‘His name,’ Roland hissed, ‘was Anton.’

  ‘Is that so?’ Oscar Juwani said. He clearly didn’t like being interrupted. ‘Well, it doesn’t matter, does it?’

  ‘His name,’ Roland repeated, ‘was Anton.’

  ‘Silence!’ Oscar Juwani spat. The hissing of the snakes in the pit swelled. Oscar Juwani composed himself before continuing. ‘This one escaped. But young Katva managed to find his brother in the jungle. That is his speciality. He brought him back to us and executed him in return for a red shirt. Now, though, I think the time is right for Katva to earn himself a black shirt. Katva, show us what happens to anybody who tries to escape from our happy little camp.’

  He clapped his hands, then repeated the instruction in his own language. Katva walked slowly up to Roland. He bent down and whispered something in his ear. Roland didn’t move, so Katva grabbed his hair and dragged him to his feet. Roland’s eyes darted left and right, as if he was searching for an escape route. But there was none. A couple of the Blackshirts had their weapons trained on him. Katva stood behind him and forced him to the edge of the pit. Roland teetered and Max thought he was going to fall. Katva held him back. Max could tell that the Redshirt was enjoying this, and was deliberately prolonging Roland’s agony.

  The flames behind Max licked even higher. It was uncomfortably hot and the sudden surge sounded like it had encouraged more activity in the snake pit. Long shadows, cast by the firelight, flickered towards the thick curtain of foliage at the back of the plateau. As it did so, Max thought he saw movement in the jungle. Was it the Watchers? Had they arrived? That thought died as soon as it arrived in his head. He had only activated the PLB ten minutes ago. That was surely not enough time. And anyway, the movement had stopped. Perhaps he had imagined it.

  Roland suddenly let out a sob. It made the Blackshirts laugh. Oscar Juwani smiled grotesquely, and he gave an instruction that Max took to mean: ‘Do it!’

  ‘Wait!’

  It was Sami, who was still kneeling with the others on the far side of the pit. His voice was loud and authoritative. It silenced everybody. Oscar Juwani showed a flicker of annoyance. He clenched his fists, then relaxed them. ‘What is it, young man?’ he said, his voice dangerously low.

  ‘I think you’re a coward,’ Sami said. His accusation rang across the clearing. Nobody spoke.

  Oscar Juwani inclined his head, as though stretching out a tight muscle in his neck. ‘Is that so?’ he replied.

  ‘Yes,’ Sami said, nodding his head firmly. ‘That is so.’

  ‘Sami,’ Max hissed, ‘don’t wind him up.’

  But Sami ignored him. ‘Would you like to know why?’ he said.

  ‘I think we would all like to know why,’ Oscar Juwani said smoothly, indicating everyone on the plateau, although few of them spoke English.

  ‘Because you get other people to do your dirty work for you. And not just any old people. Young people. Children. You bully them because they can’t fight back, and because you’re too weak to stand up to people your own size.’ Sami shook his head. ‘It’s not right. You should be prepared to do your own work and accept the consequences. You don’t. That’s why you are a coward.’

  Nobody spoke. Even the snakes seemed quieter. Oscar Juwani stared at Sami. They all stared at Sami: the Blackshirts around the pit and the Redshirts and Blueshirts watching from elsewhere on the plateau. The other cadets looked aghast. What was Sami doing? Why would he antagonise Oscar Juwani like this? There was something else going on here, Max thought. There had to be. Sami wasn’t stupid. He had a plan, though what that plan could be, Max didn’t know. But whatever it was, if Max knew Sami, his mate was about to put himself in a whole heap of danger.

  Oscar Juwani moved. He stepped slowly, wordlessly, around the pit. He stopped immediately behind Sami. ‘Get up,’ he said.

  Sami glanced across the pit at Max. Very faintly – barely a twitch – he winked. Then he stood.

  Oscar Juwani grabbed Sami’s arm and gave an order to Katva. With obvious disappointment, Katva pulled Roland away from the pit and let go of him. Oscar Juwani leaned towards Sami and spoke. Max could only just hear him.

