Free Shiva by Carolyn McCray

of the handles and covered her face. Her body slammed sideways into the thick vegetation. Through her arms , she could see leaves flapping and branches snapping. Her leg hit a tree trunk and bounced off of it.
    The parachute got caught in the foliage , threatening to nearly tear her in half. Then she was falling again as the fabric tore away. Birds burst all around her, startled by her falling form. Monkeys hooted in the distance , and still , she fell. Something snagged her cheek. Her dress ripped. A bone - white shoe dropped off , and still , she fell.
    Then her harness caught on a branch, jerking her to a sudden stop. The slightly stretchy material sprang her up , then down, bouncing her like a baby in a swing.
    The sole problem? She was a good twenty meters from the forest floor.
    But you know what? She ’ d take it.
    * * *
    Davidson ran through the dense underbrush, heading toward the sound of the shots. It was about ten degrees off the path he ’ d calculated for Rebecca, but if he could gather a few more men, all the better.
    Raising his weapon , he jumped a moss - covered log and burst into a small clearing. Four guns turned toward him. Luckily , they were his team. Half a dozen bodies littered the ground. Guess the tribesmen had gotten in a little over their heads.
    “ Where ’ s Rebecca? ” Lopez asked.
    Gulping air, shame burnt Davidson ’ s face. “ Her chute … s he got … I lost her. ”
    “ They were shooting at all of us, ” Levont said.
    Davidson glared at the new point man. Having someone defend him made his failure sting all the worse.
    “ Whatever, ” Lopez said, gathering ammunition and weapons from the dead men. “ We ’ ll catch up with her. ”
    “ Are you sure? ” Talli asked.
    Both Davidson and Lopez glared at the supposed sniper.
    “ Whoa, ” he said, holding up his hands. “ I ’ m not saying someone shouldn ’ t go after her, but we have a narrow window of opportunity to get in ahead of Brandt. I ’ m just saying we put the majority of our manpower to laying the ambush. ”
    The man was correct , which bugged the crap out of Davidson. His shame had prevent ed him from seeing the whole picture.
    “ Talli ’ s right, ” Davidson admitted. “ I ’ ll head out and catch up with you at the rally point. ”
    Levont stepped in front of him , though. “ You are kidding , right? ”
    Davidson looked to Lopez.
    The corporal nodded. “ Davidson did just fine last week. ”
    “ That was with an entire team. With vehicles, sticking to the roads, ” Levont pressed. “ But out here? In the jungle? How much forest tracking experience do you have? ”
    Still bristling from the prickle of shame , Davidson was not in the mood to be questioned. “ Enough. ”
    “ Do you speak Lingala? ” Levont asked bluntly. “ Dude, you are a white guy in a tux who doesn ’ t even speak the official language of the country. How far exactly do you think you are getting? ”
    “ He ’ s got a point, ” Lopez stated.
    “ No. ” Davidson had lost her . H e had to get Rebecca back.
    Lopez dug his shoe into the dirt. “ We ’ ve got GPS coordinates to guide us back to the village. Finding Rebecca out here in this ” — the corporal indicated to the dripping leaves that formed a green sky above their heads — ” i s going to take some mad skills. ”
    They shouldn ’ t even been having this discussion. If Brandt were here , they wouldn ’ t be. Brandt would already have struck out after Rebecca.
    “ We ’ ve got to give Rebecca and Brandt the best chance at survival, ” Lopez concluded.
    “ I ’ ll find her, ” Levont added. “ Or die trying, I swear. ”
    “ We ’ re not soldiers, ” Talli chimed in. “ We are a team. We ’ ve got to work as one. ”
    Great. Talli being more logical than him. It didn ’ t get much worse than that.
    Lopez must have read Davidson ’ s capitulation before Davidson even knew that he capitulated.
    “ Levont, ” Lopez said, handing him several