Page 66 of Wild Temple
Brooke pointed to a spot on the map. "We need to go here. When we get there, I'll tell you where we need to go next.”
Caspian clenched his jaw and pulled a pistol from his holster, and put it to her head. "You tell me exactly where it is right now, or I'm going to blow your brains out.”
Brooke stared him dead in the eye and didn't flinch. This whole experience hardened her. She wasn't the same girl that I had met in the chasm by the waterfalls. Brooke called his bluff. “No, you won't. What if I lie? You need me.”
Caspian doubled down and pointed the gun at my head. "Well, if you don't care about yourself, maybe you care about somebody else?”
Brookes’ eyes filled with fear. "You're just going to kill us all anyway? What's the difference between now and later? If you kill us all now, you'll never get what you want. I swear to God, if you hurt any of us, I'll never tell you where the temple is. I don't care what you do to me.”
Caspian's cheeks reddened, and his finger gripped tight around the trigger. He wanted to squeeze. Bad. I'd killed several of his men and had become a huge pain in the ass. It took all his willpower not to do it.
After a long beat that elevated my blood pressure and sent my heart pounding, Caspian pulled the gun away from my face. He glared at Brooke, then stormed away, defeated.
I shared a glance with Brooke.
She shrugged. "I'm tired of letting people push me around.”
“I see that.”
A soldier kept an eye on us as I cleared out an area to sleep. I made a makeshift bed out of banana leaves. During the night would be our best opportunity for escape.
I tried to get a little shut-eye in the early part of the evening. The mosquitoes swarmed, and I spent most of the evening swatting at the vampires. My troubles seemed to amuse the guard that watched over us. He could enjoy himself all he wanted, but the minute he closed his eyes, I'd snap his neck and take his rifle.
The soldiers took shifts guarding us throughout the evening, two at a time. They kept the fire burning throughout the night. It helped keep the big predators away.
It was a little after midnight when the guard's eyes grew heavy. They closed for an instant, and his head nodded. Before I could make a move, his eyes snapped open, and he glared at me.
The other guard had stepped away from camp to smoke a cigarette. The cherry glowed, and smoke wafted through the trees, backlit by the dappled rays of moonlight. The faint traces of tobacco filled the camp.
I bided my time, watching and waiting, pretending to be asleep.
The guard closest to us kept drooping and nodding.
This went on for an hour.
I figured he couldn't hold out much longer.
Just when his eyes closed for real, the alarm on his watch went off, snapping him awake. It was time for a shift change.
The two soldiers woke their counterparts, and the new guards came on shift while the old ones went to sleep.
I waited to see if the relief squad would doze off quickly at their posts, but they stayed alert. I waited the rest of the night for an opportunity, but nothing ever came. I managed to get a little sleep and was woken in the morning with a nudge from the barrel of an AK-47.
The amount of mosquito bites I had over my entire body was insane. I would probably turn into a mosquito.
After the soldiers had breakfast, we were on our feet and marching through the jungle again. At least it was cool at this time of the morning. It was almost a full day's hike to the temple. I'm not sure what was worse, walking through the jungle barefoot or traipsing through the mud and muck in boots a size too small. They wore blisters on my heels in short order, and I had no doubt my toenails would fall off from the abuse.
By midday, I was tired, sore, aching, and sunburned. I kept thinking about Rex, wondering if he was still alive. Maybe he managed to crawl back to the falls and get help, but that would have been a long trek for someone in his condition.
Brooke kept teasing the location of Pura Jiva, holding the carrot in front of Caspian’s face. From my brief glimpse at the map, I knew we were close.
It looked like we were going to get another afternoon shower. A few clouds rolled in and blotted out the sun. The jungle grew dark just as we reached a stone totem with intricate carvings. It was covered in vines and ivy. An eerie fog spilled down the mountain and enveloped us. Odd for this time of day.
The platoon stopped, and concerned whispers ran through the unit.
Annoyed at the delay, Caspian said, “What is it?”
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