  ‘You,’ he said, ‘are a very stupid boy.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Sami said. He turned his head so they were face to face. ‘Maybe not. You can decide against this, Oscar Juwani. You can decide to do the right thing, for once in your life.’

  ‘And what is that?’

  ‘It’s simple. Free the men in the cage. You have my word that they will not kill you. Free the Blueshirts and the Redshirts. Tell the Blackshirts to turn in their weapons. After that, you must all do exactly as my friends and I tell you. If you do that, you might live to see the dawn.’

  Oscar Juwani stared at him. ‘You think you can kill me, boy?’

  ‘No,’ Sami said. ‘My friends and I don’t kill people. We save them. We can save you too, if you let us.’

  Oscar Juwani burst out laughing. He slapped his thighs and shouted at his thugs, obviously translating what Sami had just said. The Blackshirts, who still had their backs to the jungle, started to laugh too, and so did Katva, although he seemed less sure of himself than the others. The Redshirts and Blueshirts remained silent. Then, as quickly as he had started to laugh, Oscar Juwani shouted, ‘The rest of you – move to the end of the pit! I will show you what happens when people speak to Oscar Juwani like that.’

  Lukas, Lili and Abby looked uncertain. ‘Do it,’ Max called. They glanced over at him, then scrambled to their feet and moved to where Katva had been holding Roland. The Blackshirts continued to laugh. Oscar Juwani forced Sami closer to the edge of the pit.

  Then Max saw another movement in the jungle, and he fully understood what Sami was up to.

  A shape had emerged from the forest, behind the armed Blackshirts, who had their backs to it. It was almost human, but not quite. It was bigger, for a start, and bent double. Max thought he could just make out a streak of silver at the top of its back. The creature stood on its hind legs and roared. Was it the same silverback gorilla they had encountered two days ago on their way through the jungle? Max wondered. Could it be?

  Only now he had backup.

  Two more gorillas had emerged from the foliage, smaller than the silverback but still enormous and fearsome. They flanked the silverback like two burly lieutenants, rearing up and roaring in the same way.

  The effect on the Blackshirts was immediate. They spun round in alarm, then looked back towards the fire, as if checking for an escape route. Their faces were terrified. Oscar Juwani let go of Sami and staggered away from the pit towards his Blackshirts. But that moved him closer to the creatures, who were thundering towards them. There was a sudden, chaotic outburst of panicked shouts.

  ‘Don’t look at them!’ Sami shouted above the noise. ‘Lower your heads! Look at the ground! Don’t look at them! Don’t run!’

  His instructions were for the cadets. Max immediately did as was told. He hung his head and hunched down to make himself look smaller. He glanced ahead. The Blackshirts were still panicking, Oscar Juwani among them. He screamed something, pointing angrily at his Blackshirts and making a ‘shoot them’ gesture. Max could see Babaka fumbling for his weapon …

  But it was too late. The three gorillas were among them. Babaka and the others had dropped their weapons and were running away. Oscar Juwani was in the middle of the scrum, screaming. Babaka collided with him, and Oscar Juwani stumbled, staggering towards the pit. Sami was motionless, his head bowed, a picture of calm, close to him. The silverback roared again. It was a terrible sound, louder and more aggressive than before. Max felt it in the pit of his stomach. It seemed to have a similar effect on Babaka, who was closest to the gorilla. He staggered backwards, losing his grip on his weapon, and collided with Oscar Juwani, teetering on the edge of the pit, for a second time.

  And it was that second collision with his right-hand man that forced Oscar Juwani over the edge.

  The Blackshirts were by the fire. Even Babaka scrambled away from the pit as his leader reeled, windmilling his arms to save himself, but unsuccessfully.

  He tumbled into the pit.

  There was a split second of absolute silence. Even the gorillas were momentarily still. Then the screaming started.

  It hardly sounded human. Oscar Juwani shrieked like an animal in pain. The hissing grew angrier. He expected the screaming to stop quickly. But it didn’t. For what seemed like hours, Oscar Juwani’s screams of pain continued, accompanied by the awful, frenzied hissing.

