Chapter 18 Divine Guidance

The group walked in the rain through the forest. Matt carried Paulo on his back. Jose walked behind him with a gun. In the middle were Fernanda, Stephanie, Diego and Mark. In front were Alejandro and Adrianna. Alejandro had a firm hold on his shotgun whereas Adrianna had her unsheathed katana.

Their legs ached due to the prolonged hours of walking. They heard monkeys swinging from branch to branch in the trees. Mark looked on amused while Diego eyed a monkey with a banana. He rubbed his potbelly and groaned.

"Boss, what time are we eating again?" Diego asked Alejandro in almost a whine.

Alejandro gritted his teeth and shot a glare at him. "We literally just ate two hours ago." he hissed through his teeth.

"I know but I am still hungry. One can of beans can't possibly be enough for me." Diego stressed

"Diego, I fucking swear –" Alejandro started but a sudden cry cut him off.

Everyone turned to see a little naked boy crying all by himself. His wet eyes were closed shut and his mouth was wide open. He had missing teeth in the front. Adrianna spat at her left in disgust and flashed her middle finger at the boy. The group forged on ahead, completely ignoring the boy's cries.

The cries turned faint the further they walked until they could no longer hear them. After what they went through, they just didn't care. The boy stopped crying and looked darkly at their backs. His irises stretched into yellow reptile ones, and he rolled his eyes annoyed.

Fernanda abruptly halted and everyone followed suit. She turned to her right and they did the same. The route turned steep and slippery due to the mud but everyone still obeyed her lead like chicks following a hen. Fernanda came across a bush and spread it apart. She smiled to herself with a satisfied nod.

She turned to look at the tired faces behind her. "There is a boat over there." she told them

Alejandro looked back at her in disbelief, and rushed to see for himself. There was an eerie silence surrounding the boat. Even though it was smaller than the previous one, it was evidently in a better shape. The only odd thing about it was that it appeared to be abandoned. It got the group feeling rather skeptical about it.

"It is safe to get on that boat." Fernanda urged everyone. "We need not waste any time. This rain is only going to get worse and the sun is about to set. Lest unknown predators find us out here."

Matt put Paulo down and left him in the company of Stephanie and Fernanda. He and the rest of the men worked on securing the boat. Matt was second to dive into the river after Alejandro.

They swam swiftly through it. Jose and Diego pointed their guns at the river. They were ready to shoot anything that was going to move suddenly. Adrianna stayed up a tree to keep a lookout with the help of binoculars. She watched on through lenses as Matt and Alejandro climbed their way onto the boat.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Alejandro called out in Portuguese but there was no answer.

Matt stood at the door and motioned his head forward to which Alejandro jumped in with his handgun out. He stealthily looked around. A sofa laid upside down and beside it was a shattered wine bottle. Alejandro raised his face to the bar with broken bottles on the shelves.

He waved his gun down a hall. There was nothing but silence. Alejandro signaled Matt to get in. He motioned him to check what was down the hall and then pointed towards another door leading outside.

Matt quietly made his way in. He hit the switch of his flashlight and positioned his handgun underneath it. Matt came to a door. He sucked in some air and turned the door knob. His light flashed on a duvet lying on the floor.

Pillow feathers and bullet cases were scattered all over the room. What caught Matt’s attention, however, was the huge blood stain on the wall. His eyes landed on a trail of blood leading outside.

Matt got down on his knee and peeped under the bed. There was completely nothing. He got up to follow the blood trail. Matt was so focused on it that a sudden silhouette startled him to the point of raising his gun.

“Don’t shoot,” Alejandro demanded with his hands up.

“Man, I almost shot you.” Matt blurted out.

“Sorry,”

“Have you found anything?” Matt asked,

“Only a trail of blood. I was following it from outside.” Alejandro explained.

Matt nodded, “Same here,” he pointed back, “it started from that cabin over there.”

“What do you think happened here?” Alejandro asked Matt, concerned.

“This is the evil forest after all.”

****

Alejandro sailed the boat towards everyone and when he was close enough, Matt threw the anchor overboard. Mark got down on his knee and locked his fingers together. Fernanda stepped on them and Matt pulled her onto the boat. The same thing continued with Stephanie. Mark and Diego lifted Paulo, and Matt pulled him onto the boat.

