With only a few hours til dawn and the moon covered by clouds, Ethan and Georgie decided it was too dangerous to travel. They had no idea where they were or where they were going. Added to that, Kate kept drifting in and out of consciousness. Her left cheek was bruised and her eye was swollen grotesquely. They flattened the ground around them and unpacked the special combination sleeping bag and tent that Rudy had called a BIVVY.. The lightweight, waterproof sleeping bag had a clamshell opening with a screen to let air in, but keep the insects out.
Ethan and Georgie worked silently to set Kate's BIVVY up first. Once they got the hang of it, it was pretty easy to assemble. They helped Kate inside. They removed her shoes, but slid them inside the BIVVY with her so nothing could crawl in them. "Kate, do you have a first aid kit?"
She looked confused for a second. "In the front zippered pocket of my backpack."
Ethan leaned over and unzipped the pocket. He was just putting his hand inside when Kate spoke in a low whisper, "Careful not to.." She drifted off.
Georgie whispered. "What did she mean? Careful not to what?" He sounded worried.
"Probably nothing." Ethan assured him, pulling out the kit and zipping the pocket closed. He did not tell Georgie about the hard, cold metal of a gun he felt in Kate's backpack.
Ethan rifled through the well stocked kit until he found some over the counter painkillers. "Kate, open up."
Groggy, she did as he asked. Water dribbled down her chin, but she managed to swallow the acetaminophen.
Next he propped her head on her backpack to elevate her bruised face.
'Georgie, grab a couple handfuls of mud, will you? Smear it on Kate's face and hands and any other exposed skin you see. Careful around her cheek. Mosquitos can't bite through mud."
"How do you know so much stuff?'
Ethan looked up, his face blank. He surprised himself when he answered honestly instead of his normal glib response.
"I really have no idea. My parents claimed I could read before I could walk. Mom insisted that I watch the other kids and mimic what they did in school. It wasn't too hard. Then, when I was at home I could study any subject I wanted. I once cheated on an IQ exam, but in reverse. I only answered enough questions to score 135. Smart enough to be above average, but not so smart as to draw unwanted attention. As I got older my parents started to become paranoid. They were always on the lookout for some shadowy government agency determined to kidnap me if they found out how smart I was." The two boys shared a smile at the irony.
"So how smart are you?" Georgie asked while now smearing muck all over his face.
Ethan smiled. "Really, really smart."
They both laughed. Georgie's teeth glowed white in his mud covered face.
Rudy ruthlessly pushed the others to keep moving. They had walked all night, stopping only to take a sip of water. Rudy's plan was to make it to the river rendezvous as quickly as possible, with his students in tow, then head out by himself to find his twin sister. Kate would do the same for him.
Sunrise brought more oppressive heat and smothering humidity. Their clothing stuck to their bodies. The ground under their feet was soft and sticky. Each step made a sucking noise. Their shoes were heavy with caked on mud. The thick underbrush they had to clear before they could move forward combined with no sleep made for an exhausting trek.
"Lucy needs to rest." Rufus said firmly, his voice daring Rudy to argue. Griffen agreed.
"No, really, I'm fine." Lucy insisted. Her thin shoulders were slumped, her feet dragged more with each step. The stick she was supposed to lead with to tear down spider webs dragged on the ground behind her.
"We all need to rest and rehydrate." Anne hoped her level tone would convince Rudy. Her lips burned from the powerful insect repellent, they had applied liberally to any exposed skin.
Rudy conceded. "Okay, a quick break." He pulled the waterproof, tear proof topography map from his pocket. It was designed for hikers and showed not just the trails, but the elevation and vegetation as well making it easier to mark your position. He had traced their descent from the high ground of the Hive to the ruins of Iranduba, then on to the Amazon, staying clear of the roadway. He calculated they had traveled approximately 15 miles. They still had another 45 miles to go before they would rendezvous on the river. There was little time to rest.
"Okay, let's get moving." His announcement was met with loud groaning.
"I don't like staying this close to the Hive." Ethan understood Georgie's concern. After all, there were armed soldiers looking for them.
"I agree, but I don't think we should move Kate yet." They both looked in her direction.
The swelling on her face had taken on an astonishing rainbow of colours. She couldn't open her left eye. The slightest movement set her head pounding.
Really, they had no option, but to remain a while longer and hope she would begin to heal soon.
Ethan tipped a bottle of treated water against her lips. She sipped slowly. "Do you think you could eat something?"
The instinct to shake her head came to a brutal standstill. "No, thank you." She managed weakly. "And thank you both, so much. I can never repay you."
"Better save the gratitude til we get out of here alive. If we do." Georgie was oblivious to Ethan's cringe.
"Breakfast?" Georgie actually offered Ethan and Kate a chocolate bar from his stash.
"Thanks." Ethan appreciated the sugary carbs. Kate refused, closing her one open eye to block the sun.
As Kate slept in her BIVVY and Georgie settled into his beside her, Ethan took the map and permanent marker from Kate's backpack. He set off through the thick jungle, his face and hands smeared with mud, to re-trace the route they had taken last night in their hurried escape. He was determined to find their position on the map and figure out how to return to the marked route that would lead them to the river and the others from their group. And Anne.