Vicious Memories

Chapter 72

"It's nothing."

"You're right, but that doesn't mean it wasn't stupid."

"It was an accident."

"Then be more careful."

Bev knelt in the dirt beneath a huge banyan tree, its trunk charmingly comprised of a thousand smaller trees fused together. When I looked at it my eyes seemed to lose their focus and the grooves of its surface shifted and ran.

Finn sat wedged into one of the larger grooves. He clenched his teeth as Bev lashed his leg to the two straight planks we'd brought with us.

"Sorry, guys."

"Your fibula is broken." Bev spoke steadily as she worked. "It doesn't need to be set, thank god, but I don't have any of the machines I'd need to know for sure. You'll need to keep your weight off it completely for at least three weeks or it won't heal properly." She finished her work and sat back on her haunches, throwing her braid back over her right shoulder. "We'll make you a set of crutches when we get back."

"Thanks, doc."

The reek of spilled fish assaulted us, the offending creatures littering the ground up the incline to our left, creatures stolen from their natural habitat and destined never to return. The canopy here here was thick - only a few shafts of sun pierced the layered leaves overhead. Shadows wove together like curtains all around.

Alice and Arun each took one of Finn's arms and hauled him to his feet. He grimaced and hissed as they positioned him between them, one arm draped across each of their shoulders.

"Okay," I said. "Everyone ready? Let's go."

I took point. Arun and Alice helped Finn along directly behind me. Bev and Barbara brought up the rear.

Finn had a tough time swinging his good leg along, and we had to stop every thirty seconds so Arun and Alice could reposition their hold on him. There was no clear path to travel on in this part of the jungle. Birds in the trees overhead encouraged us with chirps and cheers. Sweat stood out on our foreheads.

"A third of the way there," Arun said after ten minutes. "Let's keep going."

Dry leaves cracked underfoot. Twigs snapped like tiny gunshots. Rotting leaves, wildflowers, and mushrooms wove their scents through the air.

I kept my eyes alert, never allowing them to rest on one place for too long, taking note of every waving branch, flickering shadow, and scurrying rodent. Loose dirts shifted under my feet. I slid a foot to the left, nearly overbalanced, then caught myself. The offending section of forest floor returned my glare innocently, strewn with broken branches and acorns.

That was when I saw them.

"Alice," I hissed. "Arun. They're here."

Thirty yards ahead of us, I could see an arm, large and dark, poking out from the arrayed leaves of a dense bush. The figure shifted and a broad chest emerged, followed by a face smeared with mud.

"Nothing behind us," Alice murmured.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Adrenaline sent a shaky jolt through my limbs and my breathing sped up.

The man who materialized from the jungle strode forward confidently, not far enough away to be able to claim he hadn't seen us. Two more Strangers appeared behind him. They walked in a straight line, entirely unconcerned with the way Arun raised his spear in warning, and stopped fifteen feet away. A huge shaft of sunlight poured through a gap in the canopy, the golden glow the only thing separating us.