Page 2 of Hunter's Mission

I laughed. “So you believe in reincarnation, huh? I didn’t know that about you.”

“Sure. Haven’t you seen The Lion King? You know, circle of life and all that.” He puffed out his chest like he’d bestowed some divine logic upon me.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the circle of life meant that one creature’s death gave new life to another.

“What would you come back as?” Cody wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve cuff.

Anything that couldn’t injure a sibling.Avoiding the pointless conversation, I said, “Come on, let’s do twenty more minutes before we turn around. This area is fruitless.”

“I see what you did there . . . boom, boom.” Chuckling, he patted my shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, we’ll find more berries. We have to. They were everywhere when we first arrived.”

“I know.” I hooked my thumbs into the shoulder straps of my pack and forged ahead.

With each step, the sounds of the monkeys were absorbed by the eerie whispers of vegetation. The stillness was as if every living organism around us was holding its breath, waiting for our demise.

As I hacked at a pair of vines that had twisted into knots as they stretched the distance between two enormous trees, I couldn’t halt my swirling thoughts over the consequences of our presence in this fragile ecosystem.

Will the native tribes suffer because of our intrusion?

Am I disrupting the balance of nature in my pursuit of a medical miracle?

Is my quest a complete waste of time and money?

Questions without answers reminded me of the weight of my responsibility. So many people relied on my project being a success, including Cody and Neville. Neville had been here much longer than me, and I’d been lucky that he was willing to share the plant research he’d done before I’d arrived, or I wouldn’t be as far along as I was.

In the jungle, there was no such thing as sunrise or sunset. Sunlight rarely penetrated the dense canopy and the forest floor lived in almost eternal dimness. Occasionally, a spear of sunlight would beam down from the sky like a finger of God, and tiny particles would dance in the glow like they were having a party.

There were no spears of light at the moment. No dancing particles. No breezes carrying luscious scents of virgin rainforest. Instead, we were surrounded by an extreme stillness, and with every pace the rotten stench increased in intensity.

“Maybe we should head back. It’s getting late.” My shoulders slumped. Another day wasted.

“Let’s just go a bit farther.” He rested his hand on my arm and shoved around me to take the lead. “I have a feeling we’re close.”

Cody’s determination mirrored my own. Except while my drive was to improve the suffering of burn victims, Cody wanted to demonstrate that his chosen career path was worth the money invested by his parents in his education. He felt he had to pay back more than just their financial contribution; he wanted them to be proud of him. He’d never said as much, but every time he spoke to them on our satellite phone, I heard the longing in his tone.

The scent of decay still clung to the air, and I tried to ignore both the foul odor and my stupid thoughts that something could be stalking us. In the jungle, something was always watching. It was just potluck whether or not that spectator was friendly.

I had to focus on my mission and find those berries. Burns victims needed my ointment.

Pushing away my doubts and fears, I trudged after Cody. He seemed to make easy work of the mud that stuck to our boots like epoxy.

At five-foot-five, I wasn’t short, and I wasn’t tall, but I had long legs and a short torso.

When I’m older, my boobs will probably sag so much they’ll flank my belly button.

Now that’s an image I didn’t need.

Not that I had to worry. Nobody had seen me naked in years, and nobody was lining up to see me naked now.Except Neville. I would rather pull my pubes out one by one than undress in front of that creep.

My stomach rumbled, and Cody flicked his gaze at me over his shoulder. “Jeez, Layla, that was loud enough to attract the black caimans.”

I laughed. “I know. I’m starving. What are the chances that Neville has dinner on the go?”

“Zero to zilch.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Neville should be helping us search for the berries instead of pretending he had a stomachache. If anyone could win a Pulitzer for journalling a plethora of excuses, it would be Neville fucking Parker.

“There! I see some.” Cody pointed at a cluster of Inocea berries to our right. Their deep red hue stood out against the large verdant leaves of the Inocea bush.

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