  Then the silverback reared up again. He roared for a third time, and now there was nothing to keep the Blackshirts there. They all, Babaka included, ran for their lives, ignoring the cadets. The Redshirts and Blueshirts panicked too. They crowded towards the steps leading down from the plateau, some crying, some shouting, all of them desperate to escape the horror.

  That left only the cadets, and Roland. Max hadn’t moved, despite every muscle in his body screaming at him to run. He was frozen, his head bowed, avoiding eye contact with the gorillas. Lukas, Abby, Lili and Roland did the same. And so did Sami. He was next to the silverback, his head down and his shoulders hunched. The two other gorillas stood on either side of the silverback again, the larger gorilla panting heavily. None of them showed any sign of wanting to chase the Blackshirts, or any interest in the contents of the pit, or in the other cadets. The lesser gorillas stared at the silverback, and the silverback stared at Sami, its head inclined.

  It reached out one arm and picked something from Sami’s hair.

  Then it turned. The other two gorillas turned with it. As quickly as they had appeared, they lumbered back towards the jungle.

  And then they were gone.

  20

  Double Tap

  The cadets were stunned into inaction. It was only when Lili stood up that Max felt able to move.

  ‘Did you activate the PLB?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Max said. ‘If it worked, the Watchers should be on their way.’

  ‘It could take an hour for them to get here,’ Abby said. ‘Those Blackshirts aren’t going to stay scared for long. They’re armed. As soon as they regroup, they’ll be after us. We can’t rely on Sami’s hairy friend to rescue us again.’

  Max checked the plateau. The fire was subsiding, but there was enough light to see the area was deserted. All the others had escaped into the clearing, from where he could hear shouts.

  ‘Oscar Juwani had weapons in his hut,’ Lukas said. ‘We can get them.’

  ‘Right,’ Abby said. ‘We have the high ground. If we have weapons, we can defend the plateau against the Blackshirts till the Watchers arrive.’

  The other cadets nodded. All except Max. ‘No,’ he said.

  ‘Come on, Max,’ Abby said. ‘I know you don’t like using weapons if you don’t have to –’

  ‘We need the weapons,’ Max interrupted her. ‘But we can’t let the Blackshirts stay in the clearing. That’s where the helicopters will land. If the Blackshirts fire at them, the choppers could crash. We need to draw them away from the landing zone.’

  ‘How?’ Sami said.

  Max pointed at the area of jungle where the silverback had disappeared. ‘There,’ he said. ‘We enter the jungle with our weapons. We release some rounds. The Blackshirts will think they’re under attack. They’ll come for us. Then the choppers can land safely.’

  Roland had stood up. He was staring at the cadets, blinking. ‘Who are you?’ he said.

  ‘We’re just here to help,’ Max said. ‘Come on, everyone.’

  Quickly, he led them across the clearing into Oscar Juwani’s hut. It was lit by candles, with rugs and cushions scattered here and there. Max ignored all that and walked straight up to the weapons racks on the wall. He helped himself to an AK-47 assault rifle and five full clips of ammo. The others did the same, all except Roland, who stood in the middle of the hut staring at them. ‘Who are you?’ he repeated.

  ‘We’re nobody,’ Max said. ‘After tonight, you’ll never see us again. But listen, Roland, you’ve got a job to do.’ He took a handgun from the wall, checked that it was fully loaded, then made it safe. He handed it to Roland. ‘If everything goes according to plan, the Blackshirts will come after us. That’ll leave the Redshirts and the Blueshirts in the clearing. They’ll be frightened and panicking. You need to keep them busy. There are helicopters coming. They’ll need a clear area to land. Get everybody to help.’

  ‘What if they won’t do as I say?’ Roland asked. ‘Some of the Redshirts …’

  Max pointed at the handgun he’d given Roland.

  ‘Oh,’ Roland said. ‘I see.’

  ‘You can’t use it,’ Max told him. ‘You understand that, right?’

  ‘Of course,’ Roland said.

  Lukas strode up to him. ‘You don’t use it on anyone,’ he said. ‘Not even Katva.’

  Roland didn’t reply.

