The Fifty
We watch as Jerry starts to run in the direction of the airstrip with Ollie lumbering along behind. They disappear into the trees and we immediately follow suit, clambering up the rocks to the treeline.
There is renewed vigor in our steps as we head to the safety of Abigail and the promise of escape. The jungle has proven to be a very dangerous place... not that this comes as a surprise. The Yanomami factor was something we didn't expect and don't seem equipped to deal with. They have superior numbers, stealth, knowledge of the jungle, and tricks with frogs and shit that we would never have hit on in a hundred years.
We move fast. I turn and expect to see Antonelli falling behind. What I see is him right on my tail and an impatience that signals he is ready to get the hell out of here. As we go we hear a buzzing in the jungle that doesn't seem to fit. It grows in our ears as we run, fighting to be heard over the pounding of our hearts and the rasping of our breath.
After five minutes of this sprint Lou is the one that finally stops on the trail ahead and puts one hand on his hip, leaning over to one side. Both Chris and I stop with him, the sound of our breath like departing locomotives in a railyard.
"What's.... wrong... old man?" Antonelli puffs out the words.
"Yeah Lou... " I try to catch my breath but it is yards ahead of me, "tired?"
Lou lifts his shirt to show a fresh bruising above his hip about ten inches up.
"I think I cracked a rib in that fall."
"Pussy... "
He doesn't smile back.
"Come on, Lou... "
I stop short at the sound of Jerry and Ollie pounding through the jungle and up to our position.
"Holy SHIT!" I can't believe we found you guys." Jerry slings his hunting rifle over his back and catches me in a bear hug, then turns to Lou who straight arms him.
"Broken rib." I tell him.
Jerry reaches up and grabs his shoulder. He gives Antonelli a firm handshake and introduces himself, then grabs him up too.
Ollie smiles at the two of us, resting a short barrel pump shotgun on his shoulder. He sports two wide ammunition belts stuffed with shotgun shells. He doesn't utter a word at first. Then in that deep timbered voice...
"eh Walker?"
Lou smiles, "When we get the fuck out of here I will stone the hell out of you, you big ox."
The Aztec giant smiles and nods, then holds out a canteen and we all take a pull.
That buzzing that we hear comes clear as we hold our spot in this jungle. It is the sound of a thousand chanting Yanomami. There is no concern for stealth, no sneaking stillness in the jungle, just sheer numbers to ward off the invaders.
"Jesus Christ... sounds like there are a million of them." Jerry says, starting toward the east once more.
"How far is Abigail?" I ask, bringing up the rear behind Ollie.
"Not far now... a couple hundred yards. It's a short strip. Big enough for Abby if you juice her up before you let off the brakes."
"The miners told me they used that for supplies and equipment." I hear Chris say.
Jerry shrugs, "Probably used a lot of SkyCranes, those cargo helo's they use for logging. They are pretty popular out here."
Lou asks Jerry about extra weapons. Aside from the rifle and shotgun, they have a forty-five and a couple of extra clips. The pistol and clips make their way back to Antonelli.
I guess I will just throw rocks.
As we beat our way through the plantlife, we can hear the calls of the Yanomami as they approach. They are close enough for us to hear individual voices over the growing roar of crowd noise. There are way to many of them. Once they know where we are, that will be it. We need to get to Abby. If we have to fight them, let it be with engines running and us rolling the hell out of here.
We make our way through the jungle until we come to a crossroads of sorts, a wide swath cut out of the jungle that crosses our path. Jerry stops and we gather.
"This leads to the airfield."
He points in the opposite direction, "And this leads to a abandon mining camp. We followed it this morning."
"Abandon my ass, they killed every one of those miners." Lou tells him
"You think?" Jerry asks.
"Oh yeah, saw a couple of the executions first hand."
I look at him,"Why are we stopping?"
I am a little impatient. We start down the path, slowly at first... until the first spear hits home ahead of us and on the right.
"Oh SHIT."
The five of us break into a run up the path. Behind us, if we were to look, is the bulk of the Yanomami nation about five seconds behind us. Those would be the ones we can see. We all run for all it is worth. No heroics, no turning and standing our ground. With all things considered, the hero is going to bail into Abigail and leave these natives to their jungle. I think we have all had enough of Yanomami hospitality.
We round a large outcropping of rock and there she is, a sweet sight indeed. Abigail sits on a grass runway, starboard side and tail showing our way... her skin shining in the sunlight. Out of her starboard cargo door is a fifty caliber machine gun laying at rest, hanging from the mounting lanyards that keep it in the middle of the door.
