The moment the door closed, Jerry wished Kyle would come back in. Without him, it felt like an unearthly chill had filled the room, as if everyone was about to snap and go instantly crazy. He'd never thought he'd come to depend so much on Kyle for keeping the peace in the group, but after he's stopped Sam and Tom from fighting, Jerry needed Kyle around.
Just as well, as soon as the lock clicked shut, Sam walked to the middle of the room and looked at everyone, his hands on his hips, a nasty scowl on his face.
"You know, I find it pretty strange that someone managed to modify the map and lead us here," he said pointedly.
Jimmy narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What exactly are you implying?"
Jerry's heart skipped a beat and he looked to the door desperately. He had no idea what was going on. It had been three days since they'd stopped drinking contaminated water, but things hadn't improved. For the first few hours, he'd felt normal. Then the strangeness came and went as if he was suffering from withdrawal. He supposed it was the same with everyone else.
Only that Sam seemed worse than before and Jerry didn't even want to know what the water did to the others, not after Jimmy almost choked Jim.
"Hey, someone modified that map, that much is clear," Sam said.
"Are you insinuating that one of us entered your tent and modified the route?" Jerry asked, trying to snuff the discussion in the bud. "Why would any of us do such a thing?"
"I don't know. By mistake, to have a laugh... revenge," Sam said, looking at each of them suspiciously, his eyes stopping on Tom.
"None of us have modified the route. No one knew the area to lead us here," Jimmy said, talking sense.
"There are some of us who do know the area," Sam continued, his eyes resting on Angie now.
"Watch your mouth," Tom snapped. "Angie would never do something like that."
"I didn't suspect Angie for one second. It's you I'm more worried about."
Oh, no. Jerry wrung his hands, thinking feverishly for something to say to end the conversation.
Tom raised his eyebrows. "Me?"
"Angie probably told you what was around, and no one saw anyone except me entering my tent..." Sam pressed on.
"And why would I do something like that?" Tom asked seeming mildly interested by Sam's theory.
"I don't know, to make me look bad, probably."
"Get over yourself, you idiot," Tom said disgusted, turning away from Sam and walking towards Billy.
"Stop it!" Jimmy snapped once Sam opened his mouth to speak. "None of us modified your route."
"Then who did?" Sam demanded furiously.
"I don't care, we'll eventually find out, but stop blaming us," Jerry said. "And stop picking on Tom."
Silence filled the room after that. Sam moved to one of the walls and sat down leaning his back against it, still looking at all of the suspiciously. Tom and Billy started whispering while Jimmy moved next to Jerry and stared at the ceiling. Only Angie remained standing next to the window, peeking outside, probably trying to spot Kyle. Jerry felt a mad desire to join her.
"What do you think really happened with the map?" Jimmy whispered.
Jerry shrugged. "I don't know, but I wish Sam and Tom would stop fighting."
"They'd better, or I'm gonna whack Sam over the head," Jimmy mumbled. "Sam should consider that he didn't draw it right."
Jerry thought it was unlikely since Sam was great with maps, but he didn't want to get into a fight with Jimmy. He focused instead on Angie who stood hugging herself. Tom got up and took a few steps towards her, then turned back to Billy. Then back to Angie, then back to Billy as if he couldn't make up his mind.
Billy hissed something at him and Tom finally moved next to Angie. Jerry looked away from them, wanting to give them privacy. As much as he hated public display of affection and found it incredibly inappropriate, he was glad the two were talking. He didn't like the chill between them.
"It's always you, isn't it? You, you, you!" Angie suddenly said, fiercely. "You first and the rest of the world afterwards."
"Hey, you started this," Tom snapped back. "You're the one who pushed me back."
"No, you've decided to keep your distance. I wanted to make it up to you. But instead, you stopped talking to me."
"No, I haven't. We're talking now, aren't we?"
"More like screaming," Jerry said weakly.
"You're just pissed that I didn't kiss you back," Angie replied and Tom looked like she'd kicked him below the belt.
For a few moments no one said anything, then Tom turned and walked away from her. "We're done here."
"Oh, so mature, walking away." She stomped after him, but stopped once he whipped around to face her, a furious snarl on his face.
"I don't care if it's mature or not, I just want to get away from you. I've been worried all this time, worried I did something wrong. Okay, maybe my timing wasn't perfect, maybe we're all affected by that crappy water we've been drinking, but I never ever dreamed you'd just stand there like a rock if I kissed you. But you did and I got the obvious message. So I stayed away because I didn't want to mess up anymore, I wanted to do the right thing, even if I hated it."
Angie opened her moth to argue, but Tom raised his hand to stop her.
"There's no pleasing you, is there?" he continued. "I've been racking my brain, trying to understand what I've done wrong, if I hurt you in some way. But I now realize that you never do that. You just do what you want, when it suits you, me and everyone else be damned. And then you have the nerve to come and say I'm selfish." He turned away from Angie, his fists clenched.
Sam pushed off his wall and strode to Tom. "You idiot. You're the one hurting her. You just can't stop, can you?"
Tom turned to Sam. He seemed to look at Angie who was crying silently behind Sam and tilted his head. Then his fist shot back and collided with Sam's face. Sam groaned and fell to the floor.
