Deadfall: Agent 21 (10 page)

Zak didn’t know what it was that woke him: the screeching sound from the rainforest, or the mosquitoes having breakfast on his skin.

But then, it wasn’t like he’d had a refreshing night’s sleep.

At Raf’s insistence, they’d pulled the corpses of Cruz’s flight team out of their aircraft, and dragged them a good thirty metres away to the edge of the rainforest. ‘It’s fresh meat,’ Raf had said bluntly. ‘We don’t want to stay too close to it.’

The four of them had then spent the remaining couple of hours of darkness in the protection of the aircraft’s cabin. Zak found himself in the pilot’s seat, and his skin recoiled from a patch of sticky wetness
by the headrest. His few moments of sleep were haunted by images of overturning aircraft and African boys with scarred faces chasing him down jungle pathways. He woke feeling like he hadn’t slept at all.

Malcolm was still sleeping in the seat behind him. He was nursing his wounded elbow as he slept. The rag that bound the wound was soaked in blood and a couple of flies buzzed around it. Zak tried to shoo them away, but the flies ignored him.

Raf and Gabs were already up and about, so he slipped out of the cabin to join them in the clearing. He immediately noticed the hooded shapes of two vultures in the tree under which the corpses were lying. Cruz’s pilots weren’t rotten enough to be carrion yet, but in this heat they soon would be.

Zak shuddered, then hurried towards his Guardian Angels. They were standing at the edge of the runway, about halfway along the landing strip, looking into the rainforest. Their faces were thoughtful.

Gabs nodded at Zak as he approached. ‘Look at this, sweetie,’ she said.

Zak saw that there was a rough track leading into the jungle. A vehicle of some sort had made it – the tyres had formed two narrow strips on either side of the path.

‘Looks like someone was waiting for Cruz,’ Gabs continued.

‘And they left us a trail,’ said Zak. ‘It could lead us right to him.’ He peered along the path into the jungle. Something had caught his eye. He stepped five metres along the track, and bent down. From a patch of lush, damp, high grass he lifted out a child’s doll. It was in the shape of a naked baby, quite bald, and was made out of sturdy plastic. Its lips were puckered, waiting for a child to insert the teat of a toy milk bottle. The limbs were twisted and one of the eyes was missing.

He remembered an advert he’d seen on TV back in the days when he was just an ordinary kid. It was for a baby doll that cried by itself. ‘Tiny Tears,’ he muttered to himself.

‘What did you say?’ Raf called.

Zak didn’t reply. He weighed the doll in one hand – it was heavier than it looked. Stepping back towards the clearing, he handed the doll to Raf.

Raf took a knife from his pocket and plunged it deep into the doll’s plastic chest. He used the sharp blade to saw down the abdomen, then ripped the doll’s chest apart.

Zak was not surprised to see it filled with a fine white powder.

‘Cocaine?’ he asked.

Raf laid the doll on the ground, then pulled a lighter from his pocket. He held the flame to the inside of the doll for a few seconds and the powder spat and crackled, then suddenly ignited. Raf stepped back as smoke billowed from the doll’s chest, and nodded grimly. ‘Cocaine,’ he confirmed. ‘Nothing else burns quite like that. Looks like someone got careless, leaving it lying around like that.’

‘Either that,’ said Gabs, ‘or they’re doing a Hansel and Gretel on us.’

‘What do you mean?’ Zak asked.

‘You know, leaving a trail for us to follow.’

Raf shook his head. ‘I doubt it, Gabs. Cruz has no way of knowing we’re on to him.’

‘Maybe,’ Gabs said. She didn’t sound massively convinced. ‘I still don’t think it’s a good idea to follow that trail precisely. There could be any number of traps set along its way. If we’re going into the jungle, I say we keep to one side of it. Just in case.’

Raf and Zak nodded. ‘Agreed,’ they both said. Zak looked over at the aircraft where they’d spent the night, and where Malcolm was still sleeping. ‘If I thought we’d end up in the jungle, I’d never have suggested bringing him,’ he muttered. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘We can’t change it,’ Gabs said briskly. ‘He’s our responsibility now. Anyway, you never know. He
might still prove useful. Go wake him. This is difficult terrain. Neither of you have any jungle survival experience. There are a few things you need to know before we set off.’

Zak nodded, then ran back towards the aircraft.

