Manolo gathered his men and told them what was going on. A few of them were not happy at all about walking through the jungle at night. But after Manolo’s insistence, they picked up their loads and started down the trail.
The group had lamps but Randall told everyone to do the best they could in the dark. They were following a trail they had come up earlier. That was an advantage. Still, it was hard to see. Even with a full moon the jungle floor was very dark. Very little moonlight filtered down through the trees. The good news was that they had not seen nor heard anything out of the norm and after an hour and a half they had gone about two miles.
“Let’s stop here,” said Randall quietly. They were in a clearing slightly off of the trail. “Manolo set up camp. No fires. No talking. And bring the radio equipment over here.” Manolo nodded in agreement and set off to get his men started on the campsite.
“Oh,” squeaked Dana as she quickly moved over by Randall.
“What’s wrong, babe?” he inquired quietly.
“Snake,” she said quickly but quietly. “There was a big snake crawling beside me.”
“That’s okay. Don’t worry about the big ones. It’s the small ones that bite. We will probably see more snakes tonight without a fire,” he said. She was not consoled.
“Can’t we have a small fire to help keep the animals away?”
Randall put his arms around her. “No, babe. We can’t afford to light a fire tonight. Out here it will be a beacon to anyone that wants to find us. Manolo will have camp ready in a few minutes. The tent will keep the varmints out.”
Manolo walked over with the radio equipment and antenna. He motioned to one of his men to set up the antenna while Randall began connecting the radio connections on top of his pack as he sat on the ground. Within five minutes you could hear the crackling and sizzle of the speaker static. Randall winced at the sound. Although he had the volume turned down low, the static sounded like it was as loud as a jet engine. Now Randall wished he had brought along the headphones.
“Finley Expedition to Base, Finley Expedition to Base. Come in Finley Base. Over… ” Randall said quietly as to not be heard all over the jungle. They waited for an answer in the hiss of static.
“Finley Expedition, this is Finley Base here. Where the hell have you guys been, Randall?” It was Ben’s voice and he was clearly upset. “We have been calling you for hours. Over… ”
“Ben. We’ve had a bit of a problem. It seems we have run across a small group of soldiers or something out here. We’ve managed to avoid direct contact but we don’t know if they saw us. Over… ”
“Soldiers? Any idea of who they are? Over… ”
“Not a clue. They were dressed in black fatigues and armed with automatic weapons so I think they could be a local army. Over… ”
“I’ll check with the authorities immediately. There are not supposed to be others in your area except for a few natives. Are you sure they weren’t natives? Over… ”
“Ben, we are almost positive they weren’t indigenous tribes. One of Manolo’s men saw them and was able to get away and come back to us. We hid in the jungle for a while and then retreated about two miles back down the trail we came in on. Right now we are camping in the dark. Over… ”
“Roger that, Randall. That was a good move. Wait until morning and see what you have and call me. In the meantime I will check with the local army and figure out what to do. Over… ”
“Sounds like a plan, Ben,” said Randall. “We’ll try to get some rest and get back to you tomorrow morning. Are you getting my GPS info? Over… ”
“I have your position info and have plotted it. Be careful and take care of Dana. I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning. Over… and out.”
“Roger, Finley Base Camp, Finley Expedition out.”
Randall put the microphone down and looked at Dana. She was scared. So was he. He decided to leave the radio set up in case they needed it fast. Randall did disconnect one of the battery leads to conserve power. It was so dark now Randall had trouble seeing Dana beside him. But it was imperative they stay put hoping whoever it was out there would give up on them and go away. At least that is what Randall hoped. Manolo crept over to the Finleys startling Dana.
“One of my men says he hears someone behind us,” whispered Manolo as he placed a hand on Randall’s arm. “Is not an animal. It is men. Could be many more out there waiting.”
Damn, thought Randall. What the hell do they want? He grabbed Manolo by the arm and turned to Dana.
“You stay here. I’ll be back in one minute.” He crawled away from Dana with Manolo right beside him. He wanted to get out of earshot of Dana. They crawled about ten feet away close to two of Manolo’s men. The two men were cowering under a low bush, not making a sound. They were scared to death.
Randall turned to Manolo and whispered, “Get one of your best guys to move away from us over to our right. Let’s say twenty to thirty meters. Tell him to circle back behind us to see if he can find who is out there.”
“I cannot do that,” said Manolo quietly, his voice shaking. “It is too dangerous.”
“Then what do you want to do? Sit here until they decide to come in and take us all? Not me. If we can find out exactly how many there are and where they are, we may be able to sneak out later tonight.” Randall stopped and listened.
The jungle was a cacophony of sound. The cicadas were screeching and the tree frogs were crying for their mates. The noise was almost deafening. A calm, steady rain began to fall, adding to the natural background noise. With the symphony of sounds it might be possible to sneak away.
Manolo thought for a few seconds. “Okay. I send a man out. When he comes back we try to get away. By dawn we can be far, far away from this place.”
Randall was still scared but felt a bit better now that they had a plan. Randall crept back over to Dana. Manolo crept away searching for his best man, his brother, Tula.
Dana pulled a rain poncho over her head. She heard Randall seconds before he appeared beside her. She reached out and clutched his arm.
“What’s happening?” she said, moving as close to him as she could.
“Okay, we have a plan,” said Randall quietly, digging into his pack for a poncho. “Manolo is sending out one of his best men to scout around and try to pinpoint where these people are or, more importantly, where they aren’t. Then we will try to slip out and head back toward base camp. If all goes well, we will be several miles away from here and safe. But until then we have to sit tight and wait in the rain.”
“Oh, Randall, I’m scared,” said Dana, her voice quivering as if she were at the North Pole, not the Amazon. The rain caused a slight chill in the air. “What if it doesn’t work?”
“It has to work. That’s all there is to it.”
Dana’s mind was racing. Sweat poured down her back. The jungle noise made it much worse. Now here was the rain. The constant whine of the cicadas and tree frogs drilled into her mind. Why couldn’t they shut up? If they would be quiet, maybe they could hear the men out there and slip away.
She had never been in this type of a situation. She’d run across several Amazon tribes in her time but most were curious, especially when white people came into their midst. This was different, very different. The group could be in danger, not only for their well-being but their lives. She wondered what would happen if these men caught them. Would they kill them outright or would they drag them back to their lair and hold them for ransom? Or would they kill the men and rape her repeatedly and turn her into their slave? Hundreds of horrible to unthinkable scenarios ricocheted through her mind. None were good, none. She grabbed Randall’s arm and squeezed it so hard that what nails she had dug into his arm.