Survival

'I think we just wasted our time,' groaned Amber, easing her T-shirt away from her sweaty neck. 'It looks just the same as the other side! And I can't see any camp.'

'What were you expecting?' giggled Li. A big sign, maybe? "Follow the red arrows to secret Japanese wartime camp"?'

Paulo sniggered behind his hand and even Alex could not stop a tired smile spreading across his face. Amber turned her back on them and sat down beside the stretcher to loosen her boots for a moment.

'Li's right,' said Alex, scanning the land below. 'It's not going to be obvious – and it's not going to be out here in the open, either.'

'OK, Mister Clever,' pouted Amber. 'You tell me. Where do we start looking?'

Alex let his gaze travel down to the sea, then he followed the coastline until he came to a V-shaped wedge of blue where the sea showed through the forest. He pulled out his compass and took a reading. The blue wedge was directly north north-west of their position. 'See that?' he said, pointing down to the coast. 'We can't see it from up here, but I think that's a rivermouth. There's probably a cove down there where a large boat could be hidden – and a stretch of beach to build a camp. If I was looking for a good wartime base, that would be it.'

'OK,' said Li. 'I'll buy that. Shall we go?'

'Guys?' said Amber, uncertainly. They turned around and she pointed to the stretcher. Hex was staring sightlessly up at the sky with fever-bright eyes. His skin had taken on a yellow tinge and a red rash had appeared on his chest. Alex hurried over and laid a hand on Hex's forehead. It was burning with a dry heat.

'I'll walk,' said Hex, staring past Alex's shoulder. 'I can walk!'

Hex's eyes fluttered closed again and Amber and Alex shared a look across the stretcher.

'We'd better find this army camp soon,' whispered Amber. 'I don't think we have much time.'

They picked up the stretcher and hurried on down the mountain. Everyone was getting tired now and the stretcher tugged at their arms, threatening to pull them down the slope with it. Soon the muscles down the backs of their legs ached with the effort of holding back but they stumbled on, filled with a new sense of urgency. Gradually the slope grew gentler as they reached the tangled undergrowth of the rainforest fringe. They found a game trail and followed it until they were in the shade of the primary rainforest.

There they stopped and laid the stretcher down while Alex took a reading from his compass. Nobody spoke – they just stood there like exhausted horses, covered in a sheen of sweat and breathing hard. Hex tossed and turned beneath the high, green canopy of leaves. His white face seemed to shine with a pale light in the shadows. Li looked down at him and her lower lip trembled.

'He looks like a ghost already,' she whispered.

'This way,' said Alex grimly, pocketing the compass. He moved off, setting the pace, forcing them on through the forest and stopping only to take compass readings. He had made a promise and he would not give up, even though he could see that Hex was growing steadily worse as the bacteria multiplied in his blood. The doubts were loud in his head, now. If there was a camp, it might take them days to find it. And what were the chances of finding a second radio or some antibiotics? The doubts marched around his head in time with his marching feet until, at last, something interrupted his thoughts. Alex stumbled to a halt and lifted his head.

'Listen,' he said. 'Can you hear – surf?'

At first all they could hear was the harsh breath wheezing in their throats and their own hearts drumming in their ears, but gradually their breathing eased. Amber cocked her head, trying to filter out the rustle of the leaves and the song of the crickets.

'I hear it,' she said.

The canopy grew thinner and sunlight began to filter through as they hurried on. Finally, there was only a thin barrier of undergrowth between them and the sea. Gently, they laid down the stretcher and Alex pushed his way through the bushes, ignoring the thorns. He parted the leaves with his hands and looked out into the bright sunshine. The air hissed through his teeth as he drew in a sharp breath and he became very still.

'What?' said Amber, pushing through behind him, Paulo and Li on her heels. 'What can you see? Is it an army camp?'

'No,' said Alex. 'It's better than that.'

TWENTY-TWO

Alex stood hack to let the others see. They stared out through the leaves and their faces slackened with shock. There was the rivermouth, the sandy beach and the sheltered cove, all as Alex had predicted. But there was also something else. Floating in the middle of the cove like a shimmering, white mirage, was a beautiful, sleek, ocean-going motor yacht.

'Dios Mio,' said Paulo as he saw the bristling collection of communications masts and aerials rising from the highest deck of the yacht. 'We are saved!'

Alex said nothing. He was too full of emotion to speak. He pushed past the others, knelt by the stretcher and squeezed Hex's hand, trying to let him know that everything was going to be all right.

Li turned her head as she heard shouts coming from further down the beach. Three dark-haired men were standing on the shoreline, waving their arms and arguing fiercely.

'That must be the crew,' said Amber. She cupped her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath, preparing to call out for help. Then her eyes widened as Li clamped a hand over her mouth and nose, stifling the shout in her throat. 'Mmmppllfff!' she protested.

'Shhh,' hissed Li, her mouth next to Amber's ear. 'You must be quiet. Something's not right.'

'You're not right!' whispered Amber furiously, rubbing her crushed nose. 'What on earth-?'

'They're not speaking any of the Indonesian dialects,' said Li. 'They're speaking Chinese.'

'What does it matter where they come from?' asked Paulo.

'Oh, it matters,' said Li grimly, scanning the beach. Her lips tightened as she spotted what she was looking for. 'Over there. See?'

Alex joined the others as they followed Li's pointing finger. Right at the top of the beach, on the fringe of the rainforest, someone had built a large, bamboo cage. Huddled inside the cage were a man, a woman, a girl of about eight and a boy who was barely more than a toddler. The father was slumped against the bamboo bars at the back of the cage. He had been badly beaten and his face was bruised and swollen. The mother – a slim, fair-haired woman – seemed to be in shock. She was clasping her sleeping son to her chest and rocking back and forth. The girl sat at the front of the cage, holding a toy giraffe made out of brightly coloured plastic tubes. Her solemn brown eyes were unblinking as she stared at the three men on the shoreline.

'Who are they?' gasped Amber.

'The owners of the yacht,' said Li flatly. 'And they,' she added, pointing to the men on the shoreline, 'they are pirates.'

'Pirates?' repeated Amber.

'That's right,' said Li. 'Modern-day pirates. They're a real problem in these parts, once you move off the main shipping routes. They board stray ships and boats, then steal the cargo or kidnap the owners.'

'Then we are not saved?' asked Paulo.

'No, we are not saved,' said Li. 'They would shoot us on sight.'

At that moment, as though to prove her point, the three men finished their argument. The older two turned away from the younger one and sauntered along to the little motor launch which was drawn up on the shore, and everyone saw the rifles slung across their backs. The younger one appeared to have lost the argument. He walked up the beach towards a pile of firewood, muttering unhappily to himself. Grabbing an armful of sticks, he set about building a cooking fire, sending angry glances back over his shoulder at the other two.