The water's force is brutal, ripping Clay away from the stone he's trying to cling to.
Probably the only thing that saves his life is the fact that, despite being swift as hell, it isn't all that deep yet - an advantage that isn't likely to last for long. Unless he wants to be remembered as the SEAL who managed to drown in a damn desert, he needs to get his ass in gear.
As the water drags him downstream, Clay fights to get his feet under him. The current slams him hard into the rock wall; he spins away, his hip and leg going instantly numb.
He manages to angle his heels downward, wedge his feet against a boulder for long enough to leverage himself upright and find a handhold on a jagged, uneven section of the canyon wall.
Dripping and exhausted, fighting through the numbness in his leg, he climbs up to a shallow high cave, rolls inside, and lies still for a moment, trying to catch his breath and get his coughing under control. His head pounds and his hands won't stop shaking.
Will the water rise far enough to reach the cave? Hopefully not, because if it does, he's probably screwed.
It takes Clay a while to get himself together enough to move. He's soaked, bruised, and bleeding sluggishly from half a dozen fresh abrasions, but otherwise not in much worse shape than he was before. He's damn lucky he didn't drown.
Now to figure out where the hell he is, and how he's going to get back to the village from here, and also how he's going to explain all this to Blackburn afterward.
The cave system Clay is in doesn't seem to penetrate all that deeply into the mountain, at least not at this point, but it does run along the cliff face as far as he can see in both directions. He has ended up on the wrong side of the canyon from the village, which leaves him with just a couple of options: wait for the water to recede - which could take a while - or try to find a way across.
He's still deliberating his next move when he starts to hear the faint, echoey sound of a child crying.
There's a dizzying instant of wondering if he's been dropped into a horror movie before Clay suddenly remembers why the hell he was even out here in the first place.
It takes a while to pinpoint exactly where the sound is coming from, but he eventually finds the little girl, wedged into a corner, arms wrapped around her knees. She's watching the water flow by while crying in that hopeless, gut-wrenching way children do when they don't think anyone can hear them. No expectation of help, just raw despair.
Clay remembers crying like that, those first few weeks in Africa, before he started getting to know his grandparents and figured out that he was better off with them.
When he calls Bendu's name, the little girl startles, goes silent, and tries to cram herself even deeper into the rock crevice. Clay tries out the phrase her mom taught him, which roughly translates to It's safe to come out, but the child just stares at him.
If he looks at things from her point of view, it's got to be disconcerting to have a random white dude show up in your cave, somehow speaking bits and pieces of your language. Poor kid probably thinks he's a spirit that's come to drag her into the underworld.
He considers trying to talk to her more, but he has already pretty well exhausted his supply of phrases he feels confident using. As per usual with language acquisition, he understands a lot more than he knows how to say. His luck, he'd probably end up accidentally reassuring her that he's only here to eat her soul.
So, instead of talking, he just opens his canteen and hands it over. Bendu's thirst apparently overcomes her fear. After drinking, she edges a little closer and cautiously gives the canteen back. Clay then breaks off a small piece of his protein bar and hands the rest to the child. He would have given her the whole thing, except that he can feel his fever starting to spike again and that's not beneficial to either of them right now. Hopefully a little food and another dose of medicine will help.
Apparently the water and food are enough to convince Bendu that a colorless spirit is better than nothing, because Clay has just finished taking his meds when he unexpectedly ends up with an armful of shivery, sniffling child. The little girl burrows in, tucking her face between his neck and shoulder, breathing in that hitching way that children do when they're trying very hard not to cry.
Five is a funny age. It's around that time that many kids start growing lanky and long-limbed, losing that adorable toddler chubbiness, but they're still pretty little. There were a lot of children about that age at the orphanage, and when they were scared and sad and missing their families, they were really still just babies in desperate need of comfort. When Clay was a young teenager, one particular little girl fell asleep on his chest every night for weeks. He still sometimes wonders what ended up happening to her.
It's been a while - damn near half his life ago - but the old instincts come back quickly. Gently swaying side to side, Clay pats the little girl's back. He tries to remember if he ever knew any lullabies in her language, but nothing comes to mind, so he just hums wordlessly.
Gradually, the child's breathing starts to even out and her shivering lessens. That last part may be partly because she's currently attached to a human furnace. With his fever roaring back, Clay is now probably shivering more than she is.
His head aches. His hip throbs. He stifles a cough and winces at the thought of passing whatever this is to the poor kid and her family. Not like he can avoid exposing her at this point, though.
Now responsible for a young child's life as well as his own, Clay has to try to figure out how to proceed. He doesn't think the water level is rising anymore, at least not much, but it doesn't really seem to be falling either - at least not fast enough for his liking. Does he stay put and hope that someone will find them before they run out of drinking water? Does he get moving and risk depleting his already limited energy reserves?
For the second time in less than an hour, he gets interrupted before he has a chance to make a decision one way or the other.
There's something in the cave with them, it's headed this way, and he's pretty sure it's not human.
Keeping the cave wall at his back, Clay shifts Bendu so he can get a hand to his Glock. Skin humming with tension, he waits, grateful that the front of the cave is open enough to provide clear lighting inside.
The sound of claws scratching against stone grows closer, and then the threat rounds a corner and barrels straight toward them, tail waving like a flag.
Clay blinks. His hand falls away from the gun.
"Cerberus?"
Clearly proud of himself, the dog pants, wagging his entire body. The emotion seems clear: Found you!
"How the hell did…" Clay sighs. "You know what, never mind." He ruffles Cerb's damp, muddy fur. "Good to see you, boy. Did you bring the guys with you?"
Judging by the echoing quiet in Cerberus's wake, the answer is no.
Bendu, who had initially cringed as far away from the dog as possible, pops her head up and reaches out a curious hand that Cerberus immediately and thoroughly licks. That elicits a tentative smile from the child. Clay imagines she's thinking something along the lines of, So, the spirit person has a spirit dog. At least it seems nice.
Clay's brain really wants to start trying to puzzle out how Cerberus could have ended up here without any of Bravo in tow, but he's pretty sure he won't like any of the possible scenarios, so he forces himself to let it go for the time being. Instead, he asks the dog, "Got any ideas?"
Cerberus bounces up, runs a few steps back the way he came, and then checks to see if the humans are following.
It takes Clay a couple tries to get to his feet without falling over, and when he takes a step, he has to lock his knee to keep his bruised leg from buckling under the added weight of the clinging child. Wherever they're headed, they won't be getting there particularly fast. It will have to be good enough.
"Lead on," Clay says, and follows the hair missile downstream.