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Back Whirlwind Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Title Page
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. 85
  87. 86
  88. 87
  89. 88
  90. 89
  91. 90
  92. 91
  93. 92
  94. Also by DAVID KLASS
  95. Copyright Page

“Thanks,” Kidah says, holding out his hand for the torch. “I needed the break.” As he takes the burning brand back, he smiles and says, “Anyway, I think you’re already carrying a torch for someone else.” His voice drops. “I don’t know much more about the afterlife than you do, but I think you just might run into her again.”

“You do?” I ask eagerly.

The wizard looks back at me and for a moment his eyes vanish. All I see are twin holes with clouds. It’s as creepy as it was the first time I saw him do this, when he woke up under the stone idol.

I hear people around us gasp, and I pull back in fear. Then he’s Kidah again, smiling at me. “Seek and you shall find,” he whispers, giving my arm a squeeze. “And try not to look so glum. It’s bad for morale.”

I manage a small smile. “Okay. Point taken.”

“That’s better,” he says. “Now I’d better go rally the troops.” He starts to go and then turns back and adds, “Oh, as for the worms eating your corpse, I wouldn’t worry about it. In the rain forest, it’s the ants and the beetles that will get you.”

86

86

One minute we’re walking through trees beneath the protection of the canopy, and the next we emerge into a field of stumps and weeds and dust. Searchlights sweep the darkness and find us.

Alarms blare. I glimpse the colonel’s tall fence far ahead of us, and hear the shouts of guards on watchtowers.

Kidah darts forward, across the open field, and for a little old man he puts on a pretty impressive burst of speed. We follow him, and a determined shout goes up from three hundred throats, in dozens of different tribal languages.

I lend my voice to the swelling roar. “Chaaaarrrrrge!”

As I run, I register that it is suddenly getting much colder. A freezing night wind blasts us harder and harder. The first bullets from the guard towers whistle down through that wind and tattoo the ground around our running feet.

A grassy field separates the forest from the fence that guards the colonel’s base. We need only a few minutes to cross the half mile of open ground, but each second when you’re exposed before enemy guns is a lifetime.

We don’t cross this no-man’s-land alone. A mysterious legion of dark forms breaks from the trees and runs alongside us. I’m passed by a jaguar that covers fifteen feet with each enormous bound. A dozen peccaries stampede by, their tusks glinting in the spotlights.

Two machine guns open up at us. Their earsplitting RAT-TAT-TAT sounds like the ominous thunder that precedes a summer squall. Then the rain of lead hits us.