Michael Vey 3 ~ Battle of the Ampere (22 page)

“I don’t know,” I said. “But you’re right, we can’t go back to Puerto Maldonado. I say we follow it as far as it goes, then hike the rest of the way out of the jungle. At least we’ll bypass any roadblocks.”

Taylor’s voice fell. “What do we do about Wade? We can’t leave him here.”

“We’ll take him to Cuzco and give him a proper burial.”

“Even if we have to carry him?” she asked.

“I don’t think Jack would leave him,” I said. “But it’s up to him.”

Everyone went quiet. Finally I turned to McKenna. “How’s Ian doing?”

“Not well,” she said. “He’s blaming himself for not seeing the guy.”

“He can’t see everything,” Taylor said.

“He
can
,” Ostin said. “He just didn’t.”

“That’s not helpful,” Taylor said. “Don’t you dare say that around him. He feels bad enough.”

“I’m not dumb,” Ostin said.

“So what do we do once we’re in Cuzco?” McKenna asked.

“We’ll meet up with Jaime and make our plan,” I said.

“Another plan,” Taylor said. “I’m sick of plans. Someday I want someone to say ‘We’re going shopping.’ ”

“If only,” I said.

Taylor laid her head against my shoulder. I pulled her into me. Everyone just fell silent.

*

A few minutes later Abigail and Zeus walked up to us. Zeus opened the truck door. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“We were just talking about our next step,” Ostin said.

“Which is getting out of this lame country,” Abigail said.

“We need to go to Lima and sink the Elgen’s main boat,” I said.

“What?” Abigail said.

“You’re planning to sink the
Ampere
?” Zeus said.

“That’s the plan,” I said.

“It’s not my plan,” Zeus said, shaking his head. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I don’t do boats. I’m getting out of this death hole.”

“The thing is,” Abigail said, “it’s not just the army who wants to kill us, it’s the entire country. They’ve probably put our pictures on television.”

“No television,” Ostin said. “There’s no electricity.”

“Whatever,” Abigail said. “Then in the newspaper. And if you haven’t noticed, we don’t look like Peruvians. We stand out.”

“She’s right,” Taylor said.

“Why do you think the
Ampere
will be in Lima?” Zeus asked. “It’s in Europe.”

“The voice,” I replied. “He told us that Hatch is bringing the Elgen fleet to Peru.”

Zeus shook his head. “I doubt it. Chairman Schema would never go for it. He likes Italy too much.”

“There is no Chairman Schema anymore,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Hatch has taken over the entire corporation.”

“That’s not good,” Zeus said.

Abigail groaned. “All the more reason to get out of this lousy country before our luck runs out.”

“And then what?” Ostin said. “Wait for the Elgen to grow stronger and come find us?”

“We stand a much better chance of not being found if we stop throwing ourselves at them,” Abigail said.

“She’s got a point,” McKenna said. “And worst case, we’ll at least have a real life for a few years.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, but I’m tired.”

I exhaled slowly, then rested my head in my hand. “Me too.”

“We all are,” Taylor said. “And sad.”

I looked back over at Jack. Seeing him broke my heart. Taylor put her hand on my back.

“When do we leave?” Zeus asked.

“We better wait until morning,” I said. “I don’t think we should drive at night.”

“Is there anything to eat?” Ostin asked.

“There’s food and water in the back of the other truck,” McKenna said. “It looks like these guys were planning on sticking around.”

Taylor said, “We’ll get dinner for everyone.” She turned to McKenna. “Will you help me heat it?”

“Sure.” They both got out of the truck.

“I’ll help,” Ostin said, climbing down after McKenna.

Taylor leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you in a minute.” The three of them left.

When they were gone, Abigail sighed. “I’m really worried about Jack.”

I looked back over at him again. He was still in the same place, his head bowed. “We probably shouldn’t leave him alone,” I said.

“He said he wants to be alone,” Zeus said.

“That doesn’t mean he should be,” Abigail replied. She took Zeus’s hand. “Let’s go see him.”

“I’ll come with you,” I said.

The three of us walked over to where Jack was sitting and sat down next to him. He glanced up at us, then looked back down. I had no idea what to say.

Fortunately, Abigail was naturally gifted at comforting people. She put her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I can’t take away the kind of pain you’re feeling.”

“I need to feel the pain,” Jack said. “It would be wrong not to.” We were all silent for a moment.

Abigail said, “You know, when we couldn’t find you, Wade was so upset. He kept saying, ‘We’ve got to find Jack.’ He pushed us along. You meant that much to him.”

Jack covered his eyes with his hand. None of us had ever seen him cry before. It looked so foreign, like Superman with a broken arm. After a minute he looked up at us. “Wade had no one. His parents abandoned him. Every foster home he went to threw him out. His grandmother was . . . a loser.” He put down his head.

“He had you,” Abigail said.

“Lucky him,” Jack replied sarcastically.

“He
was
lucky to have you,” Abigail said.

Jack exploded. “Lucky? He’d still be alive if it wasn’t for me.”

Abigail didn’t turn away. After a moment she said, “When your home was burned down, you said, ‘I made my choices, I’ll live with them.’ Shouldn’t you allow Wade the same? No one forced him to come. He made his choices.”

Jack didn’t answer.

Abigail took his hand. “Everyone dies. You made Wade’s life worth living.”

Jack bowed his head again. Abigail wrapped her arms around him and held him. He began to shake.

A minute later Zeus said, “I’m sorry, man. Wade was a good guy. He really loved you.”

