Jorge scooted closer to him. “Whatever you’re doing… it’s too risky.”
“I need the two of you to watch the jungle,” Zane said without moving. “Let me know if it looks like they’re about to make a move. If they fire, fire back. I just need some time.”
Seconds later, another arrow glanced off the boulder to Zane’s right. Jorge and Brett responded immediately by returning fire.
As they kept the attackers occupied, Zane continued looking for his target. As he moved his scope back and forth, the wailing began again, only this time the cries were joined by the beating of drums. Zane’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. In all likelihood, they were preparing for an assault.
Just as he was about to move his scope, Zane caught a flash of color on the left side of the tree. He placed the sights on a small opening between two limbs. Something hovered in the shadows there. He moved his body a bit, giving himself a better angle. Suddenly he froze. Staring out of the foliage were two cold eyes rimmed in white.
Boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom. The drums continued, and the wails grew louder. The tribesmen were trying to whip themselves into a frenzy.
As Zane fixed on his target, rivulets of sweat ran down his forehead and into his eyes.
Boomboomboom. Boomboomboom. The beat was faster now.
“I can see a couple of them crouching just inside the trees, preparing for an attack,” Brett said, his voice tinged with concern.
Zane spoke without turning his head. “Be prepared to fire if they come out, but not a second before.”
Zane realized his scope had shifted slightly, causing him to lose his target. He moved it back to the left. Where was the opening?
The booming of the drums was building toward a crescendo, and the tribe seemed to be working itself into a state of delirium.
“They’re gathering at the forest edge,” Brett said. “I’m going to fire.”
“No, don’t shoot!” Zane shouted. “I need a few more seconds.”
He moved the scope sights around quickly, searching.
Got it!
“They’re coming!” Brett shouted.
“I said don’t shoot.”
The drums were beating so fast that they seemed like a beating heart. The tribesmen were seconds away from launching their attack.
“Zane!”
The loud crack of the gunshot pierced the air. The forest went silent, followed by the sound of a body snapping through the limbs on its way to the ground. A second later, it landed with a loud thud.
A long moment of silence was followed by the distinct sound of movement in the jungle. Were they attacking? Zane raised his rifle then lowered it again when he realized the footsteps were fading into the distance. The tribe was retreating.
As Zane let out a sigh, a voice barked from his radio. “Zane? Do you read?”
He reached down and pulled it out of his pocket. “This is Watson, over.”
“What’s going on down there?” It was Tocchet.
“We ran into a little trouble, but I think we’re all clear now.”
“Copy that. We couldn’t reach you earlier, so I started heading in your direction. While en route I heard a shot fired.”
Zane frowned. “Why were you trying to reach us? Is there a problem?”
“No problem at all.” After a brief pause, he said, “In fact, I have good news. We think Osak may have found a way inside the mountain.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Zane looked over at Artur as they moved west down the buffer. Pain was scrawled across his face, but on a positive note, he had been able to keep pace. They still hadn’t removed the arrow. Jorge and Zane both thought it would be better to let one of the Green Berets take a look first. Both had extensive medical training, and the decision was better left in their hands.
“Looks like we have two at twelve o’clock,” Brett said.
Zane looked up. Tocchet was coming toward them, and someone was walking at his side. The setting sun cast them as silhouettes, so at this point, he couldn’t tell more than that it was a woman. “Who is that with him?”
“It looks like Dr. Mills,” Brett said.
As they drew closer, the familiar shape of the anthropologist came into view.
“How is our patient?” Katiya asked as she rushed toward them.
“He’s hanging in there,” Zane said.
“When you told me he was injured, I called down Dr. Mills,” Tocchet explained. “She told me before that her father was a doctor.”
Zane looked at her. “Anthropologist, biologist, and now general practitioner?”
“And there’s a lot more you still don’t know.” She moved to Artur’s side and saw that the makeshift bandage was soaked in blood. “Oh my.”
“As you can see, he took an arrow to his upper arm,” Jorge said. “I used a shirt to wrap up the wound, but I’m not sure it will last.”
Katiya leaned closer. “You did a fine job. I’ll take a closer look when we get back.” She looked up at Artur. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not going to lie. It’s killing me, but I’ll be fine.”
“I was worried we might have been dealing with poisoned tips,” Zane said.
“He wouldn’t be walking now if they had been,” Katiya said. “The use of poison-tipped arrows isn’t particularly widespread anymore, but out here anything is possible.” She looked at him. “Who did this?”
“My guess would be the Dawanis.”
“Could you tell how many there were?”
“Too many to count,” Zane said. “The jungle was crawling with them.”
“Glad you all made it out alive.”
As Katiya made a couple of quick adjustments to the bandage, Zane glanced over at the slope. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the vines. They seemed thicker here. A few of the primary branches were the size of tree trunks.
“So what did Osak find, exactly?” Brett asked as Katiya finished up and the group began walking again.
“We’re not sure. He somehow got ahead of us, and when he came back, he told us he’d found a way into the mountain.”
“So you never saw what he was talking about?” Zane asked.
“Not yet. We followed him to a ravine. There was a trail that ran back through some shrub, but that’s as far as I got. We discovered our radios weren’t working, so Sergeant Bennett sent Sergeant Tocchet back to establish contact with you guys.”
“He didn’t describe it at all?” Brett asked.
Katiya shook her head. “Max said he couldn’t understand all the details. Apparently Osak kept using a word he wasn’t familiar with.”
Zane suddenly noticed that Tocchet had begun to slow. Just ahead on the right was a ravine that cut into the mountain. Each side was guarded by a rocky ridge, and the center was filled with what appeared to be an impenetrable mass of shrubs and vines. “Talk about a briar patch,” he said.
Tocchet waited for them to catch up then said, “Not sure we could even hack our way through if we had to.”
Katiya pointed toward an opening. “Thankfully, we won’t need to. There’s our trail.”
Tocchet led the way in, and the others followed in single file. Zane entered last, right behind Katiya.
Once inside, he realized that the thick vegetation wasn’t really a mix of plants. There might be a few small shrubs, but the bulk of the growth was the same vine that seemed to cover the mountain. It was so thick in places that he doubted he could even stick a hand through.
Katiya caught Zane’s attention then pointed up. “It’s like a tunnel in here.”
Zane tilted his head back. She was right. The vines curled overhead, forming a tightly fitted roof, so tight that it blotted out the sky. The whole structure had a bizarre feel. “If this is the entrance, I’m not sure I want to go in,” he said, only half joking. “Who do you think cut this out?”