Crisis in South Africa
By M.C.Hart
Chelbingo@Yahoo.com
Chapter 1
“Take the stream, cut them off before they get out of the jungle!” With a quick nod, two men shot through the low hanging branches and disappeared into the dark African night. General Montef tightened his grip on the rifle held firmly in his grasp and hurried along the fence perimeter.
Mud squished beneath his boots, suctioning each step he took against the ground. Thick leaves and branches slapped at his face and body, but little of this registered in his frustrated mind. He could hear his men pounding through the underbrush to his right, flushing out their prey.
The thieves had only a few minutes head start at the most. I’ll be damned if I let them get away with what I worked so hard to obtain! Two long years I planned and manipulated to get those codes! I knew there was something funny about him. He was just too slick with his words and actions, too willing to please. It’s my own damn fault for trusting that bastard and letting my guard down!
Pushing his way through the underbrush, the light in his hand jumping erratically across the ground, Montef jerked the small hand held radio off his belt, activating the toggle switch. “Talk to me people. I want a trail! Where are they?” he growled dangerously low.
Static filtered back, droning in his ears. “Morgan here. I’ve got footprints in sector J. It looks like they're heading toward the old landing strip.”
“Everyone converge on sector J! I want that area closed off! If they get away, I’m going to skin you all alive!” Montef hissed, increasing his pace. “Morgan, how far from the landing site are you?” he demanded.
“Half a mile at most, General. But they’ve got a head start of…”
“I know exactly how much of a head start they have!” Montef interrupted hatefully. “We know the ground! We have lights! We WILL find them, now move your ass man!”
“Yes sir!”
Morons, I’m surrounded by friggin' morons! He thought furiously, storming through the thick vegetation. When I get my hands on that bastard, I’m going to find out how he acquired that computer code and broke into the mainframe and wiped it clean. And when I do…when I do, someone is going to pay!
/ / /
Ducking the huge branch that seemed to appear out of nowhere directly in his line of flight, Lee sidestepped and lost his footing, sliding down a steep incline. Biting back the curse that formed in his throat, his hand tightened painfully around the waist of his companion as he felt himself toppling.
Hands grabbed his shoulders trying to stop his descent, to jerk him back onto the uneven ground, but instead of assisting the added weight just increased his unbalanced pitch. Left arm pin-wheeling for purchase, his right gripped tightly in fabric, Lee tumbled backwards into the darkness, dragging his partner along with him.
He landed hard, stifling a grunt not only from his own impact, but also from the impact of the other body atop his. They slid downward, clutching each other frantically, the wet mud beneath them turning the incline into a steep, slick slide. Lee could feel rocks and branches scraping his back as their slide took them down. He barely had time to pray there wasn’t a major drop off waiting beneath them before they hit bottom abruptly.
Water sprayed upward into the night as he fell back first into the small stream, the cool water cascading around his body. His face momentarily went under from his momentum before he raised up quickly, sputtering for air. His hands instantly moved over the form atop him, searching for injuries even as she began to move.
“You okay?” he demanded quietly.
“I’m in one piece,” Amanda returned in a low, squeaky voice. “You?” she questioned, rolling over and grabbing his hand as they rose from the water.
“More or less. Come on, we’ve got to keep going or they’re going to find us. The landing site shouldn’t be much farther,” he pressed, pushing her before him. “I saw one of their topographical maps of the area. There’s a couple of small planes stored there,” he panted as they struggled quickly back up the opposite bank, fighting against the slick mud that marred their attempts. “If we can get to those, we’re flying out of this hell hole.”
Amanda nodded in the dark, grabbing a hold of a jutting root and twisting herself over the side with Lee’s help. Turning, she offered a hand as he followed her lead, then pulled her to her feet.
They ran headlong through the trees, Lee twisting and turning, trying to avoid the denser undergrowth as best he could in the dark. Amanda did her best to keep up and not slow him down, but they had been running for so long, her breath was nearly gone.
Finally she squeezed his hand, slowing her flight. “Wait!” she gasped. Lee stopped quickly, turning back to her as she leaned against a large tree panting. “I’ve got to rest…just for a minute,” she managed, massaging her side where a sharp pain had begun to make itself known.
Lee stepped closer rubbing her shoulders tenderly, his eyes and ears scanning their surrounds quickly. “Okay, for just a minute,” he agreed, breathing heavily. “We’re almost there. It shouldn’t be but just a little farther,” he assured her again. “We’ll fly to Welkom, then contact Billy from there and he’ll get us out of here.”
“Okay,” she wheezed, trying to collect her breath. “Just as long as I can…can take a bath once we get there,” she tried to tease.
Lee looked down into her eyes, ignoring the mud and dirt that seemed to be caked on both of them. “That’s a promise, Mrs. Stetson, and to conserve water, I just might join you,” he added softly.
Amanda smiled ever so slightly. “I’d like that,” she whispered.
Lee looked around, then glanced back to his wife and partner. “We need to go,” he apologized. “I don’t want them getting too close. I’m going to need time to hot-wire that plane. Ready?”
“The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get in the air and I can rest, right?” she questioned lightly.
Lee reached up, caressing her soiled jaw gently. “That’s the spirit,” he whispered, then leaned downward and stole a quick kiss before taking her hand. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess, but I promise to get you out,” he whispered, starting off again through the trees.
/ / /
Halting abruptly at the edge of the clearing, Lee looked around frantically in the growing light. Time was running against them at this moment, he had hoped to hit the landing field in the cover of darkness, but with the approaching dawn, he knew their odds were dwindling on a clean escape.
General Montef’s men weren’t far behind and if they didn’t move quick, they weren’t going to make it. “Come on, let’s go this way. Stay in the trees,” he warned softly.
Amanda clung to his waist as Lee slid around the trees, watching and listening intently to his surroundings. They were heading for the big building standing just off to the right, a few hundred yards from the jungle perimeter.
Lee said there were planes stored inside, if he believes this than so do I, she told herself, trying to calm her building nerves.
Though their flight had been strenuous and tense, she knew the worst of their ordeal was yet to come. How far back were their pursuers? Could they cross that open expanse without being seen? Would he have enough time to hot-wire the plane before they were caught? Even though Amanda had the utmost confidence in Lee’s abilities, her thoughts were mirroring his. They were running out of time.
Everything had gone so wrong in a blink of an eye. Lee had infiltrated General Montef’s group as planned, working himself into their trust without mishap. His objective had been the arming codes that had been stolen from D.C. three weeks ago. The Agency had tracked Montef here, into the jungles of South Africa, and Lee went in determined to finish what he started.
She had waited just outside Welkom, along with Billy and Francine for his signal. When it came, she and Jordan Wilks had shot off in a jeep for the rendezvous with Lee and the pickup.
Things had gotten out of control from that moment on. She and Wilks had been discovered en route and taken back to the encampment. What started as a quick run in and out, ended with Wilks being shot point blank when he refused to cooperate with Montef. Amanda’s eyes had widened in horror when the rifle had been turned on her and had Lee not stormed into the clearing right then, she was sure she would have been next.
He shouldn’t have even been there, they were to pick him up outside the compound with the codes. The only reasoning Amanda could come up with was that he had seen their abduction and doubled back to try and free them with no thoughts for his own safety or for the information he carried.
Things got a little blurry after that, everything happened so fast. Lee had been standing toe to toe with Montef, arguing for her when another man stormed out of a nearby building screaming about the computer. The next thing Amanda was aware of was Lee bowling down her captors and grabbing her hand as they made a headlong rush into the night. Thankfully there weren’t many men in the compound at that time, or she was certain they would never have gotten away without being shot or worse.
With a quick jerk, Lee pulled her down beside him as he squatted along the perimeter of the trees. “Okay here’s the plan,” he whispered, motioning toward the building. “See that small door on the right?” Amanda nodded. “We’re going in there. Now I want you to run full out when I give you the signal and don’t look back, understand? We don’t have a lot of time Amanda. There could already be someone watching the field.”
“Lee that’s a long stretch and you don’t have a gun,” she whispered in returned.