Malcolm was just waking up. As he opened his eyes, he looked around suddenly, obviously unsure where he was. An expression of horror crossed his face, but he mastered it when he saw Zak standing by the plane.

‘Come on, mate,’ Zak said, gently but urgently. ‘We’ve got to get moving.’

‘Where to?’ Malcolm demanded.

‘You’ll see.’

He led Malcolm back to where Raf and Gabs were sitting cross-legged on the ground. When Malcolm saw the trail leading into the jungle, he couldn’t help fear writing itself all over his face. They sat down too, then Zak looked expectantly at Gabs. Malcolm, as usual, avoided all eye contact with the grown-ups.

Gabs gathered her thoughts for a moment, then cleared her throat. ‘We’re heading into the jungle,’ she said. ‘We don’t know how long we’ll be in there, and we don’t know what we’ll find. But the jungle is very unforgiving, and we can’t afford to let our guard drop for a moment. There’s an abundance of life in
the rainforest. Most of it knows what its regular food is, and doesn’t like to change diet. But there are creatures in there which, if they’re surprised or frightened, will attack. You need to think before you do anything. Be careful where you’re putting your feet. If you’re thinking of sitting down on the floor, or on a log, or by a tree, check it first. And remember to look up as well as down.’

‘Snakes?’ Malcolm asked in a small, frightened voice, directing his questions to Zak even though it was Gabs speaking.

‘Possibly. But deadfall is a much bigger danger.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Dead wood falling from the treetops. It can kill you in a second, so watch out for it. We’ll walk in single file: Raf first, then Malcolm, then Zak, then me. It’s important never to let the person ahead out of your sight. On your own, you’ve got next to no chance of making it out alive – Raf and I will be able to find water for us all, and we know which plants are safe to eat, so you need to stick with us. Don’t eat anything unless we’ve told you it’s safe.’

She paused for a moment, and allowed that to sink in, before continuing her lecture.

‘We’re going to keep several metres to the left of this path,’ she said. ‘My guess is that whatever
vehicle made it will be following a ridge line, like an upside-down “V” through the jungle.’

‘Why?’ Zak asked.

Gabs shrugged. ‘Otherwise they’d have to keep crossing ridge lines up and down, which would be almost impossible. Animals use these ridge lines too, but they’ll probably keep their distance from us.’

‘Probably?’ Malcolm asked, slapping at his face to kill a mosquito that was chewing his cheek.

‘Yes. Probably.’

‘I’m scared,’ he said.

‘Good. A little bit of fear keeps you sharp. But just do what Raf and I tell you and you’ll be OK.’

‘Anyway,’ said Raf, standing up, ‘I
like
the jungle.’

Malcolm looked at him as if he was insane.

‘Pitch black at night, nice and quiet. Best place in the world to get a decent night’s sleep.’ He winked at Malcolm as he stood up. ‘I think Gabs has just about covered everything,’ he said. ‘Shall we go?’

Malcolm turned to Zak. ‘Was that a
joke
?’ he asked.

Zak shook his head. ‘No, mate,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it was.’

There were few preparations to make. They had very little gear – just Zak’s rucksack and Malcolm’s. No spare clothes. Nothing. But before they set out, Raf
quietly took Zak over to Cruz’s aircraft. ‘We’ll need to keep a careful eye on Malcolm,’ he said. ‘He’s not really jungle material, if you know what I mean.’

Zak wasn’t sure
he
was jungle material either, but he kept quiet.

‘I’m worried about that cut on his arm too. Wounds can get infected very quickly in the jungle. All that warmth and moisture. You’ll need to keep an eye on it. He responds better to you than to us.’

‘Right.’

‘Go search the corpses,’ Raf said. ‘I need some sort of water bottle. See what you can find.’

Zak was about to say, ‘Why me?’ But he knew what kind of response he’d get. So, with one eye on the vultures in the trees, he ran towards the corpses.

They were already beginning to smell, and clouds of flies buzzed around them. Thick clusters of mosquitoes had congregated along the bloody knife marks on the dead men’s faces. Zak shook the insects away from his own face as he bent down at the first corpse, doing his best not to look too closely at the catastrophic gunshot wound in the man’s head. He patted the body down, but found nothing but a wallet which he quickly discarded. He swallowed another mouthful of air, trying not to breathe through his nose, then moved on to the second body.

