Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

I have no choice. If I have to, I’ll go alone. I’ve been
     to this particular mountain several times and I can find my way if need be.” She was
     no longer surprised that it was the truth. She glanced up at the swirling clouds.
     “Night is falling fast. We have about an hour, and we’re going to have to hurry through
     some very dense jungle.”
    Gary and Jubal exchanged a long, knowing look. Riley wasn’t going to ask. They knew,
     just as she did, that whatever evil was trapped in the mountain would get out if she
     didn’t stop it. They accepted the truth, just as she did. If they had prior knowledge
     and weren’t saying, she didn’t care. She was going up that mountain and nothing was
     going to stop her.
    “Weston and Shelton want to turn back as well,” Ben said.
    “The porters don’t want to go, either,” Weston defended, a little belligerently. “A
     couple of them may have bailed on us already. Two didn’t come back after burying the
     other one.”
    “The ground is shaking constantly.” Mack pointed out the obvious. “There’s no doubt
     an explosion is imminent. We have to get as far from that mountain as possible.”
    Riley nodded. “I’m in complete agreement. You all should head out of here as fast
     as possible. I have no choice. I’m heading up the mountain.” She pushed past Gary,
     strength and determination pouring into her. “I’m leaving now. I don’t have time to
     argue with everyone.”
    Miguel let his breath out. “I’ll take you. My brothers can take the others back.”
    Both of his brothers shook their heads in protest.
    Miguel swept his hand toward Annabel’s resting place. “I failed her. I will not fail
     her daughter.”
    Jubal lifted his pack and swung it onto his back. “I’ll go with you.”
    Gary silently donned his pack as well. Ben Charger did the same.
    Weston swore under his breath and not only caught up his backpack, but reached down
     and took Riley’s as well. “I’ll carry this for a little while.”
    Shelton shook his head. “Are you crazy? Damn it, Don, we’re going to get killed if
     that mountain blows. We need to hightail it out of here as fast as we can in the opposite
     direction.”
    Don shrugged. “Let’s just get it done, and then we can run like hell.”
    “Pick up the pace, Miguel,” Jubal ordered. “We want to make the base of the mountain
     before nightfall if possible.”
    Miguel lifted a hand toward his brothers and set off without another word. The professor
     and his two students remained with the other two guides and two of the porters, who
     argued heatedly among themselves. At the last moment, Hector caught up a pack of supplies
     and hurried after Miguel, leaving his cousin shaking his head. Weston and Shelton
     followed the porter and guide.
    Jubal fell in behind them, nodding toward the archaeologist and his students.
    Riley caught up her mother’s pack and eased it over her shoulders. She hadn’t realized
     how battered and bruised her body was from the monkeys’ knocking her around. She followed
     Jubal.
    “Good luck,” Gary called to the others as he paced behind Riley, clearly prepared
     to protect her.
    Riley didn’t look back. The sense of urgency grew in her even as she realized everything
     around her had changed. Her focus. Her awareness. Her feet seemed to find the right
     path of their own volition, avoiding every hazard. The forest breathed for her, providing
     oxygen to enhance her ability to move quickly through the narrow trails. She knew
     before she rounded a turn just what was ahead. She felt the forest living in her,
     whispering comfort, sharing information, advising her.
    The pace was fast as the ground tremors increased in frequency and strength and night
     began to descend. Still, there was a calm and rhythm to the group that had never been
     before. Riley felt as if she was a part of each of the travelers as they made their
     way through the tangled jungle.
    Behind her in the rear position, she felt Gary, calm and steady, watchful, always
     alert, ready for anything, just as Jubal, ahead of her, appeared to be. Ben Charger
     moved well in the forest, his strides sure and his manner confident. Don and Mack
     were far less so, both nervous and fighting the rugged terrain, although both tried.
     They were just out of their element.
    Miguel, however, familiar with the way and danger of the entire area, radiated fear.
     Each vine, every branch, the brush blocking their trail was