I feel a burst of energy at seeing her and bolt ahead of the boys in a quick dash to her cargo door. I haul myself up under the fifty and turn to see what was on our tails as we ran up the path. Beyond the boys, about a hundred yards or so, must be a couple of thousand Yanomami.
"HURRY GODDAMNIT." I yell to them, not sure how much this fifty is going to move in as I let loose with it. I draw back the cocking lever, look down at the can of belted ammunition... big can, and pull the trigger.
The coolest thing since sliced bread. Sounds fucking awesome. I mow down the first and second line of little indians as they make the clearing of the airfield.
I hear the boys hopping up behind me through the port cargo door. Below me and back by the tail is Ollie. Shotgun un-shouldered he starts blasting away at the encroaching Yanomami, taking their legs out from under them as they skirt around the fifty and the fire I am laying down.
I feel Abby's number one fire and that familiar smell, a little rich, as she motors up. They are coming fast, sheer numbers, trying to make it to the plane to capture and kill us. I hear Chris cussing them as he carefully places shots with the forty-five as they start in from his side of the jungle.
There is a moment where Jerry throttles up the number one to move her even before he starts the other engine.
"SHIT... CHOCKS." He calls from the cockpit.
Ollie is still on the ground. I see Lou out of the corner of my eye heading down for the port door.
"Ollie is down there, he will clear them." I call over the roar of the fifty.
"OLLIE... PULL THE CHOCKS."
Behind me Lou joins Antonelli at the port door, first with the Kimber, then when the ammo between the two of them are gone, he lets loose with the 30/30.
Abigail lurches forward. I have the fifty aimed lower and lower as I am fending off the approaching hoard of Yanomami. Spears, darts, arrows, rocks, everything is coming at us through the doors, bouncing off the sides of the fuselage. The chocks go sailing out into the oncoming surge of Yanomami, followed by four rounds from the shotgun as Ollie tries to make it to the door.
Things happen quickly. Ollie leaps into the opening at my feet as I blast away with the fifty into the crowd of indians. A spear catches Ollie in the upper leg and he screams in pain. There are no more shots coming from Abby's port side cargo door... ammunition is spent. It is about half a heartbeat before the first explosion rocks Abigail. Chris has found the vest I wear for effect and has thrown the first of the three remaining grenades attached to it.
Lou is at my feet, pulling with all his might on Ollie as he inches up in through the cargo door. Something flies by my head, thrown from inside Abby out into the crowd. Jerry has the number two started now and we are picking up speed as the second grenade blows. Shrapnel hits the side of the plane and peppers the tail.
A score of Yanomami fall in pieces, others are knocked down by the small blast wave.
Jerry turns in the cockpit as the tail begins to lift.
"JESUS CHRIST... WATCH WHERE YOU THROW THOSE THINGS."
We hold onto Ollie, who is now half inside the door, too big to muscle up into the cargo hold without him assisting. I release the fifty and reach down to help. Just then Lou repositions and goes to grab Ollies belt to get him all the way in.
It is a lucky shot. Might as well have hit the Brazilian lottery, that is how lucky this little fuck is. The Yanomami are coming out of the brush as we make our way down the strip for take off. They are throwing everything at us they can... and one guy blowing darts hits Lou right in the chest, burying the shaft several inches in.
While that still registers on me, Lou falls forward and out of the cargo hold. I try to grab him, but I am too late and he tumbles to the ground.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT... JERRY LOU IS DOWN!"
Jerry turns and sees me looking out the cargo door. I feel the engines and brakes working together to slow us down. At the same time I know what Jerry is thinking... what now.
One second, two seconds, three... I have to act quickly. I unhook the lanyards from the fifty and toss it out the door, ammo can next. Then I dive out and roll to a stop. Behind me I feel the thud of Ollie, who dives out after me. Oh shit, here they come, hundreds of them that are up this far on the strip. Ollie is up to me and grabs up the fifty as I take the ammo can. He struggles to hold the big gun, but when he finds his grip he starts spraying the Yanomami as they make it up to Lou's body. He isn't moving, but that keeps him out of the line of fire.
Behind us I can hear Jerry turning Abigail on the strip and then motoring up towards us. Ollie stays on the trigger as we approach Lou's position. Several of the Yanomami stick his body with spears before Ollie can take them out. All at once Ollie takes a knee, I drop the ammo can, and he covers me as I run in to pick up Lou.
