Shadowed Eden (14 page)

A rustling noise sounded behind her and she turned.

Nothing.

She frowned and looked back at the group. No one had heard—they were too busy having a get-together—but she'd definitely heard it.

Standing quietly, she stretched her arms and kept her eyes on the trees. The rustling sounded again and she stepped closer, but everything was silent and still. She waited another moment and let out a slow breath. She was too uptight. Turning back to the fire, she heard it again. “Snakes!” she screamed.

Chaos erupted around the fire. Everyone leaped to their feet, pushing into each other and screaming.

A dozen snakes poured from the jungle, rattling their tails like babies' toys. They spread out like lava, but these weren't like any snakes Avery had ever seen. Their scaly skin was a bright yellow with red and black rings circling their bodies.

Avery shivered. Running was pointless but she couldn't help it. She wasn't even sure where she was going. She scrambled on top of the box of food. It was the highest point she could see.

Luca lunged for his shelter and Avery frowned. Did he think that rickety shack would save him? He emerged a second later carrying the huge stick. It was the same one he'd carried in the jungle when they searched for Gabby and Katelyn.

David came from the trees a moment later, and he carried a stick, too.

They worked together at bashing the snakes.

Tasha, Mallory, and Brittany huddled together, crying. Two snakes coiled a few feet from them, hissing but not attacking.

Benny had passed out a few feet into the desert.

Avery glanced out further and gasped.

Gabby and Katelyn had made it away and bolted for the van.

The van! They needed to make it there for protection.

She waved her arms, trying to get Luca's attention, but he was too busy beheading the snakes. It almost looked like he was enjoying it.

And then the most disturbing part of all; Erin sat on her log, same as before. She stared straight ahead, not watching the chaos around her, and no snakes bothered her.

Chills raced up Avery's arm and made her shiver, chills that had nothing to do with the cold night air.

“Is that all of them?” Luca called out. He held his stick like some kind of ninja warrior, his eyes scanning the ground.

“I don't see anymore,” David said.

Luca loosened up and dropped his stick. “Let's make sure everyone is OK.”

Climbing off that box was the hardest thing Avery had ever done. She put one foot down, then the other, almost like the disturbance in the sand would alert the snakes and they'd come slithering back into camp.

Dead snakes lay scattered around the sand and she shivered again. So many all at once? That couldn't be normal. Then again, what about this place was normal?

“Gabby and Katelyn made it to the van,” she managed to call out.

Everyone else seemed unharmed, but Benny still hadn't woken up from his fainting spell.

She turned to scan the others and gasped.

“June!” Avery slid in the sand as she made her way over. “June, are you OK?”

June lay in the sand, as if she'd fallen off her log.

Luca raced toward them and bent down to examine June. “Was she bitten?”

Avery's hands moved over June's body, searching for any sign of a bite. She rolled June's left leg and her stomach dropped. Two perfect dots of blood marked her calf.

“What do we do?” she asked. Panic erupted. “What do we do?”

Luca shook his head and gulped. “I don't know.”

Avery glanced around like an answer would be floating in the night sky. Her gaze landed on the van and her heart soared. “The medical supplies! We have to open the box of supplies.”

Luca frowned but stood, taking June in his arms. “Let's go.”

“June's been bitten,” she called out. “We're going to the van.”

The others fell in line behind them, even Erin.

Avery guessed no one wanted to sleep near a snake-infested jungle. Avery reached the van before Luca.

Gabby and Katelyn sat inside, breathing hard.

Katelyn held her inhaler to her lips, taking a deep drag.

Avery didn't speak to them. She tore her fingernails trying to rip into the box of medical supplies. “Do you think we brought any anti-venom?” she called out. “I don't know what that looks like.”

Benny jogged over and dug through the box. He had a knot on his head, but he seemed otherwise unharmed from his fainting spell. He pulled out a small container and handed it to her, then dug around some more until he found syringes.

