I woke up in the glen it was nearing dark, Jai was gone from where he had laid down to rest. There was something odd about the jungle, something about its shadows wasn’t sitting quite right with me. From the corner of my eye I saw movement on the jungle floor, a figure came to view from between the thick brush I moved closer to get a better look – hiding myself from the figures view. It was a girl – a familiar one, it took me a moment to figure it out and then it came to me, it was the girl from the pod terminal, the one that had disappeared beneath the pod as it pulled into the terminal.
‘How on Earth did she get here,’ I wondered to myself.
She darted off into the forest and I did my best to keep up with her. The forests density made it near impossible to keep up with her and stay inconspicuous. I don’t exactly know how, but I managed to keep up with her until we came to the edge of the gorge. She stopped for a moment and I kept my distance to see what would happen next, she removed a pack from her back and pulled out a harness and some climbing ropes. Tying off one end of the rope to a nearby tree trunk she threw the rope over the edge of the cliff face and slipping on the harness began lowering herself down into the gorge. I was about to come out of hiding to follow the girl down the gorge, but I heard someone coming and withdrew into the brush once again.
A burly black man stepped into view and he leaned over the cliff edge catching sight of the girl climbing down the cliff he began hoisting the ropes back up to the cliff top. A shrill scream of panic came from the girl below unaware of what was going on.
“What are you doing?†she screamed, “Let me go!â€Â
The he yanked her up to his level, “You shouldn’t be here little girl!†his deep voice rumbled, “You’re coming with me.â€Â
The burly black man grabbed her by the wrist, and hoisted her up over his shoulder. In an effort to get away from her kidnapper, she bit him on the shoulder hard enough to draw blood. Out of anger and frustration he threw her to the ground violently scrambling away on hands and knees she desperately tried to get away. Realising this he picked up a nearby broken off tree branch and swung it at her, leaping from my hiding place I grabbed the branch in his hands as her drew it back to hit her.
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you,†he said cunningly turning around to face me. “Tabdas, get the girl!†he ordered sternly.
Another figure stepped out of hiding – a lean tall black man bearing a rifle, the girl began to run away and taking swift aim with his rifle he squeezed the trigger striking his target in the back. The girl fell to the ground unconscious with a dart protruding from her back. The lean tall black man ran over to her and dragged her out of sight.
“Now to deal with you,†said the burly man. He yanked the branch from my hand and threw it to the ground, and lunged at me fists ready, I ducked and rolled out of the way. He managed to grab me and got me in a headlock, getting my footing I forced him with all my might into a tree back first – throwing sharp blows to his kidneys I beat him until his grip eased. I scrambled away on my knees trying to catch my breath and he came at me again, managing to evade him again leapt out of the way. I could tell his temper was flaring, and the aggression blazed in his black eyes.
“No more Games!†He roared, drawing out a revolver. Clambering to my feet I ran towards the gorge, a gunshot sounded in my ears and then another, a sharp burning sensation came over me and I could feel myself falling. The gorge floor was speeding ever closer to me, I grasped for something, anything to break my fall and abruptly my hands made contact with a jagged protruding rock in the cliff face, I could feel the rock tearing at my flesh as I made contact with it, but desperation forced me to hold on. I inched my fingers up the protruding rock to get better grip and I prayed it wouldn’t give out on me. Blood started dripping down from my hands to my elbows, the sting of dirt in the gashes on my hands was becoming overbearing, I searched around to find my footing and managed to take some of the pressure off my aching hands. My relief was to be short lived however, I was about a third of the way from the top of the cliff and I decided to try scale my way up the cliff face.
I began working my way up the rocky wall only to make little progress, looking up again to see how far I had come I saw another figure standing at the top, before I could do anything another gun shot sounded and the bullet clipping the side of my head I lost grip and was falling again. The wind was rushing up my back and a sickening dizziness came over me as my consciousness began to fade, everything went black and I felt my body splinter against the icy cold surface of the gorge, my breath pounded out of me from the impact I could feel myself declining quickly, exhausted I let the water take me drifting into the darkness of my mind.
To Be Continued Part 1 Chapter 3...
Wow! One hell of a cliff hanger (if you'll excuse the expression!) I look forward to the next installment!
