Chapter 24

Falling

Sam couldn't remember the last time he had such a good night's sleep. He crawled out of his tent the next morning, feeling all charged up and incredibly hungry and instinctively looked towards the labs. Tendrils of smoke still rose above the vegetation, but the fire had been contained to the buildings alone. They'd just been very lucky that there were no trees inside the compound or that the wind hadn't carried a wisp of flame over the fence. For once, they'd had luck. And this time, he wasn't afraid. Because they'd had the worst of luck during this mission. And Tom might just forever carry the scars to prove it.

Getting a knot in his stomach, Sam hurried towards his twin's tent only to find Tom with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't put on sunglasses yet and Sam wondered if he would.

"Morning," Tom said, not even looking at him.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked warily.

"I don't think I can walk. I'm afraid to move."

Speaking of bad luck... "Does it hurt?"

"It feels like I have burns and if I move, my skin will split open."

"I should get Jerry."

Tom nodded. "Yeah, you should."

Sam hurried to Jerry's tent and sent him to Tom's, then sat down next to the circle of embers that had been their camp fire. He wasn't even hungry anymore. What were they going to do now? He'd stupidly thought everything would be okay and that they'd just have breakfast and set off into the forest and across the canyon and be home in a matter of days. But if Tom couldn't move...

"Maybe we should build a gurney," Jimmy said. "And just carry him out of here."

"Yah, then him and William can be gurney buddies," Kyle said with fake enthusiasm.

Sam groaned and buried his face in his hands. After his fall in the cave, William hadn't woken up yet. Sam wasn't even sure if he'd be normal William or four-year-old William. And then there was Angie who was pretty badly messed up. They were a mess.

"William's up," Jim announced, hurrying to them.

"How is he?" Kyle asked urgently, getting to his feet.

"I'll live," William mumbled, limping towards them. "I'll be honest and say your punch hurt a bit more and if I survived that, I think I can handle a fall."

"Oh, thank God," Sam breathed. "How about Angie? How is she?"

"She's with Jerry and Tom," Jim answered and Sam felt a little bit better. It meant Angie could at least walk, and it only left Tom.

But it turned out that after a bit of food, Tom could get up and walk too, so their initial plan was back on track. They gathered the luggage and set off through the forest.  To Sam's shock, even if they moved pretty slow because of Tom and Angie, by the time the sun set, they'd almost reached the edge of the forest. It probably helped a lot that they actually knew where they were going this time.

Just as they were setting up camp for the night, a sound like thunder filled the air. Sam looked up to see the beam of a helicopter. His stomach clenched with nerves and his brain jammed. It could be help. It could be Snitch Gravel here to finish them off.

"We're over here!" Jim said, jumping up and down. "Damn it, we should light a fire."

"Move out of the way!" Billy appeared by his side with a signaling gun and fired it at the helicopter.

The beam of light hit the tail propeller and the pilot lost control. The helicopter hit a tree and got lost in the vegetation.

"Well, shit," Kyle said.

Jerry started his lecture, but Sam wasn't listening. He pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the bushes, waiting. In seconds, the vegetation rustled and one lone man made his way to them.

"Ron?" Billy asked.

"What, aren't you glad to see me?" he asked beaming, as if he hadn't just crashed to his death.

"We've just destroyed your helicopter and almost killed you, in case you haven't noticed," Sam said, disturbed.

"Yes, and? You only wanted to show me where you were and you did a good job at it. Which one of you is the sharpshooter?"

"That was me." Billy smiled guiltily. "I'm sorry Ron, but I'm not that good at aiming yet. I'm still working on it."

"Are you kidding? You got me! You're aim is perfect. Firing a bazooka is never easy," Ron said joyfully.

"That was actually a signaling gun," Jimmy said as he and Kyle were elbowing each other in the ribs trying hard not to laugh.

"Really? Well... what's the plan?"

They started walking again and from time to time, Sam scanned the sky. Because now that he stopped to think about it, he wasn't sure how they'd contact Herrison once they got to Magnet Town. They'd been lucky in the jungle with the agency showing up at the right time. But now... well, they could always drive back the way they came. But he wanted to get home as soon as possible. He needed a break. And time to take everything in.

Including Ron's existence. Their uncle was very chatty, telling them everything about himself, their family and whatever else they asked. Except for Snitch Gravel. And Sam guessed that even if he set the compound on fire, Ron was still somehow loyal to Snitch Gravel. And he could totally get that. But he also wondered what Tom knew and had forgotten. Could Ron know?

After days of walking through the desert without any incident, they reached the river and rafted in the opposite direction. After reaching shore safely and covering a decent distance on the other side as well, Sam was starting to get a little uneasy. Nothing had gone wrong for days. Tom and Angie were doing better, William was completely recovered and was actually nice to everybody, Kyle included, their supplies were plentiful because of all the time they spent not eating. And something was bound to go wrong. He just knew it.

So on what he took to be the final day of their journey, which also happened to be his birthday, Sam was very skeptical about the whole thing. Something in his bones told him it was wrong and that they were going to somehow get killed and he'd celebrate eighteen years of life and that was it. Even as he walked towards the uneven cliff on which Magnet Town was perched. Even if he could see the town.

"Maybe we should take the long way up," Jerry said, looking up the wall.