  Lukas’s lips thinned. ‘Trust me, Roland. The people in the choppers, they really don’t like seeing young people getting shot. If you’re the one who does it …’ He left the rest to Roland’s imagination.

  ‘Come on,’ Lili hissed. The sound of shouting in the clearing was getting louder. ‘The Blackshirts are coming back. We need to get into the jungle.’

  Max put one hand on Roland’s shoulder. ‘You can do it,’ he said. ‘Wait till the Blackshirts come after us. Then get down there.’

  Roland clenched his jaw and nodded. The cadets hurried out of the hut. They ran across the plateau, past the fire, past the snake pit. Max could hear Babaka. He was coming up the steps, shouting. The cadets upped their pace and hit the treeline, plunging into the thick darkness of the jungle.

  Back at Valley House, they had trained with night-vision goggles. Max would have given almost anything for that kind of capability now. In the trees, it was almost pitch black. Not even the light from the fire penetrated the jungle. The cadets huddled together, waiting for their vision to adjust to the darkness. It took thirty seconds for shapes to form. Jagged branches. Broad leaves. Max’s vision had no depth of field, so he couldn’t tell what was close and what distant. Moving through this environment would be treacherous.

  They had to do it though. The Blackshirts would soon work out where they had gone. Whether they would follow was anybody’s guess. Max reckoned they wouldn’t – yet. They would just assume that the cadets were lost in the jungle. That wasn’t the outcome they needed. If they were to draw the Blackshirts out of the clearing, the cadets needed to present a threat.

  Just not here.

  ‘Listen up,’ Max whispered. ‘Where the log pile is, down in the clearing, that’s twelve o’clock as you face it. We head downhill through the jungle to that position. Lukas and I will stay there. Abby, Lili, Sami, move round to nine o’clock. When you’re in position, release some rounds, then head back immediately to twelve o’clock. The Blackshirts will think they’re being attacked from the nine o’clock direction. We’ll give it five minutes, then we’ll release rounds from twelve o’clock to disorientate them. Then we’ll skirt back round to three o’clock. We don’t show ourselves till the Watchers arrive. Everyone agreed?’

  Nobody had the chance to reply. A spray of automatic fire burst from the clearing into the jungle. The cadets hit the ground as one.

  ‘Is everyone okay?’ Max hissed, adjusting his rifle so it was slung across his back. There were four replies of ‘Yes’, followed by another burst of fire.

  ‘Crawl,’ Max whispered. ‘Now!’

  Max didn’t know what was more terrifying: the thought that the Blackshirts would fire at them again, or the unknown jungle. He winced every time he placed his palm down on the ground. Try though he might, he couldn’t get Oscar Juwani’s screams out of his head, or the gruesome sound of him being attacked by his own snakes. He knew those snakes hadn’t travelled far, just as he knew that the silverback was surely close by, as well as a hundred other grisly threats. He told himself that the jungle creatures were better adapted to their environment, and would get out of their way. It didn’t help much.

  Then there was the vegetation. Vines and brambles seemed to jump out of nowhere, scratching his face, blocking his way. Max sometimes had a dream: no matter how fast he tried to run, he couldn’t move. This felt like that, as if the jungle was conspiring to hold him back.

  At least there was no more gunfire. The cadets advanced slowly. After a few minutes they got to their feet again. This afforded them a little more speed. The terrain moved downhill, then they spent ten minutes forcing their way through flat ground. He estimated that they were closing in on the twelve o’clock position.

  ‘Wait here, everyone,’ Lili whispered. She moved in the direction of the clearing, disappearing for maybe twenty seconds before reappearing again. ‘We’re in position,’ she reported. ‘The Blackshirts have rounded everyone up in the centre. I can’t see Roland, so I guess he must still be hiding. Max, Lukas, you stay here. The rest of us will move to nine o’clock.’

  Without another word, Lili, Abby and Sami moved on, leaving Max and Lukas alone in the darkness.

  They didn’t speak at first. This was the first time they’d been alone together since Lukas had pretended to shoot the girls. Max had said some pretty terrible things to his friend since then. He knew he had to apologise.