They couldn't figure out who left them. Was it villagers nearby? Hezzy hadn't seen any signs of people out in this area. It was pretty strange. He had heard stories of apes gifting food to humans before. Maybe that was it.
"We had visitors," E-man said.
"C'est vrai." Christian said.
"Imma thinkin maybeh some friendly chimps was down here last nigh' then." Hezzy said, his drawl worse than usual this morning.
"Quite possibly." He looked at E-man. "You guys ever heard of this before?"
All three men were wide eyed and obviously deep in doubt of reality at this moment. Finally, Christian spoke up.
"Ees a storie from my motha from when she was as girl. She had gotten lost een the forest. A orang-outan gave her a coeur de boef and led her back to the trail. She remembas eet often," he said.
Tugg pulled on his beard and frowned. "It gave her a beef heart?" he said.
Christian looked at Moise who said : "No. The fruit. Ah… You call sour soap?"
"Soursop? Ok. That makes more sense. I was thinkin that Tan must be crazy." Tugg said and waved his hand at the idea.
Hezzy was visibly relieved as well. He could only imagine an Orangutan getting violent enough to kill an ox. That would be strange indeed.
"Where you gonna find an ox in the forest anyways?" Hezzy thought out loud as he bent over the pile of food. "Guess we might as well eat up." He said as he bent over the pile of fruits and fish. You want to get another fire going real quick?" he asked, separating the pile.
Suddenly he screamed. Eyes peered up at him from under the tiny bananas. He kicked and crab-ran backwards on his hands and feet away. Black eyes stared upwards. Obviously dead. It was a chevrotain. A tiny deer that looked like a mouse. Everyone laughed. Hezzy cursed them and went to clean the chevrotain and catfish back down the trail.
As soon as the meal had been cooked and eaten, they decided to do a little exploration of the immediate area before heading out. Tugg was extremely interested in the friendly apes. Whether they would be chimps or orangutan remained to be seen, but it would be nice if they could find them, document them and mark their home on their map.
The worst thing that Tugg could think of, was ruining a habitat with a train-route, yet this was exactly plan of the government. The Ubangi river was the main lifeblood north to the Central African Republic, but the Congolese government wanted to start working with Gabon more and the Democratic Republic of the Congo less and less. Even though they shared the name of the jungle they both inhabited, Congo wanted to distance themselves from their eastern neighbor.
Make a viable road from Ouesso to Epena. No problem. Get paid a little here, and make a documentary on the way. Hezzy was resourceful and jungle-smart and had quickly become his best friend after the shared experience of the whole Missouri thing.
"The Missouri thing"... When he said it like that, it didn't seem so bad. In fact it had been horrific. He and Hezzy had moved to Alaska after a quick friendship had formed and lived by themselves out in the wild. They had both needed it. He had been burned pretty severely during their captivity. Molten glass had splashed on his neck and part of his face and it itched when he thought about it. Flashes of memory. Randal, Laers, Chaucer, and... Zamzum. The tunnel. Harmonizers flaring. Yip and Nanni and the flood. Sleeping at the church that first night. Hounded by reporters. The Army questions. The tests. A month in the Brig. Zamzum. Zamzum. Zamzum Come.
"Hey boyo!" Hezzy was squatting down in front of him about an inch from his face. "You're ain't there no more. You here. With me. Safe. Ain't no boogymen out here. You alive and safe. Aight?"
Tugg slowly came back to the Congo. Yes, here he was. Alive and well and in the company of someone who loved him. His best friend and father figure, Hezekiah. A scruffy old coot who somehow loved him back. He shrugged, laughed and stood.
"Alright. Let's go check out the area. Bound to be some answers in there somewhere. Maybe make a friend?" Tugg asked, smiling. He looked around. "How long was I out?" His face growing concerned again.
"Fifteen minutes this time. The boys say they trahed to talk to ya but you was just sayin: 'Zamzum' ovah and ovah. Hey boyo, how many times I gotta tell you? He dead!" Hezzy was serious and intent, still almost nose to nose.
"He's not dead and we both know it." Tugg insisted. There was a tension for several minutes and then Tugg relaxed and smiled. He put his hand on Hezzy's shoulder. "Alright man. You're probably right. And even if you're not, and he is still alive… How can he find us all the way out here?"
"Damn tootin." Hezzy said. He picked up his backpack and said: "Let's go."