Chapter Thirteen
Pueblo
They had been walking for hours. Shortly after they'd set off the first time, William regained his senses and drew them a map. This was their second day following William, who'd awakened with his memory back, but the labs were nowhere in sight.
Discouraged and tired, the group was silent, William included. He hadn't said a word and showed no signs of recognizing neither Kyle nor Angie. He hadn't actually exchanged a word with Kyle since their last conversation about Kay when William had called Kyle a 'dreadful boy whom Kay was not supposed to be seeing'.
As the sun set, Sam checked his map to make sure William wasn't going rampant through the woods, but to his surprise, he kept to the route. But then, why hadn't they reached the labs?
"What's going on? We should've been there by now." Kyle pushed past Sam and caught up with William. "I don't want to find we've been following the idiot William around all day, because I'll get really pissed off, and we'd be in a lot of shit."
"Kyle, watch your mouth," Jerry said, but sounded too tired to really care.
"Oh, give me a break, Jerry! The sun is setting and we're nowhere near the labs," Kyle replied exasperated.
Sam hurried to catch up to William and walked beside him. "William, you said we'll be there in half a day. It's nearly nightfall and we're still not there."
William turned to him and his eyes widened in surprise. "Where you being? I looking for you everywhere!"
Sam stopped, his breath hitching, his heart pounding in his throat. No, this couldn't be.
"We were right behind you all along. What the hell are you on about?" Kyle burst furiously from behind him.
Sam swallowed, trying to fight the panic. "Don't frighten him, Kyle. Maybe he's been leading us the right way unconsciously. He's right on the route." He pulled out the map and showed it to Kyle.
Kyle threw it an uninterested glance, then frowned and snatched it out of Sam's hands. "This route has been tempered with. It's not the one you and William drew. It's been erased, and this is another route that is supposed to lead us...where?" Kyle said handing the map back to Sam.
"We're almost out of the forest," Jimmy said studying the area through his binoculars. "And I see lights high on the canyon wall."
"That's pretty weird," Jerry said. "But at least we know where we are."
"Yeah, a lot of good that does." Sam huffed and fought the need to strangle something, blame someone for this. "We've lost a couple of days with this detour."
"Who did this and what was the point?" Jerry asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Delay us. Lead us into a trap," Jimmy said calmly.
Sam turned to him, ready to argue that his suppositions were stupid, but stopped. A dark man with long hair had a shotgun pointed at Jimmy's head. More men, all of them carrying weapons, were coming out of the bushes and surrounded the group.
They weren't Snitch Gravel's men, that much was obvious. All of them looked like Natives, from their long black hair to their weatherworn faces. The captors didn't speak, just nodded in the direction of the lights, and the group complied.
They walked for what seemed like a half an hour until they reached the canyon wall. Once there, they climbed up a rickety wooden ladder to a rock platform filled with stone houses. The men nudged them forward towards one of the houses which had bars at the windows. No other soul stirred outside.
The stone house was dark and empty. One of their captors lit an oil lantern and the men cleared out and locked the door behind them. For a few moments, the group stood in silence. Sam was still trying to wrap his head around how they got captured so easily.
"This is weird," Jim finally said. "The natives here are peaceful. Why would they capture us?"
"With Snitch Gravel out there, things might've changed. Maybe they thought we were a threat," Jerry said sitting on the stone floor.
"Jerry does have a point." Sam sat too, followed by the rest of the group except for Kyle who remained standing. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll feed us. We can save some food and water that way."
"This is stupid," Kyle mumbled. "I'm fed up with being captured."
Sam had to agree. It seemed that everything that could go wrong had gone wrong during this mission. Last time, everything worked out, they managed the impossible, while now they seemed to have trouble with the simplest things. The forest was much smaller than the jungle. Yet, they'd found not one, but two ancient temples while here, they couldn't find a huge lab complex. Not to mention traitors and getting captured all the time. They hadn't even rescued the agent because Angie busted out on her own.
The door opened and a young girl walked in, holding a pot full of food. She froze seeing Kyle on his feet, so close to the door. For a few seconds, her eyes raked over him and a small crease formed between her thick black eyebrows. Kyle tilted his head, a questioning look on his face.
"I came to bring you some food." She jerked her face in Sam's direction and dropped the pot on the floor sending fruit rolling in all directions.
"Could you bring us some water, too?" Angie asked.
The girl studied her, the frown on her face deepening. Her eyes shot towards Kyle again for a fraction of a second, then she nodded curtly at Angie. "Alright." She strode to the door.
Tom and Billy scurried to their feet and followed her, but as soon as she slipped out the door, it slammed shut and they could hear a heavy lock being shut.
"Do you think we'll get another shot when she comes back?" Billy asked matter-of-factly backing away from the door.
"Nah, the door is probably guarded," Tom said, waving Billy away and headed back towards Jimmy and Jerry.
"I think I know how to get out," Angie said all of a sudden, drawing all eyes to her.
"A crappy solution, but the only one I see," Jimmy said, shaking his head. "We've already lost enough time."
Sam frowned, a little irked that someone else could see a way out when he couldn't. Jimmy and Angie both turned to Kyle. What, did they expect him to bust the door down?
"Why are you looking at me?" Kyle asked.
"Okay, you're going to hate this, but that girl might be our only way out of here," Jimmy said carefully.
"Okay..." Kyle's eyes narrowed dangerously as though daring Jimmy to go on.
"She seemed to like you..." Jimmy bit his lip, his tone hesitant.
"Oh, so you decided to use me as a piece of meat." Kyle laughed shortly. "No." He turned his back on Jimmy.
"It's a valid idea," Angie said desperately. "She might be willing to let you out with a little persuasion and then you could break us out."
"A little persuasion." Kyle cocked his head at Angie. "You're asking me to persuade a girl. Cheat on Kay, who's your best friend?"
"Honestly, do you think Kay would prefer you dead or cheating on her?" Sam asked.
"Dead, thank you very much."
"Oh, come on!" Jimmy said losing his patience. "Kyle, this has nothing to do with cheating. All you have to do is be nice to her and try to convince her to let us out."
"Yes, and maybe in a couple of weeks she'll like me enough as a friend to help." Kyle rolled his eyes, but didn't get to argue any further because the girl came back in with a pot full of water.
Her eyes rested on Kyle as she advanced through the room and put the pot in front of Angie. Kyle watched her thoughtfully for a few moments, then headed towards her. The girl pulled back a little, but held her ground.
Kyle stopped in front of her, smiled weakly and nodded toward the door. Still frowning, the girl followed him to the entrance. Sam watched, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was strange to see Kyle turning on his charm, but as soon as they'd reached the door, heat seemed to radiate from him.
The two started whispering to each other, and once the girl finally smiled, Sam was sure Kyle had managed the impossible. She pushed his chest jokingly.
"I don't believe you," she said, but her playful tone implied otherwise.
Kyle let out a laugh that sounded so unlike him, it was scary. He seemed so ditzy and... love struck. So much for his no-cheating-on-Kay policy. "I'll prove it to you." He took her hand and glanced inside the room, seeming worried. "A little crowded in here."
"Come on." She opened the door and pulled him out.
As soon as the girl turned her back on him, Kyle seemed to turn back into his normal self and mouthed an 'I'll kill you!' to Jimmy and Angie. The door closed behind him.