Free Survival by Chris Ryan Page A

of the mountain.
'Looks like we're on our own,' she said, looking out to sea again. 'The Phoenix could be anywhere out there.'
'But they must be missing us by now!' protested Amber.
'They may be missing us, but that doesn't mean they know where to find us,' Li had replied. 'They don't know about the current. They don't know we lost an oar. They have to search the most obvious places first. Today, they'll double back and search yesterday's route.'
That was when things had started to go wrong. Amber had turned sullen and difficult on the way back and had insisted that she did not have the energy to walk much further, so against Li's better judgement they had cut through the swamp instead of going round it.
Now Li snorted as she squatted next to Amber on the roots of the mangrove tree. 'Some short cut this turned out to be,' she said, swatting a persistent mosquito.
Amber was talking to herself in a trembling monotone. 'I can't believe it. Ten days ago I was sitting in the Savoy, having afternoon tea with my uncle. I was wearing a Prada dress and a pair of simple, diamond earrings. We shared a pot of Earl Grey and talked about buying a house in London. Now, I'm in the middle of a swamp, covered in mosquito bites with a leech hanging off my leg!'
Li hid a smile and turned back to the problem of the leech. 'You're wrong about one thing,' she said, looking at the back of Amber's knee. 'You don't have a leech hanging off your leg. It finished its lunch and left quietly, just like I said it would. See?'
Amber twisted to look at the back of her knee, then gave Li a weak smile. 'Sorry about the swamp,' she said. 'I was so tired and I thought it would be quicker. I was wrong.'
Li glanced at Amber in surprise. She did look exhausted. Her face was covered in a sheen of sweat and the skin around her mouth had an unhealthy grey tinge to it. 'Come on,' said Li, softly. 'We're nearly through it, see?' She pointed to the green dome of the rainforest, rising above the swamp. 'We can pick up the game trail again just over there--'
Li stopped in mid-sentence as a series of hisses and deep, grunting roars came out of the rainforest and travelled clearly across the still waters of the swamp. An explosion of brightly coloured birds shot out of the top of the rainforest canopy and the undergrowth shook as something big thrashed and crashed about amongst the trees.
'What is that?' whispered Amber.
'I'm not sure,' said Li, gazing at the fringes of the rainforest. 'But I have a feeling it wasn't such a mistake coming back through the swamp after all.'
'Why?'
'Because if we'd gone around the edge of it again, we would've met - whatever that is.'
Amber stared over at the threshing undergrowth and listened to the hissing roars. 'Trouble is, we have to go back into the forest at some time,' she said, in a wobbly voice. 'It's the only way back to the beach.'

ELEVEN
'Alex. It is time to head back.'
Reluctantly, Alex came to a stop in the middle of the game trail.
'We have walked for ten minutes,' said Paulo, tapping his watch. 'We must be back on the beach at the rendezvous time,'
Alex nodded but stayed where he was. He did not want to retrace his steps when a stream of fresh, gurgling water could be waiting for them just around the next bend. He put a hand to his aching head, trying to decide whether to keep walking for another five minutes.
Paulo waited patiently for Alex to make up his mind, letting the peace of the primary rainforest settle around him. The trees were massive here, with huge trunks supporting a high, green canopy of leaves so dense that the sun could not break through. Under the canopy, it was cool and dim, and there was a constant background noise made up of the singing of crickets and birds, the rustle of leaves and the tiny scrabblings of millions of insects. Paulo tilted his head, listening. The forest sounded busy, purposeful. He smiled. It reminded him of the hum of a huge piece of machinery, and he liked machines. Suddenly, his head