PRECIPICE by Davis Leland

Author:Davis, Leland [Davis, Leland]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Brushy Mountain Publishing
Published: 2013-02-13T23:00:00+00:00

16

Sunday, November 20th

THE TEAM HUSTLED out of the truck and raced into the dawn mist. They had been crammed into one vehicle for the uncomfortable ninety minute drive, and all were relieved to be out and moving. They quickly ferried loads of equipment into cover among the tall stalks of sugar cane on the side of the remote dirt road. Less than two minutes later, Carlos pulled away and disappeared down the road while the team regrouped in the concealment of the nine-foot tall sugar cane plants.

Adrenaline zipped through Chip’s veins, brightening the morning into a palpable hyper-reality. He was excited but also a little bit terrified. Truth be told, this was the part he was most scared of. The low growth between the cane plants made it almost impossible to see where you stepped. On past trips, Chip had seen workers burning the fields before venturing in to harvest the cane by hand with machetes. Although the Mexican government was trying to stop the practice to improve air quality, he knew the workers wouldn’t enter the fields without first burning them for fear of the deadly ‘cuatro narices’—four noses—an extremely venomous pit viper more commonly known by Americans as the fer-de-lance. The team all wore heavy boots for the walk through the field—Chip had warned them of the danger as they planned for the trip. He was careful to examine the ground closely before reaching a hand down to pick up his gear. He also had no idea whether the snakes could climb the sugar cane, and the thought that they might gave him a chill. At least he would be last in line.

The men set out through the cane with their packs, Chip dragging his kayak behind him with one hand and carrying his two-bladed paddle in the other. Ordinarily he carried the kayak on one shoulder to preserve the life of the plastic boat, but the brush here was too thick. He hadn’t paid for the thing anyway, and it only had to last for one more river. He struggled to keep up with the others. The rest of the group held onto the pistol grips of their suppressed Heckler & Koch 416 assault rifles, but Chip was forced to walk with his MP7 slung over his shoulder on a strap since he couldn’t spare a hand for the weapon.

It took them forty-five minutes to travel only a mile through the thick cane, and Chip slumped to a seat on his kayak for a break as soon as they entered the edge of the jungle. Everyone was sweating hard. They all took a few minutes to re-hydrate with water from their bottles and ate a quick snack of energy bars.

After less than ten minutes, they stood and began struggling against the steep slope, pulling themselves up by gripping jungle plants, tree trunks, and vines. In several places it was so steep that the gear and boats had to be hauled up with ropes. Chip was amazed by the elegant economy of the group’s motion.

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