Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series) (41 page)

“Huh?” John said, turning to look at Jake. “What was that about?”

“I thought he made us,” Jake said.

“He didn’t see anything,” Corey said, sounding exasperated.

“They’ve already made us,” John said. “I’m sure they know exactly where we are. But now we know where
they
are, and that at least makes me feel a little better.”

“Any sign of the man of the hour?” Matthew asked.

“Nothing,” Corey said. “Not even a glimpse.”

John sighed and walked away from the group. I went to him. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Something’s off about this,” John said, “but I don’t know what it is yet. I know they want us here, I know they’re waiting for something…but I’m starting to think I’ve misjudged it. Misjudged the whole thing.” He sounded frustrated. He broke the large stick he was holding in half. He looked like he would have felt better if it were Darius’s neck that he’d just snapped.

“Matthew,” he called, collecting himself. “See if you can get in any kind of touch with Cruz.”

A few hours later, John was pacing and the darkness had set in. It was a different darkness than I was used to, because we were miles from any source of artificial light. After my eyes adjusted, it looked like the leaves were glowing.

“I just heard from Cruz,” Matthew said, jogging over.

“Did you tell him what I said?” John asked lowly. John didn’t keep secrets from his team; but he liked people to know things on an “as-needed” basis. The guys were all so action-oriented, he probably just wanted to keep one task, one set of variables in front of them at a time.

“I did,” Matthew said quietly.

“And?”

“He wasn’t happy,” Matthew said, shrugging.

“He could be a lot worse than unhappy by this time tomorrow,” John said.

I’d tried to leave John alone to his pacing after dinner, but now I had to know. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“I think our setup has been a setup,” John said. “I was thinking they engaged us and brought us out here to try and kill us privately and expediently, but I was wrong.” He sighed in frustration and looked at his watch. “I think Darius is on his way to see Cruz. And we’re stuck here until the morning.”

“Can’t we try to go now?” I asked, looking around the creepy, dark forest. “Aren’t you worried that they’re going to come for us tonight, anyway?”

“I hope they do,” John said and shrugged casually, causing my mouth to drop open.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Of course. We’re ready for them. And if we can grab a couple of them, we might be able to extract some useful information…” He looked at my scowling face and stopped. “If it makes you happy, I’ve ruled out going to their location tonight and kidnapping a couple of them. We need to leave first thing in the morning, and we don’t have the time.” He smiled at me.

“It makes me
so
happy that we’re not kidnapping people tonight,” I said, fake-smiling back at him. “But we have to stay here?”

“Yes,” he said. “I promise I’ll protect you, Liberty. You know I won’t let anyone come near you.”

“I’m more worried about
things
coming near me,” I said, but I had to admit, I was thrilled at the prospect of going back to the States tomorrow. I hadn’t had to run ten miles and then walk ten miles. I hadn’t shot anyone, and as far as I knew, John hadn’t either — which was some sort of a record, I felt sure. I hadn’t seen one single snake.

I crossed my fingers and helped everybody organize our stuff again. John said the earliest we could get out was five the next morning. He wanted to stay where we were, in case Darius’s people made contact. I wasn’t so sure about that, but he knew better than me. I needed to show him the respect he deserved, without whining or mouthing off for once.

Corey and Jake took the fist watch. “No unnecessary heroics,” John told Jake. “I mean it. Keep it quiet, but make sure you have the entire perimeter covered. If you hear
anything
,” John said, looking at Corey now, “get me and Matthew immediately. Understood?”

They both nodded and jogged off. “Don’t they ever get tired?” I asked, yawning.

“They’ll crash after this,” John said, “but it’s good for them. Corey is a machine. And Jake was ready to snap back at home. He’s young — he needs the action.” He turned to me. “
We
need to get some sleep,” he said, pulling me into one of the tents. There were a bunch of our supplies in the tent, but only two sleeping bags.

“Are we in here by ourselves?” I asked.

“Yes,” John said, lying down and patting the bag next to him, “but not because I’m trying to get your clothes off. Although really, if I’m being honest, I’m
always
trying to get your clothes off. Tonight I’ll give you a break, though. You need to rest, and so do I, before I take watch.”

“I can do that with you,” I said, getting into my sleeping bag and feeling my eyes get heavy immediately. I
was
exhausted.

“Matthew will do it,” John said, stroking my hair gently. “He’d be pissed if I let him sleep and took you instead. I’ll have Jake and Corey come in here after their watch, if that’s okay with you.” I nodded. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you all alone.”

