Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

07.1|| Childhood Friends

Chapter seven

Childhood friends

Sam couldn't remember ever having a worse night. Not even in the jungle when his sleep was plagued with nightmares about Carlos getting shot. He'd drifted off to sleep fairly quickly, but had awoken a mere hour later, his throat burning with thirst. Five bottles of water later, Sam crawled out of his tent into the flimsy light of dawn, his head hurting to burst and his eyes stinging. He was still thirsty.

Nobody stirred in any of the other tents. Sam filled his bottle again and sat down on the bank to drink it, taking in his surroundings properly. They had set camp at the junction between two arms of the river. The arm they'd navigated lay beyond the canyon wall to his right. To his left, a wide stretch of dessert led to the very distant trees of the forest. They had a lot of walking to do until they reached the forest.

The thought was, for some unknown reason, annoying. He didn't like the idea of walking through open space, but it wasn't just that. The air seemed denser, harder to breathe.

Sam got to his feet and started walking along the riverbank, away from the camp. He tried making lists and schedules to give the mission the easiest flow possible, but his mind couldn't focus. It chose to dwell on other things, like how Tom, Jerry and Jimmy had made decisions for him, how they had undermined him.

A remote part of him felt shocked by these thoughts. They were new and unwelcomed. His brothers were only helping, saving time... making decisions that weren't up to them.

He clutched his head, trying to drive the horrible thoughts back. Why did he feel this way? Only yesterday, he'd felt proud of his team and how he didn't even have to give orders anymore because they already knew what to do. But now... His head felt foggy. It was probably the lack of sleep talking.

You lacked sleep in the jungle too, but you never thought anything like this then, said a truthful voice inside his head. Which unfortunately had a point. Ugh, he couldn't let anyone somehow guess what he was thinking. But, unfortunately, Tom might realize what was going on. Couldn't he have privacy even in his own head?

Annoyance bit into him the further he moved from camp. With a huge effort, he tried to think about something else. Instead, a wave of hate rushed through him, leaving him terrified. He couldn't tell whom this hatred was directed at. Could it be one of his brothers?

Stupid, stupid thoughts! Snitch Gravel knew they were there and he would send a much bigger party after them soon. He had to think about defenses, traps, escape plans... Instead, all he could think about was how to outthink his brothers.

"Stop being such and idiot, Sam!" he said out loud, clutching his head tightly.

The sound of his own voice knocked some sense into him and the traitorous thoughts were gone as if they'd never been there. Sam looked up and froze. Smoke rose in the distance. He'd wasted so much time pondering over nonsense and now that Snitch Gravel was coming to get them, he had no idea what to do.

You idiot, Sam! Smoke didn't mean Snitch Gravel was coming towards them. Only maybe that he'd set camp there. Which was stupid. Snitch Gravel was in the labs.

Prodded by curiosity, Sam hurried towards the smoke. A few minutes later, he caught sight of a small straw hut, its roof on fire. What the...? Sam lingered for a few seconds, until he noticed a shadow moving inside through one of the small, square windows. Without giving it much thought, he charged inside. It was hot and smoke made it hard to see, but he managed to grab the man by the shoulders and pull him out. The man struggled to escape Sam's grip as if he didn't want to leave the furnace, but Sam caught him in a full nelson and pulled him further away.