She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there or what she was even looking for, but after a lengthy time she felt comfortable enough to get up and start making her way into the village.
It was as quiet and empty as it had been before. As she walked toward the hut she had left Duncan in, she kicked herself for not checking Benjamin for his cell phone as hers would soon be out of power.
The hut was right in front of her and she froze. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, but when she did move her heart was beating so fast she felt like it might tear out of her chest.
Samantha made her way to the hut and looked in. Duncan sat up, holding leaves to his shoulder just above the acromion bone. She ran in and threw her arms around him.
“Easy easy easy,” he said, grimacing from the pain. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes as she cupped his face in her hands. “I’m so sorry. I never should’ve left you.”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. We’re okay now.” He pulled himself up a little stiffer, glancing down to the wound and then back up at her. “I need stiches, Sam. In Benjamin’s bag I had a med kit. Can you get it?”
“Yeah, wait here,” she said, wiping the tears away from her face and taking a deep breath.
“Wait, where’s Billy? What happened?”
“I don’t know. He came after me.”
“Forget the med kit, we should get outta here. He’ll be back.”
She helped him to his feet and wrapped his arm around her neck. He didn’t need stitches, Sam knew. She could see that the wound was only lightly bleeding now but he appeared ghostly white and was trembling; he was bleeding internally. Something had been nicked or punctured.
She stepped out of the hut and was startled by an image next to her. She saw Cami standing next to the hut, her face red and caked in sweat. Before Sam could say anything, Cami raised a small, black Beretta handgun and placed it against Sam’s temple.
“What the hell are you doing?” Duncan said.
“Both of you back in the hut, now.”
“Cami-”
“Right now or I finish the job.”
They stepped back a few paces as she entered the hut with them. Sam noticed the quill of arrows and walked in front of it.
Cami kept the firearm away from her body and up at shoulder height, not low. Sam leaned against a wall of the hut and kept Duncan’s weight on her.
“He’ll be back soon,” Cami said. “We’re all just gonna wait right here.”
“Who are you?” Sam said.
“You don’t need to know.”
Duncan said, “There’s no need for this. Just let us go. We won’t tell anybody anything. We don’t know anything. We don’t even know your real names.”
“And you guys will just go back and not tell anyone that your own country gave a biological weapon to our enemies? You’ll be able to keep your mouths shut, huh? You must have some serious self-control ‘cause I couldn’t do that.”
“Cami, he’s going to die if we don’t get him to a hospital.”
“He’s going to die anyway.”
“Fine, but he won’t die here because of me. I’m taking him to a hospital.” She took a few steps toward the door and Cami put the gun to her forehead.
“Then I guess you die with him,” Cami said.
“You first.”
Sam swung out with the arrow she was holding behind Duncan’s back. It jammed into Cami’s neck up to the shaft. Sam grabbed the gun and lowered it to the ground as Cami screeched. Sam ripped out the arrow, tearing away a large chunk of flesh, and lifted it above her head. She swung down and slammed the arrowhead into Cami’s eye. It went through it like a knife into a tomato and the blood began to pour as Sam took the firearm and stepped away.
Cami fell to her knees, screaming as she frantically pulled at the arrow, causing more pain as it tugged at the flesh and arteries. Sam aimed the weapon at the back of her head. One shot to the back of the head was instant death, but she couldn’t do it. She lowered the weapon.
Duncan had fallen on the ground and Sam rushed over to help him up and out of the hut, the screaming from inside fading in the distance as they hobbled down the road.
CHAPTER 50
They had walked through the night and it wasn’t until dawn the next day that a few of the Penco tribe happened upon them. They didn’t speak a word of English or Spanish but they understood that Duncan was severely injured and they led them back to a village that had a landline. Within two hours, a Jeep had arrived to take them to an awaiting plane and a hospital forty-five minutes from there.
She stayed with Duncan in the hospital. Partially, it was her affection for him, but it was also the fact that they didn’t use sterile surgical equipment and the ceiling in the operating room was caked with dry blood. She scrubbed in and stood by his side as they removed the slug from his shoulder.
The recovery was short and they were on a Boeing 747 within three days, heading to Mexico, then LAX, then their separate ways. Duncan insisted on buying a ticket on her flight but she assured him she was fine and that they both had business to take care of before meeting up. He didn’t seem convinced and bought the ticket anyway, but Sam persuaded him to reserve his own flight back to Maryland.
Duncan promised to come down to Atlanta as soon as he had recovered and she promised to come up as soon as everything was settled with the CDC. There would be massive reports to file, investigations, and possibly even some interviews with law enforcement. As she walked down to her gate, she turned and saw him standing against the wall, watching her. She would have preferred if he came with her; she didn’t feel like being alone right now, but she wanted to be pragmatic.
As her plane descended into the airport in Atlanta, she felt a powerful sense of welcoming. Atlanta wasn’t her hometown and she had few memories there, but there’s just something about landing in the city you live in that calms you and fills you with optimism.
After landing and heading out to the curb for a taxi, her first call was to Ralph, but he didn’t pick up; her second to her direct supervisor to apprise her of what had happened. They agreed that they would call the FBI tomorrow morning for a full briefing on Agent Billy Donner. But Sam had been through this before. Without any information to guide them, a report would be drafted and then filed away in an open case drawer somewhere, left untouched for years, even decades, until some agent with time on his hands decided to take a look at it. If lucky, because a federal employee was involved, the bureau might assign a special agent to follow up. Perhaps even send him to Honolulu.
The cab driver had to wake her as she got to her house. She went to pay and realized she didn’t have cash. She told him to wait and ran inside to find her money. Sam kept some cash in a drawer in the kitchen and she took a fifty and ran back outside to pay the cabbie.
The night air was hot and the moon was out but it was partially hidden by the few clouds that were dotting the night sky. She walked down her porch steps and stared at the stars as she came to the driver side window.
“How much was the fare again?” she asked. The driver didn’t respond. She bent down, closer to the window. “Excuse, how much was the fare?”
As she reached in to get his attention, she noticed the trickle of blood from behind his ear that was soaking the collar of his shirt. His eyes were glazed over and his head tilted just enough to the right that she couldn’t have noticed it at first.
She felt soft cloth around her neck and then it tightened like a vice. It tightened so violently that she was lifted off her feet and her air was cut off instantly. She began to gag, and drool began to slop from her mouth.
“You know,” Robert Greyjoy whispered in her ear. “It would’ve been far easier for you in the jungle. One quick shot and it would’ve ended. Now, I’m going to take my time.”