Demons in the Jungle

Chapter 15

  I was ready when one of them came again.

It was one of the hunters, which was fortunate. I didn't want to have to take on one of those faceless warriors, not in my state. Added to my bleary brain was the fact that they scared the shit out of me, and their spears were less than ideal for my purposes. I needed one man, and I needed him to be holding something with a sharp edge – like the stone knife on this man's belt.

He was approaching me casually and fearlessly, his chin held up. He spoke directly to me, seeming to ask me a question. I did my best to look weak and pathetic as I counted the distance closing between us, keeping my eyes on him. Just a few more feet. He wasn't watching my legs. He couldn't tell that I'd spent an entire hour frantically rubbing my bonds against the pole I was tied to, friction and heat slowly wearing them down until they snapped. My lower half was free, and thankfully, nobody had noticed yet.

As the man approached, I tensed my muscles. I moved as quickly as I could, kicking my legs upward and grasping the man by the head. As he struggled, I twisted wildly, throwing him down to the ground. He hit his head hard, with a grunt, and I could see from the way he was moving that I'd dazed him. I thought fast, bringing my feet up and then swinging them down at the man's head. He stopped moving, and I slunk down in my restraints, carefully using my feet to take his knife off of his belt. I got it, and then crouched down low, transferring the sharpened stone into my hands. It was tricky to maneuver, but in seconds I was untied, and I tip-toed over the unconscious man, going to my things. I could hear voices nearby, so I wasted no time, grabbing only my kukri off of the bloody table and taking off into the darkness.

Night had fallen on the Kokowai village. I used it to my advantage, keeping to the shadows, moving as silently as I could, passing by groups of Kokowai people. Some were sitting in circles around fires, others moving back and forth tending to things I didn't understand. It appeared most of them were asleep, but fires were still burning here and there, so I avoided them like the plague. I arrived at a small hut, realizing there was light shining bright on either side of its walls. I would easily be seen if I tried to pass by. The only safe way was to go straight through the hut, so I snuck inside and came face to face with a Kokowai woman and two toddlers.

I gasped, stepping backward into the wall and holding up my hands cautiously. The woman stared at me, grasping her children tight. She looked like she was trying to hide amongst hanging bags of vegetables all around her. I saw her eyes shift, and I realized I was still holding my kukri.

"No, no!" I hissed, holding the knife as far away from me as I could. I brought the other hand to my mouth, holding my finger over my lips. I had no idea if the gesture was universal enough to work. The woman didn't seem to react to me at first, only squinting at me with curious caution. Then she quickly turned and called out, her voice loud and with an obvious quality to it. She was yelling for help.

The woman backed away from me, clutching the children tight to her. Somewhere outside, other people were shouting. Men's voices. I pushed past the woman and children and out the other door of the hut, running as fast and as hard as I could.

I didn't chance a look back. I didn't need to. Almost immediately, I heard something whistle past my head and strike a tree. I started moving in a zigzag, bolting in the direction of the darkest place I could find. I couldn't see a thing. Leaves and bushes moved past me and through me with little resistance, the jungle bending to my will as I exerted every ounce of it. I couldn't hear anything except the voices behind me, the men calling out angrily, growing distant. I was only focused on staying away from those men and their horrible eyes.

At some point, the ground dropped beneath me, and I fell, rolling in the dirt. I came to my feet with my kukri at the ready, eyes adjusting to the dark. I bumped something soft, and recoiled quickly, squinting to try and figure out what it was. As I looked, my feet caught on something else and I stumbled, crouching down and feeling for it. I picked up something lightweight but solid, feeling it in my fingers, my eyes going wide. I knew this shape, had been handling them almost once a day. These were bones.

My breathing quickened in my throat, a high ringing sounding in my ears as the dark shape I had bumped into became clearer. It was a man, a Kokowai native, dangling by his legs from a vine that had been looped up into the trees. He was in the process of rotting away, skin turning ashen and covered in sores. All around him were more vines, almost all of them empty – though there were piles of bones below every one of them. It was another death pit.

"You know how we do it on my island." The words wouldn't leave my brain. String me up and leave me to rot. Gut me and skin me like I'm nothing more than a deer.

Voices were shouting. I stood up straight, my legs shaking slightly, realizing the sound was coming from everywhere at once. They were surrounding me, and they were close. I carefully side-stepped the dead body, trying to move straight through the pit, hoping to use the corpses as cover. As I passed another, there was a sudden whooshing of air, and something grazed my leg. I gasped and crouched down, seeing a spear embedded in the ground beside me. Ignoring the searing in my leg, I limped forward, and as the jungle loomed ahead, a dark shape leaped out at me, making me skid to a halt, kukri in hand and held out defensively.

A Kokowai warrior was facing me, a long spear held up in one hand. He shouted angrily in his tongue and then immediately ran at me, and I rolled to one side. As I came to my feet I found him already stabbing at me crazily, yelling loudly and stepping closer. I ducked to avoid the spear and then ran forward, ramming my head into his gut. He was sent stumbling backward, and I quickly swung my kukri at him in a wide arc. He leaped back, and then held up the the spear, preparing to throw it. I held my hands out to either side, ready to dodge, doubting I could. He was too close. He had me.

A loud noise sounded from within the jungle, a series of hollow bangs. I didn't understand them at first, but they caused the warrior to leap up with surprise, aiming his spear into the woods and stepping backward hastily. The sound came again, and I realized now that it was gunshots. Before I could react, someone burst out of the woods, and the Kokowai man vanished as the shape tackled me to the ground. I growled low in my throat as I tried to swing out with my kukri, but whoever had grabbed me was now holding on to my wrists, restraining me tight. A hand fell over my mouth, and a dark face appeared before me.

"Shut up and follow me." A calm voice whispered. "Unless you want to be dinner."

I nodded immediately, and suddenly the person was standing up, a rustling sound heard as they adjusted something. In the darkness, I slowly realized that the person was holding a gun, a large rifle, and they pointed it up into the air now. I covered my ears as they fired a quick burst, and then we were taking off, the surprised voices of the Kokowai behind us.

I don't think we ran very far. It took long enough that I came to assess some things about my situation. First, my rescuer was a woman, outfitted in some sort of military gear. Second, her hair was bright pink beneath her green cap. Third, she was well-armed.

After several minutes, the voices of the chasing warriors long gone, we arrived at what looked like a very normal rock face. However, the woman casually kicked a bush aside, revealing a short metal door in the cliff. She pulled it open and gestured grandly for me to go inside.

"Come out of the cold, dear friend." She said gleefully. "You're not dressed for the weather. Or at all."