Trailblazing

Chris must have hit the witch-doctor harder than he thought. After the first fifty feet of dragging him, Antonelli drops him like third period French. Lou feels for a pulse and shakes his head. Whatever plan he had for the Shaman is left behind us at the edge of the clearing.

We start off toward the location of the airstrip. At first we move quickly down what might have been a streambed at one time. For about a hundred yards we don't even break out the machete. But then the streambed turns away from our objective and we head into the thick of it.

I hold the tracker and we put Lou up front with the machete. The Breitling blips away on the little screen, as well as a rough compass heading. Our night vision scope has been lost in the fray back at the clearing. In my pack I have an eyepiece that straps to your head, but there is no magnification. I give it to Lou so he can see where we are going.

The swarms of pium, or black flies, that are usually plentiful in this area seem to have found us at long last. I don't remember them in the pit. In the clearing the smoke from that fire must have kept them away. Now that we have moved into the jungle, we are constantly slapping them away. At one point we take a moment and rifle through the packs to find some DEET. Throwing caution to the wind, we put it on every inch of exposed skin and clothing. It seems to work and we press on.

It is hot here, hot and muggy. The straps of my pack cut into my neck. The stew of sweat and blood allows the nylon to slowly saw into my skin. For the hundreth time I reposition the strap and keep my thumb tucked underneath to give it some air. That dart must have caught a vein or something, because I haven't stopped bleeding. It isn't an arterial flow, more of a nuisance.

"Jesus, you look like a ghoul... what I can see of you in this dark motherfucker." Antonelli makes his remarks over the buzz of the jungle.
"You better stop that bleeding or you'll pass out."
I hike a few more steps, following Lou's silhouette as he swings the machete through the dense foliage. He stops in his tracks and reaches down at his feet. When he turns he looks like the Borg with the single night vision eye-piece.

"Try this." He holds up a piece of some plant. I can smell it from here.
"No thanks, I had plants for lunch."
"You don't eat it, Nancy Dumbfuck." He spins me around,"It is a natural coagulant."

It stings for a moment, but then I feel nothing. When he is done applying it, he folds what is left of the leaf and tucks it between the strap and my shoulder. He wipes his hand on my pack.
"That should help."

Our little group keeps moving. We hear the drums for about a mile until they either stopped or the noise was consumed by the jungle. Surely one or two of those little natives escaped and told the rest of them. Our only hope is that they think we are heading toward the river and not deeper into this shit.
We only hear Abigail that first time, only launch that one flare. If Chris is right and this airfield is out there, then it will be in the next couple of miles. The fact that we didn't hear Abigail after that first pass leads me to believe that Jerry found the strip and set her down. Once we get closer I will launch another flare to signal them.

Lou raises a hand but I don't see it and stumble into the back of him. Antonelli does the same and we all struggle to keep our balance.
"This means stop."
"No shit Mr. Nightvision?"
"Shut the fuck up and listen."

There is something. It is some kind of clacking of wood on wood, or steps on a wooden surface... off to our left. Lou crouches down and we follow. Now we can hear the rise and fall of voices. Through the black thickness of jungle a flash of torchlight... just for a second.
"Are they coming after us?" I bring my MP5 down off my shoulder and grip it tightly.
"They wouldn't be this noisy if they were."
Lou starts to move again and we all start toward the spot where we saw the flicker of flame moments ago.

Movement is slow going. Now instead of whipping through the foliage with the machete, we are stepping over and through and it is taking forever. For a moment we freeze at Lou's command. There is a strong smell, a musk of sorts, as Lou pans the jungle with the night vision. He stops... locked on to something in the trees ahead. He motions for my MP5 which has been locked in my grip since I brought it around front. Silently I hand it to him. He slides the stock out to full length and then tucks it into his shoulder.

One shot is all he takes, not more than a slight cough from the muzzle. There is a tumbling out of the trees ahead and the unseen threat is dead.
"Panther." Lou tells us as we walk toward the spot.
In the dark we see nothing, but by the smell of the big cat it is apparant that is on the ground and not moving.

"I'm hungry." Antonelli whispers as we leave the big cat behind us.
"Are you kidding?"
"No, I'm not kidding. I haven't eaten anything since before I was captured."
"Maybe there's a McDonalds out here... they're everywhere you know."
"Funny."
"I think I saw some energy bars my pack. Next time we stop I will grab you one."
"I'd rather have McDonalds."

It takes a good forty minutes until we get to the sight of the torchlight. It is along our path to the supposed airstrip so we don't stray off course.
The light is coming from two torches on either side of an opening in the rock face. There is a large pile of rubble and tailings outside the hole... definately man made. As we take in the entrance to the mine shaft, two of the natives emerge from the opening. They each take a torch and then walk off into the jungle. We hear the clacking noise once again as they make their retreat.

"Hey..." Antonelli scoots up between us.
"Those were Yanomami Indians back there."
We both look at him, "So?"
"These miners have been killing them by the hundreds when they are in the way of the gold. Ceremonial lands, villages, farms... anything that stands in the way of operations they wipe it out. Who's going to know, you know?"
Lou leans in, "And this has to do with what?"
"Well, their obvious desire to kill any white man for one. But they have also taken any gold that has been mined on their lands and locked it away somewhere. You know? It's like a huge stash. Maybe it is in that cave."

We wait, laying low until we are sure they aren't coming back. Lou stands and we follow him in. A quick inspection of the immediate area reveals a wooden bridge of sorts over a small ravine.
"The miners must have built this to come to and from this shaft."
Lou removes the eyepiece and hands it to me.
"It looks pretty sturdy."
"Sturdy enough to support supply carts carrying ore I would suppose."
"That would mean that the bulk of their operation is in the immediate area, wouldn't it?" I look at the bridge in the green flood of light in the eyepiece, then hand it to Chris.
"Fuck this bridge, let's look inside." He hands the eyepiece back to me. "And where are those energy bars?"

At the opening of the mineshaft Lou unloads his pack and dons the nightvision eye-piece. He checks his Kimber, tucks it, and then grabs the machete. Without a word he disappears into the black hole.
"Well, I guess we will wait here."

Antonelli starts going through Lou's pack but comes up with nothing. He turns me around and sticks his meathooks into my pack and rummages around until he comes up with a handful of energy bars. He unwraps two of them and eats them together.
"These things suck."
"Sorry. I'll pack a tuna fish sandwich next time."
"See that you do."

Lou is gone for under a minute, but it seems like five. When he emerges he stands for a moment with a wide grin on his face, machete in one hand, the other holding something in a closed fist.
"What?"
Lou turns nods toward the entrance, "There are a shit load of booby traps in there."
I look at the black hole of the mineshaft.
"To keep those Yanomami away?"
"No, they are the ones that set them."
He opens his hand and reveals a nugget the size of a walnut.
"They set them to keep people out."