Survival of the Fittest

Chapter Nineteen - The Interpreter

My body hurts, every inch of me is in so much pain. It's like a fucking lorry hit and sent me flying a great distance. I try moving, but I just cause myself more discomfort. That's not all; my ears are ringing from the start and I feel lightheaded.

Fuck, what the hell happened?

Although it hurts, I open my eyes. It takes a long time for it to gain focus. When my eyes finally decide to focus, I am shocked that all I can see is green and brown. There are trees of all kinds, ones I recognize. It feels like I've been here before. I'm sure of it.

I inspect myself; I'm battered black and blue. It's very noticeable against my pale complexion. This must be the reason I am hurting so much, but how did I manage to get those?

I turn my head to the left despite it taking the effort to do. There is a man here with me. I know him, but I can't seem to remember his name. He catches my stare, and that makes him jump up from where he was seated and quickly make his way to kneel by my side. He looks at me in concern.

"Angela! Thank God you're awake!"

The man exclaims, relieved that I finally had woken up. It seems like I've been unconscious for a long time.

"Here let me help you up."

He slowly and carefully helps me sit to avoid aggravating my injuries. I wince in pain as he does so.

"Sorry, but you need to endure it. We need to get out of here. It's not safe here."

What is he talking about? And, who is he?

"What happened? Who are you?"

I question him because as of the moment, nothing is making sense. The concerned expression that he is wearing before is now replaced by confusion. It's like he cannot believe what he just heard.

"That is not funny, Angela. You seriously don't remember me?"

He points to himself. I nod weakly. A breathy expletive comes from his mouth.

"It's me, Malik."

Malik? That name does sound familiar. Where did I hear it before? Oh my God!

"Oh my God, Malik!"

Hearing his name triggers all the memories that I temporarily forgot. Malik Ahmad, an anthropologist that I had a chance to meet during the flight to Rio de Janeiro. I'm a linguist who specializes in the languages of tribes of the Amazon, and we are both on our way to Rio de Janeiro to join an expedition to the Amazons to study the local tribes.

We don't know each other, but we had been seated next to each other and a little small talk revealed that we are going to the same place for the same reason. After that coincidence, we kind of bonded. And by the looks of it, we didn't make it to Rio. We had ticketed a straight flight to the Amazon.

I can only conclude one thing: something must have happened to our flight, a possible crash maybe That explains a lot, my current state, and where we are now. The plane is nowhere to be seen, I guess we've been thrown out.

"I remember now."

Malik is relieved that I remember him.

"Can you stand? We need to go."

"Why?"

"I have a bad feeling. It's like we are being watched."

He looks around making sure that we are not. Malik helps me to my feet and he places one of my arms on his shoulders as he leans me on himself. I can feel how built he is. I did notice it before, probably one of the reasons that I befriended him.