She stared in shock.

Benny blushed and shrugged. “I watch a lot of TV.”

She managed a smile just as Luca arrived with a lifeless June in his arms.

“Lay her in the van,” Avery said.

Luca obeyed as Avery filled the syringe with whatever was in the vial. It was cold, and she realized it had been surrounded by ice packs. She stared at the needle and licked her lips. Needles didn't bother her, but she'd never given someone a shot before.

“Put it in a vein,” Benny instructed. “In the bloodstream.”

Avery took a deep, steadying breath and obeyed without question, plunging the needle into her thigh. June didn't move or even groan, but there was nothing else they could do.

Everyone piled into the van, huffing and puffing. They'd all just run a mile.

Avery's whole body ached. “What do we do now?” she asked.

Benny leaned forward excitedly. “Now we wait. She may have an allergic reaction. We'll have to wait and see.”

“Will she wake up?”

Benny shrugged. “That's the waiting part.”

Tasha burst into fresh tears and Avery swallowed hard. Things kept getting worse and worse, instead of better. When was Rae's help going to kick in?

She glanced at Luca, but he only had eyes for June. His nostrils flared and he stared at her, his arms crossed across his chest.

Avery looked back to June. She was one of the nicest people Avery had ever met.

This anti venom had to work. It had to. And when June woke up Avery was going to make sure she got to know her better. She would find out why she'd come on this trip, what her hopes and dreams were, and what she liked to do for fun back home. June had been a good friend to her, and it was time to repay the favor.

Everyone slept in the van that night.

June took up an entire seat, but without Bradley and his crew, there was still enough room.

Luca slept up front with Sam, like he'd been doing all along.

Avery overheard their conversation about the impossibility that they were actually attacked by snakes.

Sam claimed he'd never seen snakes like that.

Avery sat directly behind June's head. She propped her temple against the window so she could keep an eye on June's breathing, but keeping herself awake was nearly impossible. Her eyes drifted closed a few different times, and finally she wasn't able to jerk herself awake. Dreams played through her mind, one after another. She saw Mom. Rae. Snakes. Daddy. A hospital.

Everything swirled together in one chaotic dream, and when she woke up the next morning, her head ached and her muscles pinched. Taking a deep breath, she sat up and checked on June.

June slept peacefully, her breathing steady and sure.

Avery smiled in relief.
Thank you, God!
At least something had gone right.

The others began to stir.

A few minutes later, June woke up too. Her bright blue eyes shone in the morning light.

Everyone crowded around her as best they could in the small van.

She smiled and assured them she felt OK.

But something bothered Avery, something she was afraid to tell anyone.

June's eyes were supposed to be green.

17

Luca

The campsite at the tree line looked undisturbed since running away the night before. The dead snakes had shriveled some, and he quickly tossed the corpses into the jungle before picking up a few other things that had been knocked over, and relighting the fire. The others wouldn't want to sleep here tonight. He couldn't blame them, but the choices were pretty slim unless they could manage to put the van in neutral and push it back to the camp.

Now for the hard part. He glanced at the trees and took a deep breath. Raising his stick, he moved toward the bushes and branches nearest the camp. He rattled his stick through the brush, hoping to scare out anything they didn't want hanging around their camp. When nothing came slithering out, a pent-up sigh escaped his lips. He turned toward the van and waved the stick over his head.

David stood at the hood of the van in the distance and he waved back.

The line of kids from the van started toward him.

It would be a while before they got there, so he pulled food from the box and started cooking it over the fire. He sat on a log and watched them move his way.

What were they doing here? Would they ever get home? There didn't seem to be any hope in sight.

Luca kicked at the sand and sighed. If there were a good way out of here, he didn't know what it was.

Rae—whatever he was—didn't seem to have a clear plan to help them. He may live here, but he didn't seem all that smart about the area. And by the way he watched Avery, it was almost as if he didn't want to help them leave.

