Chapter 29
The three men reach the campside about fifteen minutes later, after a mostly quiet walk. Mike once tried to start a conversation with Chad, but after being rewarded with a hard punch in his stomach for his efforts, he kept still. At the campside Brad and Harper have put up two tents and a small fire has been lit and is used to make some tea. Chad lays his gun down and pours himself a cup, while Tony harshly pushes Mike to the ground. He then goes down beside him and puts away the blindfold. With a small smile, Tony says sarcastically "Welcome to your new home for the next days navyman." Mike blinks a few times to let his eyes adjust to the sudden light. But thankfully the tall trees take away most of the light and only small slivers of sunlight peek through the foliage. Not wishing to let them know that he is a high ranking officer, but sick of being called navyman, Mike replies soflty "It's Flynn. Mike Flynn. And not navyman, understood?"
Although he hasn't revealed anything, Chad can hear by his tone of voice, that Mike is someone who is used to be in command. So he walks up to him and directly tells him "There is no use in lying here. So, what's your rank Flynn?" Cursing himself for being found out so easily, Mike answers "I'm a Commander. Why do you want to know?" Chad gives of a light laugh and replies "I just like to know who I'm dealing with. And judging by your rank, I'd say your in command of a ship. So where is it?" Mike shakes his head "I really don't know. They could be anywhere between Cairns and PNG." Thinking a moment, Chad says "Well I think they are occupied with the search for you. So that gives us enough time to get away from here."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Mike wants to know "What are your plans for me? Holding me for ransom will get you nowhere. And I don't think that guys like you, want to leave any loose ends. Which would lead to only one option – you'll have to kill me. Otherwise I'll hunt you down and make sure that you'll get behind bars where you belong." Hearing his threat, Chad and Tony laugh heartily. Exchanging a look, Tony now asks Mike "And how exactly do you plan on hunting us down, Flynn? You are still our hostage and you have no gun, nor do you have a radio to call for help." Looking carefully around, Mike weighs up his chances. The other two guys Brad and Harper have gone already to sleep in one of the tents. That leaves only Chad and Tony and as far as he can tell, only Chad is armed.
Feeling that the ties around his wrists are loosening, he holds them off a bit longer, distracting them both with some mindless talk. As he has managed to finally work his hands free, Mike grabs a fist full of dirt and throws it directly into Chad's eyes. Chad lets go of the rifle and goes for his eyes, rubbing them. Not wasting any time, Mike springs up and runs Tony over like a rugby player, bringing him down hard on the ground. Again Mike wastes no time and starts running like a madman, hoping to get as much distance between him and the smugglers as humanly possible. But not enough. Seconds later shots ring out through the dense forest, disrupting the peace. Not really knowing where he is going to, Mike concentrates on avoiding the bullets that are whizzing through the air around him.
A few minutes all is going well, but suddenly the forest opens into another clearing and Mike has no place to take cover. Then Chad and Tony reach the clearing too and both fire their guns. The first shot goes wide, but the second is right on target. The bullet hits Mike in his upper left arm, right below the shoulder. The force of the impact throws him to the ground and he cries out in pain. Putting a hand on his arm, he tries to stem the blood flow, but the bright red blood just keeps on running through his fingers, staining his sleeve and the ground beneath. Already he starts to get light-headed and has trouble to stay focused. Chad and Tony come over to him. Seeing the color of the blood and the amount that has already pooled underneath Mike, they share a grin. "He is a goner with that arterial bleeding. So we have nothing to worry about. Let's get away from here." With a last look at the navy commander, who is seemingly bleeding to death, Chad and Tony leave and go back to their camp.
Mike has heard clearly what Chad has said about him and feeling the blood seeping so fast through his fingers, he fears the smuggler may be right with his assumption. Getting weaker which each passing minute, Mike knows that he needs help and fast. But then he remembers that they took his radio together with his gun. Which means he is on his own now.