Mark got down on his knees once more and Diego stepped on his hands. Matt struggled to pull Diego up. Alejandro ran to his aid. They held their breath and pulled hard only to fall back on their backs with Diego on top of them. Adrianna chuckled softly at the sight from up the tree. Jose was next to get onto the boat with Mark's help.

"Come Adrianna, it’s safe now. Get down from there!" Mark yelled.

Adrianna secured the binoculars and carefully made her way down. She didn't wait to get closer to the ground before jumping off and landing on her feet. She went to Mark who he helped her onto the boat. This time, it was Jose who pulled her up. Alejandro was still scolding Diego when she was finally in.

"All right, I need someone to help me up now." Mark called from below.

Jose put out his hand, "Jump!"

Mark jumped and Jose caught his hand. He, with the help of Adrianna, pulled Mark into the boat. Now that everyone was on board, Matt pulled the anchor back in. Alejandro sailed the boat down the river while everyone searched the boat for supplies.

They searched every drawer and compartments. To their relief, they not only found more food but guns and ammunition too. They weren't as many as the guns they had earlier, but they were better than nothing at that point.

Adrianna made her way to the bedroom cabin. She cringed and covered her mouth at the blood on the wall. Adrianna turned away to the closet. Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden thunder.

One more look at the creepy cabin forced her to unsheathe her katana. With one swing, she cut the doors of the closet open. Her eyes frantically searched if there was anything inside. Adrianna’s heart dropped at the foot sticking out.

"Hello?" she called out but got no response.

Adrianna listened to the sounds of the others and felt a little safe. With one hand, she pulled the clothes aside, and gasped at the bloody sight of a middle-aged brunette woman.

One of her eyes was swollen shut. Her lip had a crack and her hair was wet with her blood from a head wound. Adrianna looked back at the pool of blood and wondered if it was hers.

She poked the woman with her sword, but she didn't respond. Not even a slight shift was seen. Adrianna concluded that she was dead. She pulled out a handbag on a shelf and tossed it onto the bed.

Adrianna poured the contents out of the bag. She smiled at a small black box and picked it up. "Great, I really needed tampons." she said.

Adrianna bent over to check the rest of the contents. The woman behind her silently crawled out of the closet. She had her back curved and her head tilted to the side. With her hands up, she approached Adrianna.

Adrianna admired a pink nail polish and pocketed it. She was about to pick up a spray bottle of perfume when the woman got hold of her shoulder. Adrianna threw her over her shoulder and the woman flew across the bed. She slammed against the wall with a thud. The men burst into the cabin at the sudden noise.

The mysterious woman rolled under the bed. Adrianna picked up her katana and climbed onto the bed. She forced her katana into the mattress, but it missed the woman's head by an inch. Matt and Jose pointed their guns at the bed.

"Please don't hurt me." they heard and Adrianna stabbed the mattress again. The woman screamed louder. "Please, I am begging you don't hurt me." she cried.

"Who are you?" Matt asked her.

"My name is Abigail Howard. I am a tourist. My family is dead. "

Jose roughly pulled her out from underneath the bed and threw her to the ground like she was trash. He flashed his torch in her face and her blue teary eyes were immediately shielded by her hand. The woman trembled in fear, whimpering to herself. She got onto her knees and put her hands together as she sobbed.

Jose put his gun to her head, "I say we kill her."

"I agree," Adrianna jumped off the bed, "better her than us."

"Wait, I think she is telling the truth." Matt disagreed and both Jose and Adrianna looked at him baffled.

"Do not harm her." Fernanda suddenly voiced out and Adrianna rolled her eyes in disgust. "She harbors no evil spirit." she continued.

Jose scowled at Fernanda before putting the gun down. Fernanda's boots made knocking sounds on the wooden floor as she slowly walked to Abigail. Abigail still had her eyes squeezed shut with tears running down and getting onto her dirty locked fingers. Fernanda set her hand on Abigail’s shoulder who fell back in fright.

"We mean no harm." she softly said to her. "I want you to tell us everything."