Project Far Reach

Chapter 15 - Part 1

Chapter 15

The stuffy humid air of the monastery room woke Edward from tormented dreams. Sweating, he sat up in his bed. His entire body ached. As the first rays of sunlight of the day pierced through his window curtains he squinted. He wasn't used to waking up this early and wondered why he didn't sleep longer.

Edward struggled to remember what had happen the night before. He remembered little more than a pile of hard work and nothing to show for it. As he winced from the soreness he regretted that he had come here at all. These people were going to kill him much faster than the FBI or anyone else for that matter.

He grabbed the wallet that lay on the plain wooden nightstand that rest near his bed. As he opened it he remembered the woman that gave him the disguise. 'Marco Silva'... the name didn't even sound like him. He doubted even his own father would recognize him in this out fit.

He raised his hand and felt for the fake mustache. It was gone. Eddy decided it probably didn't matter around a bunch of monks, especially this far out in the wilderness. As he rummaged further into the wallet he came across a photo he'd not seen for quite some time. It was his old team, all the members of Project Far Reach had celebrated when the last of the remote monitors came online. It was a good memory. Back then there was nothing that could have stopped them.

Silently, he cursed under his breath that they were so naive, and he couldn't help but wondering if they were alright.

Creak!

The hallway door squeaked open and a short female monk entered his room. When he saw her face it all came back to him. The night before she had said 'she was going to give him his first lesson in self defense'. She told him to focus his anger into a ball and use it to attack her. Next thing he remembered was waking up here. Some training.

“Well I see your awake awfully early this morning. How are you feeling?”

“Sore. It feels like I was in a car accident.”

“Well with any luck you've successfully learned the first lesson in self-defense.”

“And, what would that be?”

Andrea looked at him with a straight face, “Never attack in anger.”

The comment couldn't help but rouse anger in him now; even as he lay helpless and sore in the bed. He decided their was nothing he could do about it.

“Come now. If your able you need to get up so we can get breakfast and start our chores.”

Chores! Just to think of the word made Eddy cringe. Honestly, he didn't think he could do it today.

“Now, now. Don't worry. I'll take it nice and easy on you today.” She smiled as innocently as Eddy knew she was not. She was a monster, they all were.

How Eddy had arrived at the mercy of these devil monks was beyond him. One thing he knew for certain, though, was that he needed to get out of here.

After getting cleaned up and eating break fast Edward and Andrea were out in the garden planting a small plot with new crops. As promised Andrea was taking it easy on him. So far, he hadn't had to run through the jungle for miles and climb dangerous trees for small fruits.

Strangely, it seemed they were alone in the huge monastery garden. It seemed there was always someone around, but not now. It was really peaceful. After Andrea had gotten Eddy started on the planting she took it upon her self to sharpen all of her weapons. First her long blade on both sides, then her boot knife. She even took the time to sharpen an entire quiver of arrows.

The day seemed to drag on, and even though his work load was light, ever move he made seemed to ache him to the bone. “I don't suppose I could just finish this tomorrow and relax for the rest of the day?”