Chapter 21

When Brooke awoke, she was alone in bed but could hear voices in the trailer. She quickly checked that she was dressed as she could and poked her head around the bunk. It was Ian, Sarah Harding, and Kelly sitting at the table with their backs turned to her. Brooke sat up slowly, and found her clothes waiting for her at the edge of her bed. She picked them up, and was surprised to find that they were very nearly dry. She looked out the window and found a sky bright pink with the setting sun. How long had she been asleep?

She crept out of bed and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her a bit loudly to alert them of her presence after she was safely out of their view. After changing into her clothes (which despite the vigorous scrubbing, still smelled vaguely of mud and river water), she brushed her teeth with the spare toothbrush and emerged from the bathroom.

"Good, you're up," Sarah said, her tone brisk and all-business. "We're going to start moving the vehicles to a more secure location in about five or so minutes. That means you need to get whatever you think you will need up in the high-hide together and get some food in you. It will be easier that way you don't take anything unnecessary up with you. There are some granola bars that you can take, but they must be eaten completely and the wrappers then sealed securely in your backpacks. There can be no trace of you in that tree."

"Understood," Brooke replied with a nod. "I would start scrambling, but considering all of my personal belongings are on a riverbed somewhere, I don't have much. Where are the granola bars? I'll pack those and the water in my bag so Kelly doesn't have to climb up with a load on her back. And of course I'll have my knife to set the branch traps."

"You'll also be issued a rifle," Sarah replied.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with an assault weapon in an enclosed space with a minor—no offense, Kelly."

Kelly ignored her, but Sarah spoke up. "You will both be briefed on the handling and operation of the weapon, and both of you will be responsible for it. We're not taking any chances with you two up there."

Brooke looked to Ian uncertainly. He only nodded slowly, agreeing with Sarah. Brooke nodded in return and looked to Kelly. "Are you all right with this, Kelly?"

Kelly still didn't look at Brooke, but she answered her: "Daddy says we have no other choice." Her tone was hollow, and Brooke assumed she had been briefed of seriousness of the situation.

"All right, I'll get whatever I've got together, and then we can go over the rifle, all right?"

So Brooke did just that. She packed a couple of sheets, two raincoats that were in the trailer's closet, some tightly packaged food, two flashlights as well as her knife and a notebook and a pen. In a few minutes, she was out of the trailer, bag strung across her back. She walked toward Sarah and Kelly, who had begun the rifle training. It was certainly quite a sight—a grown woman describing the structure of what looked to be the mutated offspring of a rifle and an AK-47 to a 7 year-old.

Sarah explained the parts of the rifle to Kelly, how to hold it, and how to fire it. She gave instruction that Kelly was only to touch the rifle if Brooke was incapacitated. This made Brooke more than a little unnerved, but another bout of fear washed over her when Sarah rose to full height and held the weapon out to Brooke.

Brooke took it gently and ran her fingers over its frame. "You were taught how to use a rifle when you were in Africa, right?"

"Of course," Brooke replied. "I never used it, though."

"Right. It's not that different, but it certainly packs a bit more punch, so you have to be careful about the kick-back."

"Okay."

Sarah went onto explain the mechanism of the weapon. There were no bullets in the weapon, but rather metal darts that immediately injected a lethal serum when it made contact with its target.

"The animal will dead before it realizes the dart hits it," Doc Thorne explained. "So aim well and no misfires."

"That's terrifying and comforting all at the same time," Brooke muttered, carefully turning the weapon in her hands. "Where's the safety?"

"It's on now," Sarah explained, and Doc walked over and showed her the safety lever, quite close to the trigger. Brooke took note, and with the utmost care in slinging the weapon over her shoulder. It nestled snuggly against her back next to her backpack.

"Excuse me," she said, and then walked over to the nearest tree. She practiced climbing its limbs. Her own extremities burned with fatigue, but she pushed on. She climbed up and down a few times, learning how to move with the weight on her back.

When she regained her place on solid ground, she moved away from the others again. Ian asked her what she was doing and immediately went to follow her.

"I'm not going out of sight," she explained. "I want to try something, and I don't want accidents."

Ian conceded, but Brooke could tell he was apprehensive. His hands clenched into tight fists, and his entire body was leaned toward her. But she pointedly ignored him. She practiced moving the gun from behind her to a position in which she could fire it. It was difficult, but she became somewhat fluid with a few minutes' practice. She attempted the motion from a sitting and squatting position. Once she was comfortable on the ground, she climbed to the lowest branch on a nearby tree and worked with the weapon there.