Without looking up Jack said, “I was a jerk to him. I was always on his case.”

“He knew you loved him. That’s why he loved you so much,” Abigail said.

All of us sat quietly for a moment, then Zeus added, “So do we.” Zeus stood up and walked away.

After another minute I said, “He’s right, you know.”

Jack couldn’t answer. He just broke down and wept.

T
hat night we ate a hot dinner of pork-and-bean burritos and some kind of soup with chicken claws in it. Everyone ate except for Jack and Ian, who claimed not to be hungry. A while after dinner Jack and I put Wade’s wrapped body in the back of the blue truck to keep it from animals, then we all found a place to sleep in the other truck bed, or inside the trucks, except for Jack, who slept outside on the ground.

The next morning I woke to the sound of digging. Jack had found a shovel in the truck and was digging a grave. I walked over to him. He had washed the blood off his face and arms, but his shirt was stained. He was soaked in sweat and he looked as if he hadn’t slept at all.

“Need any help?”

He shook his head.

“You don’t want to take him with us?”

“It doesn’t matter where he’s buried. No one in America cares.”

I just looked down. After a few minutes I said, “We were planning on leaving around noon. We’re going to take the trucks and drive to Cuzco.” I looked at Jack, then said, “After we have a service for Wade.”

He looked up, then said, “Would you say something? I don’t know how to. He respected you.”

“I’d be honored,” I said.

*

Shortly after Jack finished digging, Zeus and Jack laid Wade’s wrapped body in the grave, and we all gathered around. McKenna and Ostin had fashioned a small cross from tree branches, and Abigail and Taylor had gathered dozens of brightly colored jungle flowers, enough to completely cover the grave. I stood at the head of the grave next to the cross. It seemed as if even the jungle had quieted for my eulogy.

“To be honest, when I first met Wade I didn’t like him very much. I only knew him as a bully. In school, there’s a lot said about bullies. We hear about what bad people they are. Adults act as if bullying only takes place in school. But adults bully one another all the time. Some married people bully each other. Some bosses bully their employees. Businesses bully businesses. Countries bully countries. It’s like the no-bullying rule changes after you’re an adult.

“Still, they tell us to hate bullies. But maybe that’s the exact opposite of what we should do. Maybe if they were treated well, they wouldn’t bully. Wade wasn’t born a bully; he was taught it by those who should have taken care of him.

“After he became my friend, he showed me what kind of person he really was. He was loyal and brave. He had the chance to go home and the Elgen probably would have left him alone, but he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t leave his friends. And that makes him a hero. I know we’re all going to miss him. I’m going to miss him. But most of all, Jack will miss him.”

I looked at Jack. His face was streaked with tears.

“Wade’s last words were to Jack. He thanked him for being his
friend. His only friend. Then he said he was sorry. But Wade had nothing to be sorry about. He showed his true self. He always wanted to be a warrior like Jack. And in the end, he was.” I took a deep breath. “That’s all I have to say.”

Taylor sidled up to me and took my hand.

“Thank you,” Jack said.

Everyone stood around quietly to see what Jack would do. He looked down for a moment, then he saluted. After a few more minutes Zeus began shoveling the dirt back into the grave. When he was done, Taylor, McKenna, and Abigail covered the mound with flowers.

Z
eus, Taylor, Ian, and I checked the guards to make sure they were secure. Their leader, the guard who had carried Jack and Taylor into the jungle, tried to negotiate with us.

“Come on, mates. We can work somethin’ out.”

“We’ve seen how you work things out,” I said.

“I can get you money.”

Zeus crouched down next to him. “How? By selling one of us? Do you think we’re stupid?”

The man said nothing.

Zeus’s eyes narrowed. “I remember you. You were at the academy.”

“I was at the gate,” he said. “I used to protect you. All of you.”

Zeus grinned. “You protected me?” He laughed. “Delusions of grandeur.”

The man turned away from him.

“Look at me!” Zeus grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back. “Your friend killed one of our friends.”

“He was acting on his own.”

“He wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for you.” Zeus held his hands up and electricity sparked between his fingers. “The only reason I don’t electrocute you right now is because Michael asked me not to. But give me a reason to change my mind.”

The man went silent.

“Where’s your money?” I asked.

“It’s in his back pocket,” Ian said.

Zeus rolled him over and took out his wallet. “Here,” he said, tossing it to Ian.

“How much is there?” I asked.

Ian rifled through the bills. “About a thousand in Peruvian.”

I crouched down next to the man. “Does this road go all the way to Cuzco?”

He didn’t answer me.

“There’s an anthill over by that tree,” Ian said. “Let’s drag him over there.”

“The road goes to Paucartambo,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a small village.”

“Does the army know about this road?”

“They wouldn’t be much of an army if they didn’t.”

“But you felt safe enough to hide here.”

“They weren’t expecting us.” He turned his head to look at me. “You don’t really think you can escape, do you? They’ve plastered your pictures on newspapers and handbills everywhere. The whole country is looking for you.”

“Well, we’ll just have to do our best to not let them find us,” I said. “Come on, guys.”

“Wait. You’re not just going to leave me here like this. . . .”

“No,” I said. “Ian, add another pair of handcuffs. And if he gives you any trouble”—I looked at the guard—“leave him on the anthill.”

*

We checked the other three guards for money, then added handcuffs as well. We ended up with more than two thousand seven hundred soles, which Ostin said was more than a thousand dollars. A half hour later I approached Jack, who was sitting on the ground next to Wade’s grave.