Kirsten Marshall panted heavily as the trio ran through the jungle, crashing loudly through the narrow spaces between the hulking trees. She chided herself silently, not thinking to take her backpack along with her as they chased the unseen horror ahead of them.
James called from behind, his voice coming through ragged gasps. “Do you still hear it?”
Kirsten shook her head as she pumped her arms and careful not to trip on roots that curled along the jungle floor. “No,” She yelled back, over her shoulder, struggling to keep up with the young man. She could make him out through the trees and he hooked to the left, Kirsten following suit.
Suddenly her footing gave way and with a yelp, she slid downward. She scrambled at the steep hillside, her fingers digging through mud and loose ground cover, but her speed only quickened. She rolled onto her back to best guide her fall and a rush of heat and fresh air assaulted her violently. The bright sun left her blinded and the mudslide dumped her into mid air.
She had just a moment of clear vision, but it was enough to see the water below rushing up to catch her and before she could even scream, she plunged into the murky depths.
**
James’ pace slowed and he rested a hand on a nearby tree trunk. “Hold up!”
After a minute without any response from the other two, he swore again and pushed himself to a run, once more.
“Josh?” He yelled questioningly, “Kirsten?”
His heart pounded furiously in his chest and a glimpse of movement gave him a burst of speed. “Josh!”
The younger man slowed down and turned to face him, wiping sweat from his face and neck. “Where’s Kirsten?”
James looked around, turning in a slow circle before meeting the young man’s gaze once more. “Wasn’t she right behind you?”
He shook his head.
“We have to find her.” James stated, still breathing hard from the run.
Josh chimed in, panic obvious in his voice. “We're giving up? That's my mom out there!”
“I know you want to find her... and I do too...” His thought trailed off and he sighed. “Kirsten can’t be far. We have to find her first, then we’ll all go after your mom together.”
James rested a hand on Josh's shoulder. “We'll find her.” His gaze drifted off for a moment and he quietly signaled to follow as something had caught his eye.
Through the trees, only twenty yards or so was what appeared to be a village. It was tucked almost invisibly into the jungle and overgrown with vines, but the structures were definitely man-made.
They jogged lightly and emerged into the village square, looking around for any sign of its inhabitants. Tools and crude weapons were scattered about and a fire pit in the centre of the village showed no sign of recent use. A series of small log buildings surrounded them, illuminated by the sunlight that could breach the hole in the canopy above them.
James ran a hand through his short hair and scanned the dark openings to each of the cabins. “Let’s look around. If either of them were hurt and made it here, we might get lucky.”
Josh smiled back hopefully and James walked off to the opposite end of the village.
The young man turned to the building on his right and stepped into the gloom, suddenly aware of the fetid smell that assaulted his senses. It was sickly sweet, like rotting fruit and the more he thought about it, the more nauseous he became.
His eyes adjusted to the dark interior and as he looked over the modest decor he was convinced that whomever had lived there, had left in a hurry. There were tangled hammocks along one wall, having come undone from their perch on the supporting pillars... a small table strewn with bowls of a fowl smelling substance which attracted a cloud of flies that buzzed noisily... and on the floor was what looked to be a revolver.
He smiled in the dank cabin and knelt down, scooping up the old weapon and looked it over managing to open the spool and noted that there were still three bullets loaded that hadn't been fired. The other three rounds were spent, their empty casings hanging in the spool and he mused with teenage enthusiasm. “Safe to say you still work...”
Sudden rustling in the darkened corner of the cabin snapped Josh to attention, his shaky hands still clutching the revolver. His eyes strained to see into the shadows and finally he was able to make out the source of the horrible smell. A body lay slumped against a wall and though he couldn't make out much detail, he knew she didn't want to.
The figure moved – slight at first, but soon the form had slumped forward onto its stomach and began to slowly crawl toward him.
Josh's mind was torn in two directions; believing this to be wrong and impossible, but another part thinking it was someone who needed help. He approached the still obscured form cautiously and with a faint, quivering voice spoke to him. “Are... are you all right? Can you get up?”
The moving form didn't answer and Josh was filled with a sense of unease. The figure crept forward slowly, pulling itself along with its arms and it raised its head – suddenly illuminated by a shaft of sunlight through a gap in the cabin's wall logs. Josh gasped at the sight and fell backward, stumbling and landing with a thud. The man's face was all but rotted away; teeth exposed and cloudy eyes sunken deeply into its skull-like face. It parted its teeth and let out a raspy moan as it reached for his leg with a shriveled, claw-like hand.
Josh shuffled back and his heart pounded as he forced down the bile that rose in his throat. The thing was pressing forward, inching closer and as his back came into contact with something that blocked his retreat, Josh acted without thinking, pointing the old revolver and squeezing the heavy trigger.
Click.
He panicked and pulled back on the trigger again and again until finally a bullet was moved in front of the hammer. The echoing blast from the gun startled him and the weapon jumped in his hand as it fired – the bullet ripping into the shuffling form before him and tearing the right half of its face away. Red-black goo sprayed against the wall behind it and the form slumped over, unmoving.
Josh was breathing hard and with each breath he tried to convince himself that what he was looking at wasn't there. It couldn't be. Horrified, he looked at the gun in his hand and let it fall to the floor between his legs as tears welled up in his eyes.
