Chapter 7

The Amazon, Three weeks ago...

Jasper Mason wakes to the sound of cascading water from the waterfall. The small fire Katie had going the previous night is long gone and a slight chill from the cave hangs in the air. He closes his eyes briefly, taking in the sounds and the chill on his naked body wishing Katie’s warm body was still next to his. “How does it look out there?” he asks upon hearing a slight shuffle from the cave’s entrance.

“The rain has finally stopped,” Katie Matthews says silently. “No signs of movement for the past few hours that I have noticed.”

“You think it, ugh...” Mason says as he gets up to his elbow and the pain from his ribs send ripples through his chest.

“Are you alright?” she asks rushing from the cave’s entrance.

“I’m fine,” he says waving her off. “I just forgot about them.”

“Well you better start remembering,” she says pushing his hands aside as she helps him to his feet.

“So, like I was saying,” he continues once he is standing. “You think that thing gave up looking for us?”

“I highly fucking doubt it,” she answers giving him a smirk. “It’s probably waiting for us somewhere out there.”

“Do we have a plan?”

“Not really.”

“Then I guess that means we make a run for it and hope we make it,” he says with a sly smile.

“Makes it a bit more interesting that way,” she says. “Maybe we’ll even get lucky enough to come across the son of a bitch and destroy it before going home.”

“Maybe,” Mason agrees. He reaches around Katie’s waist and pulls her in for a kiss.

They kiss for a long moment and when they finally break away she says, “Get dressed. From what I figure we’ve got four klicks to the border and another three out of this forsaken jungle. With your broke ribs and no trouble we may get out by midnight.”

Katie and Jasper move through the dense jungle unmolested since leaving their hiding spot in the small cave behind the waterfall. They are travelling light due to the fact that the majority of their equipment has been lost or damaged beyond use or just outright low. Jasper, even with his broken ribs, refuses to allow Katie to carry any of his gear. She can clearly see the toll it is taking on him, but she knows that arguing with him will only injure his pride and create a rift between them that neither needs at the moment.

The heat beats down on them with the intensity of the surface of the sun. The constant rain over the last few days has only helped to intensify the effect of the humidity now. Their only saving grace is the fact that the jungle has plenty of water sources should they get thirsty and run out of water.
So far their travelling has been steady with the jungle full of sound. There haven’t been any signs of anything or anyone following or tracking them, but neither has refused to drop their guard. And it is a good thing too, because just a few hours after midday, the regular jungle sounds suddenly cease to exist.

“That can’t be good,” Jasper whispers, dropping his gear and raising his assault rifle up toward the tree tops.

“When is it ever?” Katie says, following suit. She grabs his attention and signals toward the roots of a tree to his left. Jasper nods and grabs his gear, heading for the root while she repeats the process, going in the opposite direction.

Within seconds, both soldiers are well blended with the roots of the two massive trees. They slow their breathing down almost to the point that they are barely taking in a breath every thirty seconds. As part of their training for various purposes, they learned to control their breathing to the point of slowing it down to holding it for a minimum of ten minutes. Now is the time to see if that training will come to use as neither know the extent of this new enemy’s abilities.

The jungle falls into dead silence and the only sound comes from the faint breeze travelling through the trees of the wind. For several long minutes the two soldiers sit in wait with nothing happening, then suddenly branches and leaves flutter down from the treetops. Jasper clutches his carbine tighter, and from across the way Katie doesn’t like the sight. Don’t do anything stupid, Jasper.