Scene 17

The Guyana Highlands

Except for the normal jungle sounds and Frank’s snoring, the night passed quietly. In the morning we broke down our shelter and packed up the canopy again. Unfortunately, we had been unable to reach anyone using Frank’s radio. It still appeared to work, but we only got static.

The three of us backtracked to where Wompet had saved me from the jaguar and then resumed travel on my original bearing to find the rest of our team.

The sun was almost directly overhead when I called a break.

“Shouldn’t we have seen some trace of the others by now?” Frank asked.

“Yes,” I answered with concern, “unless everyone is scattered much more than I thought. That’s not a good thing though.”

Suddenly, we heard the rip of automatic gunfire ahead of us, answered by the single shots of an automatic pistol.

I drew my own handgun and signaled for Frank to follow me with Wompet. We pushed through the jungle as quietly as we could while still maintaining some speed.

As we neared the source of the gunfire, it suddenly stopped. I quickly motioned for my companions to stop and conceal themselves.

I slowly moved forward to determine the situation. As I examined the jungle around me, I could make out a small squad of men creeping through the jungle. Each of them held an assault rifle, AK-47’s from their appearance, and they were moving towards a small mound of rocks. Two men were slowly advancing directly towards the rocks, while another two men were flanking the position, one from each side.

As I watched, I noticed someone peeking over the rocks. He only exposed himself for a second, but I was sure it was Greg. At least one member of my team was trapped behind those rocks.

I motioned Frank forward and he moved up with Wompet. I quickly related the situation to him and told him my plan to rescue whoever was trapped behind the rocks. Frank would take Wompet and circle towards Greg while I would go the other way and try to distract the armed men. We only had the pistols against their rifles, but hopefully between Greg and us we could succeed.

As I moved to my position, I searched the ground for a suitable rock. I found one that was the right size and bent to pick it up. I glanced over to Frank’s position and then to Greg’s shelter.

I quickly threw the rock towards a large tree. As the rock struck the tree loudly, the armed men turned their rifles towards the sound.

As the men turned, I raised my pistol and fired twice quickly, hitting the two men in front of me. At the same time, Frank and Wompet jumped the man in front of them, pinning him to the ground.

Greg, thinking quickly, fired his own pistol at the remaining man, dropping him with one shot.

Our surprise attack had worked.