“It doesn’t matter. This is our only escape route. We’re systematically being surrounded by Montef’s men, I know how he works. If we don’t go now, we’re not going to get the chance. Now, once we get inside, I want you to get those double doors opened as quickly as you can, but stay out of the line of fire,” he pressed, touching her chin. “I’ll get the plane going and then we’re out of here. Got it?”
Amanda nodded quickly, her eyes taking in the open distance between them and the building. It looked a mile away. Lee squeezed her hand as he rose, looking around again. “Okay, get ready,” he instructed softly.
Amanda posed herself, taking a deep breath. Her lungs hurt, her body trembled with fear and fatigue, but she would make the distance and she would run full out. As Lee said, there wasn’t a choice.
“Go!” he hissed, tightening his grip on her hand as they shot out of the cover of trees.
Feet pounding the wet ground, they ran headlong toward the building, hearts racing in their throats. As they closed the distance, Amanda heard shots ring out around them and felt the dirt pelting her pants from bullets impounding the ground at her feet.
“Run!” Lee shouted, grabbing her arm and nearly whipping her in front of him. She hit the wall of the building hard, jarring her shoulder as jagged pain lanced through her arm. An instantly later Lee slammed into the door with all his weight, cracking and splintering the decaying wood.
She was jerked inside before she could even move, his grip on her arm almost painful as she fell against his heaving body. Lee ducked, curling himself around her, almost falling into the floor as bullets sprayed the side of the building they had just vacated.
“Are you okay?” he hissed into her ear.
Amanda couldn’t find her voice, it was lodged somewhere between her heart, which was in her throat, and her lungs that felt like they were about to burst. Instead she simply nodded, her entire body shaking at how close they had come to being gunned down.
She could hear the reports of the guns, some automatic pistols, others rifles as bullets sprayed the building frantically. It was far from over. If Lee couldn’t get the plane off the ground this old, decaying building in the middle of the jungle was going to be their last stand.
“Get the doors,” Lee commanded, guiding them deeper into the building. She could see the outline of an older style single propeller plane standing off to the side, along with another that appeared to be disassembled.
That narrowed their chances considerably. As she ran toward the front of the building, Lee detoured quickly to the small plane, throwing the door open and climbing inside. One door will be enough, she concluded quickly, seeing the size of the big doors.
Jerking the latch off the rusted hinge, Amanda glanced back to the plane frantically. Should she open the door now, or wait until the motor started? An instant later, the engine sputtered to life, making her question a moot point. Throwing her weight against the large door, she pulled with all her might, moving it back on its rollers while keeping well out of the line of sight.
The moment it came to rest against the base of the wall, she slid back into the shadows and hurried toward the plane. Lee already had the door opened, motioning toward her quickly as she climbed in. The engine roared loudly through the building as Lee adjusted the throttle, easing it forward.
Amanda no more than slammed the door, when Lee’s voice sounded throughout the cabin. “Get down between the seats and stay down!” he growled, his voice filled with uneasy tension.
As the plane slid out into the brightening dawn, Amanda could hear thuds and pings along the side of the plane as bullets riddled its skin. A loud pop sounded, then glass shattered, bathing her in tiny shards as she covered her head quickly. “Lee get down!” she screamed, hearing several of the windows shattering above her.
The engine rumbled loudly as Lee threw the throttle forward, ducking his head at the onslaught of fire being delivered around him. “Come on you bastard,” he cursed, trying to force more power from the small engine. He could see men emerging from the bushes and trees all along the perimeter of the dirt airport, guns raised and firing toward them.
He knew if he couldn’t get the plane off the ground and soon someone was going to get lucky and hit something vital, then it would all be over. Adjusting the flaps, he coaxed just a bit more power from the straining engine and felt the front tires leave the ground.
“Come on baby,” he whispered, then ducked again as the panel of glass behind him shattered into a million tiny pieces. The plane shuddered roughly, but took air, climbing at an infuriatingly slow pace. “Climb!” Lee cursed, slamming his hand against the dash in frustration.
Another round of bullets pelted the plane as she slowly began to pull above the tree line. Lee’s eyes darted to the line of bullet holes riddling the front of the plane, the cried out in pain as he dove sideways, almost falling into the other seat. Glass sprayed around them, covering their bodies with shattered remnants as the engine sputtered dangerously.
Amanda had heard his cry and squirmed around in time to see him rise, his cheek covered in blood from a cut across his face. “I’m all right!” he answered her unspoken question, grabbing the controls tightly as his eyes scanned the dials for damage.
As they pulled above the trees and gained height, Amanda climbed back into the passenger seat quickly, reaching for Lee. Blood dripped freely down his jaw, splattering his once white, now dingy and mud covered shirt with pools of crimson.
That was the least of Stetson’s worries at the moment. As the engine continued to protest, despite their airborne state, his eyes fell on one of the dials and made his heart skip a beat. “We’re losing fuel!”
“How badly?” Amanda inquired, seeing the look on his face. It wasn’t good.
“Bad,” was all Lee returned as he pointed to the quickly depleting dial to his right. “They must have hit the fuel line, if it had been the tank we’d have known it.”
Amanda’s eyes widened as she envisioned the fuel tanks going up in a huge fireball, engulfing the cabin and them along with it. She swallowed hard, then glanced back to Lee. “It’s not going to explode is it?”
Lee turned toward her quickly, forcing a smile to form across his face. “No, no, of course not, Amanda. We’re loosing fuel too fast to even begin to think about making Welkom though. At the rate its falling, we’ll be lucky to stay airborne for another five minutes. I’m going to try and put as much distance between us and Montef’s men as possible.” He glanced down, grabbing the radio mike from its resting place and toggled the switch quickly. He needed to try and contact Billy and at least give him their position before they fell. The radio however, remained dead and lifeless regardless of how much Lee manipulated it.
Frustrated, he threw the mike into the floor glancing at his wife. “It’s not working,” he muttered, then took a breath. “I need a landing area. If we go down into these trees we’re dead. Find me a clearing, preferable long, but I’ll take any port in the storm,” he teased, looking back to the dials with a grim expression.
Amanda nodded, turning her gaze to the rapidly passing landscape below them. She knew Lee was trying to reassure her with his last remark, but knowing they were going down sooner than either liked, along with the fact that it would be more of a crash than an actual landing, gave her a weak feeling in her stomach.
Amanda’s eyes flickered from the landscape, to the fuel dial and quickly to Lee's features before turning back to the tree line below them. Talk dwindled during the next few, tense minutes as Lee tried to keep the shuddering plane on course and Amanda looked vainly for a break in the dense trees below.
Lee’s voice cut through the clamor of the engine, filled with strain. “Amanda, we need…”
“There, over there!” she called pointing out the window. “See, there’s a small clearing. Is it going to be big enough?”
“It’s going to have to be,” Lee returned, banking the plane quickly toward the direction she indicated as his eyes scanned and found the small area.
He circled once, trying to get a lay of the land below him. It was scattered with small saplings, rocks. Not my first choice for a smooth landing, but at this point, it’s better than the trees. He no more than thought that when the plane sputtered roughly, coughed and shut down. “Shit!” he cursed, feeling the power dropping from the engine quickly as the plane began its descending glide.
“Amanda, get in the back and strap in now!” he commanded, struggling to keep the floundering plane in the air.
“Lee…”
“We’re going down!” he shouted back interrupting her. They didn’t have time for arguments! “Listen to me! It’s going to be bumpy and it’s going to be hard, now do as I say!”
Amanda rose instantly and complied with his command without another word. She sat down quickly and strapped herself into the seat as tightly as she could. Lee was doing the same up front, but having more trouble due to needing one hand on the controls. She reached up, grabbed his harness and completed the task for him. Lee nodded his thanks, unable to take his focus off the plane and its increasing plunge.
His eyes fell on the rapidly rising ground below and he took a breath, trying to keep the nose of the plane level. With no way of backing down the throttle and slowing their descent, his best hope was to use the as much of the clearing as possible.
Coming in low, the landing gear and bottom of the plane brushed the leaves along the tops of the surrounding trees, Lee gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on the instruments. They were coming in hard and fast and he just prayed the small plane would hold together through the crash.
Amanda felt the plane jar roughly as it hit the ground. Squeezing her eyes shut, she gripped the back of Lee’s chair, whispering a small prayer for them. The plane jumped and landed again, it’s wings being whipped and plummeted by the small saplings as it tore through the clearing.