That bugged Luca. A lot. Luca forced himself to relax when he realized he was clenching his teeth.

The group inched toward him.

Even June limped along with the others. She really did seem OK.

He'd never seen anyone with a snake bite, so he hadn't been sure what to expect. It looked like everything worked out OK—except for the fact they'd been attacked by strange snakes.

Maybe Rae would have an answer for that.

By the time everyone arrived, the food Luca had set over the fire was ready. They gathered around the fire and pulled out the water, fruit, and noodles he had cooked. The talk was mostly non-existent. Everyone looked around them continuously, glancing at the branches and listening hard.

They were anxious. Anxious about snakes. About rescue.

About non-rescue.

When they'd finally finished eating, and everyone had almost-relaxed, Luca moved to sit by June. “How are you feeling?”

She leaned close and smiled. “I'm OK. My leg's a little sore, but if that's the worst of my problems I guess it's not too bad.”

“Good point. Take it easy today, though, OK? We don't know how that anti venom stuff works.”

“I'll do whatever you say, oh fearless leader.” She grabbed his forearm and smiled again.

Luca forced out a smile and pulled his arm away. She must be loopy from whatever Benny had given her. “I'm going to check on the others.”

He slipped away and moved toward the rest of the group. Erin seemed lucid this morning. That wasn't necessarily a good thing. She acted resolved to seeing strange dark creatures. Used to it.

No one should have to get used to that.

Avery talked with Benny about who knew what, and some of the other girls huddled together in the girls' shelter.

Luca headed for the other guys. “What do you think about trying to push the van back?”

Sam's eyebrows rose and David frowned.

“You would like us to push it for over a mile?” Sam asked.

“I know it's a lot of work, but no one is going to want to trek back and forth every morning and night.”

“Wait,” David said. “How much longer do you think we're going to be here?”

Luca shook his head. “I wish I could answer that, but I can't. None of us know where we are, and so far it doesn't look like anyone is looking for us.”

David's frown deepened and he shifted in the sand. “Do you really think we can push it that far?”

Sam nodded. “It is possible, though many things may go wrong.”

Luca looked to Sam, thankful for his stamp of approval. Having Mom thankful for his help was one thing—but she was his mom. She had to be thankful. Sam was different. Having approval from him meant that maybe Luca was doing OK after all.

Glancing around, he calculated who else could help. Benny might do some good, and Avery always jumped in with both feet.

“OK,” he said. “It may take us half the morning, so let's get started.” He quickly rounded up Avery then Benny—who complained about making the back and forth trip for a second time that morning—and they turned to head toward the van.

Something moved in the distance.

Luca frowned. He held out his arm. “Wait. Do you guys see that?”

The others squinted toward the rising sun and open desert. At first no one said anything, but then someone gasped.

“Is that Bradley?” Tasha said from behind them. “It's Bradley, and he brought a rescue group!”

The other girls ran forward, squealing and shouting their excitement. The feeling was contagious and Benny whooped while David and June grinned.

Tasha started crying—again—blubbering about being saved and getting home.

Luca watched the approaching group with restrained excitement. Bradley had definitely found someone, but something felt off. He glanced at Avery.

She frowned. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

He looked back to the group and nodded. “They're all walking. If they were here to rescue us, wouldn't they have a van?”

“Exactly. He found someone, but it looks like he found someone else who was lost.”

Defeat wrapped around him like the hot water in his shower back home. He hated to break it to everyone. They were going to be devastated when Bradley's large group made it to them.

And it was a large group. It looked almost as big as their own group.

That's when he realized who was coming.

Avery made the connection at the same moment and she gasped. “Daddy!”

He tried to keep her back—she'd collapse from heat stroke if she ran that far—but she was too fast. She slipped and slid through the sand as she made her way toward them. If she was going then Luca guessed he was too. Avery's dad had some questions to answer, and he probably had a few questions to ask of his own.