Even over the deafening report of the fifty I can hear the angry cries of the Yanomami hoard. Spears grow out of the ground all around Lou as I grab an arm and then, when I realize he is totally out of it, I sling him over my shoulders in a fireman's carry.
I feel the sting of a spear. Thrown from some distance, it hasn't got the velocity to do much damage, but it has torn through the flesh and muscle just below Lou's body on my back. Abigail roars up beside me. Ollies stays on the gun as I duck the wingtip and then clamber toward the door. Antonelli is right there, pulling Lou off of me, then helping me up into the plane.
"COME ON, COME ON, COME ON GODDAMN IT" Jerry is frantic.
The shooting stops as Ollie runs for the door. Both Chris and I, pumped full of adrenaline take his arms and with a leap on his part we haul his giant body into the hold.
"GO GO GO"
Jerry puts the coals to her. We can hear the feel her hit the bodies as she plows through the living barricade of indians that block the runway. We do our best to clear the doors as they try to gain entrance, but as we pick up speed, their attempts are at last over.
"JAKE GET UP HERE.
I feel her tail leave the ground and the deck levels out as I run for the right seat. The end of the strip is coming up quick and there is a barrier of triple terrace jungle at the end of it that looks a hundred feet high. In front of us, as far as the eye can see, are Yanomami. Their whole arsenol makes it way to the cockpit windows as we mow them down. You can hear the fragmented spears and arrows hitting the fuselage after making contact with the props, along with indian remains I can only assume.
I give her flaps, and then we pull for all it is worth.
"COME ON, BABY... COME ON." Jerry coaxes a climb that matches the cannon shot that Lou and I took out of that canyon in Colombia. The ground below drops away and we look at blue sky as Abigail powers up and up and up. I try to get the gear up before they catch in the tops of the trees but am too late. She shudders as the gear drag and tear through the trees. For a moment we start to level and Jerry sounds like he is praying. But then she climbs higher and higher until we leave the jungle several hundred feet below.
We made it... we are free... we are alive.
"Jake."
Chris calls my name, but not with urgency. He is next to Lou's body, two fingers to the bloody neck where he hoped to find a pulse. Chris looks at me as I kneel beside him.
"He's dead."
There is renewed vigor in our steps as we head to the safety of Abigail and the promise of escape. The jungle has proven to be a very dangerous place... not that this comes as a surprise. The Yanomami factor was something we didn't expect and don't seem equipped to deal with. They have superior numbers, stealth, knowledge of the jungle, and tricks with frogs and shit that we would never have hit on in a hundred years.
We move fast. I turn and expect to see Antonelli falling behind. What I see is him right on my tail and an impatience that signals he is ready to get the hell out of here. As we go we hear a buzzing in the jungle that doesn't seem to fit. It grows in our ears as we run, fighting to be heard over the pounding of our hearts and the rasping of our breath.
After five minutes of this sprint Lou is the one that finally stops on the trail ahead and puts one hand on his hip, leaning over to one side. Both Chris and I stop with him, the sound of our breath like departing locomotives in a railyard.
"What's.... wrong... old man?" Antonelli puffs out the words.
"Yeah Lou... " I try to catch my breath but it is yards ahead of me, "tired?"
Lou lifts his shirt to show a fresh bruising above his hip about ten inches up.
"I think I cracked a rib in that fall."
"Pussy... "
He doesn't smile back.
"Come on, Lou... "
I stop short at the sound of Jerry and Ollie pounding through the jungle and up to our position.
"Holy SHIT!" I can't believe we found you guys." Jerry slings his hunting rifle over his back and catches me in a bear hug, then turns to Lou who straight arms him.
"Broken rib." I tell him.
Jerry reaches up and grabs his shoulder. He gives Antonelli a firm handshake and introduces himself, then grabs him up too.
Ollie smiles at the two of us, resting a short barrel pump shotgun on his shoulder. He sports two wide ammunition belts stuffed with shotgun shells. He doesn't utter a word at first. Then in that deep timbered voice...
"eh Walker?"
Lou smiles, "When we get the fuck out of here I will stone the hell out of you, you big ox."
The Aztec giant smiles and nods, then holds out a canteen and we all take a pull.
That buzzing that we hear comes clear as we hold our spot in this jungle. It is the sound of a thousand chanting Yanomami. There is no concern for stealth, no sneaking stillness in the jungle, just sheer numbers to ward off the invaders.
