” she said. “I’ve been everywhere.” “Oh,” I said, nodding. “I keep forgetting that you used to be one of them.” She spun at me. “One of them? What did you mean by that?” I was caught off guard by her reaction. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” “Don’t judge me,” she said angrily. “I was nine years old when they took me. If they had found you at that age, you would have been one of them too.” “I wasn’t judging you,” I said.

“It sounded like it,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Jaime looked back and forth between us, then down at his watch. “It is time,” he said. “We can radio now.” Tessa relaxed a bit. I was grateful for the interruption.

We finished eating, then Jaime pulled a small LED flashlight from his pocket and lit our path as we walked back to the radio. He sat down in front of it. “Michael, you sit here,” he said, motioning to his left side. I sat down next to him. He handed me the radio’s plug. “Take this. But do not pulse too strong. You could blow up the radio.” He turned to Tessa. “Do not make him more electric.” “I’ll try not to,” she said. She stepped a few feet back from me and sat down.

Jaime handed me a headset. “Put this on.” Jaime and I both put on headsets, and then he nodded for me to begin. I lightly pulsed and the digital readouts on the radio lit up.

“Less electricity,” he said.

I reduced my pulse. Jaime turned a few switches, then dialed in a code. The sound of static burst over my headset. Jaime lifted the microphone to his mouth.

“Lightning Rod, this is Southern Cross. Over.” There were three beeps, then a voice said, “Southern Cross, we read you. Please confirm.” “Diez, uno, uno, uno, nueve, seis, dos.” “Confirmed. One moment, please.”

There was a pause, then the voice I recognized came over the radio. “Southern Cross, please give us an update.” “We are in the jungle, but safe.”

“Have you any jewels?”

“A diamond and a tourmaline.”

“Tourmaline? This is unexpected, but very good news.” “Yes, it was a surprise.”

“Have you encountered any resistance?” “We escaped an attack. We were forced to abandon our base.” “Was protocol followed?”

“Yes, sir. Everything was destroyed or carried with us.” “Good. We have learned that Hatch has been summoned back to the base. The chairman is very displeased with him. We believe he will be terminated.” “Madre de Dios!” Jaime exclaimed. “This is mucha reason for a fiesta.” I grabbed the microphone. “This is Michael. Do you have my mother?” “Do not speak your name on air,” the voice said sharply.

“Sorry,” I said.

A moment later the voice said, “She is safe.” “Can I talk to her?”

“She’s not here. But I can arrange for you to speak.” “Do you know anything about the rest of my friends?” “Your friends have been captured by the Peruvian military. They are being held under tight security in Puerto Maldonado. We expect that they will be transported to Lima for trial.” Jaime looked at me and nodded in confirmation.

“We’ve got to rescue them,” I said.

“We don’t believe that a rescue attempt is advisable. At this time, our best option is diplomacy. We have connections in the consulate.” “You can get them released?”

The voice paused. “We’ll do our best.” “Your best? What does that mean?”

“I’ll be honest with you; it’s a long shot. But it’s certainly not as risky as attempting to defeat an entire brigade of the Peruvian army. That would be certain suicide.” “Suicide or not,” I said, “I have to try to save them.” “We cannot agree to that,” the voice said. “When we brought you and your friends here, we knew we were taking a big risk. But you did it—knocked out the Elgen’s largest Starxource plant, rescued your mother, and escaped. You succeeded, but there are costs to all success. You have to accept that.” “I can’t accept abandoning my friends. I’m going after them.” “We forbid it,” he said. “Taking on . . .” I didn’t wait for him to finish. I took off the headset and handed it to Jaime. Jaime looked at me with an annoyed expression but continued listening. A moment later he said, “He is not listening. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Over.” Jaime switched off the radio.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He said I should do my best to talk you out of it.” “Good luck with that,” I said.

“But Michael—”

“I’m going to rescue them,” I said angrily. “Are you with me or not?” Jaime just looked at me. Tessa looked down, avoiding my eye contact.

My face began twitching, and I held my hand up to my cheek. After a moment I said, “Fine. Then I’m going without you. Both of you.” Jaime crossed his arms. “How will you go without me? You do not know the way.” “I know the road is across the river. I’ll just keep walking until I find it.” “And if they catch you?”

I looked him in the eye. “I’ll tell them everything I know about the voice.” Jaime flinched. “You would not.”

“This is war; you’re either my friend or my enemy. There is no middle ground. So which is it?” “We are your friend. We want the same thing as you.” “I don’t think so,” I said.

Jaime sat thoughtfully for a moment, then breathed out slowly. “I will take you to the road, and I will wait for you. But if you fail, you must promise to not speak of us.” “Agreed,” I said. I turned to Tessa. “Are you with me?” She frowned. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

She didn’t answer. Angry, I walked back to the tent.

Tessa followed me. She grabbed my arm. “Michael, I’m sorry. It’s just—this isn’t my fight.” “How is this not your fight? This is your world too, and the Elgen are trying to take it. If we’re not willing to stand up to them, who will?” “The Elgen are big, and we’re just . . . us. We can’t stop them, we can’t even slow them down. You’re crazy if you think you can take on an entire army. You’re not Superman.” “No. I’m just crazy. But they’re my friends. And I have to try.” She just stood there, speechless and staring at me.

“I don’t need you,” I said, turning away. “I don’t need either of you.” I got down on my knees and crawled into the tent.

It was a while before Jaime and Tessa got in. None of us spoke. Long after Jaime started snoring, I just lay there in the dark. My stomach was tied up in knots.

The truth was, I did need Tessa. And Jaime. But most of all I needed my friends. I missed them more than I could say.