We’re coming in too fast! The clearing isn’t big enough for this kind of speed! We’re going to end up in the trees! Pitching hard to the side, she opened her eyes in time to see the nose of the plane slam into the dense jungle surround them, the propeller being all but ripped off and flinging back on them. Lee turned his head, holding his hands before his face as the control panel erupted in a shower of sparks.
She was jerked forward roughly as the plane hit, slamming into the trees with a force. Branches smashed through the cockpit, ripping and tearing their way out again as the wings screamed loudly, tearing away in the force. She felt a sharp stinging on the back of her head then everything went black.
* * *
The first thing Amanda was aware of was intense blinding pain radiating along the back of her head. Moaning weakly she lifted her hand to rub at the offending throbbing and encountered resistance. A small frown formed on her features, her mind still not clearly taking in what had happened.
Opening her eyes slowly, she bit back a wave of nausea that slammed through her body, only to realize the world tilted dangerously to the left. It took several blinks before she was able to focus and take in her surroundings.
The cockpit of the small plane was covered in broken glass, tree limbs and broken branches. The right side caved inward at a grotesque angle, the passenger seat wrenched upward and back, nearly buried beneath the ripple along the outer skin.
Thank God Lee told me to sit in the back, Amanda thought disjointedly. At that realization, Amanda’s eyes shot wide. “Le…” She tried to talk, but had difficulty making her voice cooperate. It felt raw and dry, burning with each swallow. Clearing her throat weakly, Amanda reached out, trying to find him.
“Lee… Lee talk to me,” she finally managed softly. Her hand encountered little but soft leaves and the rough bark of a large tree branch.
Turning her head, Amanda chocked down a gasp as her eyes fell on the large branch imbedded through the cockpit. It came in through the side of the cabin and punched through the back not more than a few inches to her left, missing her head by sheer chance.
Shifting slightly she moved herself around, brushing the leaves back and off her slim form and attempted to release the strap that had held her in place. Metal groaned loudly around her, protesting her move as Amanda leaned the majority of her weight against the limb and held perfectly still.
She knew from the way the plane was resting, its tail end was sticking upward, the nose embedded into the dense foliage around them. The entire frame was twisted at an awkward angle, as if its weight hinged on the branch beside her.
It’s going to fall, her mind screamed at her. If I move it’s going to fall! She had no idea how bad the structural damage was, other than what she could see, and she didn’t want to possibly endanger them more by causing the whole mass to shift. Her body threatened to freeze right there in that position and not move until doomsday, but her mind knew better.
I have to move! She screamed to himself, fighting her body's response. This plane isn’t going to stay balanced on this branch forever, and Lee and I are going to be long gone when it finally decides to reposition itself.
As the thoughts of her husband flashed through her mind, Amanda knew she had to find him and make sure he had survived as well. Of course he survived! She chided herself quickly, sliding forward as gently as she could. I refuse to believe differently.
Reaching out Amanda quickly broke several smaller branches, pushing others aside and out of the way as she made her way downward and to the left where Lee had been sitting. “Lee? Lee, answer me,” she commanded in a cracked voice.
Silence surrounded her, only broken by an occasional groan of stressed metal. Jerking roughly at the offending limbs that had nearly trapped her in the back of the tiny cabin, Amanda cursed inwardly.
It was something she rarely did, but her frustration with the surrounding vegetation and its almost unearthly fight to keep all knowledge of her husband’s welfare from her was taking its toil on her already stressed nerves.
The plane tilted dangerously as she ripped away the last of the leafy vegetation and finally could make out the cockpit and front of the plane before her. Lee was slumped forward, his harness was the only thing holding him in his seat. The control panel was dark and scorched looking, covered in some type of oily substance. The entire front of the plane was splattered with the substance Amanda realized as she stopped suddenly, holding her breath.
As the bulk of the aircraft settled back against the tree, she let her breath out slowly, reaching her arm across the limb that still impeded her path. “Lee? Lee wake up,” she pleaded, stretching her upper body out until her fingertips brushed the back of his head.
With a grunt, Amanda pressed her body against the upper part of the cabin until her shaking fingers contacted his ear. Holding her breath she laid them against his neck and smiled instantly when she felt a strong pulse beneath.
“Yes…” she breathed relieved. He’s alive, just unconscious. “Lee… Lee I really need you to wake up,” she pleaded, tugging lightly on his ear.
When he didn’t respond, Amanda sighed. “Now is not the time for this,” she muttered to herself then raised her voice louder. “Stetson, wake up!” she commanded, then immediately regretted the tone she had used when it vibrated painfully throughout her skull. She groaned, holding her head, and sank down against the branch letting it hold her spread out across the cabin.
Oh, that hurts, she thought weakly, closing her eyes. I’ve got one doozey of a concussion working here. Swallowing hard, Amanda forced her eyes open again and tugged feebly on the collar of Lee’s shirt. “Dammit Scarecrow, I need you,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can get out of this on my own. Come one Lee, for goodness sake, please wake up.”
Amanda could feel the darkness engulfing her, pulling her into its embrace despite her attempts to stay awake. “No…” she whispered, slumping down against the limb as her strength faded away. Her fingers clutched weakly to the material of Lee’s shirt, then relaxed slowly as consciousness left her once again.
/ / /
“We have conformation that the plane crashed here,” Duncan pointed quickly to the map, circling a small, dense area of jungle. “Forty miles north of the air strip.”
“Get the men together! I want a group out there ASAP!” Montef snapped.
“Sir, there aren’t any trails in that part of the jungle. It’s going to take time to get a team out there. The area is completely covered in overgrowth and…”
Montef reached out and grabbed the younger man by the collar, jerking him forward until they were inches apart. “You will get a team out there and FIND them!” he snarled hatefully. “I want that code back and the son-of-a–bitch that took it. He’s mine! Do you understand me? I want him! I don’t care what it takes or how much manpower you need to pull in, I want that MAN!”
Montef pushed him back, causing Duncan to stumble roughly against the table. He nodded quickly knowing his superior was more than a little pissed. “Of course sir!” Saluting sharply, he spun on his heel and departed the building.
“I hope you’re not dead you bastard,” Montef growled, staring at the map as if it was the cause of his worries. “Because when I get my hands on you, I’m going to make you wish you were!”
/ / /
Amanda groaned, opening her eyes slowly. It took several blinks for her to bring the world back into focus. How long have I been out? Was her first thought.
Lee was still slumped forward and unconscious, having never moved a muscle from her perspective. Daylight continued to filter through the canopy of leaves above them, bathing the cabin of the small plane in blotches of sunlight as it fell through the windows and ripple of jagged metal above her head where the roof had once been.
Blinking once more, she shifted her weight carefully, her limbs protesting the slight movement when blood began circulating painfully through them. At least my head feels better, she admitted, searching for a bright side of the predicament. At this point, if she didn’t try and find something positive about this situation, she knew she would scream.
Stretching her legs out, Amanda realized there was a small crawl space beneath the main branch that her legs had slid into. Looking back at Lee’s still form, she reached down, feeling carefully around trying to determine if the space allowed her completely into the front.
When her hand encountered the rough material of Lee’s trouser leg, Amanda couldn’t help the smile that crossed her features. Worming her way down, she tried to straighten out her body as she inspected the crawl space. It wasn’t much, painfully small in fact, but it was her only way out as far as she could determine.
The rear of the plane was far too crushed to offer any avenue of escape. The right side was caved inward, its windows so misshapen that she would never have gotten her arms out, much less the rest of her. To the left the large branch impaired any attempt she could try.
It took some doing, but by twisting her body around and pulling with her hands along the base of Lee’s seat, she was able to wiggle herself beneath the mammoth obstacle. She had one heart stopping moment when she was halfway through. The plane groaned loudly, metal screeching against metal as it shifted downward. Amanda held her breath, squeezing her eyes shut, praying the weight of the plane wouldn’t trap her beneath the limb and squeeze the life out of her.
After a few terrifying seconds the nerve-grinding racket stopped and Amanda continued her crawl forward. Once she was free of the limb's constricting confinement she would wake Lee and together they would make their way out of this prison through the cockpit windshield.