“S’kay,” I said, reaching out and holding his hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

When I woke up later I was disoriented. It was still dark; I felt around for John but he wasn’t there. I lit up my watch; it was three a.m. local time. I felt around for my flashlight and I clicked it on, seeing Jake and Corey sleeping heavily on the other side of the tent. I sat up, listening for John and Matthew outside, but I didn’t hear anything except for a mosquito buzzing around my head.

It reminded me that I needed to reapply my bug spray. I’d be damned if I brought home yellow fever as a souvenir from our trip. I was rummaging through my bag, trying to be quiet, when I saw it.

And not the “it” I was looking for.

“Baaaaah!” I screamed. Or rather, I
tried
to scream. Only a muffled moaning sound came out, but it must have been enough to startle it. I watched, in silent horror, as it crawled away from me — towards Jake and Corey.

It was a Brazilian Wandering Spider. Just like in my leaflet. Big — six inches across, at least, bigger than my hand outstretched — hairy, and venomous. And headed towards the guys, who were asleep.

John!
I screamed, but it was like a nightmare. No sound was coming out.
John, please!
I screamed again, and then I watched as it reached Jake’s sleeping bag. And climbed up on it.

No, no, no!
It was moving towards the top, towards his sleeping face. He was on his back, his mouth open, snoring lightly.

No no no no no — PLEASE!
was all I could think, all I could hear wailing inside my head.

But something about seeing Jake’s mouth open like that, with the hairy spider so close, was enough to get me to move. I would’ve wanted somebody to move if it were me.

I looked around wildly, seeing my makeup bag open and a wide-toothed comb sitting on top. I grabbed it and lunged towards the other end of the tent. “Get off him!” I yelled, finally finding my voice. Jake startled and for a precipitous moment, the spider swayed near his open mouth. I would have thrown up if I’d had the time. Instead, I took the comb and literally combed the spider off his face.

It brushed my leg as it flew by me. I could feel its dense hairiness.

I whirled around and for a moment I couldn’t see it. I swung my flashlight wildly as I heard the guys start asking what was wrong behind me.

“
SPIDER!
” I screamed, finally finding my voice. “
Hairy, poisonous SPIDER!
” Finally, I spied it on the ground, heading towards John’s sleeping bag. For some reason, this enraged me. I felt myself start to burn with anger, with hate. I saw my sneaker on the floor and I grabbed it.

“Come here, you fucker!” I yelled, and ran towards it. Ominously, it reared up on its hind legs at me and swerved side to side, like it was a boxer.

“What the
FUCK
?” I yelled. “Stop it!
STOP IT!
” And then I took the sneaker and I smacked it, getting closer to the evil thing than I’d ever intended. It bounced back up, seemingly indestructible, and started moving towards me on its hind legs again.

I was petrified, but more than that, I was tired of being petrified.

“Not tonight, fucker!” I screamed, and started bashing it repeatedly with the shoe. “It’s
YOUR
turn to die!” I smashed it again and again, at first until it went limp, and then until it was reduced to blackish blood and chunks smeared all over John’s sleeping bag. “
Die, you motherfucker!
” I heard myself yell, and I heard the tent door unzip behind me, but I didn’t stop until I had smeared the spider into a flat, gooey, brackish mess.

“What’s going on?” John asked quietly behind me as I knelt, panting, at the base of his sleeping bag.

“Liberty just killed a spider,” Corey said, deadpan. “No biggie.”

John crouched down next to me. “Honey, are you okay?” he looked with some interest at the shoe I was clutching, and at the remains of his sleeping bag.

“Um-hmm,” I said, nodding. I could feel the blankness on my face.
I can’t believe I just killed that thing. It was absolutely freaking huge.
And it
charged
me.

“Yep. I’m okay.”

He helped me up and looked at me skeptically,

“It was on Jake’s face,” I said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake’s absolutely horrified expression and wished he hadn’t heard me. “I told you I hate spiders,” I said, shrugging. “Something in me just snapped.”

“Okay, babe,” John said, patting me gently on the back. A lesser man would have backed out of the tent and ran away. “Why don’t you come outside with me? But put some shoes on — some other shoes,” he said, taking the sneaker away from me. He wrapped it up in the sleeping bag and brought the whole mess outside, where he promptly threw it out, far into the underbrush. Some animal could find shelter in it.

I shivered. I was not really into animals right now.

“Come with me,” John said, tucking me into his side. We stood at part of the perimeter; he waved to Matthew in the distance. “Try to rest against me. We’re leaving soon. Don’t think about any of what just happened…but Liberty, you know what?”

“What?” I asked, the world around me turning grey as I sunk into his chest, feeling safe, warm and protected. I was pretty sure I was in shock. Post-hairy spider shock.

“That was awesome. Now the spiders are afraid of
you
. Good girl,” he said, and held me close.