Pray for Darkness: Terror in the Green Inferno by James Michael Rice

artificial clearing at the center of which rested a stilted lodge of bamboo and basic timber, a manmade stronghold against the encroaching jungle. With its open floor plan, small dining area, and arched entryway, the Wildlife Research Center was a miniature version of the Amazonia Lodge, but with the stamp of functionality over convenience. Ben stopped to admire his new surroundings. By all appearances, this was a true outpost, some relic of a bygone era built on the fringe of a new frontier.
    Brooke was watching him intently. “What do you think?”
    Ben was staring straight ahead. Now he turned to her, grinning. “This is more like it.”
    “Hey, guys?” Ernesto said. “I can show you to the room.”
    “Well,” Brooke said. “Janie and I have to take care of a few things for school. Do you want to meet up later on?”
    “Definitely,” Ben said. “Where will we find you?”
    “Right over there, in the dining area.”
    “Okay.”
    “Well, have fun, guys!”
    “Thanks.”
    “See you later.”
    “Bye.”
    Ernesto guided the boys down the hallway, past double rows of curtained doorways. At last he stopped at a doorway and tapped his finger on the curtain. Hanging just outside the doorway was a square wooden placard with the number 8 carved into it. Otherwise, the room was indistinguishable from all the others.
    “This is the room,” Ernesto said. “If you like, we can meet in a little while to go for a walk in the jungle.”
    Auggie was looking at the watch on his wrist, squinting to see the numbers. “How long till we meet?”
    “Mmm, thirty minutes?”
    Ben looked at Auggie and Cooper and did not see dissent among them. “Perfect,” Ben said. “Thanks, Ernesto.”
    Cooper pulled aside the curtain with a flourish and the three boys entered their new quarters.
    Bathed in honey-colored sunlight, the room was a tiny rectangle, barely large enough to accommodate the three single beds flanking the walls. Similar to the Amazonia Lodge, the extremity of the space was open to the jungle, and beyond the wooden railing, a cluster of fan-shaped fronds rippled peacefully in the breeze. Beside each bed was a simple nightstand, each one topped with a kerosene lamp; three flimsy shelves along the far wall, upon which they could store their toiletries and other essentials; aside from that, little else.
    Auggie had set his backpack down and was readying his clothes for the hike. He held a shirt up to his nose and winced at the smell. “Do you think they have a washing machine?”
    Ben chuckled. “Probably not. But they should have a sink or a hose so we can scrub them down with these.” He held up a little package of laundry wafers, each one roughly the size of a postage stamp. The wafers, Ben explained, dissolved in water to create suds for washing.
    “Always the Boy Scout,” snorted Cooper.
    Ben only shrugged, grinning.
    “I gotta tell you,” Auggie said to no one in particular, “I was a bit skeptical about leaving the first lodge behind to come here.”
    “Yeah? And now?”
    A sheepish smile spread across the narrow face. “This place is the real deal.”
    “Seems like we’re the only ones here.”
    “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll see too many tourists this far out—”
    “—or kids with laptops—”
    “Now we’re way off the grid—”
    “—or lines at the dinner buffet—”
    “—most remote lodge in this part of the jungle!”
    They grinned at one another in their excitement.
    “How much time do we have?” Ben asked suddenly.
    Auggie glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was an automatic gesture, one that he’d grown accustomed to over the course of the day. “We’ve got about ten more minutes before we’re supposed to meet Ernesto.”
    Ben sprang up from his bed, energized by his new surroundings. “Let’s take a quick walk around this place and check it out. What do you think?”
    Cooper was already up and heading for the door. “Shit, yeah,” he said, waving his arms excitedly.