In the dark, Naz and Vin held their breath. They couldn’t see each other, but they felt each other’s fear. The silence below was broken by a snarl that echoed through the hall. Then all hell broke loose.
From the crash and splintering of wood, Vin guessed the apes were taking out their anger on the remains of the furniture. He started to breathe again.
After his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Vin shifted his bag onto his lap and rummaged through the remains of their supplies. He passed Naz a flagon that held tea mixed with moss, herbs, and ginger that had been brewed for them in case of injury. Lulu had told him it would kill off any infection. Vin then pulled out the moss. Breaking a piece off, he tipped a few drops of the tea onto it, making it wet and spongy. Passing it to Naz, he whispered, “Dab this where it hurts most.”
Naz took it from him without a word. Then Vin broke off a chunk of pie and passed it to him. “Now eat,” he said.
He felt Naz’s hand shaking as he tried to take it from him. He’s probably coming out of shock, he thought.
“Rest now. I’ll stand guard,” Vin whispered. As Naz settled himself, Vin thought the wooden beams seemed to scream, ‘Here we are!’ to anyone listening. Vin held his breath again, straining to hear any movement below. The dull sounds of shrieking and screeching came to him, but no ape seemed to return to the hall. Vin sat in the darkness, trying not to move, lost in his own thoughts.
Evening turned into night, and the sounds of destruction faded away, but the noise of Naz’s labored breathing became louder. Vin decided to wake him, just in case.
“Naz, wake up.” Vin shook his shoulder. “You need to wake up now,” Vin whispered.
When Naz groaned, Vin put his paws around Naz’s mouth, holding it shut.
“Shh! You need to be quiet.” Naz nodded his head, and Vin slowly removed his paws.
“How long have I been out?” Naz asked.
“It’s night. You’ve been asleep most of the day. Drink some tea,” Vin whispered, passing across the leather skin holding their precious supply.
The sounds of gulping echoed in the darkness.
“What happened to Carter, and where’s the crystal?” Vin whispered.
There was a long silence. Vin felt the flagon handed to him.
“The last I saw was the alpha ape making grunting noises and pointing at Carter,” Naz said. “Then the apes dragged him off down the mountain. I thought you were dead.”
“I would have been if you hadn’t thrown yourself at the ape. That rock would have cracked my skull wide open. You saved my life,” Vin said. He could hear Naz breathing in the darkness.
“How long’s it been since we were attacked?” Vin asked.
“It must be two days… maybe more… I’m not sure. I lost all sense of time. I didn’t see much point in keeping track of it, just waiting to be eaten.”
“They were gonna eat you?” Vin asked.
“You bet. I could see ’em eyeing me up.”
“Savages! That’s what they are! I never knew they ate people. Do you think they’ll come back and finish what’s left of Duma?” Vin asked.
“I dunno. Hopefully, they’ve already eaten the best parts.”
Vin shook his head to clear that line of thought. “D’you know where they took Carter?”
“Nope. I passed out during the beating they gave me,” Naz said.
“We should go and look for him.”
“We gotta warn The Boss,” Naz said. “Our people need to know the crystal’s been lost.”
“But what about Carter?” Vin asked. “We can’t leave him.”
“We’d only be leaving him if we knew where he was.”
Vin let out a deep sigh.
“Listen, Vin. I thought I was a goner. I thought you were dead, and those apes would soon be gnawing on my bones. I didn’t think I would get out of this mess, so anything now is a bonus.” Naz fell silent.
“What kind of bonus?” Vin asked.
“We need to get word back to our people. They have to prepare. Now that the apes have the crystal, our borders won’t be safe any longer. They’ll invade, kill our families, burn our town. They’ll wipe away any memory of us as a people. Then they’ll turn on the Southerners and do the same.”
“If we look for Carter, we may find that no-good, lying, turncoat, Sonny,” Vin said.
“I know how you feel about that cat!” Vin heard Naz spit. “But we must get word back to The Boss.”
“I won’t be able to live with myself thinking that Carter is going through what they had in store for you.”
“You get some rest, and I’ll stand guard. You need to recover, too,” said Naz.
Vin leaned back against a rafter with his long legs stretched out in front of him. His thoughts were in turmoil, but a sleep of exhaustion eventually overcame him.
When Vin started to snore, Naz shook him awake. After forcing his groggy mind back to reality, Vin tried unsuccessfully to move without making too much noise. Every creak of the timbers sent a shiver down his spine.
Side by side in the dark, Naz said, “That moss is amazing stuff. I feel right as rain already. Pass me some pie, will you, Vin?”
“We should go while it’s quiet,” said Vin. “We can eat later when we’re on the move.”
“Hmm. Okay, I’ll go first,” said Naz.
“But it was my idea! I should go first,” Vin hissed in the dark.
“This is a job for a boss, Vin.”
Vin sat scratching his head, thinking on this. “But that means I’ll have to undo the rope. You promise you’ll catch me when it’s my turn?”
“Sure, I will. Come on, let’s get this done.”
Vin lowered their rope through the hatch, watching as Naz maneuvered himself through the hole in the roof space and climbed down. He dropped the final gap, landing among the broken chairs and pools of blood that covered the hall floor. As the awful smell hit him, so did a leaping ape landing on his back. He felt powerful arms trying to claw his eyes as if the ape was trying to pull his face off.
His training kicked in. Bending forwards at the waist, Naz grabbed the arms of the ape. Then, falling to one knee, he pulled the ape over his head while still holding onto the ape’s arms. He knew the most important thing was silence. He put his enormous foot over the windpipe of the ape and pushed down.
Above him, he heard a whisper. “I’m dropping the rope, Naz, and I’m gonna drop now, so catch me, okay?”
“No, not yet, wait, I’m busy…” Naz hissed.
The crash was followed by a low groan and a moan. “You said you’d catch me… next time I’m going first.”
Naz held the pressure on the ape’s neck until he felt its arms go slack. Then he threw the ape aside in disgust.
“I was being assaulted. Didn’t you hear me say wait?” Naz said.
“There’s no point saying wait while I’m dropping from the ceiling, Naz. You gotta say these things early. I had nowhere else to go except down.”
“Sometimes, Vin, you can be too impulsive. Jumping in without thinking. You okay?”
“A broken leg won’t matter much. I got another one.”
“Really? You broke your leg?” Naz asked.
“Nah, I’m okay, no thanks to you.”
“Okay, next time, you can go first.”
“What’re you doing playing around with that ape for anyway?” Vin asked.
“He jumped me. He was here in the dark. Probably scavenging for bones.”
“You better wash your hands,” Vin said.
“Let’s try and be a bit stealthier. Like, no more banging about on the floor, okay? There may still be others around.”
“But this time, I’m going first.”