"Jesus Christ... sounds like there are a million of them." Jerry says, starting toward the east once more.
"How far is Abigail?" I ask, bringing up the rear behind Ollie.
"Not far now... a couple hundred yards. It's a short strip. Big enough for Abby if you juice her up before you let off the brakes."
"The miners told me they used that for supplies and equipment." I hear Chris say.
Jerry shrugs, "Probably used a lot of SkyCranes, those cargo helo's they use for logging. They are pretty popular out here."
Lou asks Jerry about extra weapons. Aside from the rifle and shotgun, they have a forty-five and a couple of extra clips. The pistol and clips make their way back to Antonelli.
I guess I will just throw rocks.
As we beat our way through the plantlife, we can hear the calls of the Yanomami as they approach. They are close enough for us to hear individual voices over the growing roar of crowd noise. There are way to many of them. Once they know where we are, that will be it. We need to get to Abby. If we have to fight them, let it be with engines running and us rolling the hell out of here.
We make our way through the jungle until we come to a crossroads of sorts, a wide swath cut out of the jungle that crosses our path. Jerry stops and we gather.
"This leads to the airfield."
He points in the opposite direction, "And this leads to a abandon mining camp. We followed it this morning."
"Abandon my ass, they killed every one of those miners." Lou tells him
"You think?" Jerry asks.
"Oh yeah, saw a couple of the executions first hand."
I look at him,"Why are we stopping?"
I am a little impatient. We start down the path, slowly at first... until the first spear hits home ahead of us and on the right.
"Oh SHIT."
The five of us break into a run up the path. Behind us, if we were to look, is the bulk of the Yanomami nation about five seconds behind us. Those would be the ones we can see. We all run for all it is worth. No heroics, no turning and standing our ground. With all things considered, the hero is going to bail into Abigail and leave these natives to their jungle. I think we have all had enough of Yanomami hospitality.
We round a large outcropping of rock and there she is, a sweet sight indeed. Abigail sits on a grass runway, starboard side and tail showing our way... her skin shining in the sunlight. Out of her starboard cargo door is a fifty caliber machine gun laying at rest, hanging from the mounting lanyards that keep it in the middle of the door.
I feel a burst of energy at seeing her and bolt ahead of the boys in a quick dash to her cargo door. I haul myself up under the fifty and turn to see what was on our tails as we ran up the path. Beyond the boys, about a hundred yards or so, must be a couple of thousand Yanomami.
"HURRY GODDAMNIT." I yell to them, not sure how much this fifty is going to move in as I let loose with it. I draw back the cocking lever, look down at the can of belted ammunition... big can, and pull the trigger.
The coolest thing since sliced bread. Sounds fucking awesome. I mow down the first and second line of little indians as they make the clearing of the airfield.
I hear the boys hopping up behind me through the port cargo door. Below me and back by the tail is Ollie. Shotgun un-shouldered he starts blasting away at the encroaching Yanomami, taking their legs out from under them as they skirt around the fifty and the fire I am laying down.
I feel Abby's number one fire and that familiar smell, a little rich, as she motors up. They are coming fast, sheer numbers, trying to make it to the plane to capture and kill us. I hear Chris cussing them as he carefully places shots with the forty-five as they start in from his side of the jungle.
There is a moment where Jerry throttles up the number one to move her even before he starts the other engine.
"SHIT... CHOCKS." He calls from the cockpit.
Ollie is still on the ground. I see Lou out of the corner of my eye heading down for the port door.
"Ollie is down there, he will clear them." I call over the roar of the fifty.
"OLLIE... PULL THE CHOCKS."
Behind me Lou joins Antonelli at the port door, first with the Kimber, then when the ammo between the two of them are gone, he lets loose with the 30/30.
Abigail lurches forward. I have the fifty aimed lower and lower as I am fending off the approaching hoard of Yanomami. Spears, darts, arrows, rocks, everything is coming at us through the doors, bouncing off the sides of the fuselage. The chocks go sailing out into the oncoming surge of Yanomami, followed by four rounds from the shotgun as Ollie tries to make it to the door.
Things happen quickly. Ollie leaps into the opening at my feet as I blast away with the fifty into the crowd of indians. A spear catches Ollie in the upper leg and he screams in pain. There are no more shots coming from Abby's port side cargo door... ammunition is spent. It is about half a heartbeat before the first explosion rocks Abigail. Chris has found the vest I wear for effect and has thrown the first of the three remaining grenades attached to it.
