Lost In Kakadu (28 page)

“Do you want some?” She held the bottle over to Mackenzie who was still behind her, but he didn’t move. She crawled to him and her heart jumped to her throat.

“Mack? What’s wrong?”

His eyes were tilted to the back of his head, saliva ran from the corner of his mouth and he twitched with spasms. “Jesus, Mack. Talk to me.” She collected his head into her lap and flinched at how hot he was. His body was beaded with sweat.

“Stay with me.” She stretched for the water bottle and was just able to reach it. With Mackenzie’s head tilted, she poured a small amount onto his lips, but it dribbled off to the side.

“Come on, baby, drink.” She removed her shirt and splashed water onto it. She turned his face skywards and dabbed the shirt to his lips, squeezing small drops onto his tongue.

His eyes continued to flicker as if he was living his own world of terror. Abi’s mouth was dry with panic as she pulled him to her bare chest and rocked backward and forward. “You’re okay, babe.”

He reached up with his hand and she thought he’d heard her, but he scratched at a red welt swelling on his cheek.

She clutched his hand to stop him and frowned at a sharp spike she felt on his finger. His thumb and forefinger were swollen and red and covered in dozens of small, pus-filled pimples. Caterpillar spines were still in his flesh. “Jesus,” she said as she pulled the spines out with her fingernails.

Her mind flashed to a comment Spencer made about a man dying from an insect bite on one of his trips. She dimly remembered thinking at the time that he was exaggerating, but now she wasn’t so sure. With trembling hands, she searched the rest of his body and plucked out dozens of the spikes. Then she bathed him with a generous amount of water, redressed him in shorts and a shirt and put socks on his hands to stop him from scratching.

The heat from the morning sun intensified with every passing minute, and combined with the heat of Mackenzie’s raging fever, Abi felt like she was sitting in a sauna with the temperature at maximum. As the day dragged on and Mackenzie’s condition failed to improve, she became consumed with the agonising realisation he could die. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she tried to imagine herself walking out of the jungle without him. She couldn’t.

“I won’t do this without you,” she whispered. A terrible feeling of loneliness welled up inside her. “If you go, I’ll have to …” She let her voice trail off as she considered ways to end her own life. Hanging, poisonous berries, jumping off the cliff they were searching for, were all possibilities.

But the thought of being severely injured after attempted suicide was more terrifying than the act of doing it. It wasn’t going to happen. She dabbed the sweat from Mackenzie’s forehead.
We are walking out of here together
. Abi swallowed a mouthful of water, cleansing away the bitter taste of defeat.

“Okay.” She massaged a plan of action into her mind. “Hey babe, we need to get you into the shade, before the sun burns you to a crisp.” She carefully slid Mackenzie’s head off her lap and onto the ground, and pushed to her feet. With her arms under his armpits and her hands clasped across his chest, she leant back, using her weight to lift his upper body off the ground, and pulled. Her shoulders took the brunt of his weight and despite fierce determination, she could only move him in short bursts.

Breathless, she lowered him to the ground and checked her progress. Her biceps were burning and her arms felt weak. The overhang of the tree was still about three metres away. She gritted her teeth and slipped her hands around him again and with the last of her strength she heaved. Her grip kept slipping. She closed her eyes and willed herself to go just a little further. The line of shade fell over her and gradually slid down Mackenzie’s body. When he was completely in the shade she nearly dropped him as she lowered him down.

With relief, she shook out her arms and flopped to the ground, pulling his head onto her lap. Sweat trickled from beneath her exposed breasts and down her belly.

“Have some water, baby.” She parted his lips, dribbled water onto his tongue and squeezed his mouth shut. His eyes shot open and a breath froze in her lungs as she waited for him to swallow.

He did. Then he closed his eyes again and she let out a shaky breath.

They’d come too far to go like this. He was going to make it. No other outcome was acceptable. Mackenzie’s forehead was like a furnace and any comfort she provided with the damp cloth instantly evaporated.

But there was nothing else she could do.

