Rescue

      A shrill cry echoed through the jungle, which made me wake up with a start. I thought, 'what could possibly go wrong with a nap in the National Park?' I was about to find out what.

     With me, on the mat on the forest floor, Steve, Alex and Katy had been sleeping a moment ago. Alex, sitting under a tree, playing Minecraft, looked up after fifteen minutes of being immersed into the game. "What on Earth was that?" Xialing, who was standing ten feet away, answered, pointing to a cliff, "The cry came from up there."

     My dog, Sir Riñiçholás, whimpered and came close to me. "Whatever it is, it can't be good," I declared. "But if it is not good," said Katy, "someone might be in deep shit." Alex got up, and I sensed that this was not going to be good. "Friends," he said. "It is times like these that prove our…" "Alright, ectomorphic Thor, listen up." I interrupted him. "You remember right? Last time you decided to do something like this, with this company, this place and situation, we were stuck in the flood for three days."

     "But what if this time, there is an actual cause for us to go ahead?" James spoke up. There was nothing to do now; if James declared anything, the girls would follow him with their eyes closed. Steve had naturally supported Alex this side. And so that left only me. "Fine. But if anything goes sideways today, it'll be on all your heads."

     We all marched down the little path leading up to the cliff. Little heads of grass were growing on the path that was so abandoned and isolated, it felt otherworldly. Every now and then, it felt like someone, or something, moved in the forest that surrounded us so intimidatingly.

     Finally, we reached the top. The barren, rocky cliffhead was glowing under the strong noontime sunlight, striking it on our faces. "There is nothing," I said. "Now let's go…" and then there was another scream. This time we could clearly make out a young woman screaming "Help!"

     We started frantically looking here and there, with the glare of the Sun dazzling in our faces. But there was clearly no one else on the cliff. Or on the next cliff. Or on the cliff beyond that. In fact, we six were the only humans visible as far as the eye could see. Then I heard a sharp bark. Sir Riñiçholás was standing on the cliff edge. He looked at me, then over the cliff, where apparently the valley lay, and then back at me. His tail was erect.

     I ran to where he was standing and looked down. I saw something that made me shout out to the others. They all gathered around me. Sure enough, there was someone; a young woman around ten metres down, dangling by her fingertips on a rock-cut on the vertical cliff. Below her was a sheer vertical drop. She looked up. "Help! Please! I don't know if I can hold on any longer!" "Stay right there! Help is coming."

     I reassured her and then turned back to the others. But they were looking at me for advice. Being the class topper, I realised this was my responsibility now to act. "Alright," I said. "We need a rope." But nobody had any.

     Frustrated, I racked my brain and remembered there was a Banyan tree on the way we took to get here. I ran at my top speed and sure enough, reached it. I pulled out my knife from my bag and cut the largest portion of hanging root I could. Then I ran back. All this must have taken around three minutes. I was terrified whether that woman must be there or not.

     Thankfully she was. I took the belt off my pant, and in its place, inserted the root and fixed it there. Thank God; it fit just perfectly. I asked the others to hold it tight and gently pull up or let down on my command. Then trusting them blindly, I jumped.

     "Lower a bit. Keep lowering. Lower. Lowe- stop!" I had reached the woman. She had bushy hair, full of dust and twigs and her beautiful eyes were terrified. "What's your name?" I asked. "La-Layla." She answered. "Alright Layla, we're gonna get you up." She asked, "But what about my husband?" "What husband?" "I can't look down. Marc! Is Marc OK?" That's when I looked down. There was a man at the foot of the hill, lying in a pool of blood. I could clearly see that his head was split open by a rock.

     "Arre deva, uh, yeah. Yeah he's… He's gonna be fine." Then I shouted, "Katy! Katy call someone! Police, locals, anyone!" Then I looked at Layla. "I'll focus on you first, alright? First I'm gonna get you up, OK? Now, hold on to me tight." I maneuvered myself closer to her. "Y'all hold tightly!" I shouted above. She jumped and stuck to me. My left hand was already on the makeshift rope, so I put my right hand firmly around her waist. Her grip was firm and tight, and I was grateful for that. The sheer amount of dust in her otherwise-would-have-been-sweet-smelling hair made me realise, I was gonna sneeze a great deal for some time. I commanded the others and together, we brought her back on top.

     As soon as our feet touched the clifftop, Xialing let go of the rope, ran to her bag, and got the first aid kit. By then, me and the boys had made Layla sit down and were comforting her. I checked her vitals and Steve gave her water. Sir Riñiçholás sniffed at her. Katy came running. "Dude, there's no range here. Ain't there no way we can call anyone." Layla looked up. "Oh, good. Don't call anyone. Especially the police. Please don't call the police." She started hyperventilating.

     "Alright, alright, we won't call anyone." I reassured her. "But you wanna tell me how are we gonna get your husband up?" She looked up. "Yes! My husband. Is he alright?" And she just jumped up and bent over the cliff edge. "Oh thank God. He is not kidnapped."

     By now, I was confused beyond reasoning. "Layla, can you see him? His head is split open." "Oh, don't worry about that," she said, as if it was but a scratch. We all looked where she was looking. Now I was out of panic mode, so I saw clearly the corpse at the foot of the hill. The man's arms were opened. There was a knife that was apparently stabbed right through his right forearm. His right leg was straight. But the left leg was bent abnormally, inhumanly. But his head… It was smashed on a rock. Although his face was intact, I could still tell that as the rock was smeared with blood and brains.

     Katy gagged. But Layla looked casual. "Any moment now." She said. "Don't worry, kids. He'll be fine." Just then, the man slowly rose and got into a sitting position. Pulled the knife out of his hand with a blood-curdling scream. "Oh, my poor Marc," I heard Layla whisper. He picked up a stone nearby and hit his left knee. Hard. It probably smashed the kneebone, since his leg now became straight. The rock which was underneath his head a moment ago, now looked like nightmare fuel. I covered Riñiçholás' eyes. The man got up, perfectly fine, and slowly looked up. "Layla!?" He shouted. "Yes! Marc! I'm here," Layla shouted back. "On the top. Come to the top."

     What the Hell was happening? This definitely had to be a dream; I get these often and when I realise it's a dream, I wake up in reality. But no matter how many times I slapped myself, the nightmare unfolding before me was quite real.

     An Egyptian mummy suit suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started wrapping itself around Marc. At first, I thought the Sun was playing tricks on me. Then, a strong gust of wind blew from the valley beneath and struck us hard. I fell back, hit my head on a rock, and then everything went black.

TO BE CONTINUED