Biting back a groan, Amanda jerked herself free, curling her legs beneath her as she pulled upright in the cockpit. Her shirt had been ripped down the side from an outcropping nub on the tree, but she felt that was a small price to pay for her freedom.
Turning her attention quickly to her husband, Amanda reached out, cupping his face lightly with her hands and slid his head back. “Lee… Lee wake up,” she pressed, tenderly brushing her fingers along his temples.
The front of his torso and face was covered in the same substance that bathed the front of the cockpit. He had several small cuts along his face and a large knot just above his temple in his hairline, she could feel the evidence with the tips of her fingers. “Scarecrow, you’ve got to hear me,” she said again, then smiled as she felt him turn his head slowly in her hands. “Yes, that’s it! Wake up!”
Lee groaned weakly, his eyes fluttering open softly. “Hi handsome,” Amanda whispered, seeing this. “We made it, you got us down in one piece, more or less,” she teased softly.
“Hmmm… yeah,” Lee’s voice returned, sounding rough and gravelly. He lifted his arms upward in a motion to wipe at his eyes but Amanda stopped him.
“Don’t, you’ve got oil or something all over your face. I don’t want you getting it into your eyes.”
“I think it already is,” Lee complained, blinking harshly. “They’re burning Amanda and I can’t see shit. Everything’s blurry.”
Amanda frowned, getting a good look at his once sparkling eyes before Lee snaked his fingers up and began rubbing them furiously. His eyes were blood red and watering horribly.
“Wait,” she implored, jerking at her torn blouse tail. “You’re just going to make it worse, let me see if I can help.”
Pushing his hand away, she gently began cleaning around his eyes. “Close your eyes,” she instructed patiently. Lee did as she asked, sitting still under her care.
“How long was I out?” he questioned after a moment.
“I’m not sure. It’s still daylight out and as far as I can tell it’s the same day. I was awake earlier but lost consciousness before I could get up here to you,” she explained softly.
Lee reached up, grabbing her hand away from his eyes, tightening his hold. “Amanda, are you all right?” he demanded, forcing his eyes open despite the blurring and pain. He could barely make out her form as it wavered amid the constant warm tears his eyes secreted in their attempt to rid the themselves of the foreign substance.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, patting his chest. “It was just a bump on the head. I'm feeling better now.” Her fingers worked their magic across his face as they had done so many times in the past, soothing and dropping away his fears. She felt the tension ease away in his muscles as Lee sighed, visibly relieved.
That they were both alive was a miracle in itself. The way the plane was twisted around them, coming away with a few knots and scraps was more than she could ever ask for. With his eyesight being as it was, Amanda was thankful that he wouldn’t see the branch that nearly impaled her. Knowing how close to death she had come had shaken her dramatically. In her opinion this was a ‘need to know’ topic and Lee certainly didn’t ‘need to know’!
“Thank God,” Lee breathed, closing his eyes. “Are you bleeding anywhere?” he inquired, cocking his head toward her.
“Not that I am aware of.”
“Am I? I mean other than that place on my cheek?”
Amanda smiled. He was going step by step through the procedures. Ascertain the situation then make your plan. “No, you do have a few more scratches and cuts along your face, but nothing critical,” she returned.
Lee nodded weakly. “All right, that’s good. We’re in one piece.”
“Yes we are, but what about your eyes?”
“That’s just a hindrance right now, don’t worry about it,” Lee muttered, brushing her off. “We can move and that’s our main priority. I know we put several miles between us and Montef’s men, but we’ve also been unconscious for who knows how long.”
Lee took a breath, fumbling along his waist for the snap of his harness. His hand encountered broken limbs and scattered leaves all along the cockpit. “What the hell?” he mumbled, opening his eyes and trying to make his surroundings come into focus. It was a lost cause, it only made the pain worse and tears streamed down his face from the rapid blinking.
“They're just tree limbs,” Amanda supplied, pushing his hand back as she reached for the semi-hidden latch. “A few fell inside when we came to a stop. I’m going to pull the release, lean forward onto me, otherwise you’re going to crash into the console.”
“Okay.” Lee did as she asked and Amanda jerked the buckle sending him forward into her body. The combined weight of the two of them caused her to slide back roughly against the throttle control, digging the offending equipment painfully into the small of her back. Lee quickly shifted his weight and slid to the side when he heard her grunt painfully. “Sorry,” he apologized, giving her a half smile.
“It’s all right. That’s just one more bruise to add to the growing collection I seem to be sporting,” she returned.
“I know what you mean. My entire body feels like I’ve been through an interrogation with the KGB,” Lee admitted, trying to rub circulation back into his protesting bent legs. “Amanda, can you see a compartment or anything that might house a small medical or survival kit?”
She glanced around, quickly inspecting their surroundings then sighed. “There’s nothing I can see from here and if it was on the passenger side of the plane it’s not accessible now,” she confessed. “That side is pretty crunched up.”
Lee let out a slow breath, digesting her information. “Then we’re on our own. Okay, we’re out in the middle of the jungle, with terrorists breathing down our necks, and the possibility of Billy having no idea where we’re at. Top that off with the fact that I can’t see two feet in front of my damn face makes for the start of a pretty shitty day if you ask me.”
Amanda smiled, wishing she could share the expression with her husband. She could clearly see the makings of a smile on his lips despite his words. It had always amazed her that they could make light of a situation no matter how dire it appeared.
“At least we’re together and healthy,” she added, drawing Lee’s smile to full form with her words.
“That we are my dear, that we are.” Lee reached out, feeling for her as he opened his eyes slightly, trying to get a fix on her position. Amanda took his hand tenderly, intertwining their fingers. “Now it’s time for us to vacate our wonderful surroundings before we have some unwanted visitors. I’m going to need you to be my eyes Amanda, at least until this crap decides to clear up,” Lee explained, running his free hand along the console, feeling its destruction. “We can get out of here, can’t we?” he questioned.
“Yes, I believe so,” Amanda returned, releasing his hand to twist around. “The plane’s nose end down in a bunch of trees, but I don’t think we should have too much trouble climbing out.”
With that she hoisted herself up and out of the small gnarled space that once held the windshield of the craft and balanced herself against the trunk of a thick tree. “Give me your hand,” she instructed reaching back inside for Lee. “Be careful of the edge,” she warned as Lee reached his other hand out for balance. “It’s jagged and sharp.”
Lee nodded, working his way out of the crushed cabin with Amanda’s instructions. Before long they were both sitting outside the plane amid the tree branches. "How far is it to the ground?” he questioned, opening his eyes a moment, then squeezing them shut when the burning became too intense. This is going to get old real quick, he grumbled to himself.
Amanda saw this reaction and reached out tenderly to touch his face. Lee flinched slightly upon contact, then relaxed. “You can’t open your eyes at all can you?” she whispered concerned.
“No, they hurt,” Lee confessed with a hard exhale. “The damn things feel like they’re on fire, opening them just makes it worse. I can’t believe this happened,” he grumbled.
Amanda patted him on the chest gently. “Hush up now. It could have been a lot worse and you know it. We’ll find some water and I’ll try to clean them out a little better.”
“Yeah,” Lee agreed, knowing splashing water in his eyes wouldn’t be much help. If it was an oil based solution he was going to need something with more of a punch to it than simply water. “How far is it to the ground?” he repeated, changing the subject.
“Three or four feet at the most. I’ll slide down then guide you,” Amanda informed him, working her way carefully down the crumpled side of the plane, using branches to control her descent.
“Be careful and don’t twist your ankle,” Lee called, listening to the scraping.
“I’ve got it. You just stay put until I tell you differently or you’re going to end up twisting something,” she commanded. “This is difficult enough and I’m watching what I’m doing,” she continued, shaking her head.
Each branch she placed her weight on had to be tested to ensure it would hold her. It would have been so much easier to just be able to slide down the side and be done with it, but the debris from their crash had made that impossible. Uprooted trees, plane parts and piles of dirt impeded her path, not to mention all the broken branches lying about. Any foot placement could easily bury her knee-deep in the debris, twisting or breaking a limb instantly.
The trick was to just be cautious and not get ahead of herself. By the time Amanda placed her foot upon firm ground, she was already going over how she was going to get her husband down without injury.
