Free Countdown by Natalie Standiford

understand it. The riven crystal isn’t here.”
    Dan glanced at Amy, who looked like she might break down in frustration. “It doesn’t make sense.”
    â€œHow can it not be here?” Dan asked. “We followed that map to the letter.”
    â€œI think this is the wrong temple.” Atticus’s voice shook. “It’s in Tikal somewhere, I’m sure of that. But I must have gone wrong somewhere . . . .”
    â€œThis park has two hundred square miles of ruins,” Amy said. “We need an exact location or we’ll never find the crystal.”
    â€œI’ll study the book again tonight and figure out where I went wrong. It’s the mysterious glyph, the one I couldn’t decipher. I’m sure that’s what misled me.”
    He looked at his feet, blinking. Dan was afraid he might cry. Atticus was just a little kid, and they relied on him so much. He hated letting anyone down.
    Amy put a reassuring arm around Att’s shoulders. “It’s all right. It must be that mysterious glyph. We’ll figure it out tonight and try again tomorrow.”
    There was nothing else to do. They crawled out of the ruin and started hiking back through the jungle toward the hotel.
    About an hour into the walk back, Dan suddenly had a strange feeling. All this time they’d been alone in the jungle, except for the wild birds and animals — frogs, toads, lizards, snakes . . . Most of the mammals wisely slept during the day. But now the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he had the strong sense that they were being watched.
    He was following Amy, who was leading them back. He touched her arm to get her attention and put his finger to his lips to signal quiet. She and the others instantly froze.
    They peered through the dense rain forest. Birds whistled and hooted. There was a cracking sound, like a twig or branch breaking.
    Amy’s eyebrows rose in alarm.
    Dan thought he saw something catch the light and glint through the leaves. Or was that his imagination?
    Another
crack
, and a flash of light as the sun hit the watch on a man’s wrist.
    â€œThey’re here,” Amy whispered.
    Before they could make a move, four large men crashed through the brush, blocking the way forward.
    â€œRun!” Amy shouted.

Amy whirled around and ran back down the path with Dan, Jake, and Atticus at her heels, when four more fighters leaped out of the trees.
    â€œIt’s an ambush!” Dan yelled.
    They were trapped. Thugs in front of them, thugs behind them, and all around them nothing but impenetrable jungle.
How did they find us?
Amy’s muscles tensed and her pulse sped, telling her to run, but there was nowhere to go. She felt like a caged tiger. Two of Pierce’s men rushed forward and grabbed her. She struggled but their hands were pure muscle, gripping her arms so hard they nearly broke her bones.
    Jake was dodging a goon who looked more like a boulder than a man, bald with a big nose mashed against his face. Ducking and swerving, he stayed one step ahead of the thug but couldn’t quite lose him. When the fighter finally treed him, Jake jumped up higher, grabbed a branch, and kicked the man in the face — just hard enough to give Jake time to escape.
    A soldier went for Atticus, who flattened himself against the jungle floor and slithered through a narrow opening in the brush, disappearing. Dan ducked and rolled, dodging the soldier who chased him, and dove into the brush after Att. The thugs kicked furiously at the thick vines, ripping them up by the roots like a threshing machine.
Go, Dan and Att, go!
Amy thought. She squirmed in the iron grip of the men holding her. One of them reached for his gun. In a surge of terror and adrenaline she kicked his hand hard enough to hurt him. The gun flew into the air and disappeared in the green.
    â€œGet it!” the other thug ordered. The gunman let go of Amy. Now