Shaking, Josh turned and forced himself to his feet and something grabbed him by the shoulder. Josh pushed his elbow back hard, making contact with the form now behind him. James jumped back from the blow, startled and instantly releasing his grip. The young man had in that moment spun, scooped up the revolver and clutched it tightly with both hands. Between sobs he finally saw it was James standing there – and not another of those things.
“Easy.” James soothed, his hands up as he slowly approached him and once he was close enough, casually he used his left hand to push the gun away from being pointed at him and Josh slumped forward into James’ shoulder. His sobs started to subside and after a few moments, he withdrew and wiped his face with the back of his arm.
“Jesus,” James muttered. He was staring transfixed on the slumped form with most of its head reduced to dark, sticky goo. Josh looked over as well and once he saw it, doubled over and heaved.
The older man ushered them both outside and once Josh had calmed himself down, James spoke quietly. “What happened?”
The young man shook his head, wiping his eyes with the palm of his free hand and looked down at the weapon. “I don't... I don't know.” He tried to put his feeling into words, but couldn't. He had no way to describe the thing that had come at him – human and somehow not, without it sounding ridiculous. “It... just scared me. That’s all.”
James nodded and finally shrugged. “Well... at least it was already dead. For a long time, from the look of it.” He tried to sound reassuring, but something about his gaze showed his concern.
Josh forced a chuckle and shook his head, holding back all the things he thought he saw and left it at that and slipped the gun into his belt. “I'm fine. I'll be ok.”
James flashed a grin and held up a leather bound book in his hands. “Found this. Looks like some kind of journal, but it's not in English.”
Josh’s curiosity peaked and he took it out of his hand and leafed through it, finally closing it. “It looks like Spanish,” He said then sighed. “I can’t read it either, though.”
Josh continued turning the pages of the book until finding a two-page, hand drawn map. “But, maybe this can help us... y'know, get out of here.”
The two of them looked the map over and Josh nodded, tracing a finger over what he guessed was a designated path from the small village and to the North. “It looks like there's a town up here.”
James sighed in relief. “We should go back and get the others. They might be able to help us find Kirsten and that town could have a telephone, or a radio... or maybe they can help us find your mom.”
Josh nodded and closed the book, sliding it into his back pocket, before once again pulling the gun out. “All right. You should probably carry this.”
**
Light started to fade and by the time the duo made it back to the crash site, night was nearly upon them. The remaining survivors had built a fire and a couple of them were rummaging through the wreckage of the plane for any more supplies. The man in the shorts was the first to spot the two of them as they approached and he scoffed at them sarcastically. “Well, look who decided to finally come back. Oh and look... you guys are missing someone else. Fucking waste of time if you ask me.”
Josh stalked over to him and without hesitation, wound up and struck him across the face with a balled fist. The group suddenly jumped up to attention and James rushed forward, grabbing the younger man by the shoulders while the dark-skinned father held the other man back. “Allan, calm down. He’s just a kid and his mother is out there.”
Allan wrenched free of the man’s grip. “Calm down? Don’t tell me what to do, Bradley. Mind your own business.”
James cut in abruptly. “Kirsten is missing, probably hurt... but we found a map. Looks like there’s a town a ways out, but close enough to make it there in a few hours.” At that, the activity died down and everyone once again fell relatively silent.
Bradley’s attention perked up. “A town?”
James nodded. “They might have a phone, or a radio. We can call for help.” His tone was pleading.
Allan paced furiously, taking occasional glances at James. “No one lives out here. If they did, they would have come running when the plane went down. You had your chance to go off and try and find the boy’s mom. Now it’s our turn and we have things under control here.” He motioned back to the stern-looking man, who came forward from the wreckage. “Gary used to be in the Army. He says we should wait and keep a fire burning.”
James fought the frustration that was building up inside him. “We’re in the jungle. Our best chance is to find the nearest town. We need to at least have shelter for the night. We can’t stay outdoors.”
Gary walked over and addressed James directly, pulling him aside. “You said you found a map?”
James nodded and waved to Josh to join them and show the journal they had found. “It looks like it’s in Spanish though, but the map is in there too.”
Gary took the worn out book and leafed through it, nodding occasionally. “Portuguese.” He said flatly, before finding the map. “He’s right. Looks like there’s a town,” He said, speaking loud enough for the group to hear. “As much as staying near the plane is good, finding that town is a better course of action. Now, I don’t know what it says here, but from the arrangement, it almost looks like an air field, or a military complex.”
A large droplet of water struck the page and the huddled men all looked up at the same time. More drops fell and the pace increased.
“Shit,” James muttered.
Gary closed the book and rushed over to his wife to fill her in as the rain intensified, quickly becoming a downpour. Within moments the camp was soaked and the fire sizzled with each drop, gradually dying down. The sky was almost black through the gaps in the treetops and soon after, the rain was torrential.
James shot a look to Allan then spoke up to address the group. “There’s a village nearby. We can head there and get out of this storm.”
Bradley fetched his son, while the others each grabbed bags that they had scavenged supplies with and as a unit, they followed James and Josh as they led the way out into the jungle and away from the site of the plane crash.