Part 30 (1/2)
v ”Can I give you a hand?”
Lynn turned, reached for Jamie's arm, and smiled. ”Good morning.”
Jamie smiled back in shy astonishment that, of all the women * 244 *
on earth, this one greeted her, touched her, with such warmth.
”North Carolina's briefed you?” she asked as she helped pack Lynn's hammock.
”Yep.” Lynn's smile broadened, her relief evident. ”Sounds like the home stretch.”
”Yeah. We're heading for a pickup.”
”Is it true about the diversion team?”
”Two volunteers-Vargas and Tibay-will stay here and hook up with them, then catch up with us,” Jamie said while she studied Lynn, trying to decide what to do. ”They'll have a comlink, so we'll be able to stay in contact.”
Lynn caught the examining glance. ”What?”
”Just checking in. We'll be shoving off in about ten minutes.” Lynn touched Jamie's arm again. ”What? Tell me.” Their eyes locked briefly, no more than a second, and then Jamie looked down, opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it.
”Okay, then let me guess.” Lynn's hands now firmly grasped Jamie's forearms. ”You need to push today, don't you? To get us closer to the pickup. But you're afraid I can't hack it.” Several seconds pa.s.sed before Jamie responded. ”Lynn, I'm not engaging in that conversation until you tell me something. Honestly.”
”Tell you what-honestly?”
”How you're doing. How depleted you are. How strong you feel.”
”On a scale of one to ten?”
Jamie wasn't distracted by the feeble tease. ”Yes. Exactly. And honestly.”
Lynn sighed as she released Jamie's arms; her shoulders slouched a little. ”Fair enough, fair enough.” She looked up into Jamie's eyes and shrugged. ”Truth is, my knees hurt. Not as much as after the first night, but I'm sore. And I'm tired. I work out, you know, I'm not a sloth. But I'm not used to these hills or being wet all the d.a.m.n time.” Jamie nodded as if the conversation had ended. ”I underst-”
”Wait a minute. I'm not done yet.”
Like an errant child, Jamie looked at the ground and pushed the dirt with the toe of her boot.
”It's true, isn't it?” asked Lynn. ”We need to really hump today, right?”
* 245 *
”Yes.” Jamie drilled her gaze into Lynn's. ”But only if you can handle it. And I don't think you can. I think you're wasted.”
”More wasted than you?” Lynn said. ”You've been running on empty since way before I came along.”
”I'm a marine. It's supposed to hurt.”
”I'm okay, Jamie. I can do it.”
Jamie shook her head, frowned her reluctance. ”No,” she said softly, but found herself unable to leave until Lynn accepted her decision.
Lynn's eyes glowed with a ferocity Jamie hadn't seen before, but her voice stayed calm. ”How far would you like to get today?”
”Roughly ten klicks. Ten kilometers.” Why am I even talking to you about this? Jamie half turned away, but Lynn's hand on her arm again stopped her. Okay, then, here it is.
”The scouts are out there now making our trail, but it's minimal, Lynn, because we don't want the enemy to be able to see it-or us.
You'll be going single file on a rough track, and part of the time you'll have to hold a tarp above your head so the enemy can't spot you, since the weather'll be just pa.s.sable enough just often enough for them to get a glimpse of us if we let them. And that's not all. Downlink indicates we're on the edge of a typhoon that'll be intensifying-lots of rain, higher winds as the day progresses. That's why we're getting under way now. If we can beat a klick an hour, we'll be d.a.m.n lucky. So ten klicks will take at least eight hours-very likely a good deal longer, because we'll be in downpours pretty much the whole time. Sometimes quite bl.u.s.tery downpours. It'll be very, very strenuous. Best scenario is it'll be really brutal.”
”I understand, Jamie.”
”Do you?”
”Please let me try.”
Slowly, Jamie's frown relented. She grasped that Lynn was, in effect, joining up and volunteering for a mission. ”Okay. But you gotta promise me: Before you crash and burn, you'll ask for a.s.sistance.
Means you have to pay attention to yourself, antic.i.p.ate your breaking point.”
Lynn said nothing.
”Lynn,” Jamie said. ”That's the deal for all of us. That's how we keep each other alive. You gotta promise me.”
* 246 *
”Yes, Jamie.” Lynn's determination inflected her voice. ”I promise you.”
v For twelve hours they trudged, hoisting each other over ledges, lifting each other out of the mud, unsnagging the billowing tarps from branches and jutting rocks, saving each other from sliding down mountainsides. They detoured around once-tiny streams now swollen into cla.s.s-six rapids. They dodged trees collapsing before the predatory wind.
During the worst of it, squall lines bristling with lightning attacked them and they cowered under shallow rock ledges, holding on to each other as thunder exploded around them like a well-aimed artillery barrage.
And when they reached their goal-a cave about halfway between Mantalingajan and Mount Landargun-Jamie watched Lynn Hillinger enter it on her own two feet, without aid, North Carolina close behind.
v ”North Carolina tells me you're refusing pain meds,” Jamie said, swinging into the hammock next to Lynn's.
”Not exactly. I just don't want to max them out. I'll be too groggy tomorrow.”
”Mmm, well, don't worry about that. We're gonna sit tight until at least tomorrow afternoon.”
Lynn twisted in her hammock, a too-sudden movement that induced a flinch. ”Not because of me.”
”I suppose it is because of you, in a way.” Jamie's rea.s.suring grin belied the words, and Lynn shook her head at the razzing. ”Today we averaged better than three-quarters of a kilometer an hour-despite the weather and the horrible ground conditions. We're going to put the margin you gave us today to good use. You kept quite a pace. d.a.m.n impressive.”
”Me?” Lynn asked blankly. ”I don't get it.”
”You set the pace today, Lynn. We made sure you got support, but it was you who set the pace. And you never let up.”