Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

the monkeys
     had descended. Neither appeared to have a scratch. They’d made it far enough away
     from the battle to evade the onslaught of the primates. They both appeared shaken.
    “What the hell happened here?” Don demanded, surveying his scratched and bloody companions
     as well as the furry bodies on the ground. “I thought monkeys were the least of our
     worries.”
    Miguel turned to look at him over his shoulder. “Monkeys do not attack men.”
    “I got news for you, genius,” Don responded with a shuddering snort. “They just did.
     Do they have rabies?” He actually stepped back away from the others and swept his
     arm across Mack’s body to prevent him from getting any closer to the others.
    Jubal sighed. “They don’t have rabies, Don, but we have to disinfect every single
     scratch before anyone gets an infection. Marty, I need you and Todd to get busy doing
     that. Start with yourselves. The medical kits are in the packs. Once you make certain
     both of you have covered every scratch, use the antibiotics and then split up and
     help the others.”
    Riley heard him from a distance. She even knew what he was doing, taking charge, bolstering
     the two shaken students, giving them something active to do in order to help them
     recover. She couldn’t move a muscle. There was no recovering. She felt numb, beyond
     comprehension. Her mind struggled to understand, and on some level she knew she was
     in shock, but she couldn’t pull herself together.
    She dug her fingers into the soil, the only thing real she could hold on to. Dragging
     two fistfuls out of the earth, she closed her fingers tight around the dirt and just
     let herself cry. Tears ran down her face, obscuring her vision, falling into the soil,
     but she could hear the others coming out of their shock, moving around, doing as Jubal
     instructed.
    Jorge, Fernando and Hector, three of the four remaining porters, all cousins, approached
     Jubal hesitantly from the left side, careful to keep an even pace with the guides
     who were confronting Jubal straight on.
    Ben Charger moved in behind them, deliberately making noise so they were very aware
     of his presence. Across from the porters, closing in on Jubal, was the fourth porter,
     Raul. Gary followed him at an easy pace, but, like Ben, making it known he was right
     behind the porter. He carried his weapon openly.
    Miguel stopped in front of Jubal. “Who is hurt?”
    “Not hurt, dead,” Jubal corrected. “Your porter murdered Annabel. What’s left of her
     is in those bushes over there.” He nodded toward the dense foliage but didn’t take
     his eyes from Miguel or step back.
    Miguel’s gaze followed the direction of Jubal’s nod. He swallowed hard and took a
     step toward the darkened brush. “What about Capa? Where is he?”
    “He’s dead, too,” Jubal answered, his voice grim, a warning inflection in his voice.
     “We were too late to stop him.”
    Silence once again descended, the news clearly shocking everyone. The men looked at
     one another. Miguel nodded and led the way to the bloody brush. His brothers followed
     him silently. The porters skirted around Jubal, who turned to face them all. Ben and
     Gary flanked them from either side, clearly not trusting what their reaction to the
     death of their cousin would be.
    Don and Mack followed a little behind them, craning their necks, trying to see. Riley
     held her breath as the men approached the dense foliage. She didn’t want any of them
     seeing her mother that way. She wanted to scream at them to get away from the body,
     especially the two engineers. She knew the moment they all spotted the body.
    The porters stepped back, backs and shoulders stiffening. They looked from Capa’s
     body to what was left of Annabel. There could be no doubt what had transpired.
    Don leaned over and was sick again and again. Mack gagged and turned away, pressing
     his hand to his mouth. Riley felt the exact moment they both turned their horrified
     gazes on her. She refused to look at them. If she held herself very still, her mind
     wouldn’t fly apart and her shattered heart would remain inside her body. The screams
     in her head would stay there, locked away forever.
    Don stood up slowly, glanced once more into the brush and hastily turned his head
     away. He made his way slowly over to Riley. He stood there for a moment in silence
     before clearing his throat.
    “I’m sorry about your mother, Riley.”
    She couldn’t look