“Lee…”
“I’m still here,” he teased, moving his legs. “Did you make it down safely?”
“I’m safe, the problem we’re going to have is you,” she returned, eyeing the twisted mass of roots she had just traversed. “This is a broken bone waiting to happen. With your eyesight gone…”
“Just guide my foot to the right place, I’ll be fine,” Lee interrupted.
“Lee it’s not that simple,” she protested. “One wrong move and you’ll snap your leg like a piece of uncooked spaghetti.”
“That’s a lovely thought, comparing me to an uncooked noodle. Does wonders for my morale,” he teased, then sobered. “I trust you Amanda. Just remember where you stepped and make sure my foot ends up in the same place. If we sit here and debate this for too long, Montef’s going to end up with two unwilling prisoners. Now come on, where do I go?”
Amanda sighed, knowing he was right. They had to get moving and to do so meant her getting Lee off the plane in one piece. If this was the biggest obstacle she would have to face before they returned to the States, then she would be thankful. “Right in front of you is a branch, if you reach out with your left hand… yes that’s it,” she instructed calmly. “Now slide down and I’ll guide your foot placement… your right foot,” she added quickly.
After several tension-filled moments Amanda finally had Lee safely on the ground beside her. “See, that wasn’t so hard,” he said, smiling when he felt her arms wrap around him in a strong hug.
“Says you, I was the one having to watch you traverse that mess.”
Lee chuckled, squeezing her. “Can you see where the sun is?” he asked as he released her. “We need to head North East toward Welkom.”
“Stand right here and I’ll go check. I should be able to tell something from the clearing.” When Amanda returned a few moments later they started off, Amanda holding tightly to Lee’s hand, instructing him as best she could.
“Lee,” she said after a few minutes of travel. “What did you mean earlier about Billy? How’s he going to find us out here in the middle of nowhere? You said the radio didn’t work on the plane.”
“No, it didn’t. I missed my last two or three check-in’s at least. He would have known something was wrong before the crash. So Billy would have had every radar and scanner available focused in on the area. I’m almost certain they spotted the plane going down. All we can do now is work our way toward them and try to stay ahead of Montef. Billy and Francine will find us Amanda, it’s just a matter of time.”
* * *
“Lee, it’s getting too dark to see by,” Amanda admitted, stopping their forward flight.
She heard her husband sigh audibly and felt his hand moving from hers up her arm until he reached her shoulder. There he stopped, caressing her muscles tenderly. “Okay, then I guess we’re done for the night. We sure as hell don’t need to be walking off into a hole or worse. Let’s find a place to lay low. Any ideas?”
Amanda smiled at his words. From the moment they left the plane, Lee had been allowing her to make all their directional decisions. Granted, he couldn’t see very well and she knew it, but every time she had asked for his input, Lee’s reply had been, “Whatever you think is best.”
They had been on the go, non-stop, since they left the crash site, weaving in and out of the thick foliage, doubling back a time or two when it had become impossible to make headway. Amanda had tried her best to keep them on the right heading, hoping that Montef’s men weren’t having any better time of traversing this landscape than they.
“Give me your hand, let’s see what we can find,” she returned, feeling his palm working back down her arm until he squeezed her hand tightly.
Amanda glanced back at him, barely making out his rumpled features in the night. The only things that seemed to stand out were his white shirt and the bandage she had wrapped around his eyes, made from his shirt-tail.
Lee hadn’t complained once about his lack of vision or the pain he was apparently having from the foreign substance saturating his eyes. She, however, knew he was hurting. Every time she had witnessed an attempt to open his eyes, Lee had grimaced, closing them immediately and proceeding to rub at them furiously with his fingers.
They had come across a small stream earlier in the day where they both had partaken in a much-needed drink and a few minutes of precious rest. During this time, Amanda had tried to flush his eyes out, hoping the water would help dilute the oily substance. Unfortunately it hadn’t worked and she had finally produced a makeshift bandage of his shirttail to cover them.
“Over here, Lee. We can rest at the base of this big tree. There’s a small clearing beneath it,” she instructed softly, leading him the few steps to their destination. As he eased down with a groan, Amanda sank down beside him, resting back into the comfort of his embrace.
“We’ll rest for a while and build our strength. Once the morning light breaks through you should be able to see enough to continue,” Lee muttered, laying his head back against the tree.
“This isn’t exactly the way we envisioned our first night together in South Africa is it?” she asked with a smile, laying her head against his shoulder. “I thought you said the hotels here were a little more modern, Scarecrow.”
She felt him chuckle slightly beneath her as his arms tightened around her weary body. “Oh they are, Amanda, and when we get out of this damn jungle I’m going to register us in the best hotel Welkon has to offer,” he returned quietly.
When all this had started, before it was turned upside down in their laps, Lee had promised her a night of wonderful bliss snuggled together in one of the modern hotels in the area. He had called it a ‘mini-vacation’ with just a touch of work on the side. Now their vacation seemed like a distant memory and paled beside the desire to just stay alive and ahead of Montef until Billy and Francine found them.
“And how do you propose to steal us away with Billy and Francine hovering about?” she inquired, enjoying their light conversation.
After the day they had just endure -- being shot at, surviving a plane crash, and trudging through the humid, nearly impenetrable jungle -- Amanda needed one of Lee’s quiet ‘normal life’ dialogues, as he teasingly called them. They had always seemed to help her relax in the past and right now, in this instant, Amanda would have paid good money to be able to relax and just surrender to the exhaustion tugging at her frame.
“Hmmm… I have my ways,” he returned in a light tone. “We told your mother you’d be gone two weeks. I hope we don’t have to come up with another explanation if we go over our time limit.”
They had been down in this area for ten days of their fourteen already, ten worry-filled days for Amanda not knowing about her husband. Lee had tried to persuade her to stay in the States, telling her that it wasn’t anything major and he’d be home before she knew he was gone. But Amanda wouldn’t hear of being left behind. She was determined to go with him and, after having a heated debate in his apartment, he had finally relented and booked her flight out as well.
She had been helping him with the case from the beginning and saw no reason for him to leave her out. Lee had argued that he wanted her safe and she had returned the same argument back at him. Billy had been called and, to Lee’s dismay, told him that he thought bringing Amanda along was a good idea.
Amanda knew Billy had been pushing them together from the start, she only wished they could tell him how far this relationship had actually grown. Billy had confided in her once, telling her that she was good for Lee -- that having her around made Scarecrow more aware and safe with his actions. Amanda agreed wholeheartedly with that statement.
She knew Billy suspected something was up between them. He gave them small knowing smiles from time to time that meant only one thing: “I know what’s happening and I think it's good for both of you.” But Amanda thought many in the Agency were starting to see the signs as well. They had had too many close calls in the Q-Bureau with Billy, Francine and even Dr. Smyth. But when Lee locked the door that signal just seemed a little too obvious, especially to Francine.
Francine had found out about them, walking in while they were teasing each other, Lee with his arms around her, bent over. He had tried to brush it off, but Francine just gave them a look, turned and left. Amanda could still remember that little talk Francine had given her, trying to warn her about Lee and his lack of commitment.
She had done well not to laugh at Francine, but she was being so serious and concerned about Amanda getting hurt that she just didn’t have the heart. Lee had thought it hilarious when Amanda informed him later that night about telling Francine she had dumped Lee. She didn’t think he was ever going to stop laughing.
“I think she’s starting to get suspicious,” Amanda admitted, referring to his comment about her mother with a smile. “No, I know she’s suspicious,” she corrected quietly. “You should have seen the looks she gave me when I told her about the trip. All she said was, “Lee’s going to be traveling with you, isn’t he?” Amanda laughed gently as she remembered the all-too-knowing tone her mother had used.
Lee smiled in the quickly dwindling light, feeling relaxed and comfortable in his wife’s presence, despite their dire situation. His fingertips brushed lightly along her as he idly played with the length. “She knows we’re serious, Amanda. There’s no way she couldn’t and I know your mother isn’t blind. I’m over at the house every night of the week and if I’m not there, then you’re with me. The boys feel pretty comfortable with me,” he admitted with pride. “Jamie’s come a long way from being that scared little boy who was afraid I was taking his mom away from him six months ago. He actually enjoys doing things with me.”
