woman. She put her finger to her lips for him to be quiet. He nodded.
A noise! She gestured at the hole in the side of the tunnel. And then Joe heard it too. Again, it wasn’t a noise so much as a patch of unnaturally still air in the fabric of sound that enveloped them. There was something close, very close, and it was trying hard to be stealthy. Its presence was something he could feel rather than see. Joe’s ownheart pounded noisily in his ears. He tried in vain to control it. The boot came down quietly an arm’s length from the matted wall of the tunnel.
Joe saw the disturbance in the pattern of greenery first, then the mud-covered leather of the boot itself. It was a soldier’s boot. The camouflage pattern of the fatigues was so effective he could only see that it wasn’t foliage when the leg moved. Joe’s eyes were large in his head. Not a metre away was a man with a gun, trained to kill, hoping to put that training to good use on them. On top of him was a woman as scared rigid as he was, pressing the life out of him. The boot lifted and was gone. They waited for the bullets to rip through the tunnel wall. Nothing. The soldier had come close to stepping on them, but still hadn’t seen them. After what seemed an age, the woman quietly, slowly, slid off to one side. Joe exhaled and silently blessed the creator of the tunnel.
He blessed too soon. A brown head appeared around the bend of the tunnel ahead. It was an animal, a large four-legged animal the size of a full-grown pig. It stopped, wrinkled its nose and moved its head quickly from side to side. Joe blinked dumbly, not knowing what to do. Something in the animal’s brain decided, for whatever reason, that it should be afraid of the animals in its path. Maybe it was their reluctance to move, or it smelled their fear. Whatever the reason, the beast’s legs suddenly started pumping. The animal charged through the wall of the tunnel and made off noisily into the undergrowth, grunting and squealing.
At last, the soldier had a target. Bullets zeroed in on the ruckus. A scream of surprise and death followed. The undergrowth came alive as countless snakes, lizards and small mammals decided they’d rather be somewhere else.The cracks from the carbine launched monkeys and birds from the trees. They squealed their distress at the sudden disturbance. Joe and the woman scuttled on all fours through the tunnel until they reached the relatively open ground that sloped down to the creek. They stood for a few seconds to get their breath, and a section of tree centimetres from the woman’s head suddenly split away from the trunk as bullets slammed into it. Joe had forgotten that two soldiers had been dispatched to his hill. The man stood, weapon coming up to his shoulder, in the middle of the creek. If they hesitated, the next shots wouldn’t miss. The woman pulled Joe to the ground and they scrambled for the thicker growth. But the jungle was too dense to penetrate. Nowhere else to go, they were forced back to the creek. They hid behind a mound of mud pushed up by the monsoon floods. Joe snatched a look over it. The two soldiers had now joined together in the pursuit and were running through the creek bed towards their hiding place.
One of the men opened fire just as he tripped on a stone. The bullet spat from the muzzle with a downwards trajectory. The propellant that launched the round burned through a thin layer of tin and ignited phosphorus packed into a hollow at the base of the bullet. It was a tracer. The projectile glowed fiercely red on its brief flight, striking the creek bed not far from the woman’s outstretched hand.
And then suddenly the flesh on Joe’s face was seared as the very creek itself exploded into a twisting, orange snake of intense heat. The punch of the explosion knocked the air out of him. A ball of flame was deflected by the mud bank and rolled skywards.
The two soldiers became human torches. Joe lifted his head and saw them run
A noise! She gestured at the hole in the side of the tunnel. And then Joe heard it too. Again, it wasn’t a noise so much as a patch of unnaturally still air in the fabric of sound that enveloped them. There was something close, very close, and it was trying hard to be stealthy. Its presence was something he could feel rather than see. Joe’s ownheart pounded noisily in his ears. He tried in vain to control it. The boot came down quietly an arm’s length from the matted wall of the tunnel.
Joe saw the disturbance in the pattern of greenery first, then the mud-covered leather of the boot itself. It was a soldier’s boot. The camouflage pattern of the fatigues was so effective he could only see that it wasn’t foliage when the leg moved. Joe’s eyes were large in his head. Not a metre away was a man with a gun, trained to kill, hoping to put that training to good use on them. On top of him was a woman as scared rigid as he was, pressing the life out of him. The boot lifted and was gone. They waited for the bullets to rip through the tunnel wall. Nothing. The soldier had come close to stepping on them, but still hadn’t seen them. After what seemed an age, the woman quietly, slowly, slid off to one side. Joe exhaled and silently blessed the creator of the tunnel.
He blessed too soon. A brown head appeared around the bend of the tunnel ahead. It was an animal, a large four-legged animal the size of a full-grown pig. It stopped, wrinkled its nose and moved its head quickly from side to side. Joe blinked dumbly, not knowing what to do. Something in the animal’s brain decided, for whatever reason, that it should be afraid of the animals in its path. Maybe it was their reluctance to move, or it smelled their fear. Whatever the reason, the beast’s legs suddenly started pumping. The animal charged through the wall of the tunnel and made off noisily into the undergrowth, grunting and squealing.
At last, the soldier had a target. Bullets zeroed in on the ruckus. A scream of surprise and death followed. The undergrowth came alive as countless snakes, lizards and small mammals decided they’d rather be somewhere else.The cracks from the carbine launched monkeys and birds from the trees. They squealed their distress at the sudden disturbance. Joe and the woman scuttled on all fours through the tunnel until they reached the relatively open ground that sloped down to the creek. They stood for a few seconds to get their breath, and a section of tree centimetres from the woman’s head suddenly split away from the trunk as bullets slammed into it. Joe had forgotten that two soldiers had been dispatched to his hill. The man stood, weapon coming up to his shoulder, in the middle of the creek. If they hesitated, the next shots wouldn’t miss. The woman pulled Joe to the ground and they scrambled for the thicker growth. But the jungle was too dense to penetrate. Nowhere else to go, they were forced back to the creek. They hid behind a mound of mud pushed up by the monsoon floods. Joe snatched a look over it. The two soldiers had now joined together in the pursuit and were running through the creek bed towards their hiding place.
One of the men opened fire just as he tripped on a stone. The bullet spat from the muzzle with a downwards trajectory. The propellant that launched the round burned through a thin layer of tin and ignited phosphorus packed into a hollow at the base of the bullet. It was a tracer. The projectile glowed fiercely red on its brief flight, striking the creek bed not far from the woman’s outstretched hand.
And then suddenly the flesh on Joe’s face was seared as the very creek itself exploded into a twisting, orange snake of intense heat. The punch of the explosion knocked the air out of him. A ball of flame was deflected by the mud bank and rolled skywards.
The two soldiers became human torches. Joe lifted his head and saw them run
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