* * *

As her mother’s empty casket was slowly lowered into the ground Krystal reached for her heavy gold locket. Inside was the last picture she had of her mother; sadly, it was over five years old. The bleak sky and threatening storm was a fitting backdrop for the mood of the mourning crowd.

She scanned the faces around her and noted the crowd had dwindled since her father’s funeral just twenty minutes before. With a sudden clarity she knew why there’d been so many young women at his funeral, all who cried genuine tears of loss. Krystal put the pieces together and realised she’d been a pawn in her father’s sadistic game of dominance. He never loved her. He just used her to make her mother’s life hell.

The casket reached the bottom and as the smooth white straps slithered out of the ground, she remembered the emptiness in her mother’s sad eyes when she left her at the airport.

As she wept openly it was impossible to miss Thomas’s great hulking figure at the back of the crowd. Her father’s partner was like a vulture waiting to pick up the pieces.

That night, Krystal, exhausted and completely drained of tears, reluctantly joined her Grandmother for dinner. She stared down the long dining table and its highly polished wood surface reflected the image of her grandmother who sat rigid at the opposite end. The old woman’s pale skin was a dramatic contrast to the dark wood. Krystal despised her constant, vacant staring. The air between them bristled as if charged with static.

Ever since her father had disappeared, Grandmother Mulholland had shrivelled further into the shadow that began consuming her years ago. Her alcoholism worsened to the point where she no longer tried to hide her drinking habit and she rarely ate anything. Some days she refused to even get out of bed. Her skeletal frame and dark, bulging eyes gave her the appearance of a sick praying mantis. Krystal shuddered at the thought and looked away.

It was nearly Christmas and she pined for her old life. She remembered fighting with her mother this time last year and longed to put her arms around her and apologise for everything she’d done. She’d made her mother’s life hell, fighting about everything and constantly manipulating her father to side with her.

Her life would never be the same again. Two weeks ago she’d been officially declared an orphan and the stick figure at the end of the table reluctantly offered adoption. She appreciated the offer as her other alternative was to be declared a ward of the state and as a sixteen year old, there was little chance she’d ever be adopted into another family. She’d have been destined to live in a state-run orphanage until her eighteenth birthday. Staring at her grandmother’s emaciated frame, though, Krystal wondered if she was destined to be a ward of the state very soon anyway.

* * *

Abi remained with Mackenzie in her lap until the bottle of water ran out and the sun blazed directly above them. She was hungry, sore, tired and angry. Angry that yet another life threatening situation had been thrust upon them.
Haven’t we been through enough?
She tossed the empty water bottle into the bushes but sighed as she imagined Mackenzie cussing her for throwing it away.

She eased him off her lap, rose to her feet and brushed her dirty hands on her pants. All her muscles ached as she fetched the empty water bottle from the bush. On her return a shimmer in the tree caught her attention and she squinted against the sun to see it. Her heart jumped to her throat. An enormous snake, its body as thick as her arm, draped several times over a branch. Its slick golden scales reflected in the afternoon sun.

“Jesus, we picked the worst tree to sleep under.”

She searched the snake for signs of life but it was completely still.
Maybe it’s dead.
Abi eased back to the ground, positioning herself so she could watch the snake and then tugged Mackenzie onto her lap. She stared at the reptile until her eyes hurt and her spine became a tangle of knots from not moving. But just when she started to relax the snake swelled up and slithered along the branch. She felt the blood drain from her face at the thought of it coming anywhere near them.

She suddenly realised she had no weapon and her eyes snapped to their gear, still nestled at the base of the trunk.

“Mackenzie, babe, can you hear me?” She rattled his shoulder. But the man she loved was still trapped in his own living nightmare.

Their plan to leave the plane now seemed completely foolish. They weren’t ready for this. Their survival so far had been based purely on luck, no planning whatsoever. But then maybe it wasn’t all luck. How many people could survive as long as they had? She gritted her teeth until her jaw hurt.
This is another test
. But this time Mackenzie was counting on her.

The snake began to move. It slithered with deathly silence toward the tree trunk. Abi knew she had to get the axe but the thought of going anywhere near that thing made her cringe.
I can do this. I have to.