“I know, honey,” Amanda returned, hearing the happiness in Lee’s voice. She intertwined her fingers with his, squeezing his hand tenderly as she snuggled deeper into his embrace.
“I’m thinking of making our engagement announcement after this is over with,” he continued after a moment of silence between them. “The boys are ready for this, Amanda,” he added quickly before she had time to voice her opinion. “It’s time to have a public wedding. Phillip asked me last week if I was scared to ask you to marry me,” he confessed.
“He did?” she asked surprised, turning in his embrace slightly even though she couldn’t make out all that much of his features.
He nodded his head against the tree. “When we were out at the track testing the new suspension on the ‘vette. Took me off guard,” he admitted truthfully. “I mean, we hadn’t even been talking about us or you for that matter. He just rose up from the car and said, 'So what’s up with you and mom? Aren’t you going to marry her or are you too afraid to ask?'”
“What did you say to that?”
Lee chuckled again. “Well, after I composed myself from the initial shock, I told him I had every intention of marrying you, but I just hadn’t gotten around to popping the question.”
“And?” she implored when he fell silent again. “Don’t stop now, Stetson. What did my oldest say then?”
“He just looked at me very seriously and told me the sooner I asked you, the sooner we could get married and then I wouldn’t have to sneak around at all hours of the night,” he confessed with a smile.
“What?” Amanda blurted out, sitting forward and twisting around out of her husband’s embrace. “He knows you’re coming back to the house at night?”
Lee could clearly hear the anxiety in her voice. “Hey, calm down,” he commanded, reaching out and drawing her against his body. “Come here, it’s all right. Phillips and I had a nice long conversation that afternoon. Dotty doesn’t know about my late night visits and neither does Jamie. Phillip assured me that he hadn’t nor did he have any plans of sharing his little discovery with anyone, including you,” Lee assured her softly, making her lay back onto him and rubbing her shoulders gently as he tried to ease the tension from her protesting muscles.
“But what he must think of me… carrying on with you when…”
“All he saw was us cuddling on the couch,” Lee corrected, softly. “Nothing more. He had come down for a drink and saw us on the couch. He doesn’t know about our bedroom activity. Your honor is intact, Amanda, I would have it no other way,” he whispered with a tender smile, leaning his head forward and kissing her hair lightly.
“Are you sure?” she questioned, not at all happy knowing that Phillip had discovered Lee’s late night visits. As far as her family knew, Lee left every night at ten, or so she had thought. That he reappeared again at eleven thirty was something they had tried to keep secret. That was their time as husband and wife, a time neither had to put up fronts and they could show their affection for each other openly. Amanda cherished that little time they spent together at night and what few weekends they could squeeze in.
“I’m sure,” Lee returned, kissing her hair again as he finally felt her muscles beginning to loosen. “I told you Phillip and I had a nice long man-to-man talk. He’s a really great kid, Amanda -- they both are. You’ve done a wonderful job raising them. I can’t wait to actively be their step-father.”
“You’re going to be a wonderful step-father,” she returned quietly, wrapping her body around his. “I just wish I was at home right now in the backyard watching you and the boys shoot hoops.”
Lee sighed, laying his head back slowly. “We’re going to be just fine, I promise you that. All we have to do is keep ahead of Montef’s men and head toward Welkom. I know Billy’s looking for us. It’s just a matter of time. Now close your eyes and rest, we need to head out as soon as it gets light.”
“The General’s men aren’t going to be hampered by the darkness, Lee. You know that every minute we sit here and rest just allows them to close the gap between us,” her voice whispered back.
“We have to rest. How far do you think we’d actually get dead on our feet?” Lee interjected. “They might be getting closer, but not all that much. We crashed in a fairly dense area of the jungle, and add to that the several miles I put between us before we went down.”
He tightened his embrace around her small body tenderly. "We’ve got a buffer, Amanda. If I didn’t think so I wouldn’t have suggested stopping. Your safety is the first and foremost thing on my mind. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Now just relax and rest, I’ll sit here and listen for a while. Morning’s going to come a lot sooner than either of us would like.”
“Okay.”
Lee sat there, his back against the base of the tree, holding his wife close and listening to the distant and sometimes imminent chatter of monkeys bedding down for the night. Occasionally bushes would rustle, more from the gentle breeze that had begun picking up since the had stopped their headlong flight. A light trace of rain could be smelt in the air as Lee took in a deep lungful, letting his mind wander back to more pleasant memories.
He could still clearly picture Amanda’s expression when they had gotten caught in the sudden downpour last week. They had bolted for the shelter house at the park, leaving their blanket and food behind, laughing and clinging to each other. She had fussed around, complaining about her hair, but he had thought she was beautiful. Her hair had hung around her face in wet ringlets, accenting her features to perfection. He had scooped her up into his arms, right there in the shelter house, and kissed her so passionately that Amanda confessed later that she thought her knees were going weak from the intensity of their emotions.
Oh God, how did we get caught up in this? It was supposed to be so damn simple. I’ve done this type of assignment hundreds of times. Get in, make the connections, obtain the merchandise and get the hell out. What happened?
All Lee knew was somehow, someway, Montef had found out about Amanda and Wilks. He had been there at the pickup point to apprehend them before Lee could make the rendezvous.
Why did I even allow her to talk me into letting her come? I should have stuck to my guns and she’d be safe in Arlington right now. There wasn’t really a need for her to come other than being with me. I could have fought harder with Billy, he thought then sighed quietly.
Like it would have done any good. She’s my partner, not only at work but in life as well. I knew the risks involved and I can’t kid myself. I wanted her here at my side as much as she wanted to come. We’re so much a part of each other that I can’t picture her anywhere else than here with me, even under these circumstances.
Letting his palm slide slowly along the length of her arm, Lee could hear the tender rhythmic breathing pattern that he had grown accustomed to over the past few months. Good, she’s asleep. I’ll let her rest as long as possible, I know she’s exhausted. Hell I’m exhausted, he admitted to himself. Leaning his head against hers, he exhaled slowly, relaxing against her limp body. “We’ll get out of this, Amanda. I promise,” he whispered, before giving into his body’s desire to sleep, if only for a short time.
/ / /
“What have you got?” William Melrose barked roughly as Francine hurried into room 212 of the Welkom’s version of Holiday Inn. Billy was at the moment pacing the length of the long table housed in the center of the room.
Since yesterday this quiet, nondescript, one bedroom suite had been turned upside down and into a makeshift base of operations. Charts and schematics lay scattered about the surface of the table and bed, and a small computer terminal was occupying the dresser, while all of the latter's surface contents had been shoved haphazardly out of the way, some lying where they had fallen against the wall.
“Not a lot,” Francine admitted, handing over the report she carried. Billy’s eyes scanned it quickly as she continued. “Satellite surveillance confirms that a small private plane went down in this area,” She quickly circled the map with a nearby marker.
“No one has filed a missing persons report, nor does the government know of any scientist or others that could be in the area conducting research. But we’ve got no way of knowing if this has any connection to Lee and Amanda.”
“Francine, there was no flight plan logged from anywhere near that area. You said yourself that no surveillance flights were scheduled. Why did that plane go down without so much as a distress signal?” he demanded harshly, pointing at the report he held out. “It was Lee and Amanda! I’d stake my reputation on it,” he growled. “Have we heard any more from the teams we sent out?”
Francine nodded her head as Billy slammed the useless report onto the table. “We’ve recently received an update from Reeves and Martin. They’re working their way into the area from the west, here,” she indicated on the map with a quick X. “Thus far they’ve discovered nothing that would indicate the passage of more than a small animal. Two others are still working from point A here, and making their way to here.” Again she marked the map, showing Billy the zones. “If Lee and Amanda are out there we’re bound to come across them.”
“But the question is… who’s going to find them first?” he questioned with a sigh. “Montef’s going to be pulling out all the stops to apprehend them and retrieve those codes. We don’t even know what condition they’re in.” He took a deep breath, not liking what he was about to say. “Our first and foremost concern is those codes, Francine. We can’t let Montef get them back into his possession. We’ll do all we can to help Lee and Amanda get out of there, but we can’t lose those codes again.”
