Two

"Okay, we can walk now," Archer says as he holds his hand up.

He and Solomon break their sprint as they leave the tall grass and enter the dense jungle brush. Both men are gasping for air from having run for so long, but they quickly calm themselves as they walk on at an even pace. Archer rubs his forehead before slicking his hand back over his damp hair. Solomon looks at him. Both men are sweating.

Maddy trails behind them at a safe enough distance to keep herself hidden without losing sight of them. When she sees them walking, she feels great relief and slows herself down. Her chest is heaving and she feels sticky and nauseous, but she is determined to press on behind them.

The daylight disappears quickly and the pitch blackness of the jungle is unnerving. It takes an hour for Maddy's eyes to fully adjust to the lack of light and soon the big silver moon in the middle of the dark sky seems brighter than the sun. She can hear Archer and Solomon settling down in one spot for the night and Maddy is unsure of what to do next.

She fears that if she stops to rest, she will fall asleep and risk missing Archer and Solomon leaving at daybreak, or perhaps even earlier. She has already been following them by ear more than sight and her anxieties about her decision are at an all-time high. Going out on a limb, she decides to make her way over to Archer and Solomon. The jungle has fallen into such a thick silence that Maddy swears she can hear her own blood pulsing through her veins.

Maddy presses on cautiously. She tries to hear Solomon and Archer to gauge where they are, but she is surrounded by nothing but silence and darkness. A sudden feeling of trepidation grabs hold of Maddy's consciousness and she stops and closes her eyes. She has this foreboding feeling that her life is about to come to an abrupt stop and it scares her into frozen panic. Her ears ring loudly and her throat constricts and she feels as though she might just implode.

Her anxiety has taken such a hold of her now that she feels paralyzed. It takes her a handful of seconds to register the sensation of someone's arm around her neck. A forearm to the jugular. A sharp blade to the cheek. A knee to the back of the thigh.

"RUF?" The voice sounds like thunder rumbling in her skull as she feels her knees give out under her. "Are you RUF? Huh?"

She recognizes the voice as she tries to pry the arm away from her throat to let her breathe, or at least to speak. She manages one word. "Archer!"

He releases Maddy from his chokehold and her body crumples onto the jungle floor like a tower of sand at high tide. She falls to her hands and knees coughing and heaving and Archer stands stiff for a moment. He shoves his switchblade into his pocket and then bends down beside Maddy. He grabs her bicep and yanks her up. He can barely see her face in the darkness.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" He growls. "I could have killed you!"

"Archer, Archer, please," Maddy begs, trying hard to catch her breath. Her heart is beating so furiously that she's afraid it might just stop. "Archer, please let me just catch my breath for a moment."

"Miss Bowen?" Solomon's smooth voice comes as a relief.

"Why did you leave our spot, Solomon?" Archer barks.

"I heard you yelling, I thought there was danger," he says, still calm. "And then I heard Miss Bowen's voice."

"Ja, ja, Miss Bowen followed us," Archer sneers. He lets go of her bicep and she falls back onto the ground.

Solomon approaches Maddy and kneels down in front of her to help her up. He takes her shoulders and steadies her as she continues her attempt to compose herself from her prolonged state of anxiety. The feeling of her blood rushing back to her extremities is a slow process, but having feeling in her arms and legs again is assuring. Archer paces behind them with his thoughts reeling. He almost just killed her. He could have easily snapped her neck by accident if he grabbed her more aggressively. When Solomon lifts Maddy to her feet, Archer stops pacing and walks over.

"What were you thinking, Maddy?" He hisses.

"Mister Archer, do not be mad at her," Solomon says defensively. "She is scared."

Archer draws in an annoyed inhale. "Go start a fire," he says to Solomon demandingly. "There are matches in my backpack to get a flame going, go on."

Solomon rubs the sides of Maddy's arms assuringly before turning and walking back to their small makeshift camp. Maddy's breathing is almost at a normal rate now, but her heart is still pounding. She touches her cheek where Archer had his blade and she's relieved to feel smooth skin — no gash.

"What were you thinking, Maddy?"

Archer asks the question again, but now his mouth is just a few inches away from her face and his tone has softened to the point of making his voice sound foreign. Maddy opens her mouth to speak but she is unable to articulate a coherent thought in her current state. The sting she felt inside her nose earlier when she was saying goodbye to Archer returns with a ferocious intensity and the only sound that comes from her mouth is a strained whimper. The sound makes Archer feel guilty all over again and he quickly puts his arm around her small shoulders and pulls her pathetic little body close to him.

"Solomon, is that fire started?"

His hand feels like sandpaper even through the fabric of her t-shirt. Maddy wonders how many lives have ended under his hands and the thought does nothing but feed her anxiety all over again. She walks under his arm, pressed against him, as he pushes branches and leaves out of the way. Archer sits Maddy down against a rock and holds his hand out as if to tell her to sit and not move .

"I just need the match, Mister Archer," Solomon answers.

He's created a promising bundle of sticks encircled by rocks that Archer nods to confidently as he picks his backpack up. He opens the canvas flap and pulls out the box of matches to toss to Solomon, who pulls out three to light and stick in between the twigs. They catch after a few seconds and soon the whole bundle is ablaze. The flame lights Solomon's face up and Maddy almost smiles. She's glad to see him.

"I will get more sticks," Solomon says as he stands. He hands the matches back to Archer, who takes one out and strikes it to light his cigarette.

"No no, this is enough," Archer tells him sternly.

"It is too small, it will not last very long."

"That's fine, Solomon."

The column of smoke he pushes through his lips catches in the weak light of the small flame and Maddy's fingers twitch towards her camera. She's taking a picture before she even realizes it, and just as quickly as she snaps the shot, her camera is back in her lap with its lens capped. Archer acts as though he is oblivious to the action as he takes another deep drag from his cigarette.

"A big fire will attract unwanted attention, huh," Archer says as he goes to sit beside Maddy.

Solomon nods and goes sits across from them close to the tiny fire and he holds his hands out over it. The dry warmth is comforting.

"Why did you follow us, huh? Are you fucking crazy? You could have been killed, Maddy."

"But I wasn't," she says, finding her voice. "I'm fine."

"Are you hurt?" He asks. "Did I hurt you?"

"I said I'm fine."

"Maddy," he growls. "This isn't the time to act smart, a'right? You're in the bush now, you're out of your element."

Maddy doesn't respond.

"You were stupid to not get on the plane, Maddy."

"So were you."