She slipped out from under Mackenzie and lowered his head to the dirt. Then walking with false confidence, she kept one eye on the snake as she tiptoed to the tree trunk. She would have to lose sight of the snake to reach the backpack. When she was a couple of steps from the trunk, she took one last glance up the tree, noted where the snake was and dashed forward. With her breath trapped in her throat, she snatched the bag up and bolted backwards. The snake was still there, but it was lower down.

As it slithered down the trunk she unzipped the backpack trying to be as quiet as possible.
Can snakes hear?
Something about them hearing through vibration ran through her mind, another useless piece of trivia from Spencer. But it wasn’t so useless now.

With the axe now in her hand she felt a bit more confident.
But can I really kill it?

She spied Mackenzie out the corner of her eye and resisted the urge to look in his direction.
I have to do this. He needs me now
.

The snake moved fast, slithering down the trunk as if being sucked down by gravity. She stood frozen, axe poised over her shoulder, her heart pounding out like drums of war.

The snake reached her head height, her waist, knees, it was at her feet. It was faster than she thought and most of it was on the ground when Abi squealed and brought the axe down.

She used so much force it chopped right though the tail-end of the snake and embedded in the ground. The snake snapped around hissing, trapped by the blade. It launched up and bit into the axe handle. Suddenly it broke free and slithered away, leaving the end of its tail and a trail of blood in its wake. A growl released from her throat as she plucked the axe from the ground. She took a deep breath and in one swift movement she was on top of it, taking aim at its head. She brought the axe down, severing the snake’s head. The snake’s body thrashed spasmodically.

Abi screamed and jumped away. “It’s dead,” she whispered. “It’s got to be dead.”

She was going to be sick. Abi dropped onto her hands and knees and gagged. But her stomach was too empty and her mind swirled with dizziness as she fought her own urge to pass out. When her queasiness abated she leant back on her haunches and stared at the first animal she’d ever killed. Its sleek body was a striking pattern of gold and pale green diamonds that shimmered in the sun. The axe blade was almost smothered by the tangle of bloody flesh that was now in three pieces.

What do I do now?

The appearance of ants got her moving. Abi stumbled to her feet and tugged the axe from the ground trying not to look at the blood she knew would be there. She dug a hole with the axe and satisfied it was deep enough she rolled the snake head and tail into it and quickly covered it up.

Then, despite being repulsed by the idea, she rode a wave of nausea as she picked up the slippery carcass. It was so heavy she could barely lift it and her stomach turned as she curled it over her shoulder. The snake was enormous and even with it up and around her neck both bloody ends still touched the ground.

“Hey Mack, I wish you could see me now.”

It took all her strength to drape the dead weight over one of the low hanging branches and she was completely drained when she finished.
I hope we can eat it after all that.
She fell to the ground gasping for breath. But the sight of dripping blood made her get back up.

She checked on Mackenzie. He was still unconscious but his chest moved with steady breaths, reassuring her he was alive. Abi washed her hands and face and the axe and then she forced some more water into Mackenzie’s mouth.

Her stomach rumbled but she had no intention of eating without him. She put on a shirt, relieved herself in the bushes, fetched another bottle of water and then resumed her position with Mackenzie on her lap.

For the first time in her life she began to pray.

Mackenzie woke with his mouth dirt dry and his skin crawling with fire. He felt a damp cloth against his chest but his eyes took a while to focus. Abi smiled above him. The sky behind her was marbled with orange and fuchsia.

“Hey, you’re awake.” She leant in and kissed him, her lips soft and cool.

His body ached and, recalling the itching, he gasped at the large red welts and hundreds of small, festering pimples along his arms.

“You had an allergic reaction.” She helped him to sit.

He ran his tongue around his dry mouth. “Did I black out?”

“For most of the day.”

“Jesus.” His brow furrowed as her statement sunk in. “Really?” He slowly shook his head. “Are you okay?”

“I am now. I thought I was going to lose you.” Tears threatened to spill over her lashes.