Here, he had more luck. This man had a small hip-flask in his side pocket. Zak grabbed it and ran away from the stench of the rotting flesh before twisting the top open. Inside, the flask smelled of alcohol, but it was empty. Zak ran with it back towards Raf’s position.

‘Will this do?’ he asked.

Raf nodded, and took the flask from Zak. ‘You got that big knife?’ he asked. Zak felt in his rucksack and handed it over. With a sudden yank, Raf jammed the knife into the body of Cruz’s aircraft, just below the wing. Zak was surprised by how easily the metal ruptured. A thin trickle of pale liquid started dribbling out of the hole.

‘Fuel,’ Raf said. ‘Easiest way to light a fire, and we’ll need one in the jungle.’ He carefully filled the flask up to the brim, then twisted the cap back on and slipped the whole thing in his pocket. ‘Let’s go,’ he said.

Zak was sweating badly and the perspiration was soaking into his clothes, making them damp. When they joined the others – they were still standing between the track and the charred, smouldering remains of the plastic doll – he saw trickles of sweat pouring down Malcolm’s face and damp patches in Gabs’s hair. ‘We’re going to need water,’ he said.

‘We’ll find some as soon as we can, sweetie,’ Gabs said. ‘Let’s start walking.’

The dawn chorus of insects had gone quiet. It was strangely silent all around. Zak, though, had the uncomfortable sensation of eyes peering out of the jungle towards them. It was as if they were always on the edge of his vision, and whenever he turned to see them, they receded back into the bush.
It’s just your imagination
, he told himself. But he noticed that Malcolm was looking around nervously in the same way.

This was a creepy place. No question.

They set off at a slow march in the order Gabs had instructed. Within ten paces, the jungle canopy was above them. It protected them from the rising sun, but the air was thickly humid – Zak couldn’t tell whether his skin was wet from sweat or from water vapour.

For the first forty metres, the vegetation was only up to their waists. Zak took care to step in the path trampled down by Raf and then Malcolm, but he still laid each foot carefully on the ground – he wasn’t good with snakes either. And although he knew that the footsteps of this little group of humans would be like thunder to a jungle reptile, and would send them slithering out of their way, he still didn’t want to risk inadvertently treading on a
thickly coiled body. The very thought made him shiver.

They’d been going for less than five minutes before Raf had to get his knife out again and start cutting through the vegetation that blocked their way. Thick, knotted vines and tree branches grew out at crazy angles, covered with moss and lichen. Every forty paces or so, Raf would hold up one hand to tell them all to stop. Then he would head to his right to check they were still following the path made by Cruz’s vehicle.

Those were the worst moments. Standing still, peering into the dense jungle, wondering what was out there, watching and waiting . . .

Zak’s senses were on high alert, and he felt almost at one with the rainforest. He noticed everything. The shaking of individual leaves. The dripping of moist condensation from a branch up above. The way Malcolm was nursing his bad arm, and wincing occasionally in pain.

Then they would move on again, treading carefully, looking up for deadfall, always keeping one eye on the person in front, and trying to ignore the moisture that now poured out of them.

They’d been going for an hour when Zak suddenly noticed a change in the air. The temperature had dropped suddenly and he found himself
shivering. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. There was a new sound: the leaves in the canopy above were rustling together. It sounded ominous, but not as ominous as it looked. Zak gazed up: the whole canopy appeared to be moving, swaying back and forth with the wind that was picking up.

He noticed that the others had stopped. Raf was looking up too.

‘We’re going to have rain,’ he said.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Trust me. If we get up above the canopy we’ll see a weather front rolling in. We need to stop.’

Zak gave him a confused look. ‘We can manage a bit of rain, can’t we?’

Raf smiled grimly. ‘Not jungle rain,’ he said. ‘I think we can risk stepping up to Cruz’s trail for a moment. The ground’s a little higher there. Come on.’

He cut a way at right angles through the thick bush. The others followed and within a couple of minutes they had reached the narrow path cut into the jungle just hours previously. A thought struck Zak: the jungle was so thick and knotted that whoever had driven this vehicle must surely have known where they were going in order to avoid tree roots and other obstacles. There was no doubt that they
were now heading to an actual
place
, even if they didn’t know what it was.

Zak was about to make that comment when the rains came.