Vicious Memories

Chapter 2

There was a pregnant pause as I wondered if they were about to attack me again.

"I don't think he's one of them," one of the women said into the silence.

The sharp smell of seawater filled my nostrils. I glanced at the woman who had spoken.

She was on the smaller side, with auburn hair set in braided pigtails. She couldn't have been older than twenty-five. Her gaze, when she looked down at me, radiated confusion.

"One of who?" I asked.

"Shut it," a man's voice answered.

"Please. Can you just tell me who—"

A hand shoved me roughly and I pitched forward. Spitting sand from my mouth angrily, I slowly got back to my knees.

"Arun," the young woman insisted, "look at him."

The spear-wielding warrior, Arun, walked around to stand in front of me. Distaste was written all over his features in a hateful script.

"It doesn't matter," he said.

"Of course it does."

"That's enough, Jessica," Arun said firmly. "I'm not arguing about this, especially with you." He reclaimed his spear from the sand and twirled it around his hands once, absently.

Jessica dropped her gaze and gave me a sad smile, her eyes crinkling sweetly at the corners. She mouthed something that could have been, "It'll be okay," before Arun and the grinning maniac pulled me to my feet. My window to fight back had closed - my hands were bound, and the knot was tight.

A second examination of the group forced me to rethink my initial assessment. Their clothes weren't nearly as dirty as they had seemed. The men either shaved or had well-kept facial hair, and the women's tresses hung long and clean. None of those things screamed of savagery to me.

Without wasting more time, we moved up the beach and into the jungle.

Under the oppressive canopy of trees the temperature instantly shot up twenty degrees. My wet clothes went from warm to sticky. Sweat broke out on my forehead. My wrists began to chafe and my mouth went dry.

I tried to ask where they were taking me but only received another rough shove for my efforts. We walked along a barely discernible path, picking our way around heavy foliage and thick tree trunks. After about ten minutes a smaller man with burnished skin and short red hair signaled a stop. He disappeared into the trees to our right.

Without the sound of our footsteps in my ears, the jungle came alive with energy and sound. Smells assaulted me from every direction - damp earth, fruit, the distinct fragrance of life unchecked. Not as many birds chirped as I would have expected, but one or two songs could be heard reverberating around the branches. Everything rustled.

"Here." Jessica unslung a small pack from her shoulders and took out a water bottle. "You should drink."

"Can you tell me..." I began, but she shook her head with a glance at Arun and I stopped short. "Thank you," I said instead.

She held the bottle to my lips and I tilted my head back. The water was warm, but it still felt like magic being poured down my throat. I took several slow sips.

I had a thousand questions to ask, but only one or two were important enough to risk another shove in the back. I tried to speak, but Jessica shook her head again quickly.

"We'll be back soon," she said. "Until then, best to keep quiet."

Her eyes crinkled again and the small smile came back. Her accent threw me off a little, some variant of West Coaster that was faded, as if she was trying to hide it.