“I understand, sir,” she returned quietly. She knew Billy felt the same way she did, regardless of his words. She was worried about Lee and yes, she was even worried about Amanda. Anything could be going on out there. The plane had gone down a good seventy miles from any type of civilization aside from the sparse tribes of nomadic aborigines. They would be of little to no help even if Lee and Amanda came across them.
The situation was just as Billy called it, all a matter of who could get to them first. She felt bad about what happened to Wilks, he had been a fine agent and a friend. They had heard about his and Amanda’s capture from an inside source the morning before. That’s what had tipped them off to Lee’s flight for freedom. Granted, he had missed his first check-in earlier that night and Billy had already been on edge with concern when the call had come in. He had put two teams on standby for the quick retrieval and rescue in case Lee failed to make the next check in. But when they received the information on Wilk’s death and Lee’s run, everything had been thrust into overdrive. Had Lee been able to stay in the immediate area safely, they could have gotten to him and pulled him from the fire. But the fact that he had been uncovered and forced to make a run for it threw a major wrench in any rescue attempt they could initiate. They just didn’t know where to look.
“I can’t sit here anymore,” Billy grumbled, rubbing his face. “We’re going out there, Francine,” he ordered, stalking toward the door. “I’ll be damned if I sit here on my hands while one of my best teams is out there fighting for their lives.”
“The roads don’t go very deep into the surrounding jungle,” Francine tried to explain, quickly following her apparently angry boss down the hallway. “We’re going to have to take it on foot, forge our way through…”
“You have something against a quiet walk in the jungle?” Billy questioned.
Francine swallowed, realizing she wasn’t going to get him to change his mind. “No sir.”
“The more people we have out there, the better our chances of finding them first. Lee would do the same for us and you know it. I can’t just sit around, I’m going to go crazy,” Billy continued, shooting her a quick look.
* * *
Amanda stopped abruptly in the middle of the small animal trail they had been following indirectly through the underbrush, causing Lee to stumble into the back of her. It seemed the easier route to take, and since the trail was heading in the direction they were currently traveling. She thought by following it that it might save them some time not having to force their way through the constricting vegetation.
“What’s the matter?” he demanded, feeling her muscles tense beneath the damp fabric of her blouse. He had been listening to the surround sounds, trying to pick up anything that might tip them off to trouble before it was too late. Had something gotten past me? He wondered quickly, perking his ears to listen for voices or the clicking of a bullet sliding into place, the crackling of a broken branch, anything that would announce that they had been discovered.
Amanda stood ramrod straight, her eyes glued to the forest floor in front of her. As her eyes took in the deep ravine they had nearly stumbled into without warning, she swallowed hard. The beaten down path ended abruptly not two feet in front of her, it’s edge nearly concealed in the array of bushes and vines. The drop off spanned at least an eight-foot crevasse and dropped a good twenty to twenty-five feet below where she stood. From her vantagepoint, Amanda could make out an assortment of rocks, some embedded into the surrounding soil, others simply lying where they had landed in their downslide.
She involuntarily took a step backwards upon seeing the way the edge had corroded and crumbled away. If they fell down there, not only would it be impossible to climb out, but she doubted if either of them would survive the fall without a major injury. The path picked up again on the other side of the crevasse, but she knew they couldn’t make the jump. Animals it seemed were able to make the distance with ease, but she and Lee weren’t animals. Even with Lee’s eyesight intact, she knew it would be a futile effort.
They would just have to find another way around this small obstacle.
“We’re going to have to back track,” she managed in a weak voice, eyes still scanning the opening before her. “It’s nothing major, we’re just going to have to find a way around a small hole,” she muttered, grasping Lee’s hand tightly as she turned around.
“How small?” Lee questioned, as she pointed him back the way they had just come. “Can we work our way along the perimeter without having to back track too far?”
He was relieved to find that they were barred by a natural obstacle and not by the fact that they had been discovered. As much as he didn’t want to worry Amanda, he was becoming concerned about Montef’s men the longer they were at large. He knew their progress was maddeningly slow due to fact that he couldn’t see. He was impeding their forward progress drastically, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. They would continue onward and they would make it, he refused to believe less.
“No…I don’t think so,” came her response. “Just keep walking forward real slow. There’s a clearing up ahead where I can squeeze past you again,” she instructed holding his waist between her hands, guiding him with her slight pressures.
“Okay,” he agreed, holding his hands out to stop any unwanted branches or leaves from slapping him in the face or torso. Amanda had been great about warning him of impending low hanging branches, even going so far as moving them aside as much as possible so he could pass.
Lee was becoming more and more frustrated with his inability to see with each passing hour. This was a situation where he needed to be assisting Amanda, not hampering her. He knew over the past four years that she had come a long way. From starting out as a civilian housewife, Amanda had grown into an impressive field agent. Her intuition was uncanny and only second to his own, in Lee’s opinion.
As good as she was Lee knew this predicament was completely out of her field. Amanda had never hand any formal training to speak of. Everything she knew she had learned first hand at his side. Apart from what few Agency classes she had taken and the many espionage books she insisted upon reading, Amanda knew nothing about how to survive in a jungle. That was his department and right now he felt like he was letting his wife down, forcing her to pull the weight for both of them while he tagged along like the burden he was.
Granted Lee realized she was quite versed in the “Junior Trailblazer’s Forest Survival” techniques, that little knowledge had saved his reputation several times in the eyes of his fellow agents. Despite this, he doubted that the Trailblazer's handbook had a section on how to survive when a horde of terrorists were breathing down your neck and after your blood.
Right now Lee needed to be functional and functional meant seeing. He had tried to remove his makeshift bandage this morning, but little had changed. He still could make out nothing more than blurry images and his eyes burned so badly that he couldn’t still the tears that continually seeped from the corners.
Amanda had made him replace the covering, but not before examining them in the soft glow of the morning. She hadn’t said much about their appearance, but Lee knew they had to be horribly bloodshot. Whatever he had gotten splattered in them was nearly setting him on fire.
“Let’s try this way,” Amanda instructed, sliding around his form and taking his hand again. “Hopefully it’ll circle around the hole and it’s not quite as grown up as the other side.”
Lee followed her lead, feeling his way as best he could, trying not to stumble when he foot caught a protruding root or clump of vines. Twice he nearly took Amanda down when he reached out, grabbing her body to keep from toppling. He muttered his apologies as she helped right him and moved off again trying to look forward, up and downward all at the same time.
He was beginning to become increasingly hungry and his stomach was voicing its desire for food at more frequent intervals as the day progressed. He knew he was into his third day without eating and the meager meal he had partaken in of rice and a hard roll at the compound had long since depleted. Amanda for her part hadn’t complained once on that front, though he knew she had to be as hungry as him. There really wasn’t any point in complaining when little could be done to help the situation.
Bananas should have been plentiful, but either she hadn’t found any or they were simply too high to manage. As for the assorted fruits that may be about, Lee had no idea what could be consumed and what couldn’t. He supposed if worse comes to worse, they could watch the monkeys and eat what they eat, at least it wouldn’t be poisonous. What he wouldn’t give to come across a fig tree or anything at this point.
If they didn’t keep their strength up, they weren’t going to be able to make it out of this hellhole, and Lee had no intentions of these being their last days. Water wasn’t a problem at this point, despite the humid heat. If they continued to rest at regular intervals they should be able to stay strong enough for what lay ahead of them. They had to come across some sort of civilization sooner or later, or Billy was going to find them. Lee just simply refused to see any other conclusion.
He cocked his head, listening intently as he tightened his fingers around Amanda’s palm, stopping her movements. “Amanda, what’s that?” he questioned, hearing a soft, rustling, almost gurgling sound.
She stopped, listening as well, trying to pick up what he was hearing.
“Is that water?” he asked.
“It could be, but it’s too far away to be certain.”
“Which way is it coming from?” he inquired, turning his head. “It sounds like it’s in front of us.”
“That would be my guess,” she returned after another moment of listening. “There may be a stream or small river up ahead.”
“That sounds bigger than a stream,” Lee commented, shaking his head as they moved off again. “We wouldn’t hear a stream this far away. Have we already made it to the river, and if so, which side are we on?”
“Which side do we need to be on?” she asked looking back at her husband with trepidation.
