“Yes, sir. Roger that.”
As Bennett stooped to gather his things, Zane reached into his pack and pulled out a flashlight. How the rest of the night played out would depend on Artur’s condition. If the injury wasn’t serious, he preferred to enter the mountain tonight. On the other hand, if the Brazilian was doing poorly, it might be best to give him a night of rest. That might also give Brett enough time to fix the sat phone.
Zane clicked on his flashlight and left Max at the entrance. As he stepped past the bushes, his beam swung across the clearing. He stopped. Something wasn’t right. He swung the beam back, this time more slowly. Eventually it illuminated the opening in the plant wall, the one they had just walked out of a few minutes earlier. He frowned and took a few steps in that direction. He held the beam there, his eyes soaking in the details.
What’s wrong with this picture?
And then it hit him. The opening was smaller than it had been before. Or was it?
He approached more closely, stopping a few feet away. The opening appeared to be the size of a normal house door, and yet he could have sworn that when he and Katiya had come through earlier they’d been walking side by side with room to spare.
Probably your mind playing tricks on you.
Zane turned to rejoin the others. As his light swept away from the opening, he could have sworn he saw several of the tendrils moving.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Zane crossed to the flat stone where Katiya and Amanda were working on Artur. Two puncture wounds marred the Brazilian’s upper arm. Amanda held him still as Katiya finished stitching him up.
“That’s better treatment than I’ve seen in some hospitals,” Zane remarked.
Katiya tied off the stitch and snipped off the excess. “Let’s not get carried away. The arrow passed through the side of his deltoid muscle. Thankfully that means it missed his arteries.”
“They’ll need to bring something better than that to kill me,” Artur said with a laugh.
Zane gave him a quick smile then turned toward Katiya. “And the prognosis?”
“Again, I’m no doctor, but I’d say he’s going to be fine,” Katiya said. “I think infection is going to be the biggest concern. That and he won’t be able to lift his arm for a while. As soon as he gets something to eat, I’ll give him some oral antibiotics.”
Zane frowned. “We have antibiotics?”
Katiya turned red and looked at Jorge. “Not officially.”
Zane looked at the Brazilian, who shrugged, smiled, and walked away.
Artur flexed his good arm as though demonstrating his strength. “A few minutes more, and I’ll be good to go.”
Katiya placed a hand on Artur’s leg. “No, you need more rest than that.” She looked at Zane. “I know you’re eager to keep going, but he needs at least four or five hours of rest. He lost a good amount of blood today.”
Zane rubbed his beard. Despite the Brazilian’s bravado, Artur’s face had paled considerably. No doubt the blood loss had weakened him. If they needed to stay, at least the ravine provided a safe place to make camp. The only way in was down the narrow path, which could easily be guarded. So, unless the Chinese had artillery, they should be safe for now.
“You’re right,” Zane said to Katiya. “Let’s give him a few hours. I’ll check back later.”
Artur shook his head. “I’m fine… honestly.”
“You’re not doing as well as you think,” Zane said. He placed a hand on the Brazilian’s good shoulder. “While you’re resting, we’ll check out the tunnel. We’re going to need you healthy when we all go in.”
Artur nodded.
Zane gave him a pat and turned to Katiya. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” Katiya said. She then mouthed a silent “thank you” as he turned to leave.
Zane found Bennett in the middle of the clearing, checking his gear.
“You about ready?”
Bennett looked up. “Yes, sir. How much do you think we’ll need?”
“Not much. Our main objective is to learn more about the body of water Osak found. I want to know how big it is and how we can get across.”
Bennett nodded. “My guess is that it’s an underground stream. We did some light spelunking during our training, and I ran into them all the time. Most are shallow and should be easy to cross. The only things you have to worry about are those little blind fish nibbling your feet.”
“Unfortunately, this place is anything but normal,” Zane said. “No telling—”
He was cut off by a loud shout of alarm. The voice sounded strangely muffled. He and Bennett turned, sweeping their beams around. Others joined them. Soon cones of light waved in every direction.
“Over here!” Amanda shouted.
Zane swung his beam around, as did the others. His eyes widened. Tocchet was lying on the ground near the edge of the clearing, struggling with something that seemed to be dragging him across the ground.
Zane and Bennett rushed over to him. Bennett was the first to arrive. “What the…?”
Zane pulled up short, horrified at the sight. Tocchet’s face was purple, much like someone’s whose air had been cut off. Something was coiled around the soldier’s neck. At first he thought it was a snake, but now, to his horror, he saw that it was one of the vines. It moved like an animal, tightening and pulling at the same time.
Amanda, who had just arrived, let out a scream.
“Get back!” Zane shouted.
Bennett had already dropped to his knees and was tugging at the plant.
“Please… help me,” Tocchet gurgled.
Zane knelt down and wrapped his fingers around the living noose. He was shocked at how strong it was, almost like ribbed steel.
“It’s trying to pull him into the thicket,” Bennett said.
He was right. Slowly but surely the soldier was being tugged toward the wall of vegetation.
Suddenly Zane heard a startled grunt, and Bennett slid out of view. Figuring he must have lost his grip, Zane continued to work on getting Tocchet loose.
Amanda screamed again, directing her flashlight to Zane’s right.
Zane turned then froze. A massive vine, much larger than the first, was wrapped around Bennett’s leg. The soldier was trying to shift and grab it with his hands, but the vine prevented it by dragging him more quickly.
Zane hesitated for a moment but knew he had to stay with Tocchet. The soldier was slowly choking to death. He turned toward the others. “Someone help Bennett!”
Jorge and Brett were already rushing to Bennett’s aid, allowing Zane to refocus on Tocchet. He straddled Tocchet’s chest and jammed his fingers into the crease between the vine and the soldier’s throat. If he could find the tip, he might be able to unravel the whole thing. He grunted, shoving his fingers as far into the coils as he could. Unfortunately, the further he got, the more difficult it was for Tocchet to breathe. He guessed the soldier had less than a minute to live.
Seconds later, Zane felt the tip of the vine. But as he closed his fingers around it, the plant pulled away as though it was equipped with its own central nervous system.
“I can’t… I can’t breathe,” Tocchet hissed through clenched teeth.
“Hang in there,” Zane said, probing again with his hands.
He glanced up again. The vine was pulling them steadily toward the edge of the clearing. They were only inches away, and now more vines were slithering toward them. The whole grove had now awakened as darkness fell over the ravine.
Just as Zane was about to give up and try something else, a shadow appeared on his left. A figure stood over the vine and lifted an ax with both arms. Seconds later, the blade cut through the air, slicing cleanly through the vine. A plume of dark sap sprayed like a fountain, and the stub whipped back into the wall.