Jimmy and Jerry immediately jumped to their feet and hurried towards them. Before they managed to reach them, Sam scrambled to his feet only to be floored by another punch from Tom. Jimmy grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back. Jerry helped Sam up, but held on to his forearm in case he wanted to hit Tom back.
"Stop fighting, you two! What's wrong with you?" Jimmy said holding on to a struggling Tom.
Sam jerked his hand out of Jerry's grasp, stepped back and kicked Tom in the jaw. Tom toppled over Jimmy and both of them fell to the floor.
"Sam, stop," Jerry said desperately, but didn't dare grab him again. "This isn't like you."
Sam thoroughly ignored him and charged at Tom. Tom got to his knees and tackled Sam to the floor. They wrestled around, each trying to get on top of the other. Jimmy scrambled to his feet and headed for them, but Angie was faster.
She charged at the two, grabbed Tom's shoulders, and pulled him off Sam and to the floor. Tom looked at Angie confused. Sam got to his feet and kicked Tom in the ribs. Tom rolled over, his arms around his torso, moaning in pain. Sam got another good kick in.
Jimmy finally reached them just in time to block a third hit he'd aimed at Tom.
"Stop it. Now!" Jerry yelled, trying to make his voice as authoritive as possible, but no one listened.
Tom scrambled to his feet and charged at Sam, but Angie got in his way and kicked him in the chest. Tom flew back, rammed against the wall and slid to the floor.
Billy grabbed Angie's arms and twisted them behind her back and Jimmy caught Sam in a full nelson, and it finally seemed to be over. On the floor, Tom didn't stir.
"Tom, are you all right?" Jerry rushed to him followed by Jim.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled pushing himself in a sitting position.
He looked at Sam and Angie with an expression hard to read. They were both still panting and looking at him malevolently. Tom turned away from them and accepted the pot of water Jerry pushed towards him.
The lock clicked. Kyle slipped through the door and shut it quietly. He opened his mouth to say something, probably tell them how it went, but froze. His narrowed eyes traveled from Tom's bloody lip, to the purple lump growing beneath Sam's eye, to Jimmy who was rubbing his forearms, and an annoyed frown darkened his face.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop below freezing level. Jerry cowered and couldn't help stepping back. He'd seen Kyle angry before, especially at him, but his brother had never looked so scary.
"What happened?" he asked in a low, threatening voice.
"Nothing happened," Jerry said quickly, but Kyle raised one hand to stop him.
"Let me guess. The two idiots had another go at each other, and you were unable to stop them."
The only answer he received was the mouthful of blood Tom spat on the ground. Kyle narrowed his eyes, looking even scarier if possible.
"No..." Jerry said weakly.
"Stop trying to protect us, Jerry," Tom cut him off. "I'm grateful, but we don't deserve it. I admit, I started it this time. I punched Sam first, so maybe I deserved them beating me up."
"Them?" Kyle asked glaring at Sam and then at Angie. With a snarl, he turned away. "Did any of you take the time to think what the toxic water did to us? Because I think I know. It brings out the worst in us, the parts we try most to hide and control. Do you want to know what I usually keep under control?"
Jerry shook his head because he really didn't want to know.
"I think we get the picture," Billy whispered, and fortunately Kyle didn't continue.
He only threw Billy a fleeting look and turned back to Sam and Tom. "We'll continue this conversation when I've calmed down, or I might really hurt you."
"Tell us about the girl then," Jim said.
Kyle heaved a deep sigh and the threatening aura around him disappeared. "The girl, Calla, is the chief's daughter. He had no idea we were here, since those men who captured us were paid by a third party to do so."
"A third party?" Jimmy asked, frowning. "Didn't they say who?"
"Some white men. They're still being questioned. The good news is that they're gonna let us out."
"How did you convince her to take you out so fast?" Angie asked curiously.
Kyle looked at her for a few seconds as if considering if she was worth talking to. "I lied my ass off. Thanks, by the way, for the huge burden of guilt on my shoulders."
"You shouldn't feel guilty. You haven't done anything wrong," Jerry said.
"Yes, I did. A lot of things," Kyle mumbled.
"Stop being so pathetic about it. God, it's not like you secretly married the girl," Sam said, rolling his eyes.
Complete, almost palpable silence filled the room.
"You know what, Sam? That bruise looks good on you. Want another one on the other side, just for the sake of symmetry?" Kyle replied and his eyes flashed.
Sam pulled back. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me..."
"When are we getting out of here?" Jim asked, drawing all eyes to him.
"Oh, we're waiting for an escort right now," Kyle answered matter-of-factly, picking up his rucksack.
As soon as he finished the sentence, three men entered the room and motioned for them to follow. Grateful to finally be out, Jerry equipped his rucksack and followed the others out. Their escort led them back to the edge of the forest, nodded their heads and headed back. The group walked quietly for a while, Kyle in the lead and Jimmy in the back after which Kyle stopped and turned to Sam.
"Why don't you and Tom make up? You're both dumb enough without your egos. This is no time to be fighting."
"No," Sam simply answered and took the lead. "Let's move out. If we're lucky, we'll reach the labs by tomorrow morning."
Hello everyone!
As of now, I decided to have author notes.
I know this chapter is a little freaky, so I'm really curious what you think about it? How you feel about the crazy characters at this point and especially if anyone has any clue about what Kyle si holding back.
Thanks so much for reading and I'd love it if you could grace me with a vote and/or comment.