Lou is at my feet, pulling with all his might on Ollie as he inches up in through the cargo door. Something flies by my head, thrown from inside Abby out into the crowd. Jerry has the number two started now and we are picking up speed as the second grenade blows. Shrapnel hits the side of the plane and peppers the tail.
A score of Yanomami fall in pieces, others are knocked down by the small blast wave.
Jerry turns in the cockpit as the tail begins to lift.
"JESUS CHRIST... WATCH WHERE YOU THROW THOSE THINGS."
We hold onto Ollie, who is now half inside the door, too big to muscle up into the cargo hold without him assisting. I release the fifty and reach down to help. Just then Lou repositions and goes to grab Ollies belt to get him all the way in.
It is a lucky shot. Might as well have hit the Brazilian lottery, that is how lucky this little fuck is. The Yanomami are coming out of the brush as we make our way down the strip for take off. They are throwing everything at us they can... and one guy blowing darts hits Lou right in the chest, burying the shaft several inches in.
While that still registers on me, Lou falls forward and out of the cargo hold. I try to grab him, but I am too late and he tumbles to the ground.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT... JERRY LOU IS DOWN!"
Jerry turns and sees me looking out the cargo door. I feel the engines and brakes working together to slow us down. At the same time I know what Jerry is thinking... what now.
One second, two seconds, three... I have to act quickly. I unhook the lanyards from the fifty and toss it out the door, ammo can next. Then I dive out and roll to a stop. Behind me I feel the thud of Ollie, who dives out after me. Oh shit, here they come, hundreds of them that are up this far on the strip. Ollie is up to me and grabs up the fifty as I take the ammo can. He struggles to hold the big gun, but when he finds his grip he starts spraying the Yanomami as they make it up to Lou's body. He isn't moving, but that keeps him out of the line of fire.
Behind us I can hear Jerry turning Abigail on the strip and then motoring up towards us. Ollie stays on the trigger as we approach Lou's position. Several of the Yanomami stick his body with spears before Ollie can take them out. All at once Ollie takes a knee, I drop the ammo can, and he covers me as I run in to pick up Lou.
Even over the deafening report of the fifty I can hear the angry cries of the Yanomami hoard. Spears grow out of the ground all around Lou as I grab an arm and then, when I realize he is totally out of it, I sling him over my shoulders in a fireman's carry.
I feel the sting of a spear. Thrown from some distance, it hasn't got the velocity to do much damage, but it has torn through the flesh and muscle just below Lou's body on my back. Abigail roars up beside me. Ollies stays on the gun as I duck the wingtip and then clamber toward the door. Antonelli is right there, pulling Lou off of me, then helping me up into the plane.
"COME ON, COME ON, COME ON GODDAMN IT" Jerry is frantic.
The shooting stops as Ollie runs for the door. Both Chris and I, pumped full of adrenaline take his arms and with a leap on his part we haul his giant body into the hold.
"GO GO GO"
Jerry puts the coals to her. We can hear the feel her hit the bodies as she plows through the living barricade of indians that block the runway. We do our best to clear the doors as they try to gain entrance, but as we pick up speed, their attempts are at last over.
"JAKE GET UP HERE.
I feel her tail leave the ground and the deck levels out as I run for the right seat. The end of the strip is coming up quick and there is a barrier of triple terrace jungle at the end of it that looks a hundred feet high. In front of us, as far as the eye can see, are Yanomami. Their whole arsenol makes it way to the cockpit windows as we mow them down. You can hear the fragmented spears and arrows hitting the fuselage after making contact with the props, along with indian remains I can only assume.
I give her flaps, and then we pull for all it is worth.
"COME ON, BABY... COME ON." Jerry coaxes a climb that matches the cannon shot that Lou and I took out of that canyon in Colombia. The ground below drops away and we look at blue sky as Abigail powers up and up and up. I try to get the gear up before they catch in the tops of the trees but am too late. She shudders as the gear drag and tear through the trees. For a moment we start to level and Jerry sounds like he is praying. But then she climbs higher and higher until we leave the jungle several hundred feet below.
We made it... we are free... we are alive.
"Jake."
Chris calls my name, but not with urgency. He is next to Lou's body, two fingers to the bloody neck where he hoped to find a pulse. Chris looks at me as I kneel beside him.
"He's dead."
posted by Jake Allen at 6:05 AM
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