Eva decided she’d had enough.
‘This sucks. No offence, Rocky.’
She and Devin lowered the stretcher, and Eva promptly collapsed on her back, staring blankly at the thick canopy above.
Devin thankfully sank to the ground alongside her. Her arms felt like pieces of wet string. ‘How far do you think we’ve got to go?’
‘Still not a GPS. Still don’t know.’
‘I’m really sorry,’ said Rocky. He felt stupid, just lying there. It had been extremely uncomfortable being jounced over bumps and dips and rocks, but he hadn’t uttered a word of complaint. That would have seemed ungrateful. Mind you, his leg wasn’t hurting as much as it had. In fact, now he thought about it, the pain had been replaced by that strange cold sensation he’d felt earlier. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or a sign that his nerve endings were dying. He was almost too afraid to look, but he sat up anyway and eased the bandage off his leg.
‘What are you doing?’ Devin said in alarm. ‘Is it hurting?’ She kept her eyes firmly focused on the ground. It was only when she looked at his face that things started going a little bit Kama Sutra.
‘No, not at all. Look.’
His tone was so light-hearted that Devin chanced a quick glance up. The swelling and vivid red streaks had disappeared. The gash had knitted together, her once taut stitches now drooping and superfluous.
‘But … that’s impossible.’ She’d seen his wound less than an hour ago. There was no way on earth …
Eva had a quick look and then fell back again, uninterested. ‘It’s getting better,’ she said, yawning. ‘That’s good.’
Rocky grinned. ‘I thought it’d have to be chopped off or something. But look at it! It’s heaps better. Heaps.’
‘Impossible,’ Devin repeated.
‘Impossible is a zombie. Impossible is a ghost,’ said Eva, lazily. ‘Impossible is …’
A spaceship.
‘So it went and fixed my leg instead of mucking around with my head? How come?’
‘Who cares?’ Eva said. ‘At least you’re not like Idelle, stark naked and dancing the hoochie cooch. Or like us. Mental. Or like Jahmin …’ She broke off as there came a low, buzzing sound – a sound they’d been waiting to hear for what seemed a very long time.
‘A helicopter! They’re here! We’re saved, oh my God. We’re saved.’ Eva flung her arms around Devin and hugged her tight, giggling with happiness. ‘No more eel. Oh, thank God.’
‘We should head into the open,’ Rocky said urgently. ‘They won’t see us under the trees. What if they miss us?’
‘They’d better not!’ Eva said. ‘Quick, we’ll head to the river, wave them down. Rocky, you’ll have to stay put for a bit.’
The buzzing, which had been growing louder and louder, was suddenly replaced by a high-pitched whining that was abruptly cut off by a huge boom. A feathery column of black smoke coiled up over the trees.
‘Crashed?’ cried Eva. ‘It can’t have!’
‘Look,’ said Rocky, ‘here comes another one!’
Above the thick canopy of trees, they caught a glimpse of a sleek black helicopter, emblazoned with the distinctive curling logo of the Seddon Corporation. It was weaving erratically but still on course. They instinctively ducked, leaves and debris whirling about them, and then they heard the motor cut out and try to start up again. Twenty seconds later, they heard a massive splash and then a loud clatter that sounded like hail on galvanised iron.
‘Why do they keep doing that?’ cried Eva.
‘It’s the ship,’ Devin groaned. ‘It’s messing with their heads and probably the engines or something.’
Eva gaped at her. ‘But–’
‘What’s Seddon Corp got to do with it?’ said Rocky, half to himself. ‘Not Search and Rescue. Or the Army. Isn’t that weird?’ He raised his voice. ‘Don’t you think that’s weird?’
Eva was distraught. ‘Who cares? Maybe it’s Jahmin’s dad looking for him or something. We’ve got to go!’
She dragged at Devin’s hand, urging her forward, but Devin pulled back, her head cocked to one side. After the rotary blades and engines and explosions there was just … nothing. No birdsong, no buzzing insects; only the rush of the river, muffled by the trees.
The hair on Devin’s arms stood on end and her skin prickled. Instinctively she drew nearer to Eva. ‘Let’s just wait here for Jahmin,’ she whispered.
‘What’s wrong?’ Eva said, but Devin knew she felt it too.
Something bad.