Sam analyzed it too. There were a lot of places for their hands and feet. A potential climb on the surface would not be too hard. It might take them less than an hour to get up. He remembered Herrison mentioning that the road would take them two days. Could they spare two days? Would stalling make everything more dangerous or safer?

"I don't want two more days of walking," Tom mumbled. "I'd rather climb for an hour."

"I guess you're the authority. I was thinking of you when I suggested it," Jerry said with a shrug.

Jerry wanted to climb. This was really worrying. Sam bit his lip and stared at the cliff face, wondering if he was just being paranoid. Everyone wanted to climb. What could happen anyway? They'd just be really careful. So he just shut his mouth and put on all the necessary safety equipment.

You can do this. Nothing will go wrong. But everything felt wrong already. Still, he sucked it up and started climbing first, Tom right behind him. It was surprisingly easy. He managed to get a good way up before the bad feeling broke through his concentration and froze him about half-way up.

"What's the hold up?" Tom asked, nudging his boot.

Sam looked down and opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He'd heard voices. Muffled commands coming from above. He looked up, but couldn't see anything.

"We have to get down," he called to Tom.

His twin frowned. "What? Why?"

Before Sam could answer, a rumbling sound filled the air. He barely managed to turn his face upwards when an avalanche of rocks came crashing down upon him. His hands slipped from their grips and the next thing he knew, he was plummeting towards the ground. Something hit against his chest, knocked the air out of his lungs and everything went black.

*

Ron wrapped his arm around Angie's waist and pulled her back before the rest of the group crashed over her. Jim, Billy and William also jumped back, dodging the falling rocks and bodies. The moment the dust settled, Angie broke free and hurried to dig through rocks. Ron glanced towards the top of the cliff. Two figures looked down upon them as if to make sure the job was done. They were dead.

Without giving it much thought, Ron rushed to the canyon wall and started climbing as fast as he could. Safety equipment be damned. He wouldn't let those assholes get away with this.

"They're alive," he heard Angie calling from the bottom. "But we need help. Where are you going?"

Ron didn't bother answering. If he hesitated, those rats could disappear. He redoubled his efforts, making sure he only grabbed on to safe surfaces and continued climbing. It seemed to take forever, the top reaching higher and higher towards the sky.

Then, just like that, his fingers grappled the edge and he pulled himself on the outskirts of Magnet Town. Powerful wind swept his hair, sending it into his eyes. Ron brushed it away and focused on the two black helicopters landing next to the last wooden house. He watched in fascination as the engines were cut off and the propeller speed gradually decreased.

Were these the people responsible? But, if they were, they'd be flying away, not landing.

A familiar middle-aged man with dark hair and moustache jumped out of the closest helicopter and headed towards him, his fists opening and shutting in spasmodic movements.

"Excuse me, sir," he said. "Have you seen a group of youngsters around here?"

Ron just stared, trying to remember where he'd seen the guy before. The guy cleared his throat and Ron snapped out of it. "You mean Sam and his group?"

It was the man's turn to stare. "You know them?"

"Yeah. They're down there. Someone threw some boulders at them and knocked them off the wall." Whoever this guy was, he had helicopters and could take them to a hospital. "You'd better get to them."

The guy nodded, pressed his ear and gave a short order before hurrying towards his own helicopter. He threw Ron a confused look but fortunately seemed to think that getting to the wounded was more important.

All the better. Ron had work to do. He hurried to the inn, snatched the keeper's books while the man got him a beer, and checked the latest entries and the room number. He bolted up the stairs before the inn keeper had the chance to turn around and pass him the drink.

Ron reached the room and kicked the door open, his hand already to the back of his belt where he hid his gun. He expected to see the two men in suits pointing weapons at him. He didn't expect to see Rudolpheus and another of Snitch Gravel's elite guards playing cards on the bed.

"Hey Ron!'" Rudolpheus said, not even raising his eyes from his cards. "We were wondering when you would drop by to say hello."

"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked, squinting at them.

"Snitch Gravel ordered us to give you this," the other man said, nodding towards a small package that was resting on the bed.

Ron glanced from the shoebox to them trying to wrap his head around what was going on. The two continued their game of cards as if Ron wasn't even there.

"Did you cause that avalanche?" Ron asked.

"No," Rudolpheus answered calmly, taking two cards.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because we're only following orders. And we weren't ordered to kill the Grants."

"Did you see who did it?" Ron asked again.

"Yeah, two blokes dressed in suits. My guess is they're from the agency and wanted to kill you but turned out to be horrible misers. But you won't find them. They left already," Rudolpheus answered.

Ron took the package and weighed it in his hand. It was surprisingly light. "Are you sure it's not a bomb?"

"Ronnie, we thought you were smarter than that!" Rudolpheus laughed and Ron stepped out.

He hurried down the stairs again and watched the helicopters taking off into the sky carrying his nephews to safety. Or so he hoped. Except, once they got home, all hell would break lose. He had to go back and fix this somehow. But, in truth, he was a little scared. Scared of his nephews, scared of the girls. Scared that they'd hate him for what he'd done. Then there was the matter of Snitch Gravel's package.

"Hey, mister, still want your beer?" the innkeeper asked.

Ron sighed and headed for the bar. Yeah, sure, why not? He could use a beer.

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One more part to go. What do you think is waiting home? Is everyone okay? Who were the attackers? Was Rudolpheous lying?

So many questions...

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment.

I hope you enjoyed the story!