“The eastside, Welkom is about forty miles east of the river. We must have traveled farther than I thought before the plane went down. We couldn’t have traveled this far on foot, not in two days and not at the rate we’re moving,” he admitted, brushing a spider web from his face as he felt the soft silky stains engulf him.
“Then we’re going to hope for the eastside,” she returned.
“We’d better, otherwise we’re going to have a hell of a time crossing. The Vaal’s pretty wide in places and the current is strong. It could suck us ten miles downstream before we even realized it, if it didn’t drowned us first,” he muttered, clearly not happy with the prospect.
“You could have gone all day without adding that little detail,” she muttered, shaking her head before starting out again.
“Sorry,” Lee breathed. “Maybe it’s one of the smaller tributaries that shoot off the main river. I just can’t believe we’ve gotten this far. It can’t be the Vaal.”
“We were both a little preoccupied in the plane,” Amanda reminded him as they continued their trek. “Don’t completely discard the fact that it might very well be the Vaal we’re hearing.” She swatted her hand along her face trying to ward off an offending insect that was continually buzzing around her ear.
Lee grunted from behind her, a sound she had grown accustom to over the last couple of years. That little almost inaudible noise made her smile despite the oppressive humidity and the dragging weight of fatigue her entire body was plagued with. “If it is the Vaal, then that means we’re within range of Billy’s rescue units,” Lee admitted, trying to sound cheerful. “It’s been two days and with Welkom only about forty miles out there’s a good possibility of running into someone soon.”
“There’s my Scarecrow,” Amanda teased looking over her shoulder to see her husband smile at her words. “You’re always one for a quick pick up when needed.”
“I thought you were the optimistic member of this partnership,” Lee returned lightly.
Amanda squeezed his fingers lightly as she smiled. “I’ve always known if I needed you, you’d be there Lee. In whatever capacity it might be. I draw my strength from you and your companionship.”
Lee smiled, touched more by those words than Amanda realized. “Thank you my love, but that’s not entirely true,” he stated with a shake of his head. “When I first met you regardless of how I acted, I was in awe of you,” he confessed as Amanda helped led him along an uneven rise.
“Awe?” Amanda returned, grabbing his elbow as he faltered. “Careful,” she warned. “Watch your footing, we’ve got several rocks underfoot here. Awe wouldn’t have been the word I would have used. Frustrated, infuriated, trapped…those are the words I would have chosen.”
“Manda, you know how I am. I don’t like admitting my true feelings to anyone, even myself. It was all an act, I just didn’t know how to relate to you,” he admitted. “I had never known anyone quite like you.”
“Well it’s a good thing I ignored you most of the time,” she added as they topped the small rise and started down the opposite side. “Regardless of your actions and words I knew that you were hiding a very lonely man inside of you.”
Lee smiled again, reaching out to caress her back tenderly with his fingers. “Yes it was, otherwise I would have pushed away the most important person in my life. But back to what I was saying,” he continued, refusing to get sidetracked.
“I was secretly very impressed with your ability to juggle everything in your lie. I still am. You were a single mother raising two boys, trying to work, volunteering for all those organizations…then I stepped into your life and complicated it even more. That’s strength Amanda. Hands down you’ve got me beat. I admit that freely. I could never do what you did.”
“I did it because I didn’t have a choice Lee. I had to take care of the boys and give them a good home life. Joe wasn’t around, he sent money when he could, but that amounted to next to nothing most of the time. I had to be mother and father to them.” She smiled again, looking back at his dirt smudged, sweating face. Even now, with his clothes disheveled and his hair sticking along the sides of his face, she thought Lee was one of the most handsome men she had ever known.
“But when you stepped into my life, you didn’t complicate it further honey, you gave me something to look forward to. Now that we’re together I don’t have to go it alone I have you. Even though we’re not together as much as we like, you’re there to help me financially and emotionally. I can never repay the way you’ve made me feel Lee. I wouldn’t trade the last four years and a half for anything in the world.”
“Neither would I,” Lee agreed with a smile.
During their talk the once background noise of running water had slowly gotten louder and more defined until it was clear to both that they were coming upon a large body of swiftly moving water. Amanda’s eyes widened as the leaves receded slowly to reveal her first glimpse of their next obstacle.
The water widened considerable as they stepped from the cover of the foliage displaying its full amplitude. Brownish, bubbling water surged between the banks of the great river, slashing along the sides and over flowing its bank in places as it disappeared around the bend in the distance. Amanda swallowed weakly as her eyes traveled across the larger boulders upstream, the very ones that were causing the swirling, churning rapids that ran before them.
“I think we’ve found the Vaal,” she muttered softly.
Lee frowned, hearing the tone of her voice. “Manda, where’s the sun? Which side are we on?” he questioned quickly. He too was well aware of the sound of rushing water surrounding them. He prayed they wouldn’t have to cross this monster, not with the way the water was surging past.
Amanda looked upward, then lowered her eyes scanning their surroundings. “We’re on the wrong side,” she supplied quietly.
Lee cursed, jerking frustrated at an offending limb when it slapped his arm. “Why is it we’re always getting the shitty end of the deal?” he growled, releasing Amanda to run his hands through his wet hair. “Just once why can’t things go our way?” he complained.
Amanda grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him close. “Lee calm down, fussing about this isn’t going to help us in the least. We’ve just got to find a way to get across,” she said patiently.
“How the hell are we suppose to do that?” he asked angrily. “In case you’ve forgotten, I can’t see a damn thing!” With that statement, he ripped at the cloth covering upon his eyes, flinging it across the small expanse and into the water. “I am so sick of this! I’m fucking useless to you!”
“Hey!” Amanda shot back, grabbing him up. “Stop it, do you hear me? Just stop it,” she commanded sternly, holding his face between her palms. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to this. You know this isn’t your fault. There wasn’t anything you could have done to prevent what happened to us or your eyes, Lee. Don’t beat yourself up over something you have no control over.”
“This is my fault!” he shot back. “I should have never allowed you to come with me. I should have stood up to you. You would be safe in Arlington right now if I had told you no!” Lee spat out hatefully. “But I didn’t. I was selfish! I wanted you here. I wanted to spend time with you and look where the hell it got me! I’ve thrown you into the middle of this goddamn jungle without food, with a band of cutthroat renegades on our ass and I’m virtually helpless!”
Amanda could feel his entire body shaking with anger and what she knew was frustration. Lee was a doer, he hated sitting by idly while others carried the load. She knew this was tearing him up inside, but she never realized how badly until this moment. He had been keeping his feelings hidden from her, only telling her what she wanted to hear. Now with this added obstacle his bottled up frustrations had simply gotten the best of him and the only way he could deal with them was to explode.
“I said stop it!” she pressed, shaking her head. “Don’t do this to yourself. We’re both fine and alive, that’s the main thing and you know it. Now all we have to do is think this through, there’s always a way out, you taught me that,” she reminded him, holding his face firmly between her hands making him listen to her words.
Lee took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut, rubbing his temple roughly. Amanda sighed watching his body language as she patiently waited for him to get control of his anger again. One thing she knew about her husband, regardless of his short fuse on his anger, he was always willing to listen to her and by doing so she had yet failed to take control and calm him down. Even when they weren’t romantically involved, Lee still bent to her calmer thinking.
“Better now?” she whispered after a few moments of silence between them.
Lee nodded slowly, letting his hand trail up her arm to her neck, where he rested it there, caressing her throat softly. “Yeah, I’m okay now. Sorry I blew up like that,” he apologized lowering his head.
“It’s already forgiven and forgotten.”
Lee took another deep breath, then patted her hand lightly, as he tried to open his eyes and look around. Squinting harshly and rubbing his eyes with his fingers, he tried to take in the situation. I can’t see shit, he grumbled inwardly. “Let’s follow the bank downstream and see if we can’t find an easier route,” he suggested defeated. “There’s no way we can try to cross here. It’s too dangerous.”
“Give me your hand,” Amanda instructed, taking it softly and holding it between hers a moment, before bringing his fingers to her lips and kissing them tenderly. “I wish you wouldn’t have thrown your bandage away,” she observed before turning and heading down along the edge of the trees.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine nor do I get any money for the stories I weave. My hats off to the writers and actors who made these characters come to life.