Page 31 of Last Destination

“Cabrón, you are worth more alive than dead.” Madman actually rolled his eyes to the cloudless sky, and I’d have laughed at the sight if it wasn’t so terrifying. “To them, not to me. We will not risk you getting caught at the expense of all of us. Now get up.” He kicked Jamie in the shin, though there was no weight behind it, before turning to Ambrose.

“Hide your watch. You will be murdered in minutes.”

Ambrose hastily released the bangle clip and shoved it into his pocket. Madman released a satisfied hum before his attention fixed on me. He strode forward with the quiet confidence of an army general and cupped my cheeks with large, calloused palms.

“There is fear in your eyes, ángel. I need you to believe this is possible before we set forward.”

In the last ten minutes, Madman had spoken more words than he had the entire week. It was admittedly nice to have someone else take the reins of leadership and know what to do with them, but he made me feel seen in a way that was much easier to hide when I was responsible for everyone else’s problems.

The calculating coldness of his usual stare was absent, though, replaced with the warmer blue of a tropical sea. His thumbs stroked along the length of my cheekbones as he patiently waited for me to respond. My eyes fluttered closed for the briefest moment, pretending we weren’t about to walk into the most dangerous part of this journey.

“Remove your necklace and your watch as well, ángel. Tuck them into your pocket.”

Fear choked me from responding. My hand reached for my throat, clutching the small, warm metal of my compass with a death grip. I had never removed the necklace, not once since I was sixteen.

It’s okay, Marl. You can put it back on. Charlie’s smile was sad as she replaced Madman’s grip on my cheeks. Remember, I am always with you.

With trembling fingers, I unlocked the clasp, looped it around my watch for safekeeping, and shoved the two items into my pocket.

It’s only for a few days, Marley. You can do this.

I swallowed the boulder in my throat and shoved the painful memories into my pocket alongside them. We had to get moving.

We’d already divided up our — Ambrose’s — money, our dead tech, and taken our individual IDs, planning to remain together, but prepared for the worst if we were separated. It was the fear of the worst that I couldn’t get out of my nervous system.

I knew how to survive in the wilderness, though I’d barely managed that here in the Darién. If we got separated, I wasn’t convinced I’d have another round of “survive the jungle” in me.

I wasn’t convinced I wanted to.

“I am scared,” I admitted, closing my hands over the intricate tattoos on his. “I’ve never done anything like this, Madman. This is fucking terrifying.”

He tilted my head forward and leaned in. The warmth of his lips brushed my forehead in a soft promise before I could manage a blink.

“You are mine, ángel. I protect what is mine.”

As if sealing the vow, his lips found mine in a surprisingly slow, agonizingly sweet kiss. I melted into it, channeling my uncertainty about our plan, my fear for their lives, and my appreciation for his strength as I battled with my weakness. He absorbed it all, each tender pass of his tongue easing me further into the security of his hold. How did this man make me feel unbreakable and yet seconds from shattering, all in one touch?

When he pulled away, his gaze hardened to steel once again. He turned on his heel and secured his pack on his shoulders. “It is time to go.”

I joined him at the front, guiding us wordlessly with finger-pointing directions as I followed the compass on my watch, held in my hand to be hidden at a moment’s notice. The brush became less dense as we pushed forward, but with tougher terrain. The air noticeably thinned as we trekked up steep, rocky hills, and stumbled over oblong tree roots.

My ribs burned with every forward motion, and more than once Madman or Ambrose had to grip my hand to help me up. Despite the lack of people, we traveled in near silence, getting used to the premise before we’d really need to. There really wasn’t much to say, each of us too entrenched in our own thoughts and fears to waste the energy thinking them out loud.

Several hours passed, with only rare drink stops or snack breaks. We picked fruit for the day when a tree came into view. When we came upon a small waterfall dripping the clearest water we’d seen in the jungle, we stopped to filter several bottles worth and put them in our packs.

Anxious anticipation rose from my gut into my throat once the sun had crested through the trees, indicating the waning daylight. Sunset would be in a few hours. I dry-swallowed the last ibuprofen from our stash and sent a prayer to the universe it would kick in before I had to put on my D-list acting attempt at an Academy award.

I heard them before I could see them. A few hundred feet away, the lumbering crack, snap, and crash of a thousand human beings trudging through the jungle in one single file line was far more terrifying than the jaguar or anaconda. I stopped short, ogling the parade of beings that didn’t belong amidst the green landscape, their presence chilling even in the muggy air.

Human beings were among the least stealthy of all creatures and without our gear, the least equipped for survival. We’d evolved past sharp claws and teeth, our hearing and sight were far inferior, and our complete lack of awareness of our surroundings, in most cases, made us easy prey. But what we lacked in natural ability, we made up for in volume.

We stood at the crest of a descent hidden behind a copse of leafy ferns and observed their movements with open mouths and sinking hearts. It was one thing to know about it, to hear of its atrocities. It was another thing altogether to witness human beings corralled like cattle.

“We will have to break off in pairs,” Madman growled, his voice barely carrying above the shouts from beyond the ridge. “The men with the vests” — he pointed to several men in the distance — “are guides. Avoid eye contact. We will regroup when they stop to set up camp.”

“Tessa, you join Nikki. Ambrose, Marley.” He pointed at Jamie with a single threatening finger. “You are with me.”

Jamie backed away, holding his hands palms up, but in no way surrendering. “No way, mate. I’m with Marley. You already said I wasn’t worth anything to you, and I’m not being sacrificed if things go south. The only way I guarantee my protection is with her.”