Though Ian stood by apprehensively, the rest of the team had gone about their business. Sarah was talking animatedly with Kelly, who looked about ready to pee her pants. Doc Thorne and Richard seemed to be close in some sort of debate. Ian kept glancing from his daughter to Brooke. Brooke tried her best to focus on her practice, but she did her best to also be aware of her surroundings, as well as keep half an eye on the team. Every time her eyes met Ian's figure, her heart jumped and her stomach sank. She would give anything for him to be safe at home, but she couldn't deny she was glad he was here.

When she felt comfortable enough, she slid down from the tree and landed with a gentle thump in the soft earth. She moved the gun so it was comfortably tucked against her backpack. Her legs and arms were shaking, and she couldn't tell it was from nerves or effort. Most likely both, she considered.

She walked over to Ian and he grabbed her hand tightly, squeezing it. Brooke squeezed back, meeting his intense stare for only a moment. She resisted the strong urge to apologize again, and instead just pulled him slightly closer and pressed her forehead against his chest. She could feel his arms long to move around her back, but the artillery prevented him. So instead, his hands moved to her hips and wrapped around her lower waist.

"It will be all right," he said, but his voice fell flat.

"You don't sound so convinced," Brooke replied, immediately regretting her words.

"I'm not," he replied. "We got lucky last time. Hopefully, we'll get lucky again."

Inspiring words.

Brooke pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind as much as she could. She had had enough mental breakdowns for the day, it was time to put on a brave face. It was time to be brave. She had to be strong for Kelly, even if the little girl ignored every single one of her advances.

"She'll get over it," Ian murmured as they walked back to the vehicles. "She was worried and anxious to see you when we flew to San Diego."

Brooke nodded and pursed her lips. "Well we're about to be spending a whole lot of time together so I hope you're right."

Everyone climbed into the laboratory trailer and the group set off. The going was slow, and Brooke spent most of the time exploring the equipment. She was amazed by the ability of the machines to move nearly silently through the forest. When she wasn't looking over the equipment, her eyes were trained out the window. She noted every bit of movement she saw, trying to form shapes and imprint them in her mind.

Kelly was up front with Sarah, sitting on Sarah's lap as Sarah explained one thing or another to the girl about hyenas and other predators in Africa.

Ian came up behind her and placed his hands on either shoulder. He squeezed gently, his thumbs tracing gentle crescents in between her shoulder blades. Weapon no longer strung around her shoulders, Brooke felt free to lean back against his chest. Ian kissed the back of her head gently as his hands ran around to her shoulders, rubbing up and down her upper arm. In that moment, Brooke felt as if nothing could hurt her. She felt as if she could be swallowed up by Ian. She turned around to him, wrapping her arms around his midsection and holding him tightly.

Ian seemed startled for a moment. His muscles tensed momentarily before relaxing, and then his grip tightened around Brooke. Brooke took this moment to take in everything about Ian; the way his arms felt, the way he smelled—familiar cologne mixed with wet earth, the way he whispered her name. She took a few deep breaths, then turned her back to him again, using every fiber of her being to choke back the tears of fear, and the thought that she would never see him again—the thought that she might die.

When the trailer finally slowed to a stop, Brooke's heart dropped to her stomach. She took a few deep breaths, and put her hand on Ian's on her shoulder. She squeezed it once, and then walked away from him and toward Richard and Doc Thorne.

Doc Thorne, Richard, and Brooke worked for about an hour to arrange the high-hide. They managed to arrange that the steal metal cage would be perched nearly 80 feet in the air. It took nearly two additional hours for Brooke to be brought on the outside of the hide, hacking away at limbs and setting traps.

Nearly four hours after they arrived, and dusk was falling fast. Finally, it was time. Tears were streaming down Kelly's face as she hugged her father. His arms enveloped the small child, and Brooke could hear him whispering encouraging thoughts into her ear and kissing her cheek. Brooke scarfed down a few granola bars quickly, using the trailer as her waste bin. Ian managed to get Kelly to eat a sandwich before placing her on the ground.

Brooke took Kelly's hand and walked her into the high hide—which was essentially a very large cave. Kelly clung to Brooke tightly, tears still running down her cheeks.

"We're going to be all right, love," Brooke murmured. "But you need to keep quiet, okay?"

Kelly nodded, and murmured: "Daddy," repeatedly and frantically.

"We'll see him again," Brooke cooed. "We'll see him tomorrow." She turned Doc and gave a thumbs-up. She looked to Ian once more as the high hide began to lift into the air. Their eyes locked and Brooke once again felt the tears rise to her eyes.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you," Ian replied. "Both of you. Kelly, be strong, okay?"

"O—ohkay Daddy. I w-w-will."

And they were into the air. The night began to fall, and though they were all unaware of it at the time, the nightmare truly began.

Author's Note

Wow, it's been a very long while. But I want to do this story, and all of its wonderful readers that have stuck with it through all of my absences, a good amount of justice. I want to give it the ending it deserves. And I will.

xox

Liza